Alebrijes

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Alebrijes

Title :

Alebrijes / Donna Barba Higuera.

Title:

Alebrijes

Author:

Higuera, Donna Barba

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

404 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

ISBN:

9781646142637

Production / Publication Information:

Montclair : Levine Querido, 2023.

Summary:

When thirteen-year-old Leandro takes the fall for his sister and is exiled into an ancient drone, he embarks on a perilous journey beyond the city's walls where he encounters mutant monsters, wasteland pirates, and fellow outcasts as he tries to save his sister and fellow Cascabeles from the oppressive regime.

Language:

English

Genre:

Novels.

Subject Term:

Dystopias -- Juvenile fiction.

Social classes -- Juvenile fiction.

Drone aircraft -- Juvenile fiction.

Dystopias -- Fiction.

Social classes -- Fiction.

Drone aircraft -- Fiction.

Science fiction.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	TWEEN FICTION HIGUERA	31330009392626	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	J FIC HIGUERA	32114002791813	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library Children's Room	J HIGUERA	31330009369509	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	J/HIGUERA	33934004684917	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Boxford Town Library	J HIG	32115002214730	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	J/FIC/HIGUERA	31480011722144	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groton Public Library	YA MG HIGUERA	37003702001836	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	Y HIG	30470002128055	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	J/FIC/HIGUERA	31479007656936	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	J HIGUERA	32122003049164	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lawrence Public Library	J FIC HIG	31549005066872	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	YA SCI-FI/FANTASY HIGUERA	31481005774570	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	J FIC HIG	32124002154441	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Methuen - Nevins Memorial Library	J FIC HIG	31548003521706	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Middleton - Flint Public Library	J HIGUERA	32126001920706	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newbury Town Library	J HIG	32127001387664	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	TWEEN HIGUERA	32128004230406	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	TEEN HIGUERA	31478010242783	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rockport Public Library	J FIC HIGUERA	32129002591351	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rowley Public Library	J FIC HIG	32130001085452	Searching... Unknown
New books	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	TEEN FICTION HIGUERA	32132003417832	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... West Newbury - G.A.R. Memorial Library	J HIG	32135001613336	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	MG F HIGUERA (SF)	31990005197434	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

PURA BELPRÉ HONOR WINNER

BEST OF THE YEAR

New York Times · Kirkus · Booklist · Chicago Public Library

The follow-up to Newbery and Pura Belpré Award-winning The Last Cuentista

For 400 years, Earth has been a barren wasteland. The few humans that survive scrape together an existence in the cruel city of Pocatel - or go it alone in the wilderness beyond, filled with wandering spirits and wyrms. They don't last long.

13 year-old pickpocket Leandro and his sister Gabi do what they can to forge a life in Pocatel. The city does not take kindly to Cascabel like them - the descendants of those who worked the San Joaquin Valley for generations.

When Gabi is caught stealing precious fruit from the Pocatelan elite, Leando takes the fall. But his exile proves more than he ever could have imagined -- far from a simple banishent, his consciousness is placed inside an ancient drone and left to fend on its own. But beyond the walls of Pocatel lie other alebrijes like Leandro who seek for a better world -- as well as mutant monsters, wasteland pirates, a hidden oasis, and the truth.

From Donna Barba Higuera, Newbery and Pura Belpré Medal-winning author of The Last Cuentista , comes another novel to astonish us and create a whole new imaginative world, that holds a mirror to our own.

7 STARRED REVIEWS

★ "An instant classic."

-- School Library Journal (starred)

★ "Breathtaking... A ferociously epic and beautiful middle-grade dystopian novel."

-- Shelf Awareness (starred)

★ "Combines humanity and technology with imaginative splendor."

-- Foreword (starred)

★ "This heartfelt adventure signals hope for humanity, even in the aftermath of darkness."

-- Kirkus (starred)

★ "High-stakes adventure... Beautiful, imaginative writing fills this dystopian sf novel. Though it exposes cruelty and corruption, it raises up storytelling, culture, and kindness as stronger yet... A wondrous addition to any collection."

-- Booklist (starred)

★ "This stellar speculative narrative explores themes of identity across circumstance, centering an adolescent without structural power working to protect family and community."

-- Publishers Weekly (starred)

★ "Higuera brilliantly balances the heaviness of a dystopian future of a ruined Earth with her own blend of science fiction and Mexican folkloric elements once Leandro leaves his human body... Leandro and his unflinching dedication to an uplifting view of humanity that will spark engagement from the first page and linger in the minds of readers well after they finish the novel."

-- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred)

"With its social and environmental commentary, this fast-paced and imaginative novel tackles issues of deception and control and leaves one with a sense of wonder that a single flap of a wing or a solitary voice can bring about unimaginable change."

-- Horn Book

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4--9--Subtle worldbuilding, flesh-and-bone protagonists, and magnetic writing make this sci-fi companion to Newbery Award--winning The Last Cuentista an instant classic. To survive, orphan brother and sister Leandro and Gabi scavenge potatoes for their harsh employers. They are Cascabeles, the descendants of the farmers who worked the lands of the San Joaquin Valley before a disaster wiped out most of the world 400 years ago. They live under the subjugation of the cruel Pocatelans, under threat of exile for any minor infraction, in tent communities and dire conditions, afraid of monsters and starvation. Completely on their own, the siblings have to pickpocket to stay alive. Leandro takes the fall for Gabi when she gets caught stealing, and he is banished. Instead of a death sentence, he is transformed into a hummingbird drone and joins other machines, called alebrijes, named after the mystical creatures sculpted by Oaxacan artists. In his new form, Leandro uncovers a dangerous plot. With measured pacing and layered character development, Higuera's latest is a masterly exploration of how corruption is an indelible part of every oppressive society. It's also a celebration; there will always be a beacon of hope in dark times, fueled by stories and community. There are still reminders of the previous world that serve to remind readers that this society is not too different from our own. The Cascabeles speak Spanish; the Pocatelans speak English. VERDICT This gorgeously written post-apocalyptic novel is a must for every library.--Shelley M. Diaz

Publisher's Weekly Review

An orphaned pickpocket must inhabit the body of a hummingbird drone in Newbery Medalist Higuera's deeply humane postapocalyptic novel set in the distant future. Since arriving in Pocatel, a walled city with a harsh climate and scant resources, 13-year-old Leandro Rivera and his nine-year-old sister Gabi endure a life of arduous physical labor and must frequently engage in petty theft to survive. As Cascabeles, the Latinx-coded descendants of workers from the San Joaquin Valley, Leandro and Gabi must at all times abide by the oppressive Pocatelan Regime's laws--or else face banishment as well as the deadly wyrms that lurk outside the city. When Gabi is caught stealing a strawberry just before a planned escape, Leandro sacrifices himself in her place. Upon meeting his captors, though, he is offered a reprieve in the form of a task: occupy a piece of tech thought lost to time and find a missing person beyond the city's borders. Steeped in folkloric ambience and employing delicate character work, this stellar speculative narrative explores themes of identity across circumstance, centering an adolescent without structural power working to protect family and community. Occasional b&w interiors from Álvarez enrich the narrative. Ages 10--14. Agent: Allison Remcheck, Stimola Literary. (Oct.)

Horn Book Review

On Higuera's barren post-apocalyptic Earth, Pocatels rule over the Spanish-speaking Cascabels, refugees from the San Joaquin Valley, forcing them to live in squalid tent cities, endure long hours harvesting potatoes, and subsist on next to nothing. Thirteen-year-old Leandro and his younger sister, Gabi, impoverished and orphaned Cascabels, plan to escape the Pox, as their settlement is called, but when Gabi is caught stealing a strawberry from a fruit seller, their scheme is thwarted. Leandro takes the blame, and he's sent to the Center of Banishment for the theft. He's given a choice: banishment or have his consciousness transferred to an alebrije, an Old World animal drone. He chooses the alebrije: as a drone hummingbird, he's free to fly from the confines of Pocatel, but his choice comes with conditions. For one, he's tasked with finding the daughter of one of the ruling directors and returning her to Pocatel. On his quest, Leandro uncovers the lies of the government; finds La Cuna, a legendary verdant paradise of the Cascabels; and discovers what it means to be a hero. With its social and environmental commentary, this fast-paced and imaginative novel tackles issues of deception and control and leaves one with a sense of wonder that a single flap of a wing or a solitary voice can bring about unimaginable change. An epilogue gratifyingly ties this book to Higuera's Newbery Award-winning The Last Cuentista (rev. 9/21). Yesica HurdNovember/December 2023 p.81 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Thirteen-year-old Leandro Rivera and his 9-year-old sister, Gabi, brave the harsh reality of a segregated settlement in post-apocalyptic California. Spanish-speaking Cascabeles like Leandro are forced to work the fields to provide for elite English-speaking Pocatelans or risk exile and certain death in the desolate and dangerous monster-filled outside world. Descended from farmers who worked the land before the calamity that made everything barren, the orphaned siblings, who survive as pickpockets, face discrimination within the city's walls and are threatened with deadly punishment for even minor offenses. Leandro and Gabi hatch a plan to escape from their oppressors, live free in the wild, and return to the ways of their people. Their plans derail, however, when Leandro is banished for stealing after he covers for Gabi's impulsive theft of a strawberry. But Leandro's magical transformation leads to a breathtaking discovery that could transform the lives of everyone in Pocatel. In Leandro's hero's journey, alebrijes are brilliantly cast as animalistic machines from another era and saviors of the living. The story examines how people can build better societies from the ashes of unequal, oppressive, and corrupt ones. Softly rendered black-and-white illustrations evoke the terrors and wonders of a broken world through a child's eyes. Strong worldbuilding uses the familiar and the fantastic to prod readers to consider the story's parallels to real-world injustices and the ethics of power, storytelling, and greed. This heartfelt adventure signals hope for humanity, even in the aftermath of darkness. (map) (Dystopian. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Upon a desolate Earth, an enclave of humans has established a society amid hostile surroundings, including a wyrmfield inhabited by subterranean monsters straight out of Tremors. A harsh caste system has landed orphaned 13-year-old Leandro and his little sister, Gabi, in the Pox (Pocatel's slum) with the other Cascabeles, who work the potato fields each day under the watchful eye of the Pocatelan guards. Longing for a better life, Leandro has planned an escape, but everything is ruined when he is arrested for stealing and sentenced to three years' exile. Curiously, it will only be his mind that is held captive--uploaded into a tiny piece of Old-World tech called a spark. The physician performing the procedure secretly offers Leandro a deal in which she will place his spark into a hummingbird drone if he will search for her missing daughter, who is also in drone form. He accepts, knowing he and Gabi can leave Pocatel should he succeed. The high-stakes adventure awaiting Hummingbird Leandro is enthralling and studded with surprises that spur the narrative onward. Beautiful, imaginative writing fills this dystopian sf novel. Though it exposes cruelty and corruption, it raises up storytelling, culture, and kindness as stronger yet, giving a satisfying nod to Higuera's Newbery Award--winning The Last Cuentista (2021) in the process. A wondrous addition to any collection.