Two Great Middle Grade Novels About Storytelling

“Tell me a story.”

My sister still says that to me. And when she does, I sift through my recent stash to see what she’d find amusing. Something from work? A pet story? A spouse story? Something silly I did? Yes, that’s probably her favorite.

Recently I happened to read two MG novels that use oral storytelling as an important theme and plot device.

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera, published by Levine Querido in 2021, won the 2022 Newbery Medal and the 2022 Pura Belpré Medal.

While I like to read medal winners, this novel grabbed my attention because of the science fiction plot. It’s about a 12-year-old girl who wants to be a storyteller like her grandmother rather than a scientist like her parents. She boards a space ship with her family that’s heading to a new planet because a comet is about to smash into Earth and kill everyone left behind.

The trip lasts 370 years, so all but the folks making sure the ship keeps running properly are in suspended animation. Of course things go radically wrong and Petra Peña’s ability to tell stories becomes one key to the plot.

Higuera uses first-person, present-tense narration for the main story line. She weaves in the stories Petra tells as well as flashbacks to her life on Earth in present tense too. It’s masterfully done.

Once Upon a Camel by Kathi Appelt was published by Atheneum in 2021.

I heard her talk about this book when I was working on an animal novel myself. I didn’t realize until I opened it that it’s historical. And—bonus!—it’s funny.

Appelt uses an omniscient narrator with a fun, storyteller’s flair. The main story is set in 1910 West Texas during a terrible wind storm. Zada, the camel, uses stories of her life to solve a number of interesting problems, from small to large. My favorite of her stories is about a mountain lion and some stampeding horses.

Both novels draw attention to the importance of stories. Stories make us human. They give us hope.