Description
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.
Review
Bastienne Scull is an orphan who has been apprenticed to the glamorous Lodyma Darsey to witness miracles. This is in a post-pandemic world where the men - those that are left - live in the hills trying to avoid the next wave of the disease.
They rarely visit the women who live in the villages and Lodyma doesn’t even know if her last remaining family member, her son who she sent to the hills ten years ago, is alive. So when a discovery is made that may show that he has lived, Bastienne is determined to help reunite her family.
Imagine a world where there is so little left. No cars, no electricity, no phones or internet. It’s hard to imagine but this is the world where this delightful book is set. Bastienne still has access to old instant cameras and loves nothing more than taking photos of small miracles and acts of love that she witnesses.
Filled with themes of climate change and living with pandemics, resilience, family and friendship, this is a wonderful book that shows that courage, love and hope can prevail in the worst of circumstances. It is best suited to readers aged nine to thirteen, but I see it firmly placed as a classroom group discussion novel for upper primary students.
