Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • 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…

  • Heroes of the Secret Underground – Susanne Gervay

    Harper Collins Australia April 2021 ISBN: 9781460758335 ISBN 10: 1460758331 Imprint: HarperCollins – AU List Price: 16.99 AUD What an absolute privilege to review Susanne’s new historical fiction inspired by, and a tribute to her own family’s history in Budapest during the last years of World War II. 12 year old Louie lives with her two younger brothers, Bert…

  • KBR review: The Diary of William Shakespeare, Gentleman – Jackie French

    You can read my latest review for Kids Book Review here – another fabulous Jackie French historical fiction!

  • The Mummy Smugglers of Crumblin Castle – Pamela Rushby

    Walker Books Australia July 2020 Illustrated by Nelle May Pierce ISBN: 9781760651930Imprint: Walker Books AustraliaAustralian RRP: $17.99New Zealand RRP: $19.99 When I mentioned that I was reading this Pamela Rushby commented that she had written the sort of book she would have liked to read when she was eleven. She’s also written the sort of book that I would…

  • His Name was Walter – Emily Rodda

    Harper Collins Australia March 2020 ISBN: 9781460756195 ISBN 10: 1460756193 Imprint: HarperCollins – AU List Price: 17.99 AUD Back in October 2018 I had the immense privilege of reviewing Emily Rodda’s new book His Name was Walter and immediately fell in love with it. I promoted it heavily with my kiddos and was very excited to be one of…

  • The Seven Keys – Allison Rushby

    Walker Books Australia July 2019 ISBN: 9781760650797 Australian RRP: $16.99 New Zealand RRP: $18.99   I absolutely loved my first introduction to Flossie Birdwhistle in The Turnkey of Highgate Cemetery and was so excited to read her next adventure, though I’ve had to wait a while. Let me say right now, it was worth the wait. Allison Rushby…

  • A Great Escape – Felice Arena

    Penguin Random House 9780143794042 March 2019 Puffin $16.99 I have never been a student of post-war modern history so my knowledge of the Cold War has always been minimal – sketchy even – but, as serendipity would have it, not one but two of my most recent audio ‘reads’ on my daily commute have referenced…