Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • 11 Ruby Road: 1900 – Charlotte Barkla

    Walker Books Australia March 2024 ISBN13:9781760657949 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Big shout out to my Queensland colleagues especially for this wonderful new middle-grade historical novel set right in our own South Brisbane. In my experience, novels for this age bracket in this genre and in our own locale are rare, so this one fully…

  • Christmas in the Big Woods – Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Renée Graef

    One of my 21st birthday presents from my darling Mum, was the complete set of Little House books [illustrated by Garth Williams]. Though I had been a voracious reader since the age of 3, these books had never come my way, though clearly they are considered classic American children’s books. I think perhaps the TV…

  • The Mud Puddlers – Pamela Rushby

    Walker Books Australia April 2023 ISBN13:9781760655808 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 This ticks all my boxes in one fell swoop and I absolutely loved it. Mudlarking has long been a source of fascination for me and I would truly have loved the opportunity to explore it for myself. Now Pamela Rushby has combined this iconic…

  • Whalesong – Kate Gordon

    Riveted Press/Yellow Brick Books September 2022 ISBN: 9780645218022 RRP: $16.95 I absolutely love Tasmania. I have now been there four times, the last was an adventure with The Kid, who also loved it. There is still so much for me to explore and I’m really hoping we can go back again. One of the aspects…

  • A Message Through Time – Anna Ciddor

    Allen & Unwin April 2023 ISBN:9781761180125 Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $18.99 For those who love time-slip adventures, and particularly, are keen on ancient history this is a desirable addition to your shelves. I loved The Boy Who Stepped Through Time and after book talking it to my ChocLit kiddos, it was on a regular…

  • Katipo Joe Spycraft – Brian Falkner

    My review of this absolutely fabulous read is now live on Kids Book Review – don’t miss out, especially all of you with those blasé teens who need a good reading rev-up!! I loved this book and now I need to find time to read the earlier ones!

  • When the War Came Home – Lesley Parr

    Bloomsbury Australia March 2022 ISBN: 9781526621009 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing. Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $14.99 A year ago I reviewed my first Lesley Parr historical fiction and absolutely loved it – I book-talked it for weeks afterwards to my kiddos, many of whom also enjoyed it hugely. So I was most excited to receive this…

  • Grace’s Escape – Louise Park

    Simon & Schuster September 2021 Publisher: Berbay ISBN13: 9780645069631 RRP: AU$ 16.99 / NZ$ 19.99 Middle school readers fell in love with Grace’s adventures in her first book, Grace’s Secrets, and they will love this next instalment as Grace and her friend, Millie, continue to slip between past and present investigating mysteries and becoming acquainted…

  • Echo in the Memory – Cameron Nunn

    Walker Books June 2021 ISBN: 9781760653118Imprint: Walker Books Australia Australian RRP: $16.99New Zealand RRP: $19.99 Beautifully timed for NAIDOC Week this new YA novel, which explores the convergence of two periods of Australian history with the common thread being the one family name, will both shock and illuminate many readers regarding some of the darkest moments in our history…

  • Cuckoo’s Flight – Wendy Orr

    Allen & Unwin March 2021 ISBN: 9781760524913 RRP: $16.99 Wendy Orr continues her stunning and intriguing sequence of books set in ancient Crete, now focused on Leira’s granddaughter, Clio. In this companion book to Swallow’s Dance and Dragonfly Song, daily life is in turmoil as the ever-increasing threat of invaders pervades the village and its…

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