The Dog Runner
Bren MacDibble
Allen & Unwin
pub. 2019

August 26, 2021

MacDibble writes from Ella’s point of view about a dystopian Australia, where a fungus has killed all of the food. Ella has a brother named Emery who is three years older than her, and her dad lives with her too.

Her mom is an electrical engineer, and she is gone; working in the city. They live with three dogs: Maroochy, Bear and Wolf. Emery trades some of Ella’s cookies for two dogs and a dog cart. While their dad is out they realise they have to make the trip to Emery’s ma’s mushroom farm. They leave, writing a message to their dad before they begin their journey. Now, “they must find a way to navigate through rough terrain and even rougher encounters with desperate people…”

This is one of my favourite books, and I would give it five out of five stars. I really like the plot and the grammar is pleasantly a little bit different.

I like action and adventure stories, and this was perfect for me. Also, I really like the cover illustrations, but there are no pictures inside the book.

I love dogs, and I felt a little sad when one dog got hurt, but anyway… as you can probably tell, this book has dogs in it. Reading the book and the descriptions of the dogs, I can tell that they are really cute. The Dog Runner is a great book, and if you can I think you should read it.

• Beckett Dada-Maroni is 11 years old and lives in Wakefield.