Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The First Summer of Callie McGee – A. L. Tait

    Scholastic August 2023 ISBN: 9781760260163ISBN-10: 1760260169  A L Tait makes an impressive departure from her usual historical/fantasywriting, with this thoroughly engaging contemporary middle-grade novel. Calliope-Jean Maree McGee is about to start high school. It’s not the selective high school that her mother wanted her to attend, and that’s just fine by this tween who is keen to…

  • The Newshound[The Dog Squad #1]-Clara Vulliamy

    Harper Collins Australia August 2023 ISBN 9780008565336 RRP: $15.99 This is just pure fun, feel-good all the way, and made for an enjoyable read. Your confident independent readers who are already loving Dotty Detective and Marshmallow Pie, will go just as nuts for this new series – particularly, of course, if they are dog-lovers! Central…

  • Monster Island – George Ivanoff

    Penguin Australia Soooooooo, take a little Jurassic Park, a pinch of Big Foot, a handful of Little Shop of Horrors, a smidgin of mad scientists, a scoop of Bass Strait Triangle [like the Bermuda one, but closer] and an actual drop bear, and stir vigorously with some George Ivanoff – and voila! the perfect, albeit…

  • Miss Penny Dreadful & the Malicious Maze – Allison Rushby

    Walker Books Australia ISBN13:9781760654047 Australia RRP:$15.99 New Zealand RRP:$17.99 I love a great mystery, and I especially like that some of our authors will pitch this popular genre to our younger readers. This is the second Penny Dreadful from Allison Rushby and I can already see a growing fanbase for this series. We know Penny…

  • The Hidden Girl – Louise Bassett

    Walker Books Australia August 2022 Imprint:Walker Books Australia ISBN 9781760654788 Australia RRP:$19.99 New Zealand RRP:$21.99 It is clear to see why Louise Bassett‘s debut novel was short-listed for the Ampersand Prize. It is a tense and gripping mystery/thriller that will hook readers in from the first page. Drawing on her real-life experience working in the…

  • Spark – M.G. Leonard

    Walker Books September 2022 Imprint:Walker Books ISBN13:9781406389388 Australia RRP:$18.99 New Zealand RRP:$21.99 There is something quintessentially English about a group of children who are into bird-watching I think, especially when combined with all the other great things going on in this series. A diverse cast of characters, an appealing setting where the kids can roam…

  • Miss Penny Dreadful & the Midnight Kittens – Allison Rushby

    Walker Books Australia August 2022 ISBN: 9781760654030 RRP: $15.99 Allison Rushby‘s delightful new book brings together a host of currently popular themes but presented for your lower primary readers. In the vein of Enola Holmes or Rose Ravensthorpe, this tricky mystery combines all the charm of Victorian quirkiness with strong female characters who possess both boldness…

  • Scorpion Falls – Martin Chatterton

    Ford St Publishing August 2022 ISBN: 978781922696090 RRP: $18.99 Honestly, my first thought as I really got underway with this new offering from Martin Chatterton was: the Stranger Things fans are going to LOVE this!  Lo and behold when I visited Martin’s website before beginning to write this review, he makes the same comment. Always…

  • Willa and Woof 1: Mimi is Missing – Jacqueline Harvey

    Penguin Random House  5 July 2022 ISBN: 9781761043314 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $12.99 Question: What’s more exciting than a brand spanking new Jacqueline Harvey book? Answer: A brand-new Jacqueline Harvey series!! That’s right folks! In case you’ve missed the excitement of last week’s release AND – can you believe it? – television ads to promote it! – Jacqueline’s…

  • Seven Days- Fleur Ferris

    Penguin Australia May 2022 ISBN: 9781761043352 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $16.99 I really do love a good countdown action/adventure and Fleur Ferris has brought her masterful manipulation of tension into a fantastic new narrative for middle school readers. In similar fashion to her hugely successful and popular suspenseful stories for YA kiddos, this one follows a cracking pace from…