Philbrick, Rodman. (2002). The Last Book in the Universe. New York: Scholastic. 224 pp.

Grade Range: 6-12

Genre: Science Fiction

Summary and Critique

Fourteen-year old Spaz lives in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by gangster-type mob bosses. Books and writing are both prohibited and unneeded because the masses receive virtual entertainment via mental probes inserted into their heads. The past has been forgotten, and the future is not worth thinking about. Because Spaz has epilepsy, he is not permitted to engage in the virtual entertainment, and his foster parents have shunned him. Spaz befriends an old man, Ryter, who has been illegally writing the only book pages that remain. When Spaz hears that his sister, Bean, is dying, he and his few new-found friends risk their lives to find and save her. Eventually, Ryter's book pages are destroyed. On his deathbed, Ryter reminds Spaz that even if the paper pages are gone that Spaz himself has the story within him and is the last book in the universe.

This entertaining book has numerous clever yet easily identifiable terms to describe people and places in a futuristic society. The well-described scenes and adventurous plots will appeal to a variety of readers. A bittersweet ending gives the reader a faint hope that the future will be equitable and leaves the reader desiring a sequel.

Awards

2001 ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Themes/Topics

Friends and Enemies

Challenges and Triumphs

Generations

The Individual vs. Society

Nature/Science

Adventure

Author Information

Rodman Philbrick began writing in the sixth grade – secretly. At 16, he finally shared some of his efforts with his parents, but not until age 27 did he have his first novel published. He never intended to write young adult books. His first book was Freak the Mighty.

For more information on Rodman Philbrick:

http://www.rodmanphilbrick.com Home page for Rodman Philbrick. Features information about the author, his books, teaching guides, and frequently asked questions.

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring96/philbrick.html An essay written by Philbrick on finding one's voice.

Scholastic - Biography Philbrick's biography.

Media Connections

Movies/Documentaries

*Note- most of these would be appropriate for 11^th and 12^th grade only because of violence.

Blade Runner (1982) Deckard, a Blade Runner, must leave retirement in order to find and destroy five replicants (clones designed to be slaves) who have escaped.

Fahrenheit 451 (1966) An adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novel. In a society where the government destroys books and prohibits reading in order to control the population, a firefighter (i.e. professional book burner) discovers the joy of reading and risks his freedom and his life to save books and the art of reading.

Gattaca (1997) In a futuristic society where genetically altered test-tube babies are the norm, a second-class citizen assumes a new identity to achieve his career goals.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Mad Max becomes a pawn in a decadent oasis of technological society, and when exiled, becomes the deliverer of a colony of children.

Terminator (1984) A cyborg from the year 2029 is sent back in time to murder the mother of a future leader.

Music

Twenty Five Thunderous Classics. [A compilation of classical music]. New York: Vox, (2000). Music that would represent the Urbs.

Classics for Relaxation and Meditation. [A compilation of classical music]. Madacy Records, (1995). Music that would represent Eden.

Online Resources

http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/3/6/t6-401-e.html Canadian site explaining dystopia vs. utopia.

http://users.erols.com/jonwill/utopialist.htm Links to various Web sites about Utopia.

http://www.d-holliday.com/tmore/utopia.htm Thomas More's Utopia

http://www.art.com or http://www.allposters.com Keyword"utopia." Pictures of utopia and abstract expressionism

http://137.172.248.46/epilepsy.htm A site explaining basic information about epilepsy.

An article about aging and genes.

Related Texts

Lowry, Lois. (1993). The Giver. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. 180 pp. In a futuristic utopian society, twelve-year old Jonas is appointed a special position as the Receiver and learns the horrible truth about his seemingly perfect society.

Bradbury, Ray. (1967). Fahrenheit 451. London: Hart Davis. 158 pp. In a society where the government destroys books and prohibits reading in order to control the population, a firefighter (i.e. professional book burner) discovers the joy of reading and risks his freedom and his life to save books and the art of reading.

Dickens, Charles. (1829). Oliver Twist. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. 212 pp. Oliver is an orphan subjected to the poor living and working conditions of 19^th century England. After escaping from the orphanage, he is kidnapped by a gang of thieves.

Huxley, Aldous. (1932). Brave New World. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, & Company. 311pp. Huxley presents a society whose members experience only pleasure but are controlled by the ruling class.

Cart, Michael, comp. (1999). Tomorrowland: Stories about the Future. New York: Scholastic Press, 1999. A compilation of ten short stories by many of today's popular young adult authors. Although the stories occur from 33, 001 B.C. to thousands of years into the future, all present themes of visions of times to come.

Teaching Ideas

Ideas for 1 and 2 were summarized from "Ten Ways to Play with Literature" by Traci Gardner in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. October 2000, p.12-14.

(1) "Résumé Writing" Have students apply their knowledge of characterization and analyze the book's characters through résumé writing. First, students should choose a character from the b4teens_book. Second, students should search a newspaper for available jobs that would best fit the chosen character based on the character's skills, habits, and personality traits. Students should then write a résumé for their characters.

(2) "Predicting the Future" Have students list the main characters in the book and predict where each character will be, what life will be like, and how society will function in twenty years. Students should be able to justify their predictions using information gathered from the text about the characters'current behaviors and states. As an extension to this activity, students can write a letter from their character's point of view to another character.

(3)"Interdisciplinary Ideas"

Current Events: Bring in current articles about dictatorial leaders or gang bosses and discuss what the people under them must endure or compromise, or bring in current articles about societies who are in political and economic anarchy (Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela).

Reading: (1) Create an alphabetical glossary of all the futuristic words in the text. (2) Find a story, one that ends "happily ever after" that Spaz might have told Bean before she fell asleep.

Writing: Ryter says that "The only real treasure is inside your head. Memories are better than diamonds, and nobody can steal them from you." Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

Science: What is are the advantages and disadvantages of genetic programming? In what ways have scientists already used these principles? What evidence do we have that such technology already exists? Write a report and then create a poster in order to share your findings.

Math: Spaz's world almost ended because of nuclear war. Explain the effect of nuclear waste and the concept of "half-life." From your analysis of the problem of radioactivity, how many years later would it have to be for life to have continued? In other words, in what year is this story set?

Geography: Create a map of Spaz's world: where the Urbs are located, where Eden is located, and then highlight the route they took during the story.

Health: Research epilepsy. Find out what it is, its past and current treatment options, and famous persons who suffered with it. Share what you discover with your class. OR Research leukemia and what the current treatments options are.

Art: Draw your interpretation of Spaz's Urb world. OR Draw your interpretation of Lanaya's Eden. Refer to descriptions in the book for details.

Music: What music would exist in Urb? In Eden? Either find or create the music indicative of this future world.

(Review written by K. Hix and Jennifer Moore & edited by Jennifer Moore)