Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Fast Fish – Gregg Dreise

    Magabala Books Hachette April 2025 | 9781922777751 | RRP $27.99 Have you ever seen a Gregg Dreise book less than spectacular? Yeah, nor me – and this one is another must-have resource for your collection. Gregg’s take on creating new and vibrant narratives based on old Dreaming tales is always both impressive and a fun learning journey for Smalls.…

  • Desert Tracks -Marly Wells & Linda Wells

    Magabala Books May 2025 978-1-922777-66-9 RRP. $22.99 What an absolutely sensational book this is! Easy to see why it won the Daisy Utemorrah Award! And I’m going to say right now, this is one you not only need for your collection, but need to actively promote to your staff, especially those of you looking to…

  • Hairy Holes #2 – Brenton E. McKenna

    Magabala Books Hachette Australia Apr 8, 2025 | 9781922777591 | RRP $17.99 It’s certainly been a long time since I reviewed one of Brenton McKenna’s books but it’s great to see that he continues to engage young readers with First Nations titles that are unique and innovative. This is the second in this series which combines a range of…

  • Getting Dusty: Uncle Xbox #2- Jared Thomas

    Magabala Books February 2025 Hachette Australia 9781922777546 | RRP $17.99 Just over a decade ago I reviewed Dr Jared Thomas’ YA novel Calypso Summer, which was quite the wild ride showing two sides of young urban Indigenous culture, particularly young men. Over the intervening years Jared has continued to go from strength to strength, award to award…

  • The First Sunrise – Nessa Stevens. Paul Seder

    Magabala Books February 2025  9781922777553 | RRP $27.99 Hachette Australia I am always excited by First Nations books and I can’t think of a single one that hasn’t made me feel that way. But every now and then, one comes along that is really out of the box and this is one of those. There are a…

  • Young Dark Emu: a Truer History – Bruce Pascoe

    Imprint: Magabala Books Hachette Books February 2025 ISBN: 9781922777508 RRP: $29.99 Eleven years ago this month, I had the great pleasure of reading and reviewing Dark Emu – Blackseeds: Accident or Agriculture? for Magabala and in that review, I commented on how much new information I gleaned from this detailed and knowledge-based account from a…

  • My Dad’s Gone Away – Andrew Krakouer & Jacqueline Dinan. Illustrated by Paul Seden.

    Magabala Books October 2024 9781922777249 AUD$27.99, NZD$32.99 It’s not just the fact that over 30 years of teaching I’ve encountered and taught many children who had a parent incarcerated, or that The Kid had a best friend who also lived with her grandmother, because Mum was dead and Dad was in jail. But I can…

  • Big, Big Love – Lisa Fuller & Samantha Campbell

    Magabala Books April 2024 ISBN978-1-921248-96-2 RRP: $27.99 What a darling book this is and how pleased I am that it has come my way. It is essentially very simple,but it is also so profoundly special as it expresses a mother’s heart and overwhelming love for her child. I loved you before you were born and…

  • Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu When I was a little girl – Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr

    Magabala Books July 2024 ISBN: 9781922142306 RRP: $27.99 As you can imagine, I think the bond between grandmother and granddaughter is particularly special. It certainly is for me and The Kid, as it’s now been over nine years that I have been her ‘parental’ person. But I think it is the same the world over,…

  • NAIDOC Week 2023

    National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of…