About the Author

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 Belpr� Honor.

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

Reviews

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

★ "Higuera spins a tale that crosses the depths of space, interweaving Mexican folklore with a mystical strand of science fiction." -- Kirkus (starred)

★ "Pura Belpr� Honor-winning author Donna Barba Higuera (Lupe Wong Won't Dance) deftly blends Mexican folklore with science fiction in this thrilling and emotional post-apocalyptic novel." -- Shelf-Awareness (starred)

"The Last Cuentista is heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once, and centers family, community, and the oral histories that keep us together." --Tor.com

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

"Readers will find in The Last Cuentista a promise that the past is not the enemy of the future, but a gift that grants the perspective to meet that future with compassion and bravery." -- Bookpage

"The brilliance of Higuera's narrative is that it shows rather than tells us the power of story. As Petra shares her tales and they guide her shipmates out of darkness, readers will find corners of their own hearts illuminated as well. This book is gripping in its twists and turns, and moving in its themes -- truly a beautiful cuento." -- New York Times

"The Last Cuentista is a beautiful middle grade story of a young Latina who must leave a no longer inhabitable Earth and learns the importance of adapting. Although this is a middle-grade dystopian novel, it is poetically magical while honoring the storytelling of our ancestors and Mexican folklore. The story is fun, vibrant, and relatable. Captivating the reader to partake in a voyage of unforgettable cuento (which means 'story' in English of what it means to adapt, believe, and find one's self." -- Al Dia News

"A beautifully told story of what makes us human." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Petra Pe�a is twelve when she and her family board one of the last ships leaving Earth just before its imminent destruction by comet. As the remaining Earthlings struggle to survive, all of the cuentos -- stories -- Petra grew up listening to will turn out to be more powerful than she could have imagined in this thrilling and hopeful work of science fiction." -- Boston Globe

"Truly good children's books engage and entertain while also helping young readers come to understand themselves and the complicated world they live in. The best picture, middle grade and young adult books of 2021 deftly rise to that challenge, telling stories about identity, allyship and more... Donna Barba Higuera's The Last Cuentista asks kids to consider the danger of adopting dogmatic beliefs without questioning authority figures." -- Time Magazine