Content: G
BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
12yo Petra's abuelita is a story teller, and that is exactly what she wants to be when she grows up - but the world is ending, and her parents are scientists escaping the planet with their family (and others) to travel through space (and time) to begin again on another planet. Placed in stasis as the journey takes hundreds of years, Petra is brought back to find that things are not as she expected. The Collective has taken over the ship, and any of the children who awaken with memories are purged. Petra is a step ahead of them - she carries not only memories, but all the stories, too. But can she keep that from the Collective?
I thought The Last Cuentista would be about a story teller, but it's oh so much more! Yes, there's some Mexican Folklore, and references to many other books and stories, but this beautiful Dystopian/Space Travel middle grade novel is a remarkable statement of the importance of our cultures, and the necessity of sharing our stories. I hope it gets a lot of attention from the kids - the cover is beautiful, but not the kind that usually appeals to middle grade readers. I expect, like Lowry's "The Giver" "The Last Cuentista" will soon appear as a classroom novel. Science fiction is so fun to teach.
Lisa Librarian
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