The Last Book in the Universe

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Summary: To live in Edan or to live in the latches of hell
Review: This story is probably the best I have read in a long time! The first day I got it I started to read and I couldnt even put the book down!!!! Spaz ... a boy who has epilicy (dunno how to spell it)cast alway from a family unit, forced to live in another latch far alway from them. Then one day his sister gets sick and he goes through many adventures with a old backtimmer to get to his dying sister as a last request from her..This story is shockingly realistic and very well written and the way spaz (narrator) talks, its just really unique... the only problem is it leaves a little cliffhanger (story that stops and readder wishes for a sequal) at the end.

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Summary: The Gates of Eden
Review: 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.

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Summary: Almost Perfect Story. . .
Review: This was one of the best books I've ever read--the writing style was unique and the plot amazing. In a frightening all-too-possible future, blood rains from the sky while smoke and other chemicals can be found in the air. This is the world after 'The Big Shake'--a giant earthquake that robbed many of the world that they once had. Ganglords rule different 'latches' while somewhere lies Eden--a beautiful heaven, where the sky is blue and the grass is green, even though many don't believe it. A young boy nicknamed 'Spaz', due to his epilepsy, lives among on of the gangs. Until one day, a runner comes with one message: your sister lies close to death, she wishes to see you one last time. Teamed up with a slightly zoomed author, Ryter, a child who only knows how to say, "chox" and a snobby, genetically improved girl, Spaz embarks on a journey that will change the way he views the world forever. Yes, this is definitely one of the best books I've ever read, but, unfortunately, it loses a star because of it's open ending. Hopefully Philbrick decides to write a sequel.

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Summary: The Last Book in the Universe
Review: This book is about a boy called Spaz. He lives in a world of chaos. It's basically our world, but there was a BIG earthquake that destroyed everything except a place called Eden, where perfect beings live. This book is about his journey to find his little sister Bean who is sick with Leukemia.

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Summary: The Last Book looks at perfection on a new scale
Review: Ryter is an old geez that teaches our Spaz boy what life is really about. Ryter recalls a time when the sky used to be blue and when trees grew. He takes Spaz on a journey to save his little sister and puts their lives in danger, but, in the end, makes them better than they were before.

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Summary: It's a future world where nobody reads anymore
Review: 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.

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Summary: Thrilling cyberpunk for middle-schoolers
Review: Spaz, an epileptic outcast unhappy with his role in a thieving street gang, learns his foster sister is dying of leukemia and crying out for him. Spaz journeys to visit her one last time, defying physical and social boundries with the help of an ancient writer and a special young woman of the elite class. The narrator IS a Spaz, from the moment he steps on the page and starts spouting his story in a mix of hastily explained jargon. Spaz is a likeable hero with an authentic voice. More than just a journey story based on primal archetypes, Philbrick creates a futuristic society divided by class as result of a severe natural disaster. Within the plot he explores what the future might be like in terms of medicine, pollution, genetic engineering, family, culture and class. He brings in diversity issues by creating a protagonist who is an epileptic struggling to survive in a world of flashing computer images, and peoples the story with a multigenerational cast of characters. The setting is completely realistic as a horrific vision of what could come to pass: synthesized people, living on synthesized foods, exposed only to synthesized images pumped into our brains by probes. Cyberpunk for middle-schoolers, this is a wonderfully fast paced sci-fi adventure with appeal to reluctant readers, fans of Lois Lowry and future Neal Stephenson readers.

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Summary: The Last Book in the Universe
Review: The best part of the book is when Lotti Getts cuts off Vida Bleek's head. The main character that i liked the best was Spaz and Ryter because the both of them were so great and saved Lanaya's life. The least liked character has to be Lotti Getts. Why don't you Rodman Philbrick make a movie out of this book because it would be cool to watch a movie that is about the universe?

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Summary: The Last Book in the Universe
Review: 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.

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Summary: Immersive, thought-provoking, and moving
Review: Although I'm hardly a "young reader," this little book is one of my favorites. I just re-read it for the third time, and I must say that of all the "future worlds" I have visited in science fiction, this is one of the most vividly painted. It is more character-driven than many dystopian stories, although the social messages are clear enough - here, "mind-probes" are the ultimate drug, genetic "improvements" are not all positive, discrimination can take many forms, etc. But the book does not preach or belabor the negatives, nor does it dwell on the futuristic wonders. It just uses this world as a fantastic backdrop to a fast-paced "quest" story that shows how love, courage, kindness, and hope can survive even the worst disasters.

I read and enjoy adult fiction and non-fiction in a number of genres (including science fiction), and I never care if a book is long if it successfully immerses me in its world (e.g., I love several of Neal Stephenson's books including The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon , though I have not yet tackled his baroque trilogy). But it seems that the "young reader" category has inspired Philbrick to do more in 223 pages of large type than many "adult" authors accomplish in 500 or more. This book is just so impressive in its inventiveness, and deeply moving at the same time.

Although the ending is sad in a way, it is also hopeful, and I find myself wishing for a sequel (the set up seems to be there). I also think this could be a great movie.