Petra doesn't want to leave her home on earth and especially her beloved Lita, but a comet is hurtling toward the planet, and her family has been chosen to board one of three escape vessels. Her parents' expertise in botany and geology have secured their spot, but Petra wants to be a cuentista like Lita. She loves stories, especially the old ones, and she knows that a good storyteller makes each tale her own.
Petra's family and the other colonists will sleep in stasis pods for the hundreds of years it will take to get to their new home. Their special skills are too valuable to risk losing over generations. The monitors will watch over them while they sleep through generations and prepare everything for arrival.
But when Petra wakes sluggishly from her centuries of sleep, she immediately knows something is wrong. The monitors look wrong. They all look the same and talk about the Collective. They even call her Zeta One instead of Petra. She soon realizes she is the only one who remembers earth. All memories have been purged in order to create a homogenous Collective with no art, no culture, and no stories.
Can Petra survive this new society that ruthlessly purges anyone or anything that is different?
I loved this book from the very beginning. I know I'm late to the party since it already won the Newbery, but this book is excellent. Petra's memories and stories have a lovely dreamlike quality which juxtaposes well with the stark reality the Collective has created. There are passages of real dread and horror without any open violence. The members of the Collective have become monsters, physically and emotionally in their relentless quest for "equality." I truly believe this book has the power to become part of the children's literature canon alongside books like The Giver. This is a meaty tale for discussion and thought. I can't recommend this book enough.
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