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. Her middle grade dystopian novel, "The Last Cuentista", won the 2022 Newbery Medal and the Pura Belpré Medal. Life. Higuera grew up in central California and now lives in Washington with her family, three dogs, and two frogs. Outside of writing, Higuera works in healthcare. Higuera is mixed race. Section::::"Selected works". Section::::"Lupe Wong Won't Dance" (2020). "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, a Pura Belpré Award honor book, and PNBA Book Award winner. Section::::"The Last Cuentista" (2021). "The Last Cuentista" was published by Levine Querido and edited by Nick Thomas. 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" The inspiration for "The Last Cuentista" came from a writing exercise involving the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea". In 2022, the book won the Newbery Medal and Pura Belpré Award.