Entertainment
27 November, 2025
Middle school books a fun departure for author
MIDDLE-GRADE reading books just got a whole lot brighter with the release of three fast-paced stories mixing mayhem and make-believe.
It’s a big departure for popular FNQ contemporary romance writer Frances Dall’Alba, but the books were inspired by her daughter - in a most unusual way.
“It’s a long story, but one daughter in Townsville during summer university break ... sent a message one morning to say she’d dreamt that she was reading a book called, ‘There’s A Goldfish In My Living Room’,” Ms Dall’Alba said.
“When she woke up, she googled the title and was disappointed that such a book didn’t exist and it really was only a dream.
“As any author mum would say, I told her to give me the details of the book from her dream that she could remember, and to give me 12 months, and I would see what I could do.”
The creation took a few years longer than planned, and Ms Dall’Alba said she wrote another two books before learning that the original book in her daughter’s dream had been a picture book.
“I guess if she’d told me that straightaway, we wouldn’t be
here today,” she added.
The first book in the series, There’s a Goldfish in My Living
Room, received glowing reviews, with one critic describing it as funny and fast-paced.
It tells of an ordinary boy thrown into an unexpected kind of mess - a talking goldfish that simply will not go away.
“Joey’s life spins out of control as the line between real and make-believe starts to fade in the most entertaining ways,” the review said.
“The book is full of warmth, wit, and just enough strangeness to keep readers turning the pages.
The second book in the Joey series, There’s A Giant Woolly Mammoth In My Basement, is, as the title states, about a mammoth in said basement who brings frosty air, stalactites, icebergs, a trumpeting voice and a lesson: be kinder to animals.
Book 3, There’s a Frilled-neck Lizard In My Bathroom, causes similar disruptions and adventures, but this time forces Joey to consider the waste of water in summertime.
“Writing for middle-grade in a different tense and point of view was completely new and unexpected,” Ms Dall’Alba said.
“The fact that they’re humorous and fast-paced, couldn’t be further away from my romance books.
“There are three more in the planning stage, which will get Joey to the end of being 13 years old.
Fans of her romance books can breathe easy, however, as Ms Dall’Alba’s next romance book is already on track to be published early next year.
With three more Joey books, and a brand new romance series, which is still in the planning stages, there are plenty of new reads coming up for both young and older.
To buy the books online go to: https://francesdallalba.wixsite.com/francesdallalba/thejoeyseries
