I remember the moment I was introduced to Donna Barba Higuera’s The Last Cuentista. It occurred on my 42nd birthday during which I was hosting an intimate birthday party at my house with four of my closest friends. Francesca Padilla is one of them. I’ve known her since 2016 at a writing group located at one of the local bars here in Rochester, New York. A published author herself, I’ve always known her for her keen observation and crafting stories that unapologetically illustrate the complicated struggles of being a marginalized teen girl. The realism and relatability of the female characters in her own Young Adult (YA) novel, What’s Coming to Me is a testament to my friend’s amazing taste in literature. So when she gave me a copy of The Last Cuentista, I knew I was holding a literary treasure in my hands. And I was right.
Set in 2061, The Last Cuentista is astory told from the perspective of 12-year-old girl Petra Peña. Since childhood, she has always wanted to be a cuentista—or storyteller—like her beloved grandmother, Lita. When a comet obliterates Earth, Petra—along with her and younger brother, Javier—are aboard a ship called the Alpha Centauri. From there, the Peñas and other families head towards the planet Sagan to establish a new life. While traveling to her future home in a cog aboard the Alpha Centauri ship, the young teen carries her love for storytelling and hopes of honoring the tradition as the last cuentista in her entire lineage.
But when Petra arrives in Sagan centuries later, she is horrified to discover that the Alpha Centauri ship has been seized by anextremist group called the Collective. Aside from reprogramming the memories of most of the ship’s inhabitants, the eugenics organization purged from the Alpha Centauri anyone who failed the reprogramming procedure. Worsening the situation is the main protagonist’s realization is that she alone remembers the history of Earth, as well as the history of the literary arts. Understanding the magnitude of her dilemma, Petra must heavily rely onher gifts as the last storyteller to reunite with her family and escape the oppression of the Collective.
While constructing the Bibliotherapy section for the Chronicles of the Fellow Traveler website, I added this incredible YA modern classic without hesitation. Here are the reasons why:
· Higuera’sMultifaceted Genre-Bending
When I wrote amini review of this The Last Cuentista for Instagram, I described Higuera’s mastery of simultaneously bending multiple genres. Petra’s personal accounts reflect the author’s amalgamation of Dystopian, Science Fiction, Psychological Horror, Suspense, and Mexican Folklore with impressive precision. She uses Science Fiction and Dystopian influences to pave a foundation for the Earth’s demise and the Peña family’s relocation to a new planet to call home. The utilization of advanced technology to perform tasks like implanting knowledge into the passengers’ subconscious mind during their hibernation phase is also a common theme within these genres.
But the Collective and the invasive measures they execute to construct an emotionally sterile utopia introduces the blatant presence of Psychological Horror and Suspense. For Petra, the physical appearance of the Collective is disturbing enough. She vividly describes them as people with rail thin bodies with skin that resembles the color of chalk. Chancellor Nyla and Crick act as the authoritative figures that determine whose lives are worth preserving for their cause. When observing some of her fellow passengers, Petra notices that the daily dose of juice they consume strips them of their emotions and wherewithal. The passengers’ lack of awareness and human reactions is similar to that of the citizens in the 2002 Dystopian Science Fiction film classic Equilibrium.
The Collective’s explanation behind enforcing such oppressive standards is their belief that remembering the history of Earth will initiate conflicts that could possibly result in war. They assume that complex subjects like politics and religion are the root of the world’s divisiveness, which would only be exacerbated by mediums that stir human emotions and opposing views. Literature is a form of media powerful enough to create such reactions. This is one of the reasons why members of the Collective attempt to erase centuries worth of literature from Petra’s downloadable cog during her hibernation phase.
The Collective’s treatment of these new citizens of Sagan and their stifling of history is similar to the Don’t Talk, Don’t Trust, Don’t Feel rule often mentioned amongst members of Adult Children of Alcoholics Anonymous (ACA). This mandate is self-explanatory. As children, we ACA members (or Fellow Travelers) have received the message that we must remain silent about the dysfunction that unfolds within