Alebrijes

The story is presented as an account given by Leandro the Mighty. Four centuries after Earth became a desolate, lifeless land, the few people still alive either cling to existence in Pocatel, a harsh city, or venture into the wilderness beyond its walls, which is haunted by roaming spirits and wyrms. Few of them survive for long.

Thirteen-year-old Leandro makes his living as a pickpocket and lives with his sister Gabi, working to build a life inside Pocatel. The city has little patience for the Cascabel, the descendants of families who worked the San Joaquin Valley for generations. When Gabi is caught stealing valuable fruit from the city's elite, Leandro accepts the blame in her place. His punishment turns out to be far stranger than simple exile: his consciousness is installed in an ancient drone and left to survive on its own.

Beyond Pocatel's walls, other alebrijes like Leandro are searching for a better world. The wider land is also home to mutant monsters, pirates who prowl the wasteland, a hidden oasis, and a truth waiting to be uncovered.

Donna Barba Higuera, the Newbery and Pura Belpré award-winning author of The Last Cuentista, wrote this as her next novel. It builds a new imaginative world that reflects our own.