The Last Wild Place - Hardcover

Jordan, Rosa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1561454583 ISBN 13: 9781561454587

Publisher: Peachtree, 2008

Synopsis

A complex story about small town life and displacement—both of humans and of wildlife.

Chip Martin's life is going well, but now everything is beginning to fragment. His brother Justin's away at college and his sister Kate is busy with her high school activities. His single mom's lifelong friendship with Booker Wilson has suddenly taken a romantic turn, and now his best friend Luther won't speak to him. Even worse, Chip has to face the possibility of being uprooted.

Chip's feelings of dislocation are compounded when he meets kids at his community center who are refugees, left homeless in the aftermath of a recent hurricane along the Florida Panhandle. But then Chip discovers something unbelievable—a family of Florida panthers that have been driven out of their home in the Everglades.

Chip is alarmed when he hears that the last few acres of the woods are to be cleared to make way for a meat-packing plant. When he tries to protect the panthers, he learns that he has more friends than he thought.

Author Rosa Jordan's memorable, well-drawn characters are woven together into a web of complex relationships marked by the challenges of displacement.

About this title

About the Author

Rosa Jordan holds degrees from Santa Monica Junior College, UCLA, and the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. She is the author of several middle reader and adult books. In cooperation with Earthways Foundation of Malibu, California, Jordan has developed several grass-roots environmental and social justice projects. She lives in Canada.

Reviews

Grade 5–8—Jordan returns with another eco-friendly novel featuring the Martin family. Now that Justin is away at college, Chip, 12, is the man of the house. His mother has become romantically involved with his friend Luther's uncle. The town's community center is providing a temporary home to families who were displaced by a recent Gulf Coast hurricane, and as Luther befriends some of those kids, he seems to be distancing himself from Chip. Seeking solace at a deserted property that he and Luther discovered several years earlier, Chip makes an amazing discovery: two Florida panther cubs have somehow traveled from the Everglades to the abandoned site and have established a home there. Chip has visions of befriending the animals, but the future of all the wildlife in the marshy sanctuary is unexpectedly put into danger when a construction crew arrives to raze the barn and turn the property into a meat-packing plant. When the adults fail to come up with an immediate solution to protect the animals, Chip and his classmates take matters into their own hands. Reminiscent of Carl Hiaasen's Hoot (Knopf, 2002), Wild Place is an empowering story of friendship and kids who step up to make a difference. Sprinkled liberally with environmental messages, it manages to avoid crossing the line into didacticism. The characters are fully realized and the plot moves along at a good clip. While readers of Jordan's first two stories will enjoy meeting up with familiar characters, the novel easily stands alone.—Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
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Pet goats, nature hikes, and rabbit watching at the “Old Place” are a part of the daily routine that has helped forge a strong friendship between Chip and Luther. Discovering Florida panther cubs in the overgrown, Everglade-like area makes nature watching even more exciting. But a development threatens the Old Place, and a romance among relatives threatens their friendship. Fearing the evil developer will destroy their hangout and endanger the lives of its many creatures, they organize a peaceful protest. Aided by a budding journalist and a sympathetic teacher, the kids triumph in foiling the developer and learn valuable civics and life lessons in the process. By the book’s end, friendships are mended, and the boys discover that while change is scary, it’s not always a bad thing. A companion to Jordan’s Lost Goat Lane (2004), which featured Chip’s older sister Kate, this is a good, gentle read for boys and girls alike. While the plot is slow to develop and the theme of social justice is sometimes heavy-handed, budding naturalists will appreciate the dedication and determination of the young protagonists. Grades 4-6. --Heather Booth

Edition details

• Publisher: Peachtree
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1561454583
• ISBN 13: 9781561454587
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256