The Last Storyteller: Winner of the Newbery Medal
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By Donna Barba Higuera
avg rating
5 reviews
An unforgettable journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human. The incredible Newbery Medal-winning novel from Donna Barba Higuera.
""Gripping in its twists and turns, and moving in its themes – truly a beautiful cuento.""
- NEW YORK TIMES
Había una vez . . .
There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.
But Petra’s world is ending. Earth will soon be 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?
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A brilliant book that evokes "The Giver", but with more plausible world building. My only complaint is they changed the title for the British reader from The Last Cuentista as the interlaced Spanish is an important part of this book.
A brilliant book that evokes "The Giver" (but with more plausible world building!) M
it was moving
An excellent and poignant read. Thoughtful dystopian fiction with a lovely Mexican/Latino flavour. Slightly too long as many children's books are.
A gorgeous book for middle grade readers (age 10-14) which celebrates the power of stories. Weaving together folklore and science fiction it is an intriguing read, in turns upsetting and full of hope. Petra escapes with her family from a doomed Earth. As she crosses the galaxy she gains knowledge, forms friendships and creates new stories of her own in the face of what often seem to be insurmountable odds. Kept the suspense going right to the last page.
