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May 26 Book Club Pick YA

Apr 2026

Author: MacDibble, Bren

Category: Book Club Notes, Children's, teenage & educational

Publisher: A & U Children

ISBN: 9781761180781

RRP: 17.99

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Synopsis

Bastienne Scull is nearly twelve years old and lives a simple life as an apprentice to the Witnesser of Miracles in a small village mostly populated by women and girls. Basti knows that miracle-hunting is a lot like mystery-solving, and her little world is full of wonder and intrigue and unexpected adventure. A supremely enjoyable middle grade novel from the multi award-winning, bestselling author of How to Bee, The Dog Runner and The Raven's Song. That's what my photos are. Little moments. All the good moments, the kind moments, the moments of care and love that, if you add them all together, make a life sweet. Bastienne Scull is a young orphan who lives with the local Witnesser of Miracles, Lodyma Darsey, who investigates 'miraculous events' and spins them into stories she tells at the night markets. After Lodyma's husband and elder son died of a sickness that continues to sweep the land, she sent her teenage son Osmin into the hills to live with the mountain men. That was ten years ago, and Lodyma doesn't know if he's alive or dead. And she's taken Bastienne as an apprentice to fill the void of her lost family. One day, two young boys arrive in town asking Lodyma to go on a mysterious mission to a monastery. And when Lodyma and Bastienne arrive, what they discover will change their lives. A wonderful novel, full of hope, courage, resilience and family. 'A classic MacDibble: young Basti is a delight as she searches for her strength and a family in a post-apocalyptic world, leaving us with a glimmer of hope for her future and our own.' - Wendy Orr 'Bren MacDibble has become well-known for her unique and heartfelt adventure novels ... and The Apprentice Witnesser, is no exception... She is particularly astute at writing timely and inventive stories exploring the impacts of climate change. [There are] plenty of twists for younger readers who enjoy a good dash of marvel and intrigue with their adventure stories. MacDibble's use of language is unparalleled, and she illustrates hope and resilience through her characters.' - Books & Publishing

Each month Good Reading for Young Adults features a book for our online book club. Our May 26 book selection is The Apprentice Witnesser, a story full of hope, courage, resilience and family.

So, get your book club friends together and get reading. And don’t forget to check out the teaching notes below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bren MacDibble was raised on farms all over New Zealand, backpacked the world in her twenties, stopped off in Australia on the way home and stayed. She lived in Melbourne for twenty years, then travelled Australia living and working in a bus, and now runs holiday villas on the stunning coral coast of Western Australia. In 2018, How to Bee – her first novel for younger readers – won the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers, the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature, and the New Zealand Book Awards Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction. In 2019 The Dog Runner won the New Zealand Book Awards Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction. Across the Risen Sea (2020) was shortlisted for multiple awards and nominated for a CILIP Carnegie medal. The Raven’s Song (2022), co-written with Zana Fraillon, was an Honour Book for the CBCA Award for Younger Readers. Bren also writes for young adults under the name Cally Black.