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Max Brallier's The Last Kids on Earth is a monster-apocalypse comedy for 9 year olds, told by a thirteen-year-old who treats the end of the world like a video game.
Forty-two days ago, monsters and zombies took over the town of Wakefield. Jack Sullivan's foster family jumped in the car and left without him. So now he lives in a tree house he's turned into a fortress, snacking on stale Oreos and fighting off beasts with a splintered baseball bat.
He's given himself a list of Feats of Apocalyptic Success, like trophies in a game. The ULTIMATE one? Find and rescue June Del Toro, the girl from the school paper who he's pretty sure hates him (and who he maybe probably definitely likes a lot).
There's one problem. A huge, horribly clever monster called Blarg has got Jack's scent, and he's hunting him.
It's so much fun being inside Jack's head. He's jokey and full of himself one minute ("a zombie-fighting, monster-slaying tornado of cool") and admitting he was too scared to leave the tree house for days the next. He talks straight to you the whole time, like you're his mate.
The friends he gathers are brilliant too. There's Quint, a genius who talks like an old professor and turns his mum's pickup truck into a monster-bashing machine. There's a big furry monster who follows Jack home and becomes his pet. And there's Dirk, the school bully, who turns out to be VERY handy in a fight.
Underneath the jokes there are a few quiet moments that really land. When Jack finds a photo of a happy family in an abandoned car, he admits what he's always wanted. A real home.
Be warned, the zombies are properly gross. Think an eyeball bouncing on a cheek and a throat that's just gnarly flesh. Blarg also crunches up a zombie, with the sound of snapping bones. And Jack being left behind by his foster family is played for laughs but it might sting for some children.
For most readers who like their adventures loud and silly, though, it's a total blast. It's perfect for the child who'd rather read about a zombie apocalypse than a quiet day at school!
If they want another small town where everything goes wrong, three friends and a narrator who won't stop chatting to them, Disaster Diaries is in the library. Sam, Arty and Emmie are still getting over a zombie outbreak when something from space turns up.
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