Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Summer of Shipwrecks – Shivaun Plozza

    UQP September 2024 ISBN 9780702268373 RRP: $16.99 2024 was, as I’ve said many times, a year for splendid Australian middle-grade novels and this, the latest from Shivaun Plozza is a prime example. That transition between end of primary/start of secondary is a difficult time for many tweens. It’s often a time when long-held friendships unravel…

  • Yanga Mother – Cheryl Leavy. Illustrated by Christopher Bassi.

    UQP July 2024 9780702268311 RRP: $24.99 A story of love, language and culture which speaks to the very essence of loss, colonisation, connection and resilience. This is not only an asset to preschool, kindergarten and older readers, but to all who open the first page of this exquisite book.’ Dr Jackie Huggins Yesterday evening (7/11)…

  • Leo and Ralph – Peter Carnavas

    UQ Press February 2024 ISBN: 9780702266218 RRP: $16.99 I did have to wait a while to get my hands on this one, but thank you UQP for allowing me to do so at last 🙏. Not only because Peter is a ‘local’, and I’ve had the good fortune to meet with him, but because his…

  • The Christmas Wish (The Wish Sisters series) -Allison Rushby. Illustrated by Karen Blair.

    UQP October 2023 ISBN: 9780702266362 RRP: $12.99 The Wish Sisters series has already established a following among those young newly independent readers who respond well to everyday family life with an added twist of fantasy and humour. These stories have a flavour that strongly reminds me of E. Nesbit’s Five Children and It, in which…