Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Last Cuentista (Levine Querido, 2021) by Donna Barba Higuera is a scary and compelling story of survival in the future and the power of storytelling.
Twelve-year-old Petra Peña and her family are leaving earth before it is destroyed. But first she has to say good-bye to her abuelita (grandmother), who tells her cuentos (tall tales), and isn’t going on the trip to a new planet. Petra expects to sleep in a stasis pod for 380 years, but something has gone wrong. She’s not sleeping. And then when Petra does awake, it’s to a nightmare of changed people, The Collective, who have renamed her Zeta-1 and expect that she’ll serve them, or be purged.
This book won the 2022 Newbery award and the 2022 Pura Belpré Medal. I think it’s great that this sci-fi story has so much recognition.
Read about Donna here and check out her other books here.
I enjoyed this story a lot when I read it last year 🙂
Cool!
Wow. That cover alone is a masterpiece. This publisher puts out amazing stories.
It is beautiful!
Yes, the cover really draws you in. It also sounds like the story is equally good. Thanks for featuring on MMGM this week.
I practically could have sat down and reread it from the beginning again. Thanks for hosting MMGM.
Well this sounds very compelling. I love futuristic tales like this one. It’s won awards and I still haven’t read it — need to do so.
It IS compelling.
Sounds a little dark for me. But glad you enjoyed it.
It is dark–leaning into the YA space, but definitely a read some middle grade readers will enjoy.
The cover is gorgeous. I don’t read science fiction, but this does sound like a book a lot of young readers would enjoy. Thanks for telling me about it.
I love scifi. You might give this one a try.