“A science fiction film that demonstrates the universal power of storytelling to save the world.
“Full of powerful themes and rich character.” _Newbery Medal Committee

Petra Peña, one of the few chosen to escape Earth, wakes up in a dangerous society that manipulates conformity.
Petra resists this society through her scientific knowledge and the stories she inherited from her grandmother.
“This book, which builds a worldview that fully immerses readers, is a timeless masterpiece that explores what makes us human.” _American Library Association

2022 Newbery Medal Centennial Grand Prize Winner
Exploring what makes us human
What a wonderfully beautiful story!

★ 2022 Newbery Medal
★ 2022 Pura Belpre Grand Prize
★ [TIME Magazine] Best Books of the Year
★ [Minneapolis Star Tribune] Best Books of the Year
★ [Boston Globe] Best Books of the Year
★ [Book Page] Best Books of the Year
★ [Publisher's Weekly] Best Books of the Year
★ [School Library Journal] Best Books of the Year
★ [Kirkus Reviews] Best Books of the Year
★ Bank Street's Best Books of the Year
★ Chicago Public Library Best of the Best
★ New York Public Library Best Books of the Year
★ Civilis Awards Final List

“Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Petra Peña on a planet called Earth.
Petra wanted to be a storyteller like her grandmother.
But Petra's world is coming to an end.
The Earth was on the verge of destruction due to Halley's Comet's deviation from its orbit.
Only a few hundred scientists and their children will be chosen to continue humanity on the new planet.
On July 28, 2061, Petra left her beloved grandmother behind on Earth and boarded a spaceship bound for a new planet with her mother, a botanist, her father, a geologist, and her younger brother, Javier… … .”

In 2442, Petra wakes up on a spaceship that has landed on a new planet called Sagan.
But there is no mother, father, or Javier next to Petra.
The Collective, who claim that 'unity can create an equal world and end the sins of mankind', took control of the spaceship during the long journey and erased all the passengers' memories.
The only person who remembers Earth is Petra.
Those who boarded the spaceship together live as Zeta 1, Zeta 2, etc., carrying out missions assigned by the Collective without even remembering who they are.


Petra plays Zeta-1, a botanist and geologist who hopes to find her family, who may be sleeping somewhere on the spaceship.
But then he discovers the shocking truth that his mom and dad have been taken away by the Collective.
What gives Petra, who has lost all hope, courage once again is the story told by her grandmother.
What makes Princess Blancaflor brave in the old tale is that she took risks not for herself, but to save the prince.
Petra decides that she will not let the other Zetas spend their lives on this ship forgetting themselves… … .

This book asks serious questions about what makes us human through Petra, the only person in a world ruled by the Collective who remembers Earth's past.
The Collective dreams of a world where everyone is equal in all aspects, including appearance, knowledge, and culture.
But unity and equality are different.
We have already painfully experienced throughout human history that humans are unique and beautiful because they are different, and that we can create an equal world when we do not reject those differences.
However, the Collective, which does not recognize differences, eliminates those who do not move according to its purpose, and uses the rest as tools for planetary development, with their memories removed.
Those without memory view the moment when 11 billion lives on Earth are wiped out as if it were a football game, and they simply sip a tranquilizer tonic when someone is killed or eliminated.
Can we truly call a being incapable of feeling emotions human? This book metaphorically demonstrates that kindness, compassion, sacrifice, and love for others are what truly make us human.


'Once upon a time…' The final storyteller, Petra, tells 'Quento'
A masterpiece that tells the story of the power of saving the world.

Petra grew up listening to her grandmother's stories, "Quento," and dreams of becoming a great storyteller who can move people's hearts like her grandmother.
But in a spaceship controlled by the Collective, stories containing human history, culture, and precious values ​​are treated as useless relics.
Fortunately, a malfunction in the machine that downloads knowledge directly into her brain allows Petra to retain her grandmother's stories.
Just as her grandmother told Petra stories of courage and hope every night as she was afraid of her interstellar journey, Petra tells a magical story that touches the hearts of the Zeta agents who share her room.


This book delicately and beautifully shows the process of change between Petra, who tells the story, and the children who listen to the story.
Whenever Petra faces a difficult problem, she finds guidance in the stories her grandmother tells her, and the Zeta agents, who existed only for the Collective, gradually reveal their own individuality and desires through the stories, as well as feelings of kindness and compassion toward others that are not seen in the Collective members.
And the most amazing change is the double vision that comes from growing up on a spaceship all your life.
Bokshi is a child who is presumed to be the son of the commander leading the Collective, and symbolizes the future of the Collective.
Having never left the Collective-controlled spaceship, Boxy begins to question and fear the Collective's actions as he eavesdrops on Petra's stories each night.
What power lies within stories that can bring about such astonishing transformations? A story that began long ago with my grandmother's mother's mother's mother... ...now continues through Petra, and begins anew.


I won't let our story end here.
(Omitted) I will tell the best stories from the magical library in my heart to our new world.
Page 424

This book contains a variety of stories and books, from old Mexican tales like Princess Blancaflor who saves the prince, to Dreamers, a story about immigrants who overcome difficult situations with dreams, by Yui Morales.
What kind of world will readers encounter and what kind of stories will they create as they read "The Last Storyteller," a book filled with stories from around the world? What is certain is that, like Petra's story, yours has just begun.
Maybe someday that story will save the world.