the last storyteller donna barba higuera

' 'A strong, heroic character, fighting incredible odds to survive and protect others.'- School Library Journal (starred), Captivating the reader to partake in a voyage of unforgettable cuento (which means 'story' in English of what it means to adapt, believe, and find one's self.' - Al Dia News The story is fun, vibrant, and relatable. Although this is a middle-grade dystopian novel, it is poetically magical while honoring the storytelling of our ancestors and Mexican folklore. 'The Last Cuentista is a beautiful middle grade story of a young Latina who must leave a no longer inhabitable Earth and learns the importance of adapting. If we make a new society by forgetting what we have left behind, will we know what it is to be human? A novel about the importance of remembering stories and passing them on, and of creating our own stories.' -Five Books But on board her spaceship a fanatical Collective is bent on creating a utopia by erasing everyone's memories and purging those they are unable to reprogramme. If you leave Earth in the knowledge that you can never return, what will you want to take with you? 12 year old Petra Peña chooses her grandmother's stories.

?'Science fiction blended with Mexican folklore. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.īut Petra's world is ending. ★ 'A strong, heroic character, fighting incredible odds to survive and protect others.'- School Library Journal (starred) ★ 'Gripping, euphonious, and full of storytelling magic.'- Publishers Weekly (starred) wonderfully subversive.'- The Wall Street Journal

'Gripping in its twists and turns, and moving in its themes - truly a beautiful cuento.'- New York Times School Library Journal's Best of the YearĬhicago Public Library's Best of the Bestįrom Pura Belpré Award winner and Newbery Medalist, Donna Barba Higuera-a brilliant journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human. Minneapolis Star Tribune's Best of the Year Description Winner of the John Newbery Medal

The last storyteller donna barba higuera