Bren MacDibble - Children's & YA Writer

Reviews

Children's	Young Adult
The Other 'Other' Tale of the Three Little Pigs - Australian Script Centre Oakleigh Primary "Scene ten was my favourite because everyone laughed at Rock-Bottom bob when he said 'Dead! Bring out your dead! Half price removals!' and Grim Reaper said, 'He's dead on time." That was funny and excellent." Peter, Grade 2 "My favourite scene was scene three, 'Still Near a Forest". I felt happy at first and confident. In the play the fairy godmother was pretty and Cinderella was too! I was a narrator." Divya, Grade 2 "I like scene 3 because I have the most words in the scene. I feel very very Happy! I like the scene because there are lots of characters. I was dressed in a pink dress, two pink wings, and a pink crown." Karen, Grade 1 "This has been a wonderful experience for all involved. I have found working with a script that has allowed me to involve up to 60 children to be very unique. The play is funny and enjoyable and at no time did the children lose interest. They enthusiastically learned their lines and took on understudy roles. They were able to develop their acting and speaking skills to a very high level. The children have thoroughly enjoyed their experience and benefitted greatly from it." Helen, teacher. Ceduna Area School "We had a fabulous time with this wonderful play. I had over 40 students Reception - Year 5 performing, and it mattered not how many times we practised, I could still laugh at the jokes. The parents and families of course loved their children's performances." Teacher.	Being Bella Wang - SHiNy - Issue 4 The Fix (Sherwood Smith): "...MacDibble expertly evokes an exotic locale full of magic, as well as vivid, interesting characters with a strong bond." AS If (Alexandra Pierce): "...'Being Bella Wang' is set in that quintessentially Aussie exotic locale – Bali – and is focussed on Sienna, a clone of Bella Wang, a golf pro. For those of us who put up with excess parental pressure to be, to do, to accomplish… this will probably make you feel better. At least you aren’t your parent. MacDibble nicely ties in the science fiction element – which isn’t particularly overt, and is treated quite casually – with a fantasy element that fits its location nicely. The conclusion, while seemingly light-hearted, became darker and more threatening upon reflection." Last Short Story (Tansy Raynor Roberts): "... this emerging Australian writer has really hit her stride and found her voice in this marvellous YA story which touches on cloning, teen girl self esteem and Balinese mythology. Angsty, thoughtful and with a lovely sense of black humour, this is a definite must-read." Tansy also has 'Being Bella Wang' on her list of favs for 2008. The Elephant Forgets (Rich Horton): "... I liked Bren MacDibble's "Being Bella Wang", about various clones of a harsh and ambitious woman struggling to find their own identity." Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart): "Issue Four sees a return from Bren MacDibble, in 'Being Bella Wang.' A tale of identity, sibling rivalry, and the struggle to escape parental domination, the prose crackles nicely, and it takes advantage of an unusual setting to play some nice cross-cultural games. I liked this one a lot."
Honestly Ernest/Ernest Mice Mischief - Nelson ITP (Cengage) Dear Bren I really like the book you wrote called Honestly Ernest. I was wondering how do you become an author? You are the best author I know. Love, Anna. PS. I love making books. Dear Bren MacDibble, Why did you dedicate your life to write books? I really liked Honestly Ernest. Why did Ernest start to daydream? Honestly Ernest is my favourite book. From Sam. Dear Bren, I think Honestly Ernest was really interesting. You really used a lot of expression. Is it fun writing books? What AFL team do you go for? I think you should do a series of books. Love Etce. PS. I love books!	Blurred Horizons - Shiny - Issue 2 AS If (Rachel Holkner): "Once again Shiny leaves the best until last. Bren MacDibble's 'Blurred Horizons' was my favourite of the issue. In 2032 Tash and her mother manage a service station and take care of a small forest in isolated desert conditions. An unexpected visitor (aren't they always?) asks a difficult favour, and for no apparent reward. Tash is a spunky protagonist and the environmental theme is topical without being heavy. The backstory is left mostly unexplained, a change from the frequent unrelenting infodumps common to speculative fiction." Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart) "...Bren MacDibble’s well-composed and unusual time-travel tale 'Blurred Horizons' rounds out the issue." The Fix (Daniel Ausema): "My favorite in this issue is the science fictional 'Blurred Horizons' by Bren MacDibble. It’s a straightforward story of a youth who has grown up early and finds she must accomplish something even she might not be able to do. Young Tash—her age is never mentioned, but probably early teen—lives with her mother at a remote fueling station that won’t support them much longer. She’s proud of her ability to handle jobs the adults think someone her age, and especially a girl, shouldn’t be expected to do. Her greater pride, though, is in the forest that is her father’s legacy. In that forest, she finds a time traveler and agrees to help him save the world. I tend to be leery of time-traveler stories, and especially save-the-world time-traveling stories, but that’s the adult reader in me. Ignoring that bias, I found a lot of fun in this story, definitely the type I would have loved when I was in my teens and even earlier. My only real complaint is that it was supposedly set only about 25 years from now, but the desolate fueling station and Mad-Max-type decay of the aging transports felt considerably farther into the future."

Children's

Young Adult

The Other 'Other' Tale of the Three Little Pigs - Australian Script Centre

Oakleigh Primary

"Scene ten was my favourite because everyone laughed at Rock-Bottom bob when he said 'Dead! Bring out your dead! Half price removals!' and Grim Reaper said, 'He's dead on time." That was funny and excellent." Peter, Grade 2

"My favourite scene was scene three, 'Still Near a Forest". I felt happy at first and confident. In the play the fairy godmother was pretty and Cinderella was too! I was a narrator." Divya, Grade 2

"I like scene 3 because I have the most words in the scene. I feel very very Happy! I like the scene because there are lots of characters. I was dressed in a pink dress, two pink wings, and a pink crown." Karen, Grade 1

"This has been a wonderful experience for all involved. I have found working with a script that has allowed me to involve up to 60 children to be very unique. The play is funny and enjoyable and at no time did the children lose interest. They enthusiastically learned their lines and took on understudy roles. They were able to develop their acting and speaking skills to a very high level. The children have thoroughly enjoyed their experience and benefitted greatly from it." Helen, teacher.

Ceduna Area School "We had a fabulous time with this wonderful play. I had over 40 students Reception - Year 5 performing, and it mattered not how many times we practised, I could still laugh at the jokes. The parents and families of course loved their children's performances." Teacher.

Being Bella Wang - SHiNy - Issue 4

The Fix (Sherwood Smith): "...MacDibble expertly evokes an exotic locale full of magic, as well as vivid, interesting characters with a strong bond."

AS If (Alexandra Pierce): "...'Being Bella Wang' is set in that quintessentially Aussie exotic locale – Bali – and is focussed on Sienna, a clone of Bella Wang, a golf pro. For those of us who put up with excess parental pressure to be, to do, to accomplish… this will probably make you feel better. At least you aren’t your parent. MacDibble nicely ties in the science fiction element – which isn’t particularly overt, and is treated quite casually – with a fantasy element that fits its location nicely. The conclusion, while seemingly light-hearted, became darker and more threatening upon reflection."

Last Short Story (Tansy Raynor Roberts): "... this emerging Australian writer has really hit her stride and found her voice in this marvellous YA story which touches on cloning, teen girl self esteem and Balinese mythology. Angsty, thoughtful and with a lovely sense of black humour, this is a definite must-read." Tansy also has 'Being Bella Wang' on her list of favs for 2008.

The Elephant Forgets (Rich Horton): "... I liked Bren MacDibble's "Being Bella Wang", about various clones of a harsh and ambitious woman struggling to find their own identity."

Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart): "Issue Four sees a return from Bren MacDibble, in 'Being Bella Wang.' A tale of identity, sibling rivalry, and the struggle to escape parental domination, the prose crackles nicely, and it takes advantage of an unusual setting to play some nice cross-cultural games. I liked this one a lot."

Honestly Ernest/Ernest Mice Mischief - Nelson ITP (Cengage)

Dear Bren
I really like the book you wrote called Honestly Ernest. I was wondering how do you become an author? You are the best author I know.
Love, Anna.
PS. I love making books.

Dear Bren MacDibble,
Why did you dedicate your life to write books? I really liked Honestly Ernest. Why did Ernest start to daydream? Honestly Ernest is my favourite book.
From Sam.

Dear Bren,
I think Honestly Ernest was really interesting. You really used a lot of expression. Is it fun writing books? What AFL team do you go for? I think you should do a series of books.
Love Etce.
PS. I love books!

handprint

Blurred Horizons - Shiny - Issue 2

AS If (Rachel Holkner): "Once again Shiny leaves the best until last. Bren MacDibble's 'Blurred Horizons' was my favourite of the issue. In 2032 Tash and her mother manage a service station and take care of a small forest in isolated desert conditions. An unexpected visitor (aren't they always?) asks a difficult favour, and for no apparent reward. Tash is a spunky protagonist and the environmental theme is topical without being heavy. The backstory is left mostly unexplained, a change from the frequent unrelenting infodumps common to speculative fiction."

Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart) "...Bren MacDibble’s well-composed and unusual time-travel tale 'Blurred Horizons' rounds out the issue."

The Fix (Daniel Ausema): "My favorite in this issue is the science fictional 'Blurred Horizons' by Bren MacDibble. It’s a straightforward story of a youth who has grown up early and finds she must accomplish something even she might not be able to do.
Young Tash—her age is never mentioned, but probably early teen—lives with her mother at a remote fueling station that won’t support them much longer. She’s proud of her ability to handle jobs the adults think someone her age, and especially a girl, shouldn’t be expected to do. Her greater pride, though, is in the forest that is her father’s legacy. In that forest, she finds a time traveler and agrees to help him save the world.
I tend to be leery of time-traveler stories, and especially save-the-world time-traveling stories, but that’s the adult reader in me. Ignoring that bias, I found a lot of fun in this story, definitely the type I would have loved when I was in my teens and even earlier. My only real complaint is that it was supposedly set only about 25 years from now, but the desolate fueling station and Mad-Max-type decay of the aging transports felt considerably farther into the future."