The Last Book in the Universe

The story is set in a post-disaster, dystopian future city, appearing to be somewhere in the United States, called the Urb, which has been disturbed by an earthquake known as "The Big Shake." The Urb is plagued by poverty, thieves, gang warfare, and the use of mind probes. Mind probes are analogous to hard drugs and enable users to temporarily escape their harsh lives through images like movies being played in their heads. Genetically improved people, called "proovs," (A play on "improved") live in a city called Eden, with a beautiful society, food, and water. Eden is separated from the Urb by the "Forbidden Zone," a deadly and dangerous minefield. The Urb is split up into sections called "latches." Each latch is controlled by a gang. Spaz is a teenage boy who cannot use mind probes because of his epilepsy and whose adoptive family has abandoned him because they feared the symptoms of his illness. Spaz runs errands for Billy Bizmo, the latch-boss (leader) of his gang, the "Bully Bangers," in a section of the Urb. On one of his errands, Spaz is sent to "rip-off" (steal from) Ryter, a very old man who possesses the lost arts of literacy and literature.

Spaz soon meets Little Face, a five-year-old orphan who only says the word "chox," because he didn't learn how to speak and Spaz first gave him choxbars to eat. Spaz also meets Lanaya, a proov who charitably gives out "edibles" (food) to Spaz. At first, Spaz is very hostile towards Ryter, when Spaz arrives to "rip off" (steal) Ryter's meager possessions. Contrastingly, Ryter understands Spaz's situation and does his best to help him, offering no resistance. Eventually, Spaz learns that Bean, his beloved adoptive sister, is dying of leukemia. Ryter and Little Face accompany Spaz on a journey to find Bean. The trio starts by traveling through "The Pipe," a large, rusted-out water pipe that leads to other latches. In the next latch, the group sees everything burning and find Lanaya being attacked by very hungry people. She is rescued by Spaz and Ryter, and she joins them on their journey. Spaz and the company start traveling towards the latch where Bean lives. Eventually, through many dangers, toils, and snares, the story's heroes find a dying Bean. Lanaya and Ryter decide to take Bean to Eden, along with Spaz and Little Face. They ride along in Lanaya's takvee to her "contributors" (parents), Jin and Bree's home, which is a castle in Eden.

At this point in the novel, it is brought to attention that Lanaya is a special proov who has been bred to eventually become a Master of Eden. To assume this title, she has rights and privileges that other proovs do not, called "learning opportunities". They take Bean to a proov hospital called the Primary and she is cured of her sickness using gene therapy. Ryter, Spaz and Little Face enjoy the paradise of Eden. Sometime later Ryter, Spaz and Bean are thrown out of Eden because the elders who rule over Eden decide they are unacceptable. Little Face is secretly adopted by Lanaya's contributors. The elders disregard Bean's high intelligence. They presume that someone from the Urb could never naturally be better than a proov in any way. Lanaya reveals to the elders that the mind probes, which come from Eden, cause too much damage to the people who use them in the Urb. As a result, all the mind probes throughout the Urb are deactivated, causing rioting and anarchy outside Eden. Bean is deposited at her home, and Ryter and Spaz are returned to their latch.

Back at Spaz's home latch, Ryter is blamed for the deactivation of the mind probes and is wheeled by jetbikes which kills the old man. The stress caused by this assault triggered an epileptic seizure for Spaz. Before his death, Ryter tells Spaz that he is the last book in the universe. Billy Bizmo reveals to Spaz that he is his biological father and that his mother died at Spaz's birth.

The story ends with Lanaya sending Spaz a message about things getting better in Eden and how she believes they can fix everything in time. Spaz takes on the name Ryter, continuing the original Ryter's work, writing The Last Book in the Universe.[1]

• Spaz - The narrator, a teenager part of the Bully Bangers, initially "rips off" Ryter, has a condition called epilepsy, lived on streets, got kicked out of foster home.
• Ryter - Lives in stack boxes, always accused of "back timer" talk, writes the last book in the universe, loves adventure, and has formal talk.
• Little Face - A five-year-old child, lives in stack boxes, takes up a love for chox (chocolate-flavored edible), eventually adopted by Lanaya's contributors.
• Bean - Spaz's adoptive sister, has leukemia, the biological daughter of Charly and Kay.
• Charly - Bean's biological father, Spaz's adoptive father, casts Spaz out because of his epilepsy.

• Lanaya - A proov girl, loves the sense of adventure and thrill, confident, persuasive, Future Master of Eden, contribute (child) of Jin and Bree.
• Lotti Getts - Latch boss outside of Eden, nicknamed Boss Lady, Nails, and White Widow because her luvmates (lovemates) don't stay around for a long time.
• Vida Bleek - A secret probe dealer, head of the Furies, Lotti Getts's mortal enemy.
• Jin - Lanaya's male contributor (parent), one of the top-ranked chess players in Eden.
• Bree - Lanaya's female contributor, takes a fondness to Little Face and adopts him.
• Mongo the Magnificent - A dead latch boss, leader of the Monkey Boys. He is eventually replaced by a tekboss.

Major themes, in a list created by Scholastic, included reading, technology, challenges and overcoming obstacles, courage, bravery, heroism, and individuality. Scholastic also wrote in conclusion, "the story is ultimately about those who have the courage to become conscious in a world that invites us to choose illusion and denial."[2]

The novel is an adaptation of a short story previously written by the author in a collection called Tomorrowland.[3] The story was also influenced greatly by Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.[4]

The Last Book in the Universe has received mixed reviews. Many critics praised the novel for its involving plot. Debbie Carton, a reviewer from Booklist, called it a "fast-paced adventure" with a "moving conclusion" and "memorable characters."[4] A number of critics agreed: Scholastic called the story "chilling and inspiring."[2] A reviewer from Publishers Weekly wrote, "[the book's] futuristic dialect combined with striking descriptions of a postmodern civilization will convincingly transport readers to Spaz's world."[5]

However, Susan L. Rogers from School Library Journal pointed out that there are too many distractions that pull the reader's attention away from the main theme. She also noted that the science in this science fiction novel was "vague."[6] Publishers Weekly added that the story was "not fully developed," complaining that some scenes, such as the ones involving the Monkey Boys and the Furies, were "a bit abrupt."[5]

• ALA Best Book for YAs[3]
• Maine Lupine Award Honor[7]
• Maryland Readers Medal[8]
• Isinglass Teen Read Award[9]
• YALSA 100 Best of The Best Books for the 21st Century[8]

• Rodman Philbrick's official website
• The Last Book in the Universe on Google Books