Winner of the 2022 Newbery Medal
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 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?
Pura Belpré Honor-winning author Donna Barba Higuera presents us with a brilliant journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human.---from the publisher
336 pages 978-1646140893 Ages 10-14
Keywords: science fiction, dystopian, Latina, Latina author, Mexican, society, individuality, social conditions, social issues, culture, multicultural, family, diversity, diverse books, girls and women, stories, storytelling, action/adventure, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, 13 year old, 14 year old, Newbery Medal
Editor's note: Definition of cuentista: storyteller