Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Bear in the Woods: Peski Kids #2 – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin 9780143788836 January 8, 2019 Puffin   $!6.99 R. A. Spratt has been entertaining readers hugely for some time now with Nanny Piggins and Friday Barnes and now with her new series The Peski Kids which is every bit as funny and quirky as her others. In this second instalment the Peskis are doing their…

  • The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Provence (The Girl, the Dog and the Writer, Book 2) – Katrina Nannestad

    Harper Collins Australia ISBN: 9780733338182 ISBN 10: 0733338186 Imprint: ABC Books – AU October 2018 RRP: 16.99 AUD Young Freja, sensitive and intelligent, along with the hairy hound Finnegan and eccentric crime writer Tobby have left Rome to go to the picturesque village of Claviers in Provence, where it just happens their beautiful friend Vivi has also moved to…

  • Ariki and the Giant Shark – Nicola Davies. Illustrated by Nicola Kinnear.

    Walker Books Australia July 2018 ISBN: 9781406369793 Imprint: Walker Australian RRP: $12.99 New Zealand RRP: $14.99 It can be difficult to find fiction that focuses on the Pacific/Polynesian cultures particularly for younger readers but this first book in a new series promises to be rich material for this aspect of HASS as well as being an entertaining mystery/adventure. Ariki…

  • The City of Guardian Stones – Jacob Sager Weinstein

    Walker Books Australia ISBN: 9781406368864 Imprint: Walker Release Date: November 1, 2018 Australian RRP: $16.99 New Zealand RRP: $18.99 In the first of the trilogy The City of Secret Rivers Hyacinth Hayward managed to thwart the plot to control the magical powers of the underground waters of London and also gain some inkling about her family’s role as protectors of…

  • His Name was Walter – Emily Rodda

    Harper Collins ISBN: 9781460756188 ISBN 10: 1460756185 Imprint: HarperCollins – AU On Sale: 23/07/2018 List Price: 22.99 AUD Oh my gosh!   Yes, of course there will be more to say but really this book was so incredible it really did almost leave me speechless. Just when I think Emily Rodda cannot get any better (I mean, I just loved…

  • Wundersmith : The Calling of Morrigan Crow : Nevermoor 2– Jessica Townsend

    Hachette OCT 30, 2018 | 9780734418227 | RRP $16.99 Imprint: Lothian Books Morrigan is back! The eagerly anticipated second instalment of Nevermoor is no disappointment and the many readers who are bursting at the seams waiting to get their hands on a copy will be delighted. Now that Morrigan has passed her trials she becomes part of Unit 919…

  • The Storm Keeper’s Island – Catherine Doyle

    Bloomsbury Australia August 2018 ISBN: 9781408896884 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP :$14.99 What a simply sparkling debut novel! It did take me two nights rather than my usual one (but I confess a little tiredness even after a week of holidays) but it was simply page-turning and thoroughly engrossing. Fionn Boyle and his older sister…

  • Finch – Penny Matthews

    Walker Books ISBN: 9781760650759 Release Date: August 1, 2018 Australian RRP: $16.99 Even in holiday mode it’s a big ask for me to read a book in one sitting but this one is a corker! At once a coming-of-age story and a beautiful reflection on accepting differences its country setting along with an environmental theme provides a strong…

  • Fabio the World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective: The Case of the Missing Hippo – Laura James

    Bloomsbury March 2018 ISBN: 9781408889312 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP  : AU$12.99 Like many others I am addicted to great detective fiction be it books or TV shows and also like many others my favourite sleuth is the one and only Hercule Poirot (as in David Suchet not – you know who KB bleuggh). So…

  • The House of Unexpected Sisters – The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series – Alexander McCall-Smith

    Hachette Imprint: littlebrown.co.uk September 2017 ISBN 9781408708156 RRP: $29.99 When you’ve spent the first week of your holidays sick, trying to do much-needed spring-cleaning in short bursts between resting you tend to feel pretty dreary. So to sit in my comfy  bed with fresh clean sheets, a lovely new doona cover in soothing colours, and…