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Weekend Pick for March 11, 2022

3/11/2022

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Weekend Pick for March 11, 2022

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This weekend let's take a dive into the world of speculative fiction with the winner of the Newbery Medal and Pura Belpré Award, The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. 

This story is a story lovers tale. Set in a futuristic world where Earth has been destroyed by a comet, the story begins with, "Había una vez . . ." Then we meet our protagonist, a girl named Petra Peña, who wants nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world as she knows it is coming to a close. As the child of scientists chosen to leave  Earth for the journey to a new planet, Petra is tasked with the continuation of the human race in a new world. Put into suspended animation for hundreds of years, she wakes to this new planet only to find that she is the only one to still remember life on Earth, and the leaders of this new world are comprised of a sinister Collective focused on erasing the sins of humanity's past. The Collective have manipulated the suspended animation to purge the memories of all aboard the ship during their journey to the new world and purged those deemed "defective" all together. Petra now faces the challenge of carrying the stories of humanity's past, and with them, the hope for the future. The question remains can she make the stories live again?

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I loved this novel for so many reasons. First, the writing--just incredible! Higuera envelopes the reader in her beautifully woven tale across space with magical Mexican folklore. Second, as all excellent science fiction stories do, The Last Cuentista makes the reader contemplate the importance of storytelling as a pathway tying the future to the past and asking the question, can the stories of the past save the future?  Finally, the love and cleverness and hope embodied in the character of Petra brings readers light in the midst of darkness. A testament of the power of storytelling and the ways our shared histories make us connected to one another, this novel was exactly the right book at the right time for me. I hope you will find it just as compelling and spellbinding as I did! 
Until next week, keep reading!
xo,
​Cammie 

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    Curators for the Weekend Picks

    Leilya Pitre
    Leilya taught English as a foreign language in the Ukraine and ELA/English in public schools in the US. Her research interests include teacher preparation, clinical experiences, secondary school teaching, and teaching and research of Young Adult and multicultural literature. Together with her friend and colleague, Mike Cook, she co-authored a two-volume edition of Teaching Universal Themes Through Young Adult Novels (2021). ​
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    Cammie Jo Lawton
    Cammie is a current doctoral student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and serves the Center for Children and Young Adult Literature as a graduate research assistant. She is especially interested in how YA can affect readers, create empathy and possibly shift thinking. 
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    Nikki Bylina-Streets
    Nikki is a elementary librarian who just keeps reading YA literature. She is a constant advocate for reading at every level. You can also follow her through her ​Instagram account dedicated to my school library work. @thislibraryrocks
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