OPEN A BOOK,OPEN THE WORLD
四百年來，地球是一片荒土。
極少數存活下來的居民，若不是奮力在這殘酷的Pocatel城裡覓得一線生機，便是選擇浪跡野外，然而境外遊魂與蛇怪肆虐，孤身的旅人通常凶多吉少。
13歲的小扒手Leandro和妹妹Gabi在Pocatel為生活拼盡全力，但這座城市並不待見他們，他們是「響尾蛇」——世代為聖瓦昆山谷效力者的後裔。
Gabi因偷取城市貴族的珍稀水果被逮到，Leandro站出來揹下黑鍋，但流放的苦楚超乎他所能想像，他的處罰遠不是簡單的放逐，他的意識被植入一台古老機器，任其自生自滅。
但除了遊魂與變種怪物，劫掠者、隱身在荒土裡的綠洲，以及等待被揭開的真相，在城牆之外，還有一群名為阿萊布里赫Alebrijes的聖獸，和Leandro一樣渴望並探尋著一個更好的世界…
紐伯瑞獎、普拉貝爾普雷獎得主Donna Barba Higuera，帶來再次驚艷眾讀者的The Last Cuentista/ The Last Storyteller續集，以豐富的拉美文化意象與深厚底蘊，打造了一個充滿絕妙想像，同時也映照我們自身的科幻世界。
The sequel to the New York Times bestselling The LastCuentista series from Newbery medalist Donna Barba Higuera!
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 Newbery and Pura Belpré medalist Donna Barba Higuera comes the second book in the Cuentista series, featuring her signature blend of dystopian scifi and Mexican folklore in a funhouse mirror of our own civilization.
W I N N E R
PURA BELPRÉ HONOR
