The Last Cuentista

From Pura Belpré Honor-winner Donna Barba Higuera--a brilliant journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human.

Gripping in its twists and turns, and moving in its themes - truly a beautiful cuento.--New York Times

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

★ This tale packs a wallop. Exquisite.--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

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

★ A strong, heroic character, fighting incredible odds to survive and protect others.--School Library Journal (starred)

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?