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The Last Cuentista
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?
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?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 2021
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32950 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,508 reviews
March 12, 2021
This beautiful book is going to blow people's minds. It MATTERS.
February 27, 2022
I guess I'm going to be one of the very tiny minority who didn't love this. I get why its themes of the importance of story memory and the dangers of conformity lit up the Newbery committee. Those are the things about the book I appreciated too. However, it requires far more suspension of disbelief than I was prepared to go in with. (Maybe if it had started a little farther in the future. Maybe if it had been a different comet. Maybe if I could have seen Petra's inability to fall directly to sleep as anything but a information conveying plot device badly executed. Maybe.) It felt like every chapter I was asked to swallow something else that just didn't feel plausible but was being forced into what the author needed for her plot. (To be fair, I'm hard to please when it comes to dystopian science-fiction.) Unfortunately, I'm also a character reader, and this book is severely lacking in both characterization and arc development, so mostly I was just bored. So. Bored. So very very bored.
February 19, 2022
The Last Cuentista is S T U N N I N G, both as a physical book and as a story.
Petra Peña is a young girl who embarks on a journey as humanity’s last hope when Halley’s comet officially heads on a collision course with earth. Petra and her family of highly trained scientists are put in status for the 300 year journey, but the some of the monitors who will live out their lives on the ship carrying for those in status form the Collective—a society that evolves physically and erases the history, culture, and stories of humanity. When Petra awake, she finds herself a servant to the collective with only her cuentas to save her and the remaining “relic” (OG) humans.
I have not come across too much middle grade sci-fi in my experience as the target demographic for books or as a bookseller (though granted, the genre isn’t my specialty) and this novel is not only another book to contribute to a limited niche, it’s like the freaking crown jewel of the whole genre. The Giver who??? The Last Cuentista deals with the same themes via dystopian fiction, but sprinkles in Mexican folklore to make an argument for storytelling. Petra is a phenomenal protagonist; she’s brave, smart, and she’s got a lot of heart. She perseveres through a lot of loss (tbh this book has a pretty solid core of sadness) and ultimately has enough hope and tenacity to buoy the whole god damn human race. The Last Cuentista does an outstanding job at demonstrating that diversity, culture, heritage, language, and stories are all the good bits of humanity.
All in all, easily my new favorite middle grade book. For readers 10 and up. Should replace The Giver in the literary cannon/school curriculum for dystopian fiction.
Petra Peña is a young girl who embarks on a journey as humanity’s last hope when Halley’s comet officially heads on a collision course with earth. Petra and her family of highly trained scientists are put in status for the 300 year journey, but the some of the monitors who will live out their lives on the ship carrying for those in status form the Collective—a society that evolves physically and erases the history, culture, and stories of humanity. When Petra awake, she finds herself a servant to the collective with only her cuentas to save her and the remaining “relic” (OG) humans.
I have not come across too much middle grade sci-fi in my experience as the target demographic for books or as a bookseller (though granted, the genre isn’t my specialty) and this novel is not only another book to contribute to a limited niche, it’s like the freaking crown jewel of the whole genre. The Giver who??? The Last Cuentista deals with the same themes via dystopian fiction, but sprinkles in Mexican folklore to make an argument for storytelling. Petra is a phenomenal protagonist; she’s brave, smart, and she’s got a lot of heart. She perseveres through a lot of loss (tbh this book has a pretty solid core of sadness) and ultimately has enough hope and tenacity to buoy the whole god damn human race. The Last Cuentista does an outstanding job at demonstrating that diversity, culture, heritage, language, and stories are all the good bits of humanity.
All in all, easily my new favorite middle grade book. For readers 10 and up. Should replace The Giver in the literary cannon/school curriculum for dystopian fiction.
June 29, 2022
actual rating: 2.75 stars
February 27, 2023
This absolutely destroyed me in the best possible way
January 19, 2023
Q:
“I can’t believe we’re leaving you.” ...
“It’s impossible for you to leave me. I’m part of you. You’re taking me and my stories to a new planet and hundreds of years into the future. How lucky I am.” (c)
Q:
I don’t want to imagine them being so afraid they’d try to hide from something they can’t hide from.
Instead, I picture Lita and Tía Berta lying under the red-and-black fringed blanket, drinking coffee with “secret sauce” as they watch the nagual snake come home.
“Berta! This isn’t the time to be stingy.” Lita would tip the brown glass bottle, pouring rich liquid of the same color into her coffee cup.
“I suppose you’re right,” Tía Berta replies. “We won’t have another Christmas to keep this for.” Lita will make an even bigger pour into Tía Berta’s cup. They’ll clink their clay mugs, take a long drink, and lean back shoulder to shoulder against Tía Berta’s one-hundred-year-old pecan tree.
This is the story my mind will keep of them. (c)
Q:
I’m supposed to feel happy my parents were chosen to go to the new planet, Sagan. But I feel like I’ve been given the last glass of water on Earth and I’m just gulping it down while everyone watches. (c)
Q:
“I can’t believe we’re leaving you.” ...
“It’s impossible for you to leave me. I’m part of you. You’re taking me and my stories to a new planet and hundreds of years into the future. How lucky I am.” (c)
Q:
I don’t want to imagine them being so afraid they’d try to hide from something they can’t hide from.
Instead, I picture Lita and Tía Berta lying under the red-and-black fringed blanket, drinking coffee with “secret sauce” as they watch the nagual snake come home.
“Berta! This isn’t the time to be stingy.” Lita would tip the brown glass bottle, pouring rich liquid of the same color into her coffee cup.
“I suppose you’re right,” Tía Berta replies. “We won’t have another Christmas to keep this for.” Lita will make an even bigger pour into Tía Berta’s cup. They’ll clink their clay mugs, take a long drink, and lean back shoulder to shoulder against Tía Berta’s one-hundred-year-old pecan tree.
This is the story my mind will keep of them. (c)
Q:
I’m supposed to feel happy my parents were chosen to go to the new planet, Sagan. But I feel like I’ve been given the last glass of water on Earth and I’m just gulping it down while everyone watches. (c)
Q:
March 8, 2022
Phenomenal. I'm actively mad I hadn't heard about this until it won the Newbery. Why have more people not been talking about this?
For one, it's got that old school sci fi vibe that I LOVED as a kid (and still do). It reminded me of Monica Hughes' Devil on my Back and The Keeper of the Isis Light.
But then, the heartbreaking beauty of Petra, her beloved Lita, and the stories that she tells to comfort herself and others . . . AH! I can't stand it! So good!
And can we talk about the DESIGN of this book?! The cover is gorgeous, and under the jacket the book is also illustrated by the same artist with a different picture, both them rich with details and colors that have huge meaning of the book. And the paper is thick and smooth . . . I mean, it's just an all around pleasure to read!
This is not one of those Newbery winners where I think, Hm, that was nice.
This. Was. Brilliant.
For one, it's got that old school sci fi vibe that I LOVED as a kid (and still do). It reminded me of Monica Hughes' Devil on my Back and The Keeper of the Isis Light.
But then, the heartbreaking beauty of Petra, her beloved Lita, and the stories that she tells to comfort herself and others . . . AH! I can't stand it! So good!
And can we talk about the DESIGN of this book?! The cover is gorgeous, and under the jacket the book is also illustrated by the same artist with a different picture, both them rich with details and colors that have huge meaning of the book. And the paper is thick and smooth . . . I mean, it's just an all around pleasure to read!
This is not one of those Newbery winners where I think, Hm, that was nice.
This. Was. Brilliant.
August 20, 2021
The worst thing you can do to your dystopia is to let it grow stale. After all, the true joy of science fiction is its capacity for variety. Say the term “science fiction” and it conjures up images of robots and space rockets and the like. All fine and good things but the whole point of the genre is to think up things that could be. And what could be is infinite. That’s why it’s so silly when science fiction books for kids get all samey. The sky’s the limit (a silly phrase in this case since a lot of these books go far beyond the sky but you get what I’m saying). We’ve seen recent strides in middle grade science fiction stories that include non-binary or queer characters, and more than a few have intersectional leanings (the Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl comes immediately to mind). All this is to say that I probably should have been ready for the conjurings out of the brain of Donna Barba Higuera in The Last Cuentista but there’s something to be said for pleasant surprises too. A delicious mix of dystopian fiction, Mexican folklore, and good old-fashioned high drama, this is the kind of science fiction that has the potential to lure in even those people that don’t usually indulge in futuristic fantastical imaginings.
Halley’s Comet, man. Who knew it would spell the end of Earth? But when its trajectory got knocked off-course, it ended up headed straight for our planet. Now only three ships holding a scant couple thousand people on each will contain the last of humanity. They’re heading to Sagan, a planet that should be able to support life. The catch? It’ll take three hundred and eighty years to get there. Petra, her little brother Javier, and her mom and dad are some of the lucky ones. They’ll be put to sleep the whole time with recordings connected directly to their brains to teach them everything they’ll need to know when they arrive. But Petra doesn’t want to be a scientist like her parents. She loves her grandmother’s folktales and yearns to be a storyteller too. She expects she’ll be given them to listen to and then arrive into the future full of stories. What she doesn’t expect is that in the intervening three hundred some years a revolution will occur amongst the awake Monitors that are supposed to tend to the sleeping passengers. When she resurfaces, Petra will find that she’s perhaps the only person on the ship with memories of Earth. Because now the ones in charge are people with genetically enhanced transparent skin. People with a singular mind. People who would do anything to keep the knowledge Petra has from getting out.
Stephen King once wrote a truly horrifying short story about space travel and a family having to be put asleep for the trip called “The Jaunt”. I guess it affected me more than I thought, particularly because I instantly thought of it in the book’s early moments. That’s when Petra discovers she hasn’t been properly put to sleep and can hear everything going on around her. She worries considerably that she’ll be awake for hundreds of years and frets about what that might do to her sanity. Space travel science fiction for kids is, as I mentioned, generally kept a pretty safe place. Higuera isn’t afraid to inject hers with a little fear. At one point in the tale Petra tells someone the story of la Llorona and you understand how the stories Petra tells and the stories Higuera is telling both require a bit of fear to make their best work. And it is Petra’s storytelling that is her secret gift. With storytelling she can overcome the barbarity of her enemies. She can break through false narratives and plant real ones. And she can ultimately win the day. This book is probably one of the best defenses of storytelling you’ll find in a novel for kids for quite a long time.
Of course, there’s a sadness at the core of the book, but I found personal ways around that. I mean, I can’t be the only reader that found out that Petra's parents were dead and gave a sigh of relief. Is that terrible? Killing off the parents is a time-honored tradition in children’s literature and The Last Cuentista is no exception. It’s a little weird, but as an adult reading this book I found myself getting nervous about our main character having to protect her closest family members from the future in which they found themselves. Removing Mom and Dad from the picture frees up a book's hero considerably. Not that Petra doesn’t feel responsible for others, but it does give her ample opportunities to become an active protagonist. Petra, I am sure, would love to be passive. But as passivity is precisely what the “Collective” would want from her, she is forced into a position of planning, strategy, and escape. Some of the best moments of the book are when she puts her plans into action. It’s fun to watch an author think through various contingencies (particularly when they’re contingencies that they themselves imagined).
It’s so tricky for a book to be both a standalone success and open to sequels. Higuera walks that line as delicately as she can. This isn’t an ending along the lines of other dystopian children’s classics like The Giver. Higuera knows that short of making this book 500-pages long, the smartest thing is to give it a temporary happy ending. I am dead certain a sequel will come along, but I for one will enjoy the ending spelled out for us here. It’s rooted in hope, one of the book’s many themes, and something we need increasingly in our children’s books these days. So for the kid that likes their science fiction dark with marvelous villains and a strong core message about individuality, storytelling, and hope, I can’t think of a better book to hand over. A dystopia you’ll be happy to dive into deeply.
For ages 10 and up.
Halley’s Comet, man. Who knew it would spell the end of Earth? But when its trajectory got knocked off-course, it ended up headed straight for our planet. Now only three ships holding a scant couple thousand people on each will contain the last of humanity. They’re heading to Sagan, a planet that should be able to support life. The catch? It’ll take three hundred and eighty years to get there. Petra, her little brother Javier, and her mom and dad are some of the lucky ones. They’ll be put to sleep the whole time with recordings connected directly to their brains to teach them everything they’ll need to know when they arrive. But Petra doesn’t want to be a scientist like her parents. She loves her grandmother’s folktales and yearns to be a storyteller too. She expects she’ll be given them to listen to and then arrive into the future full of stories. What she doesn’t expect is that in the intervening three hundred some years a revolution will occur amongst the awake Monitors that are supposed to tend to the sleeping passengers. When she resurfaces, Petra will find that she’s perhaps the only person on the ship with memories of Earth. Because now the ones in charge are people with genetically enhanced transparent skin. People with a singular mind. People who would do anything to keep the knowledge Petra has from getting out.
Stephen King once wrote a truly horrifying short story about space travel and a family having to be put asleep for the trip called “The Jaunt”. I guess it affected me more than I thought, particularly because I instantly thought of it in the book’s early moments. That’s when Petra discovers she hasn’t been properly put to sleep and can hear everything going on around her. She worries considerably that she’ll be awake for hundreds of years and frets about what that might do to her sanity. Space travel science fiction for kids is, as I mentioned, generally kept a pretty safe place. Higuera isn’t afraid to inject hers with a little fear. At one point in the tale Petra tells someone the story of la Llorona and you understand how the stories Petra tells and the stories Higuera is telling both require a bit of fear to make their best work. And it is Petra’s storytelling that is her secret gift. With storytelling she can overcome the barbarity of her enemies. She can break through false narratives and plant real ones. And she can ultimately win the day. This book is probably one of the best defenses of storytelling you’ll find in a novel for kids for quite a long time.
Of course, there’s a sadness at the core of the book, but I found personal ways around that. I mean, I can’t be the only reader that found out that Petra's parents were dead and gave a sigh of relief. Is that terrible? Killing off the parents is a time-honored tradition in children’s literature and The Last Cuentista is no exception. It’s a little weird, but as an adult reading this book I found myself getting nervous about our main character having to protect her closest family members from the future in which they found themselves. Removing Mom and Dad from the picture frees up a book's hero considerably. Not that Petra doesn’t feel responsible for others, but it does give her ample opportunities to become an active protagonist. Petra, I am sure, would love to be passive. But as passivity is precisely what the “Collective” would want from her, she is forced into a position of planning, strategy, and escape. Some of the best moments of the book are when she puts her plans into action. It’s fun to watch an author think through various contingencies (particularly when they’re contingencies that they themselves imagined).
It’s so tricky for a book to be both a standalone success and open to sequels. Higuera walks that line as delicately as she can. This isn’t an ending along the lines of other dystopian children’s classics like The Giver. Higuera knows that short of making this book 500-pages long, the smartest thing is to give it a temporary happy ending. I am dead certain a sequel will come along, but I for one will enjoy the ending spelled out for us here. It’s rooted in hope, one of the book’s many themes, and something we need increasingly in our children’s books these days. So for the kid that likes their science fiction dark with marvelous villains and a strong core message about individuality, storytelling, and hope, I can’t think of a better book to hand over. A dystopia you’ll be happy to dive into deeply.
For ages 10 and up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2022
My hold on the audiobook came in right after this won the Newbery, so I definitely went into it with high expectations. This often leads to disappointment. And...yep. I was not into it. I can't help being more critical when a book has just won the biggest prize in children's literature. But I think even if it hadn't won the Newbery, it would still be a 3-star book for me. Here are some reasons why:
1. Early in the book Petra's dad says, "Equality’s good. But equality and sameness are two different things." This is the main theme of the book. It's also the theme of an absolute banger of a book called The Giver and this other very excellent book called A Wrinkle in Time. Does TLC bring some new depth to this theme? IMHO not really. See also: The Borg in Star Trek TNG.
2. The story and characters didn't have much moral ambiguity. The Collective is absolutely bad -- readers are not given any real opportunity to sympathize with them. Petra is absolutely good -- readers are not given any reason to question the morality of her actions. As an adult reader, I thought Petra had no right to decide the fates of the other Zetas. But since Petra is the narrator and she never really questions her own rightness, I wonder if young readers will see her as a hero doing the absolute right thing. (Side note: I don't think sci-fi has to be 100% realistic/believable, but Petra was practically leading the other Zetas to their deaths and there were zero consequences.)
3. Voxy came across like a flat stereotype to me (the rebel prince).
4. I thought the writing was just ok. Many of the similes didn't land right for me. The dream sequences felt tedious to me. I'm saying "for me" because your mileage may vary. I prefer to feel like the author hasn't wasted a single word and this book felt overly long.
Okay, let's wrap up with some positives! I do love a book that calls out other books by name and celebrates the importance of stories. What are humans without stories? This point is very well illustrated. I particularly loved that Dreamers played such a big role in this book. It was the perfect book to use. Very well done there.
1. Early in the book Petra's dad says, "Equality’s good. But equality and sameness are two different things." This is the main theme of the book. It's also the theme of an absolute banger of a book called The Giver and this other very excellent book called A Wrinkle in Time. Does TLC bring some new depth to this theme? IMHO not really. See also: The Borg in Star Trek TNG.
2. The story and characters didn't have much moral ambiguity. The Collective is absolutely bad -- readers are not given any real opportunity to sympathize with them. Petra is absolutely good -- readers are not given any reason to question the morality of her actions. As an adult reader, I thought Petra had no right to decide the fates of the other Zetas. But since Petra is the narrator and she never really questions her own rightness, I wonder if young readers will see her as a hero doing the absolute right thing. (Side note: I don't think sci-fi has to be 100% realistic/believable, but Petra was practically leading the other Zetas to their deaths and there were zero consequences.)
3. Voxy came across like a flat stereotype to me (the rebel prince).
4. I thought the writing was just ok. Many of the similes didn't land right for me. The dream sequences felt tedious to me. I'm saying "for me" because your mileage may vary. I prefer to feel like the author hasn't wasted a single word and this book felt overly long.
Okay, let's wrap up with some positives! I do love a book that calls out other books by name and celebrates the importance of stories. What are humans without stories? This point is very well illustrated. I particularly loved that Dreamers played such a big role in this book. It was the perfect book to use. Very well done there.
January 10, 2023
audiobooks are truly god’s gift and especially for books about the importance of (both oral and written) storytelling!!!
short rtc
short rtc
February 14, 2025
Incredible book!!! I see why this won awards. The Last Cuentista is a gorgeously written middle grade science fiction novel about a latin american girl who joins her parents and brothers on a spaceship escaping earth before it is destroyed by a comet. She leaves behind her abuela who is a storyteller, and she dreams of being one too. They are all supposed to sleep for many years until they reach a habitable planet, but things go very wrong...
Petra is a brave and resilient character and I love her. This is ultimately a hopeful book about the power of our unique cultures and heritage, the danger in forced conformity, and the ability of people and love to persist. Highly recommend.
Petra is a brave and resilient character and I love her. This is ultimately a hopeful book about the power of our unique cultures and heritage, the danger in forced conformity, and the ability of people and love to persist. Highly recommend.
July 23, 2021
I don't know how to formulate the words to describe how beautiful this book is. This book is about how important it is to not only remember the stories of our ancestors, but to create our own as well. This book is about knowing where you came from and having the free will to decide where you're going. This book is about embracing our differences, flaws and all, because that is what makes us human. Maybe I'm just an emotional person, but it's 4;30AM and I'm crying about how much I love this book
December 3, 2021
yo this book went SO FUCKING HARD, gonna blow a lot of tween minds in the way that The Giver did.
January 24, 2022
By my count, it's been twenty years since a dystopian novel was recognized by the Newbery Committee. The Last Cuentista is my top pick this year.
April 25, 2022
Oh how quickly can things change. One day, you're lying down on your grandmother's lap, listening to one of the hundreds of stories she has up her sleeve, gently playing with your hair while you lose yourself in her tale, the breeze of the desert and the distant howling of the coyotes colouring the experience, and a week after, you're on a space ship, being hurled away from earth as it gets demolished by a comet, destroying almost everyone and everything you held dear to your heart. To survive that trauma, all you have left are your memories, and the stories passed down to you by your ancestors, stories you must fight to keep telling, to make the people with you, the fellow earthlings who are also escaping the destruction, remember who they really are and where they came from. This is the story of Petra Peña, who is one of the lucky chosen ones, alongside her parents and younger brother, to board a space ship that is destined to eventually land on a distant planet called Sagan, to ensure the survival of the human race after Halley's comet hits Earth. Petra and her family were supposed to be put to sleep and wake up hundreds of years later, once the spaceship has safely arrived to Sagan.
However, something goes terribly wrong when Petra finds herself alone when she wakes up from her centuries-long slumber, with the ship having been taken over by a group of rebels who genetically modified themselves to look like hideous shrimp-like creatures, sabotaged the original plan, wiping off the memories of everyone on the ship, and reprogrammed their minds to blindly serve them, an organization they have named as "The Collective", aimed at completely wiping off all trace of past human memories and putting an end to all forms of individualism, culture and all things that give heart and soul to human beings, under the pretense that this will lead to efficient unity, without any wars or conflict. Though this reality might sound ideal, the actual application of it is ruthlessly pragmatic, with the value of each individual measured solely by their "usefulness", and the second someone ceases to be efficient in the ways that The Collective demands, they are instantly killed. Petra was lucky enough to keep her memories due to a malfunction in the system, but she now has to figure out a way to escape this spaceship, while pretending to have her memories erased, taking with her the few "friends" she found who were not as lucky as her and have had their memories lost, but who seem strangely receptive to the stories she tells them, stories passed down to her by her grandmother Lita.
This is a middle-grade SF novel, an interesting choice since I don't really see many SF books being targeted to that age group. The story is filled with suspense throughout, and I was constantly in a state of worry and anticipation, waiting to see how Petra would be able to outsmart the soulless creatures of The Collective, creatures who were once human beings. There is a great deal of sentimentality and a concentration on the importance of identity, and the themes explored in this book are quite mature, delivered in a digestible way to the young target audience. There's a beautiful contrast between the lush past on Earth, with all of its nature, warmth and stories, and the cold, metallic and bleak reality inside the spaceship. The sense of distance from Earth in the depths of space is felt quite strongly, and memories and stories are seen as delicate threads that bind our characters to the bright past, making the bleak present seem tolerable. There is hope however, when Petra and her teammates are sent down to the new planet Sagan to collect samples of wildlife and test whether it's inhabitable for The Collective. This new planet, with a smaller sun that casts a constant orange/purple light on one side of the planet, is lush and teeming with life, and is the perfect opportunity to rebuild the life lost on Earth, and perhaps, do better than those who came before, who, alongside bright cultures and stories, have also brought war and destruction.
I wish we got to spend more time on this planet, but the story was mainly centered around life on the spaceship. I think despite seemingly being a standalone, this book could benefit from having a sequel which focuses on exploring the new planet more. The ending, although nicely written, felt like it left some loose ends that were not explored sufficiently. I wanted to find out more about The Collective, about their leader's past, more in-depth motivations. Some plot conveniences that helped Petra felt forced and not really explained sufficiently, and Petra's eye condition, which blurs her vision and was a source of tension at the very beginning, suddenly stopped being at the second half of the book, which involved a lot exploration and vision use. Despite these little complaints, I did enjoy this story and it does a nice job making SF be accessible to a younger audience. The last chapter in the book was very exciting to get through, and left me craving a sequel.
“Suma's eyes are still closed, and I can't tell if she's trying to forget, or to remember. Maybe stories are there to help us do both. I know stories can't always have happy endings. But if there are chances for us to do better, we have to say out loud the parts that hurt the most.”
July 19, 2023
I found this book by coincidence. The cover drew me to it when I was perusing the shelves of the store some months ago.
The story is that of little Petra, who flees dying Earth with her parents and younger brother. She also takes her ancestral stories with her. And the passion for telling those stories.
But right when she is put in some form of cryo-sleep, things go terribly wrong. Eventually, she is woken up - and is the only person remembering Earth.
As a matter of fact, remembering is prohibited and The Collective that is now in charge is very dystopian. Once they arrive on the planet they had set out to get to, Petra has to find a way to save nothing less than humanity's future or at least a few other kids that have become near and dear to her.
What surprised me most about this book was just HOW DARK it turned out to be. Yeah, Earth was in a bad state from the beginning and that comet hitting it was terrible, as was the fact that not everyone was taken off-planet to safety. But at least the politicians got blown up despite having had a ship so things weren't all bleak. ;P
But then! Not only were some people "discarded", the ones awake had drank the koolaid and refused to listen toCassandra Petra so one plan after another failed despite those stories being so heartfeld, unique and important. Considering that this is for middle-grade readers, I was surprised at that.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the stakes. Made the story more realistic. I mean, a kid is waking up on a generational ship into a dystopian society that has practically wiped out her family and all she has are her memories but she's expected to "save humanity"?! That needed some realism.
Another great element were the different levels of time from boarding the ship to arriving on the planet and then the culmination of the story. It gave us readers the opportunity to get to know a wide array of characters, some good, some bad, and some just sheep.
It didn't hurt that the author was not only giving a nod (and direct mention) of authors like Neil Gaiman, but also was herself very good at retelling (in delightful variations) old Mexican tales. I don't know many from that part of the world so it was very nice to add quite a number of new ones to my mental collection.
Pretty cool story with a gorgeous hardcover edition.
The story is that of little Petra, who flees dying Earth with her parents and younger brother. She also takes her ancestral stories with her. And the passion for telling those stories.
But right when she is put in some form of cryo-sleep, things go terribly wrong. Eventually, she is woken up - and is the only person remembering Earth.
As a matter of fact, remembering is prohibited and The Collective that is now in charge is very dystopian. Once they arrive on the planet they had set out to get to, Petra has to find a way to save nothing less than humanity's future or at least a few other kids that have become near and dear to her.
What surprised me most about this book was just HOW DARK it turned out to be. Yeah, Earth was in a bad state from the beginning and that comet hitting it was terrible, as was the fact that not everyone was taken off-planet to safety. But at least the politicians got blown up despite having had a ship so things weren't all bleak. ;P
But then! Not only were some people "discarded", the ones awake had drank the koolaid and refused to listen to
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the stakes. Made the story more realistic. I mean, a kid is waking up on a generational ship into a dystopian society that has practically wiped out her family and all she has are her memories but she's expected to "save humanity"?! That needed some realism.
Another great element were the different levels of time from boarding the ship to arriving on the planet and then the culmination of the story. It gave us readers the opportunity to get to know a wide array of characters, some good, some bad, and some just sheep.
It didn't hurt that the author was not only giving a nod (and direct mention) of authors like Neil Gaiman, but also was herself very good at retelling (in delightful variations) old Mexican tales. I don't know many from that part of the world so it was very nice to add quite a number of new ones to my mental collection.
Pretty cool story with a gorgeous hardcover edition.
March 8, 2022
Actual Rating: 4.5/5
I don't know what I expected when I picked this one up. I do not normally read middle grade stories and the last ones I have read were fun enough but were not written for me (understandably so) but this one was extremely engaging for me from beginning to end. It was similar to the experience I have watching an engaging family weight animated movie where it was very well paced plot wise and I was invested even though I was not the intended audience. The story of a young Latina who must leave Earth because the planet will no longer be habitable. While in cryo sleep she learns about science for her role on the next planet but when she wakes things are not what they should be and when I say SO many plot points along the way had me stressed I mean it. As early as chapter 3 I was stressed for this character. I have purchased a copy for my shelf so that one day my kid can see a compassionate, artistic, scientific Latina protagonist in a sci-fi adventure.
I don't know what I expected when I picked this one up. I do not normally read middle grade stories and the last ones I have read were fun enough but were not written for me (understandably so) but this one was extremely engaging for me from beginning to end. It was similar to the experience I have watching an engaging family weight animated movie where it was very well paced plot wise and I was invested even though I was not the intended audience. The story of a young Latina who must leave Earth because the planet will no longer be habitable. While in cryo sleep she learns about science for her role on the next planet but when she wakes things are not what they should be and when I say SO many plot points along the way had me stressed I mean it. As early as chapter 3 I was stressed for this character. I have purchased a copy for my shelf so that one day my kid can see a compassionate, artistic, scientific Latina protagonist in a sci-fi adventure.
July 8, 2023
A middle-grade science fiction book with all the feelings and quite the intrigue (not to mention tons of references from my childhood).
The story goes like this: Before a comet destroys Earth, selected groups of people are sent into space to colonize and terraform a new planet. Petra, our Yucatecan protagonist, awakens from the centuries-long journey to discover she’s the only one who remembers Earth. This is the result of The Collective erasing everybody’s memories of the planet to establish a more perfect society. Why Petra’s mind hasn’t being erased? Well, perhaps it has to do with the rare condition affecting her vision. Regardless of the reason, Petra still remembers her grandmother’s Mexican folktales. But, now an enemy of The Collective, Petra can’t let anyone know about her memories.
This is a book about a dystopian future where a few feel entitled to decide what’s best for everyone else. A future where every other culture but that of the rulers will be obliterated (sounds familiar?). The folktales Petra learned from her grandmother are the “living” representation of a culture’s richness, and as such, are at the heart of this story.
Petra remembers them, and shares them with the children in her Zeta squad. The children love these tales and Petra uses their interest to push them into helping her. Cleverly, the stories mirror the events in the book, serving as guidance and motivation for Petra’s actions.
This book is a mix of space travel and traditional storytelling, and it's this mix which turns the book into a very creative and original success. The story is intense at times, borderline terrifying at others, as Barba-Higuera explores the idea of what makes an ideal society and what people are willing to sacrifice to achieve it.
An excellent read all around.
The story goes like this: Before a comet destroys Earth, selected groups of people are sent into space to colonize and terraform a new planet. Petra, our Yucatecan protagonist, awakens from the centuries-long journey to discover she’s the only one who remembers Earth. This is the result of The Collective erasing everybody’s memories of the planet to establish a more perfect society. Why Petra’s mind hasn’t being erased? Well, perhaps it has to do with the rare condition affecting her vision. Regardless of the reason, Petra still remembers her grandmother’s Mexican folktales. But, now an enemy of The Collective, Petra can’t let anyone know about her memories.
This is a book about a dystopian future where a few feel entitled to decide what’s best for everyone else. A future where every other culture but that of the rulers will be obliterated (sounds familiar?). The folktales Petra learned from her grandmother are the “living” representation of a culture’s richness, and as such, are at the heart of this story.
Petra remembers them, and shares them with the children in her Zeta squad. The children love these tales and Petra uses their interest to push them into helping her. Cleverly, the stories mirror the events in the book, serving as guidance and motivation for Petra’s actions.
This book is a mix of space travel and traditional storytelling, and it's this mix which turns the book into a very creative and original success. The story is intense at times, borderline terrifying at others, as Barba-Higuera explores the idea of what makes an ideal society and what people are willing to sacrifice to achieve it.
An excellent read all around.
February 5, 2022
I'm not of the hivemind- because I didn't love it. And I don't necessarily think it will have wide readership for the intended audience, it's a niche read of science fiction that's a little long-winded, has an *almost* preachy vibe, and is the kind of broccoli read that adults find value in more than the kids. It's nice that a science fiction title garnered so much praise, acclaim, and awards during this past year's YMAs, however, I'm not completely sold.
Petra's family is on one of the last flights off of earth because Halle's Comet. They're going to travel with other ships to Sagan, another planet to colonize but it will take a few hundred years to get there so the family will enter the pods in the ship and be monitored. Petra likes stories and will pass her time being uploaded with stories from mythology and more- it's better than the science her parents have pushed on her because they are scientists. But something goes wrong including people in charge changing the mission and in the future now Petra finds herself one of the last and/or only to remember stories and the time on earth, hence the last cuentista. It's Giver-esque but doesn't hold the same intrigue for me nor was I invested enough in Petra to read it solely from her survival. We shall see what the kids think.
Petra's family is on one of the last flights off of earth because Halle's Comet. They're going to travel with other ships to Sagan, another planet to colonize but it will take a few hundred years to get there so the family will enter the pods in the ship and be monitored. Petra likes stories and will pass her time being uploaded with stories from mythology and more- it's better than the science her parents have pushed on her because they are scientists. But something goes wrong including people in charge changing the mission and in the future now Petra finds herself one of the last and/or only to remember stories and the time on earth, hence the last cuentista. It's Giver-esque but doesn't hold the same intrigue for me nor was I invested enough in Petra to read it solely from her survival. We shall see what the kids think.
June 25, 2022
God I am so bad at Dystopian.
So the things I loved were the tellings of Stories and the influence they had in this story. I really loved Petra and her ability to adapt.
However I really did not feel any tension or high stakes in this. The characters while distinctive left me with no emotional attachment.
I really was vibing with the writing style in this more than anything else.
So the things I loved were the tellings of Stories and the influence they had in this story. I really loved Petra and her ability to adapt.
However I really did not feel any tension or high stakes in this. The characters while distinctive left me with no emotional attachment.
I really was vibing with the writing style in this more than anything else.
June 2, 2025
Not mind blowing but very very good, touching and hopeful. 4.75 stars.
Read for a group on SFFBC reading YA/MG from NOW & THEN. This is a now book.
This book has a lot to say about preserving individuality and cultural heritage as well as resisting totalitarian influences. The idea that stories are the medium by which these things can be achieved is lovely.
Read for a group on SFFBC reading YA/MG from NOW & THEN. This is a now book.
This book has a lot to say about preserving individuality and cultural heritage as well as resisting totalitarian influences. The idea that stories are the medium by which these things can be achieved is lovely.
February 2, 2022
First sentence: Lita tosses another pinon log onto the fire. Sweet smoke drifts past us into the starry sky. Her knees crack as she sits back down on the blanket next to me. The cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon she's made me sits untouched this time.
Premise/plot: Petra Peña, our heroine, might just be humanity's last chance to stay connected with our troubled past. The Collective has seemingly won the ultimate victory--making nauseating sacrifices all for a 'good cause.' What better way to protect humanity's future than to completely annihilate any memory of our past. (Even wiping away memories of the planet Earth.) But perhaps I'm rushing things a bit?
The novel opens with a few spaceships getting ready to leave Earth behind. Earth's destruction literally being days (perhaps less than one???) away. The deed being done by a comet. It will take hundreds of years to arrive on Sagan, the new planet believed to be capable of supporting life. Petra, her family, and the other families selected will be making the journey in stasis.
But the humans guarding the sleepers, well, they have thoughts, opinions, ideas that are radically dangerous. Dangerous might not be the right word--deadly might suit better. If memories cannot be totally erased and new programming rewritten, well then, OOPS, that's just a necessary sacrifice.
Petra seems to be the only one to retain her memories. Memories packed with stories, stories, and more stories. Being found out--or found out too soon--may be costly. It will take wisdom to know when to make her move, to act against the Collective... And even then resistance may prove futile. And even if dozens of things go right, well, the odds may not be in her favor. An unexplored planet with a million uncertainties. Still, she's humanity's last chance to REMEMBER, to reflect.
My thoughts: Newbery Medal 2022. It's impossible to read Newbery winners with a completely open mind and low expectations. (Which, in my opinion, is how most books should be read for the highest degree of enjoyment.)
On the one hand, it celebrates stories, storytelling, and storytellers. It celebrates the notions that stories not only entertain but they inform as well. Stories help us make sense or process the world around us. Ourselves. Others. Life. Stories matter because even fiction (or in this case folklore) can contain truths that make us better. Maybe better isn't the right word. Stories contain truths that can give us an opportunity to think, engage, learn, grow, reflect, etc. Emotions and feelings can be chaotic, messy, overwhelming...stories help us manage life.
The book is political in that many, many science fiction stories are political. The book is essentially a dystopia set on a spaceship and another planet. Dystopias are almost always political because they show us power gone sour. The Collective is BAD news obviously. But how did the Collective come to be? That we really don't have a lot of answers for. Except that we know that the Collective is built on this one idea that knowledge of the past, our history, is irrevocably dangerous to our survival. Wipe out ALL memories of our mistakes, conflicts, tragedies, abuses, injustices, wars, etc., and humanity has a chance. In the same way that the futuristic society of The Giver celebrates SAMENESS. The Collective fears DIFFERENCES.
It asks the question--what is the value--is there value--in history? The Collective perhaps started out rewriting or revising history before changing tactics to annihilating and destroying.
I would argue that history always matters. Whether it be denial or revision, you can't learn from the past that you disconnect from.
On the other hand, I really HATED the ending. Or non-ending if you will. I don't like endings where you are CLUELESS what happens and what it means. It might as well be written in a foreign language as far as I'm concerned. I've read the last few pages a few times, and still, I'm like what does it mean? what happened? what is about to happen? was it good? was it bad?
Premise/plot: Petra Peña, our heroine, might just be humanity's last chance to stay connected with our troubled past. The Collective has seemingly won the ultimate victory--making nauseating sacrifices all for a 'good cause.' What better way to protect humanity's future than to completely annihilate any memory of our past. (Even wiping away memories of the planet Earth.) But perhaps I'm rushing things a bit?
The novel opens with a few spaceships getting ready to leave Earth behind. Earth's destruction literally being days (perhaps less than one???) away. The deed being done by a comet. It will take hundreds of years to arrive on Sagan, the new planet believed to be capable of supporting life. Petra, her family, and the other families selected will be making the journey in stasis.
But the humans guarding the sleepers, well, they have thoughts, opinions, ideas that are radically dangerous. Dangerous might not be the right word--deadly might suit better. If memories cannot be totally erased and new programming rewritten, well then, OOPS, that's just a necessary sacrifice.
Petra seems to be the only one to retain her memories. Memories packed with stories, stories, and more stories. Being found out--or found out too soon--may be costly. It will take wisdom to know when to make her move, to act against the Collective... And even then resistance may prove futile. And even if dozens of things go right, well, the odds may not be in her favor. An unexplored planet with a million uncertainties. Still, she's humanity's last chance to REMEMBER, to reflect.
My thoughts: Newbery Medal 2022. It's impossible to read Newbery winners with a completely open mind and low expectations. (Which, in my opinion, is how most books should be read for the highest degree of enjoyment.)
On the one hand, it celebrates stories, storytelling, and storytellers. It celebrates the notions that stories not only entertain but they inform as well. Stories help us make sense or process the world around us. Ourselves. Others. Life. Stories matter because even fiction (or in this case folklore) can contain truths that make us better. Maybe better isn't the right word. Stories contain truths that can give us an opportunity to think, engage, learn, grow, reflect, etc. Emotions and feelings can be chaotic, messy, overwhelming...stories help us manage life.
The book is political in that many, many science fiction stories are political. The book is essentially a dystopia set on a spaceship and another planet. Dystopias are almost always political because they show us power gone sour. The Collective is BAD news obviously. But how did the Collective come to be? That we really don't have a lot of answers for. Except that we know that the Collective is built on this one idea that knowledge of the past, our history, is irrevocably dangerous to our survival. Wipe out ALL memories of our mistakes, conflicts, tragedies, abuses, injustices, wars, etc., and humanity has a chance. In the same way that the futuristic society of The Giver celebrates SAMENESS. The Collective fears DIFFERENCES.
It asks the question--what is the value--is there value--in history? The Collective perhaps started out rewriting or revising history before changing tactics to annihilating and destroying.
I would argue that history always matters. Whether it be denial or revision, you can't learn from the past that you disconnect from.
On the other hand, I really HATED the ending. Or non-ending if you will. I don't like endings where you are CLUELESS what happens and what it means. It might as well be written in a foreign language as far as I'm concerned. I've read the last few pages a few times, and still, I'm like what does it mean? what happened? what is about to happen? was it good? was it bad?
August 2, 2021
The amount of tears and snot I have shed over this book!!!!
September 27, 2024
Solid middle grade/ya science fiction read.
November 26, 2023
Wow!
Insta-recommend for kids and people who enjoy MG books. THIS is what I'm talking about. A great bridge to get us to a point where kids save the world, a loving take on loss and family, a reminder that ability is not limited by any sort of cultural marker, and even more so about how our stories are our survival. Absolutely brilliant, loving, and approachable.
CONTENT WARNING:
Insta-recommend for kids and people who enjoy MG books. THIS is what I'm talking about. A great bridge to get us to a point where kids save the world, a loving take on loss and family, a reminder that ability is not limited by any sort of cultural marker, and even more so about how our stories are our survival. Absolutely brilliant, loving, and approachable.
CONTENT WARNING:
May 19, 2022
I once heard a person begin a book talk by saying, “This book is covered in shiny things, so you know it must be good.” The Last Cuentista was awarded the Newbery Medal for 2021 with good reason!
The book opens with the impending destruction of Earth, and the protagonist, Petra, boarding a ship to an unknown planet. The plot is intriguing and suspenseful, and readers will find themselves drawn to Petra’s relatability in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian society where she is seemingly the only person who remembers the past and retains her family’s stories (earning her the title "cuentista").
This book does a great job of representing the Latinx culture (including references to recently published works by authors of Latinx heritage). The character of Petra is drawn much in the same way as Katniss Everdeen in her ability to “overthrow” the autocratic and insensitive regime where she has found herself.
This book would be best suited for an older middle grade reader (it has the feel of a YA novel for the subject matter and content). A timely and well-written take on what is happening in the world today.
I highly recommend this book for those who are looking for a summer read to immerse yourself in when you have several hours to finish it in one sitting. I found myself staying up way too late at night and completely absorbed in the story from start to finish. 5 Stars!
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The book opens with the impending destruction of Earth, and the protagonist, Petra, boarding a ship to an unknown planet. The plot is intriguing and suspenseful, and readers will find themselves drawn to Petra’s relatability in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian society where she is seemingly the only person who remembers the past and retains her family’s stories (earning her the title "cuentista").
This book does a great job of representing the Latinx culture (including references to recently published works by authors of Latinx heritage). The character of Petra is drawn much in the same way as Katniss Everdeen in her ability to “overthrow” the autocratic and insensitive regime where she has found herself.
This book would be best suited for an older middle grade reader (it has the feel of a YA novel for the subject matter and content). A timely and well-written take on what is happening in the world today.
I highly recommend this book for those who are looking for a summer read to immerse yourself in when you have several hours to finish it in one sitting. I found myself staying up way too late at night and completely absorbed in the story from start to finish. 5 Stars!
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February 8, 2022
Once again, the Newbery committee has done it! They picked a book that I cannot fathom any kid reading. Usually, they pick one that has no kid appeal, but well written and appreciated by adults. This one isn’t even that. The use of figurative language is like that of a 9 year old assignment to write using similes and thus uses one or more in every sentence and at an elementary level.
The story tries too hard to be deep and meaningful, while the writing pretends to be poetic and lyrical. However, it’s just one big mess. I should have just quit reading, but I let the newbery committee have too much benefit of my doubts. Yet again.
The story tries too hard to be deep and meaningful, while the writing pretends to be poetic and lyrical. However, it’s just one big mess. I should have just quit reading, but I let the newbery committee have too much benefit of my doubts. Yet again.
February 14, 2022
The good
*The action sequences. They are the best I can remember reading in kids' lit.
*The way the main character used stories showed a deep understanding of symbolism in folklore.
*The setting was fully realized and mostly made sense.
The bad
*The parts that were not chase scenes or sneaking around scenes felt sluggish. The main character just kind of pondered the plot at length.
* I felt like the ending was setting up a conflict in which the main character was using the Collective's methods (lying, requiring blind obedience) even though they went against her values. She never had to confront that, though.
* The ending is a let-down. Some people say that about The Giver or Ghost, but in those cases the main character has committed to a personal change and solved the central issue of the plot. In this case, it seemed like the plot was turning a corner, but the main character had not. I think the main character would be more likely to get what they need in the next stage of the journey, but that stage was left untold.
The ???
* It's a bit dark for a Newbery winner. It felt a bit like a take on Dawn, which is already a pretty dark concept.
Newbery thoughts
I'm lukewarm on this one. It did not offend me the way some winners have done. On the other hand, I don't have a favorite from this year that I feel was clearly better. My pick would have been Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre.
*The action sequences. They are the best I can remember reading in kids' lit.
*The way the main character used stories showed a deep understanding of symbolism in folklore.
*The setting was fully realized and mostly made sense.
The bad
*The parts that were not chase scenes or sneaking around scenes felt sluggish. The main character just kind of pondered the plot at length.
* I felt like the ending was setting up a conflict in which the main character was using the Collective's methods (lying, requiring blind obedience) even though they went against her values. She never had to confront that, though.
* The ending is a let-down. Some people say that about The Giver or Ghost, but in those cases the main character has committed to a personal change and solved the central issue of the plot. In this case, it seemed like the plot was turning a corner, but the main character had not. I think the main character would be more likely to get what they need in the next stage of the journey, but that stage was left untold.
The ???
* It's a bit dark for a Newbery winner. It felt a bit like a take on Dawn, which is already a pretty dark concept.
Newbery thoughts
I'm lukewarm on this one. It did not offend me the way some winners have done. On the other hand, I don't have a favorite from this year that I feel was clearly better. My pick would have been Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre.
November 2, 2023
3,5
Reseña completa http://letraslibrosymas.blogspot.com/...
Menuda historia y menudo vicio 😳 no esperaba que fuera a gustarme tanto y aunque bebe de muchos tópicos y hay cosas que ya he visto en otros libros, tiene esa esencia única que le hace sobresalir y ser especial. Es una historia que te atrapa, que nos envuelve en una atmósfera futurista, llena de tensión y peligros pero con un toque dulce, esperanzador y emotivo. Una trama que va de menos a más, con sus buenas dosis de sorpresas, emociones y crecimiento de personajes.
La narración me ha gustado, tiene algo de lírico y de cuento porque la protagonista es una cuentacuentos que ama todas las historias pero también es sencilla y muy ágil, lo que consigue meterte de lleno en la historia y pasar páginas sin darte ni cuenta, también ayuda la emoción en todos los aspectos que la autora le otorga al texto.
La historia es muy buena y vemos un desarrollo acorde, aunque tiene bombazos sí que hay cosas predecibles y algunos comportamientos que te ponen de los nervios, pero como ya he dicho tiene una voz potente y no ha conseguido ensombrecer la base del libro. Os aviso de que los personajes (en su mayoría) son niños/adolescentes pero están muy bien construidos y enseguida empatizas con ellos y les coges cariño, por lo que aunque tienen una personalidad bastante madura también tienen cosas de su edad lo que les da un matiz muy bueno porque están viviendo una situación fuera de lo normal y se representa a la perfección.
Una distopía emocionante y emotiva.
Reseña completa http://letraslibrosymas.blogspot.com/...
Menuda historia y menudo vicio 😳 no esperaba que fuera a gustarme tanto y aunque bebe de muchos tópicos y hay cosas que ya he visto en otros libros, tiene esa esencia única que le hace sobresalir y ser especial. Es una historia que te atrapa, que nos envuelve en una atmósfera futurista, llena de tensión y peligros pero con un toque dulce, esperanzador y emotivo. Una trama que va de menos a más, con sus buenas dosis de sorpresas, emociones y crecimiento de personajes.
La narración me ha gustado, tiene algo de lírico y de cuento porque la protagonista es una cuentacuentos que ama todas las historias pero también es sencilla y muy ágil, lo que consigue meterte de lleno en la historia y pasar páginas sin darte ni cuenta, también ayuda la emoción en todos los aspectos que la autora le otorga al texto.
La historia es muy buena y vemos un desarrollo acorde, aunque tiene bombazos sí que hay cosas predecibles y algunos comportamientos que te ponen de los nervios, pero como ya he dicho tiene una voz potente y no ha conseguido ensombrecer la base del libro. Os aviso de que los personajes (en su mayoría) son niños/adolescentes pero están muy bien construidos y enseguida empatizas con ellos y les coges cariño, por lo que aunque tienen una personalidad bastante madura también tienen cosas de su edad lo que les da un matiz muy bueno porque están viviendo una situación fuera de lo normal y se representa a la perfección.
Una distopía emocionante y emotiva.
February 1, 2025
✰ 2.5 stars ✰
In the year 2061, Halley's Comet is hurtling towards Earth - ready for full on collision, resulting in Earth's destruction. To preserve the very best of minds, along with their families, respective pods have been prepared to have their occupants be in a comatose state during the journey through space till they're reawakened in 2432 upon their arrival in their designated planet of choice to begin humanity anew - Sagan. ☄️ Twelve-year-old Petra Pina, along with her six-year-old brother, Javier, and her parents are one such lucky (or are they?) 😟 family selected to make the fateful journey, when all she wants to be is a great storyteller like her abuelita, who won't be joining them on their departure, but is entrusted to continue to share the riches of her stories with future generations of the human race. 'I’ll never lose your stories, Lita.' But, some deadly force exists that doesn't want the past to be remembered - a sinister Collective - 'a single unit now, without past vices' that believes history is the root of evil and sin - intent to create a new history, with no past, that will transform our new home to something far better. For by purging all memories of Earth from those who survived the trip - especially Petra, who may very well be The Last Cuentista, she is the remaining survivors' only hope to preserve the chance of keeping the stories that shaped our existence in the hopes of survival for the future. 🙏🏻
“They’re not meant to be identical; they’re meant to complement one another. Differences make things beautiful as a whole.”
I do very much agree with the dogma that without diversity there is no creativity. Having everyone think and look alike is not the way to live, nor is it enriching; to believe that the Collective thought the only way to prevent the challenges that afflicted the human population was to rid the stigma of difference is a harrowing and unsettling notion - how by eradicating strife and conflict from memory, was the only way to ensure peace. 😢 But, it is Petra who is reminded through the voices of her ancestors that 'if there are chances forus to do better, we have to say out loud the parts that hurt the most.' For her to be brave and find the courage in the existing knowledge and awareness that to remember the mistakes that led to death and destruction is the way to save posterity from it ever happening again. 😥
Yet, for all that they inflicted upon the last traces of children who survived the arduous trip, devoid of thought or choice of opinion, I never felt the threat or danger from them. 😕 For all that Petra felt convinced that she had to stay silent so not to alert them of her awareness and knowledge of stories untold never quite hit. And as much as the inclusion of her Lita's stories were interspersed throughout, stories meant to inspire and give her hope that she will find a way out, I never felt the relevance between the stories of Mexican folklore - 'love, humor, pain, magic, lost souls' - and her present dilemma; or maybe I was not paying attention enough. The memories of her family felt more heartfelt and sincere - the loss of what was so precious to her - was more palpable than the airy way in which she tried to be a good storyteller to the survivors. 🫤
“It’ll be our job to remember the parts we got wrong and make it better for our children and grandchildren. Embrace our differences, and still find a way to make peace.”
I was struggling to keep up, a bit bored as Petra waded her way through various myths and the foreboding feeling that the longer she stayed on the ship, the worse the situation would become. 😴 It was that unexpected twist that I was not prepared for, revealed quietly and tactfully and with a fierce impact that I woke up - sort of. 👌🏻 It was a deeply emotional scene and I felt the beautiful connection and the heartbreaking sting of how much Petra would have to give up in order to move on, to truly live up to the promise she made to her abuelita and believe that humanity can rise from the ashes again. ❤️🩹
But, just as quickly as the tension mounted, it also fizzled out - abruptly and kind of anti-climactic. I didn't feel that the danger served any purpose - the risk level was not believable enough, nor the escape, nor what remained. True, the idea that history will live on through them - that the children are now the carriers of new ideas and creations - a seed to be sowed for future generations, but I didn't feel triumphant in their victory.
“Books became our language. Books became our home. Books became our lives.”
It's the second year in a row where the Newbery Committee has awarded the Medal to a book that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit through the power of storytelling passed down through generations; there is an underlying message that is being made of how books play a part in defining our existence - 'that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.'. 📖 🏅 While I don't have any issues with appreciating the importance that exists in preserving our heritage and family legacy, I would prefer if the story being told, had captured those emotions in a more appealing manner - one that would stir a visceral change in me, rather than have me struggle through the stories that ineffectively relate to the conflict and challenges present. 😔
“A world without story is lost.”
In the year 2061, Halley's Comet is hurtling towards Earth - ready for full on collision, resulting in Earth's destruction. To preserve the very best of minds, along with their families, respective pods have been prepared to have their occupants be in a comatose state during the journey through space till they're reawakened in 2432 upon their arrival in their designated planet of choice to begin humanity anew - Sagan. ☄️ Twelve-year-old Petra Pina, along with her six-year-old brother, Javier, and her parents are one such lucky (or are they?) 😟 family selected to make the fateful journey, when all she wants to be is a great storyteller like her abuelita, who won't be joining them on their departure, but is entrusted to continue to share the riches of her stories with future generations of the human race. 'I’ll never lose your stories, Lita.' But, some deadly force exists that doesn't want the past to be remembered - a sinister Collective - 'a single unit now, without past vices' that believes history is the root of evil and sin - intent to create a new history, with no past, that will transform our new home to something far better. For by purging all memories of Earth from those who survived the trip - especially Petra, who may very well be The Last Cuentista, she is the remaining survivors' only hope to preserve the chance of keeping the stories that shaped our existence in the hopes of survival for the future. 🙏🏻
“They’re not meant to be identical; they’re meant to complement one another. Differences make things beautiful as a whole.”
I do very much agree with the dogma that without diversity there is no creativity. Having everyone think and look alike is not the way to live, nor is it enriching; to believe that the Collective thought the only way to prevent the challenges that afflicted the human population was to rid the stigma of difference is a harrowing and unsettling notion - how by eradicating strife and conflict from memory, was the only way to ensure peace. 😢 But, it is Petra who is reminded through the voices of her ancestors that 'if there are chances forus to do better, we have to say out loud the parts that hurt the most.' For her to be brave and find the courage in the existing knowledge and awareness that to remember the mistakes that led to death and destruction is the way to save posterity from it ever happening again. 😥
Yet, for all that they inflicted upon the last traces of children who survived the arduous trip, devoid of thought or choice of opinion, I never felt the threat or danger from them. 😕 For all that Petra felt convinced that she had to stay silent so not to alert them of her awareness and knowledge of stories untold never quite hit. And as much as the inclusion of her Lita's stories were interspersed throughout, stories meant to inspire and give her hope that she will find a way out, I never felt the relevance between the stories of Mexican folklore - 'love, humor, pain, magic, lost souls' - and her present dilemma; or maybe I was not paying attention enough. The memories of her family felt more heartfelt and sincere - the loss of what was so precious to her - was more palpable than the airy way in which she tried to be a good storyteller to the survivors. 🫤
“It’ll be our job to remember the parts we got wrong and make it better for our children and grandchildren. Embrace our differences, and still find a way to make peace.”
I was struggling to keep up, a bit bored as Petra waded her way through various myths and the foreboding feeling that the longer she stayed on the ship, the worse the situation would become. 😴 It was that unexpected twist that I was not prepared for, revealed quietly and tactfully and with a fierce impact that I woke up - sort of. 👌🏻 It was a deeply emotional scene and I felt the beautiful connection and the heartbreaking sting of how much Petra would have to give up in order to move on, to truly live up to the promise she made to her abuelita and believe that humanity can rise from the ashes again. ❤️🩹
But, just as quickly as the tension mounted, it also fizzled out - abruptly and kind of anti-climactic. I didn't feel that the danger served any purpose - the risk level was not believable enough, nor the escape, nor what remained. True, the idea that history will live on through them - that the children are now the carriers of new ideas and creations - a seed to be sowed for future generations, but I didn't feel triumphant in their victory.
“Books became our language. Books became our home. Books became our lives.”
It's the second year in a row where the Newbery Committee has awarded the Medal to a book that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit through the power of storytelling passed down through generations; there is an underlying message that is being made of how books play a part in defining our existence - 'that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.'. 📖 🏅 While I don't have any issues with appreciating the importance that exists in preserving our heritage and family legacy, I would prefer if the story being told, had captured those emotions in a more appealing manner - one that would stir a visceral change in me, rather than have me struggle through the stories that ineffectively relate to the conflict and challenges present. 😔
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