The Last Kids on Earth

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-18

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Genuine Friendship as a Form of Survival

Besides comedic fun and action, this story serves as an ode to friendship, and the importance of having a support system of companions in your life. From beginning to end, it’s clear that Jack desires friendship and a “team,” something that he has never fully experienced as an orphan foster child who bounces from house to house, school to school. His sense of isolation and worthlessness amplifies because his adoptive family—the Robinsons—treat him poorly. When the zombie apocalypse happens, he suddenly has a strange and unexpected opportunity to create the family and environment he always wanted. That’s where Quint, Dirk, and June enter as the core of friends he can survive with—family he is quite literally willing to sacrifice his life for.

He understands that in order to create this family, he will sometimes have to make difficult decisions that may endanger himself, but in doing this, he is able to win over their hearts and trust. The most vivid example of this is when Jack and Quint encounter Dirk—their former bully—who is stranded in the apocalypse. Quint votes to leave him behind, fearing he will cause trouble for them, but Jack stops the car and goes back to save his potential friend, explaining: “He’s a survivor. Like us. We can’t leave him” (97). This moment sets a precedent for what Jack is willing to do in order to not only ensure his own survival, but to ensure the survival of others as well—even if they don’t necessarily deserve it. But that is how friendships are built in a zombie wasteland.

In this narrative, genuine friendship between the characters nurtures their joy. Their friendship isn’t about being the most socially popular as much as it is about seeing one another for who they are (as nerdy, goofy, or unwanted outcasts) and embracing each other in a way that would otherwise go unseen in order for them to survive their world-ending isolation. Before the wreckage, they were mostly social outcasts of sorts (Jack mentions multiple times that Quint was his “only” friend in school, Quint is a “dork,” Dirk is a bully, and June is the only girl); therefore their loyalty is strong and deeply rooted in how they are all unified by some aberration due to their circumstances or reputations. Them being alone together in the apocalypse is actually a haven that they are committed to protecting. Instead of battling social expectations, they are combining to battle monsters they can bash for fun, while eating whatever junk food they want. Without each other they have less reason to be happy; but with each other, they have a blast and embrace their shortcomings in a way that gives them the empowerment they’ve never felt before: “I mean, sure, we look like a bunch of down-on-our-luck losers who have no business fighting monsters, hatching plans, or really attempting anything. But hey, we are… A TEAM!” (189-90).

Standing Up for What—and Who—You Believe In

Jack’s character is confident, cocky, and sometimes, unexpectedly noble. For example, he doesn’t want to kill zombies, he only wants to hurt them if he needs to, because he claims, “they used to be humans, right?” (10). Later, he stands up to Dirk Savage on the school bus when Dirk picks on Quint, even though Dirk is triple everyone’s size; he does this simply because he “hate[s] jerks—whether they’re monster jerks or zombie jerks or just regular human jerks” (37). Lastly, he doesn’t back down from Blarg and other massive flesh-chewing horrors roaming his apocalyptic neighborhood, because he believes him and his friends deserve to live peacefully and happily together and so is willing to stand up to any dangers for them.

The idea of instilling a sense of justice and righteousness is extremely important to Jack, who feels like he has often been mistreated and overlooked in his life as an orphan. Therefore, for him to provide some semblance of balance, fairness, and protection—whether by standing up to a bully or taking on a colossal monster—he feels that he is fulfilling his role as not only a hero, but as a friend with morality and compassion. He enacts this in as many ways as possible, including in his desire to save June Del Toro. The majority of the story thrives on him fulfilling this notion of helping her escape, and it’s something that he believes is the right thing to do. Beneath the facade of games and “Apocalyptic Feats of Success” (89), Jack is a kid who wants to see the force of good prevail in a harsh and broken world.

The Resourceful Innovation of Adolescent Imagination

The fun of this story relies on the goofy and unorthodox nature of adolescent imagination: giant crossbows on the roof of a house; broken bats turned into “Louisville Slicers”; trucks that are modified into tanks; popcorn butter from the movie theater used as a defensive mechanism to escape from monsters in pursuit; etc. Quint and Jack both want to build and create what they need from the scraps of their former lives. Whatever they have available at their disposal, they will not only use, but will somehow enhance and add to with their innovative, young minds. This acts therefore as a commentary on the brilliance and excitement of imaginative power—how a person of any age and background can achieve interesting and powerful results if they have the confidence to try, experiment, fail, and succeed with their mind. Instead of admitting defeat or whining about a lack of equipment, the team simply devises everything they need to survive. This level of impressive craftsmanship and innovation is exhibited when Jack first discovers Quint’s modified truck, “Big Mama”:

I have to pick my jaw up off the floor […] I’m staring at a bad-to-the-bone post-apocalyptic vehicle! ‘I began with my mom’s pickup truck’ Quint says, ‘and I just started adding things…’ I whistle, impressed. ‘Now pay attention, Jack,’ he says, and he begins detailing the truck’s gizmos and gadgets. It’s amazing what a smart kid can do when no one’s bugging him to finish his homework or change his socks (72).

There is a clear sense of achievement in this quote, a sense of awe and of confidence in Quint’s uninhibited brilliance. There is also the implied notion that adolescent teenagers have a limitless sense of possibility and capability but are too busy being bogged down in the regular world by social expectations and meaningless tasks and demands. In this scenario, the young men (and woman) are able to turn their biggest dreams into some version of reality. Whether it’s building a moat around the treehouse, building frisbees with razors on them as weapons, installing catapults that throw debris at oncoming monsters, or, like Jack, simply using hot dog water with color dye to replicate the Mountain Dew formula, these youngsters are doing their best to make do with what they have available—and in doing so, they improve their chances of survival and fend off the largest and deadliest threats as a result of their weaponized tools and resourceful actions.