Bren MacDibble is no stranger to the CBCA shortlist. In 2018, her novel How to Bee took home the Book Of The Year gong, and I’m not surprised that The Dog Runner is in this year’s shortlist.
MacDibble is a master at creating worlds just out of reach of our reality. (Having said that, living through a pandemic makes me question how far off these scenarios really are…) The narrator, gutsy Ella, and her half-brother Emery with a host of big, strong and loyal canine companions, undertake a perilous journey of survival.
First things first: this is a heart-stopping, fast-paced, roller-coaster of a read, and highly recommended for upper primary students.
That’s a good enough reason to pick it up.
However, as I can’t help myself, the possibilities for library and classroom use are immense.

• Social and emotional learning – themes of persistence, courage, resilience. Diverse characters and families lend themselves to discussions of belonging. The indigenous connection to the land, immigration and blended families are seamlessly interwoven throughout, and provide rich material for students to consider.
• Research opportunities, particularly within geography and science including, but not limited to, climate change; climate change activists;  the indigenous approach to cool burning (a great resource: https://www.coolaustralia.org/unit/cool-burning-primary/); ecosystems; soil; fungi; grass; farm-to-table; introduced species; landforms; malamutes and huskies; dogsledding; and probably many more.
• Creative writing – building a world where one change to the ecosystem has potentially catastrophic consequences for the planet; first person narrator; character development; rising tension; capturing authentic voices for each character;
• Additional reading for students. See below for a couple of suggestions to get started:
  • MacDibble recommends Dark Emu (I would probably recommend Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe) and The Biggest Estate on Earth – Bill Gammage.
  • Other books within the dystopian/climate genre:
    • How to Bee (Bren MacDibble)
    • Grimsdon (Deborah Abela)
    • The Last Wild (Piers Today)
  • Climate Change:
    • The Drum – Atmospheric: The burning story of climate change (Carole Wilkinson)
    • What is Climate Change? (Gail Herman)