The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

 Petra Pena loves the stories her grandmother tells of their Aztec ancestors.  She wants to become a storyteller, too, but her life is upended when Haley's Comet goes of course and heads towards Earth.  Petra's family is given the chance to join a few hundred who will escape the utter distruction of the earth in star ships.  She will be put in stasis and awaken 400 years later on a new planet.  It is a desperate plan, and, unfortunately, desperate people send it off course, just like the comet.  When Petra wakes up the ship has been taken over by a group of radicals who want complete unity through complete homogeneity. Petra tries desperately to hold onto her dream of being a storyteller, while trying to find her family and see a way through to a new life like the one she was promised.

This is the Newbery winner for 2022.  I have been waiting on hold for it for 6 months, and it turned out to be nothing like I expected.  First off, it is amazing that a science fiction won the Newbery Medal.  The last real SciFi to win was The Giver written about 30 years ago. This book was like The Giver in theme, crossed with Wall-E in setting.  The whole message was about the importance of diversity and culture in making a life meaningful.  I guess I can see how that message could resonate right now with so many groups clamoring for inclusivity and tollerance.  

I must admit I didn't love the book.  The scientific elements were weak, which was distracting to me. Also, as Petra was telling the other children her stories, I kept thinking, "They have been on a space ship 400 years, why would they know that word, or that term?"  I also thought there wasn't much character development. Petra goes through horrific experiences, but doesn't really change much because of them. She endures, but doesn't grow. The thing that was the biggest turn off was that most of the book felt pretty hopeless. I knew it would have something of a happy ending at last, because it was written for a middle-grade audience, but it was 98% downer and only 2% happy ending. I am being overly harsh.  I am impressed with how original it was in concept, and different from what others are writing.  I can see how lots of people will have liked it. It just wasn't my cup of tea. (2021, 336 p)