The Last Dog on Earth facts for kids
The front cover of the reprinted Yearling edition, illustrated by Jonathan Barkat
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| Author | Daniel Ehrenhaft |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller, Adventure |
| Publisher | Random House |
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Publication date
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February 11, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 240 pages |
| ISBN | 0-440-41950-6 |
| OCLC | 55626807 |
The Last Dog on Earth is an exciting young adult novel from 2003. It was written by Daniel Ehrenhaft. The story is about Logan, a 14-year-old boy who feels a bit lonely. He adopts a dog from an animal shelter and names her Jack.
Soon, a serious dog illness starts spreading across the country. This sickness, called Psychotic Outburst Syndrome (POS), makes dogs very violent. It causes a lot of fear among people. Logan and Jack's special friendship is put to the test. Logan has to work hard to keep Jack safe and stay with her, even as the government tries to control the outbreak.
The book explores how a disease can affect everyone. It shows how people and the government react with fear. Even though Logan and Jack are not sick, they face danger because of the widespread panic. The novel is also a coming of age story. Logan, who is learning about life, grows and changes a lot because of his bond with Jack, his best friend.
Dell Publishing released The Last Dog on Earth in hardcover in 2003. A paperback version followed in 2004. Later, in 2009, the book became available on e-readers like the Nook and Kindle. The novel won the Texas Lone Star Reading List award. It was also recognized by YALSA on a special book list for young adults in 2006.
Contents
What Happens in the Story
Logan Moore is a 14-year-old boy living in Newburg, Oregon. He lives with his mom, Marianne, and his stepfather, Robert. Logan doesn't get along well with Robert. He also feels upset that his biological father left when he was younger.
After a problem at a barbecue, Robert decides to get a Labrador Retriever. He hopes it will teach Logan to be more responsible. Logan wants to go against Robert's idea. He convinces his mom to adopt a dog from an animal shelter instead. Logan plans to pick an "ugly" dog and teach it to misbehave.
At the shelter, Logan meets a young female mutt. She immediately seems to like him. Logan adopts her and names her Jack. He names her after Robert's old dog.
The Spreading Sickness
At the same time, a new illness called Psychotic Outburst Syndrome (POS) is affecting dogs. This disease makes friendly pets become very violent. Officials try hard to stop the sickness. They have to put down any dogs that catch it. Soon, even some humans start to get sick.
Logan quickly forms a strong bond with Jack. He sees her as his only true friend. One day, Logan gets into trouble trying to protect Jack. Because of this, he is sent to a special boot camp. Jack has to stay at home.
Both Logan and Jack manage to escape. They find each other and start traveling together. During their journey, they meet another dog named White Paws. White Paws is Jack's brother, and he has caught the POS disease. White Paws attacks Jack and badly hurts her before he dies. Logan worries that Jack might have caught the disease from White Paws.
Finding Family and Hope
Logan and Jack continue their journey. They eventually reach a town called Dayville. Logan vaguely remembers that his biological father lives there. He decides to find his father and talk to him.
While Logan is taking some food from a local shop, three men find Jack. They are afraid she might be sick, so they beat her. Logan gets arrested. At the police station, he finds his father's address before escaping. He rushes back to find Jack almost dead. He carries her, trying to reach his father's house, until he faints from being so tired.
Logan wakes up in the house of his biological father, Dr. Craig Westerly. Craig had found Logan unconscious near his car. Logan learns from Craig that his father didn't leave him and his mother. Instead, his parents had separated. Logan is very worried about Jack. He fears she might be sick or will have to be euthanized. Craig runs tests on Jack. He discovers that even though Jack was near a sick dog, she is not infected. She is actually immune to the disease!
A Cure and New Beginnings
Craig decides to take Jack to a doctor. They hope to use her immunity to create a vaccine and a cure for POS. During their meeting, a man named Rudy Stagg stumbles into the room. Rudy is infected with POS. He had been killing dogs to try and stop the outbreak. Rudy ignores pleas to leave Jack alone and shoots at her. But Logan bravely jumps in front of Jack and gets shot instead.
Logan's lung is hurt, and he falls into a coma. He wakes up weeks later. He learns that Jack is on life support. Logan says a final goodbye to Jack before her life support is turned off.
Jack's amazing immunity to POS leads to the creation of a vaccine and a cure for the disease. Logan is finally able to make peace with Robert, Craig, and Devon Wallace. Devon was a boy Logan didn't like when he was younger, and Devon's dog had died from POS.
The end of the novel is like a newspaper article. It tells us that Logan and his family hold a private ceremony to remember Jack.
