Donna Barba Higuera


Donna Barba Higuera is an American children's book author. Her debut novel, Lupe Wong Won't Dance, was a Pura Belpré Award honor book and PNBA winner in 2021. Her middle grade dystopian novel, The Last Cuentista, won the 2022 Newbery Medal and the Pura Belpré Medal.
WWW dbhiguera.com𝕏 dbhiguera

Biography

Donna grew up in Central California, surrounded by agricultural and oil fields. As a child, she could be found reading a good book. Her favorite hobbies were calling dial-a-story over and sneaking into cemeteries to inspire her spooky tales using the headstones.
Donna's Middle Grade and Picture Books are about kids who find themselves in odd or scary situations. She explores themes such as: language and cultural differences and living a biracial life. Donna likes to write about all things funny, but also sad, and creepy, and magical.
Donna lives in Washington State with her family, three dogs and two frogs. Outside of writing, Higuera works in healthcare.

Selected works

''Lupe Wong Won't Dance'' (2020)

Lupe Wong Won't Dance is a middle-grade sports novel published September 8, 2020 by Levine Querido. Mason London illustrated the cover, and Libia Brenda translated the Spanish-language edition.
Summary of the book: Lupe Wong is determined to be the first female pitcher in the Major Leagues. She’s also championed causes her whole young life. Some worthy...like expanding the options for race on school tests beyond just a few bubbles. And some not so much...like complaining to the BBC about the length between Doctor Who seasons. Lupe needs an A in all her classes in order to meet her favorite pitcher, Fu Li Hernandez, who’s Chinacan / Mexinese just like her. So, when the horror that is square dancing rears its head in gym? Obviously, she’s not gonna let that slide.

''The Last Cuentista'' (2021)

The Last Cuentista was published by Levine Querido and edited by Nick Thomas. In Higuera's novel, 12-year-old Petra Peña and her family are among those chosen to escape Earth before Halley's Comet collides with the planet;she will have to leave many things behind like her home, her friends, and of course her Abuelita or Grandmother. However, after waking up from a 357-year sleep, everyone's memories had been erased except Petra's. Previous Newbery winner Tae Keller said The Last Cuentista
The inspiration for The Last Cuentista came from a writing exercise involving the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea".

Awards and honors

The Spanish-language translation of Lupe Wong Won't Dance and The Last Cuentista are Junior Library Guild books.
Booklist included Lupe Wong Won't Dance on their 2021 lists of the top ten "Best Middle-Grade Debuts" and "Best Sports Books for Youth."
The Last Cuentista was named one of the best children's books of the year by BookPage, The Boston Globe, the Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, the New York Public Library, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, ''TIME, and The Wall Street Journal.
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
2020Lupe Wong Won't DanceALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2020Lupe Wong Won't DanceBooklist Editors' Choice: Books for YouthSelection
2021Lupe Wong Won't DancePNBA Book AwardWinner
2021Lupe Wong Won't DancePura Belpré Award for Children's AuthorHonor
2021Lupe Wong Won't DanceSid Fleischman Humor AwardWinner
2021'Cybils Award for Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative FictionFinalist
2022'Newbery MedalWinner
2022'Pura Belpré Award for Children's AuthorWinner'
2024AlebrijesPura Belpré Award for Children's AuthorHonor

Publications

Lupe Wong Won't Dance , illustrated by Juliana Perdomo
  • * ¡El Cucuy también tiene miedo! The Last Cuentista
  • * La última cuentista, translated by Aurora Humarán The Yellow Handkerchief, illustrated by Cynthia Alonso Alebrijes It's Navidad, El Cucuy!, illustrated by Juliana Perdomo