The Last Book in the Universe

by Rodman Philbrick

Book Overview

This fast-paced action novel is set in a future where the world has been almost destroyed. Newbery Honor Author Rodman Philbrick is at his very best.

The Last Book in the Universe joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content

Nobody around here reads anymore. Why bother, when you can just shoot all the images and excitement straight into your...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439087597
• ISBN13: 9780439087599
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Blue Sky Press (AZ)
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Eden

This book is amazingly realistic. The author tells of our world after a 'big shake' destroyed everything. After the shake most 'normals', like us, live in the Urbs,that is a place like our modern cities except instead of houses they live in small cubicals. The other part of the population is made up of Proovs, genetically improved people, in other words they're perfect in every way. They get to live in a place called Eden, and to us, Eden is paradise. No one is allowed into Eden unless you are a Proov. So when you get sick in the Urbs you die, because, like I said before, you live in horrible little shacks with only acid rain to drink. Hopefully, we ourselves won't end up like this, otherwise Eden is our only hope for survival, and to get there is almost impossible. Because along the way you'd run into many gangs, who'd want to cut your red. You see, many normals grow up without parents to protect them, so they learn early on how to live on there own. After a while they behave not as humans, but as animals, and they hunt in packs for human flesh. But you'll have to read the story to find out more because the ending will shock you.

The Gates of Eden

Rodman Philbrook has written an engaging, thought-provoking, disturbing yet hopeful, easy-to-read children's book about a possible future time that will stay with you long after you finish it, and will make you want to read it over and over again. I don't know if he is familiar or not with one of my favorite Bob Dylan tunes, Gates of Eden, but the book and song have a great deal in common, including the way they both send shivers down your spine, and weave an intricate, beautiful, scary web that holds onto you and makes you think long and hard about life and the future of man on Earth. My 6 and 11 year old boys both loved reading this book and ask for it again frequently. The audiotape is an excellent reading of it as well. Read it, listen to it on tape, but get it. You won't regret it.

It's a future world where nobody reads anymore

It's a future world where nobody reads anymore and a boy who associates with a rare old-timer learns of worlds beyond his haunted urban environment. The bleak future world inhabited by the protagonist comes alive under Philbrick's hand, and tells of an association which promises to change their stark existence.

The Last Book in the Universe

This book is a very odd, but interesting book. It is definitely a science fiction book. The setting takes place sometime in the future in a place called Urb. Spaz finds out that his sister is sick in another latch. He goes through extreme adventures with an old man and a little boy. He goes through alot and rescues a proov girl, Lanaya. In reward Lanaya escorts him to his sick sister. They find out about Eden. This book is a combination of the book, The Giver and the movie Matrix. There were alot of messages and references to other authors and how important it is to read. We should not take advantage of having books.

What The Author has To Say About 'The Last Book'

The novel 'The last Book In The Universe' grew out of a short story of the same title. It takes place in a dangerous future, in the ruins of a once great city now known simply as 'The Urb'. My young hero has to embark on a terrifying quest in the company of a mysterious stranger known as Ryter, crossing war-torn 'latches' dominated by wild mobs and demented gang bosses. At the center of the ruined city is a forbidden paradise reserved for the 'proovs' - those humans who have gentically 'improved' themselves. I've tried to make the story as exciting as possible - I wanted to create a real page turner. If you enjoyed my novel 'Freak The Mighty' I think you may like 'The Last Book In The Universe', but be warned: this is a very different kind of story.