Donna Barba Higuera

Donna Barba Higuera is an American children's book author. Her debut novel, Lupe Wong Won't Dance, was a Pura Belpré Award honor book and PNBA winner in 2021.[1][2] Her middle grade dystopian novel, The Last Cuentista, won the 2022 Newbery Medal and the Pura Belpré Medal.[3][4][5]

Life

Higuera grew up in central California and now lives in Washington with her family, three dogs, and two frogs.[6][7]

Outside of writing, Higuera works in healthcare.

Higuera is mixed race.[8]

Selected works

Lupe Wong Won't Dance (2020)
Main article: Lupe Wong Won't Dance

Lupe Wong Won't Dance is a middle-grade sports novel. The cover is illustrated by Mason London, and the Spanish translation was done by Libia Brenda and published September 8, 2020 by Levine Querido. The book is a Junior Library Guild selection,[9] a Pura Belpré Award honor book,[10][11] and PNBA Book Award winner.[12]

The Last Cuentista (2021)
Main article: The Last Cuentista

The Last Cuentista was published by Levine Querido and edited by Nick Thomas.[13] In Barba Higuera's novel, 12 year-old Petra Peña and her family are among those chosen to escape Earth before Halley's comet collides with the planet; however, after waking up from a 400-year sleep, everyone's memories are erased except Petra's. Previous Newbery winner Tae Keller said The Last Cuentista

“certainly veers into the dark end of middle-grade fiction, with brainwashing, ‘purging’, and, yes, the destruction of our entire planet ... but it doesn’t dwell in the darkness, preferring to give its readers healthy doses of hope, wonder and page-turning action.”[5]

The inspiration for The Last Cuentista came from a writing exercise involving the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea.[6]

In 2022, the book won the Newbery Medal and Pura Belpré Award.[14][15][3]

Bibliography

References
  1. "Home | Author | Donna Barba Higuera Writer". Mysite. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  2. "Lupe Wong Won't Dance | Awards & Grants". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  3. Collins Sullivan, Meghan (24 January 2022). "'The Last Cuentista' and 'Watercress' win top children's book awards". npr. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  4. Italie, Hillel (24 January 2022). "'Last Cuentista,' 'Unspeakable' win children's book awards". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  5. Harris, Elizabeth A. (24 January 2022). "Donna Barba Higuera Wins Newbery Medal for 'The Last Cuentista'". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  6. Dumpleton, Elise (7 October 2021). "Q&A: Donna Barba Higuera, Author of 'The Last Cuentista'". The Nerd Daily. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  7. "About". Donna Barba Higuera. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  8. Grilo, Ana (19 October 2021). "An Author Imagines the Future of Storytelling". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  9. "Lupe Wong no baila (Lupe Wong Won't Dance) by Donna Barba Higuera". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  10. Morales, Macey (2021-01-25). "ALA announces 2021 Youth Media Awards". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  11. Morales, Macey (2022-01-24). "Raúl Gonzalez, Donna Barba Higuera and Raquel Vasquez Gilliland win Pura Belpré Awards". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  12. "2021 Book Awards". Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  13. Kantor, Emma; Roback, Diane (January 24, 2022). "Barba Higuera, Chin, Boulley, win Newbery, Caldecott, Printz awards". Publishers Weekly.
  14. Schaub, Michael (2022-01-24). "ALA Announces Youth Media Award Winners for 2022". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  15. Morales, Macey (2022-01-24). "American Library Association announces 2022 Youth Media Award winners". American Library Association. Retrieved 2022-01-31.


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