by Samantha White
Northwest Asia Weekly
barba eagle woman
A few years ago, Donna Barba Higuera’s youngest daughter came home from high school upset that she had to do square dancing in gym class.
Her daughter’s fear of having to dance – and a boy, too – inspired Lupe Wong, a young Chinese/Mexican (Chinese and Mexican) girl Barba Higuera describes as a stubborn troublemaker and Social Justice Fighter. She is also the protagonist in Issaquah Resident’s 2020 debut intermediate novel, Lupe Wong Won’t Dance (Levine Querido, 2020). The book went on to receive many awards and honors, including the Pura Belpré Honorable Mention and the Sid Fleischman Humor Award.
At the end of January, Barba Higuera’s latest book, The Last Cuentista (Levine Querido, 2021), tells the story of a 12-year-old girl who becomes an aspiring storyteller in a world hundreds of years from now. Humanity’s past is being erased, Newbury Prize and Prabell Prey Prize.
Barba Higuera received word of both honors in a single weekend. The annual awards are sponsored by the Children’s Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
According to the ALA website, the Newberry Medal is awarded to the “author for the most outstanding contribution to American children’s literature.” The Pura Belpré Award – co-sponsored by the Youth Library Services Association and ALA affiliate REFORMA – is presented to “a Latino/Latino writer and illustrator whose work best depicts, affirms and celebrates Latino culture with excellence Experience children’s and youth literature.”
Since the announcement, Barba Higuera’s life has turned into a hurricane of joy and chaos. Within a week, hard copies of “The Last Cuentista” started selling out everywhere, from Barnes & Noble to Amazon — a good question, she admits. She also received more interview requests than she could handle without help.
Barba Iguera, who is still working as an optometrist in Bellevue, was asked if she thought about winning these awards when she started writing (though she will start working fewer hours as her writing career becomes more demanding) , she said: “I don’t think any writer can imagine any awards at all,” she said, noting that there are also some amazing books that don’t get any recognition.
Barba Higuera, who also published a children’s picture book El Cucuy is Scared Too! (Harry N. Abrams, 2021) has been a writer.
Before she started serious writing, she wrote short stories, often using alternate versions of things she considered mysterious. She started writing her first novel in 2011 after taking an online writing course at Bellevue College. For about seven years, she wrote several “practice” novels before finding an agent and writing “Lupe.”
While she’s been in Washington since 1995 — living in Kent County before moving to Issaquah about 18 years ago — Barba Higuera is half Mexican American and half white, living in Towers, Calif. husband grew up. At the time, it was a predominantly white community, and throughout her childhood there was only one Latino boy in town. Although their numbers were small, only one person with a similar cultural background helped.
As a biracial person, she understands what it feels like to be seen by others as “not enough” of any one race. It’s something her two daughters—one adopted from China and the other half-Chinese American on her father’s side—have to deal with, too.
Barba Higuera strives to give children something she didn’t grow up with – representation. But she tries not to be preachy in her writing. Instead, Barba Higuera likes to present situations that make readers question how they would feel or react if they were in her character’s shoes.
Whether it’s kids who don’t see their specific culture on the page, kids who are browsing multiple cultures, or kids who aren’t afraid to speak their minds and fight differently, she wants her work to speak to readers. One thing she wants them, and her daughters, now 18 and 22, understand is, “Be yourself, and the right people will find you and be your friend.”
Samantha is available at info@nwasianweekly.com.
