The Last Cuentista

ISBN 9781646144129

Regular price $16.50
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by Donna Barba Higuera

Winner of the John Newbery Medal

Winner of the Pura Belpre Award

From Pura Belpre Award winner and Newbery Medalist, Donna Barba Higuera-a brilliant journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human.

Habia una vez . . .

There lived a girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.

But Petra's world is ending. 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. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.

Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether.

Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Recommended for readers ages 10-14 years.

Softcover, 352 pages.

Lantern Paperbacks.


TIME 's Best Books of the Year
Wall Street Journal 's Best of the Year
Minneapolis Star Tribune 's Best of the Year
Boston Globe 's Best of the Year
BookPage 's Best of the Year
Publishers Weekly 's Best of the Year
School Library Journal 's Best of the Year

Kirkus Reviews ' Best of the Year
Bank Street's Best of the Year
Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
New York Public Library Best of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Cybils Award Finalist


Gripping in its twists and turns, and moving in its themes - truly a beautiful cuento."- New York Times

"Clever and compelling . . . wonderfully subversive."- The Wall Street Journal

★ "This tale packs a wallop. Exquisite."- Kirkus Reviews (starred)

★ "Gripping, euphonious, and full of storytelling magic."- Publishers Weekly (starred)

★ "A strong, heroic character, fighting incredible odds to survive and protect others."- School Library Journal (starred)

Donna Barba Higuera grew up in Central California and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. She has spent her entire life blending folklore with her experiences into stories that fill her imagination. Now she weaves them to write picture books and novels. Donna's first book, Lupe Wong Won't Dance, won a Sid Fleischman Award for Humor and a Pura Belpre Honor.

Her second novel, The Last Cuentista, received the John Newbery Medal and the Pura Belpre Award. It was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Boston Globe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and TIME.