The Apprentice Witnesser

The Apprentice Witnesser Synopsis

WINNER: 2024 Best Children's Fiction, Aurealis Awards
SHORTLISTED: 2025 Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction, New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
SHORTLISTED: 2025 Fiction Prize, Environment Award for Children's Literature
SHORTLISTED: 2025 Children's Book of the Year, WA Premier's Book Awards

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