Alebrijes - Flight to a New Haven by Donna Barba Niguera

Pages: 338

Publisher: Piccadilly Press 

Released: 3rd of October 2023 

This is the story as it was told to me by Leandro the Mighty.

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, Leandro takes the fall. But his exile proves more than he ever could have imagined - far from a simple banishment, 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.

A thought-provoking and beautifully written novel, creating a whole new imaginative world, that holds a mirror to our own.

What I Have to Say 

This is a really strong and hopeful sci-fi story for young readers. Though I didn't enjoy it as much as The Last Storyteller, it still had a plot and setting that drew me in completely. I loved learning about the society and how the technology they had ran on a single drop of water! 

The story wasn't as smooth as in The Last Storyteller, which was always going to appeal to me more because I love stories so much. But I loved the idea of putting your consciousness inside a drone and flying about. I loved all the animals that Leadro met. I did find though that I quickly forgot which animal was which character though as it was only mentioned when they were introduced. Some of them have the Spanish name for the animals though, so if you speak Spanish, you'll have an advantage remembering them! 

As with The Last Storyteller, this book is filled with Spanish! I loved how bilingual it was, even though I don't speak Spanish. It would be absolutely perfect for bilingual kids. Be advised though, though this was almost standalone, to make sense of the epilogue, you have to have read The Last Storyteller, so the best way to read them is with TLS first and then this one. 

Read for dystopia, sci- fi and cool drones! 

 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Piccadilly Press for providing me with this copy for review.