Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Catty Corner: #1 and #2 – Julie Murphy

    I’ve been a fan of Julie Murphy’s writing since I first read Dumplin’ [wow! ten years old now!] when she gave fat girls back the power (by the way, the movie was pretty good too, if you’ve not seen it yet!). This is a new series for younger readers to MG, and again, puts the…

  • Maggie the Dragon : Chase your Dreams! – Tony Armstrong. Illustrated by Emma Sjaan Beukers.

    Hachette Australia May 2025 ISBN: 9780734422187 | RRP $24.99 Of course, this one is included in this week’s Reconciliation Week titles because, let’s face it, Tony Armstrong has become one of the most recognisable First Nations faces in the country over the past few years. George the Wizard, Tony’s first picture book was pretty commercial but I…

  • Dragonkeeper – Carole Wilkinson

    Walker Books December 2024 ISBN13:9781761601446 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 What a series this is and how loved it has been by so many over the years! I loved Dragonkeeper the first time I read it over 20 years ago and have re-read it more than once. When I read and reviewed Bronze Bird Tower…

  • Thank You: how to turn a grey day into a Yay day – Josh Langley

    Big Sky Publishing May 2024 LIST PRICE: AU$ 14.99 / NZ$ 17.99 I am grateful for the beach. I am grateful for The Kid. I am grateful for mangoes.  I am grateful for our cat, even if she’s snarky. I am grateful for books.  I am especially grateful for Josh Langley’s books… and this new…

  • Blair Moon – how to be cooler than the moon: Ashleigh Mounser

    Ford St Publishing October 2023 ISBN: 9781922696373 RRP: $18.99 Blair Moon is not your average 11 year old. She lives in the nursing home where her mother works, and her best friends are residents, Edgar and Nancy. Nancy is also Blair’s home school teacher, not that Blair needs much teaching as she’s more like a…

  • Ellie Pillai is Brown – Christine Pillainayagam

    Faber & Faber July 2022 ISBN: 9780571366910ISBN-10: 0571366910RRP: $17.99 This is a debut novel of true exceptional talent IMO. I love a good romance and when it’s interwoven with self-discovery, diversity, cultural differences, regular teen relationships and issues, and music – all the better! Also, this is definitely the first YA (or indeed any book) I have…

  • Gus and the Starlight – Victoria Carless

    Harper Collins May 2022 ISBN: 9781460760642 ISBN 10: 1460760646 Imprint: HarperCollins AU List Price: 16.99 AUD This is such a completely fresh take on both family stories and ghost stories. It is charming, poignant and thoroughly engaging for readers from around mid-primary to lower secondary. Gus is tired of moving house and never belonging anywhere. It’s the reason she…

  • Being You is Enough series- Josh Langley

    Big Sky Publishing RRP: $14.99 It was such a joy to become connected with the uber-talented Josh Langley online earlier this year and to discover his own magical brand of positivity, particularly as it applies to children. It’s taken a while but this week I received the four books in his amazingly successful series and…

  • The Witches – Roald Dahl

    Penguin Australia November 2020 ISBN: 9780241438817 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $14.99 Oh yes!! it’s arrived!! the scrumpdiddlyumptious new The Witches on the screen and in the book!!! Thank you so much to Penguin Australia for not only the opportunity to have the brand new edition of the original book with a whizzbanging new movie tie-in cover but the double…

  • Mind Shift to a Better Place – Dr Larsen, Mindshift Foundation, Elizabeth Venzin

    Harper Collins Australia February 2020 ISBN: 9780733340451 ISBN 10: 0733340458 Imprint: ABC Books – AU List Price: 32.99 AUD Thankfully mental health has become not only de-stigmatised but supported and managed in ways that previously we had never experienced. It’s fair to say that 2020 has taken almost all of us to emotional places we had never expected to…