PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Back in the fall of 2015, I picked up a new book from the Juvenile Fiction shelf at the library where I work. As the assistant to the Children’s Librarian, I make it a point to read as many J-Fic books as possible so I can recommend the best ones to the right kids. I had no idea that The Last Kids On Earth by Max Brallier would forever transform the way I suggested books to Elementary and Middle School students forever. I absolutely loved the way the author took all of the best parts of the end of the world—a Monster Apocalypse, in this case—and combined them into an action-packed, hilarious book. Douglas Holgate’s illustrations bring Brallier’s words to life, helping to give main characters Jack, Quint, June, and Dirk and their friends and foes even more color and personality.
Even from the beginning, I told kids that this book series is like a video game in book form, and now I’ve heard that, on top of the eponymous Netflix series, Outright Games has actually created a new action adventure called The Last Kids On Earth and the Staff of Doom for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and Steam on June 4, 2021. The game will use many of the same voice talents from the show, including Mark Hamill, Rosario Dawson, Catherine O’Hara, Keith David, Bruce Campbell, Garland Whitt, Montse Hernandez, Charles Demers, and Nick Wolfhard as Jack Sullivan.
I was thrilled when I was offered the chance to actually chat with the author and ask him all of the questions that have been rolling around inside my brain for the past 5 1/2 years. I started things off with some embarrassing gushing about the series, which the author took in stride. When I asked him what actually inspired these tales, he explained that he had at first tried to write books that he thought would sell, which failed miserably. Then he realized he wanted to write something that he himself would love to read, and he came up with The Last Kids On Earth. Living in a world without parents or rules, hanging out with their best friends, living in a treehouse, and staying up all night playing video games is every kids’ dream. Add to that some monster slaying and amazing (if sometimes disgusting) adventures, and you’ve got yourself a perfect recipe of awesomeness from any reader’s point of view. Although it’s not clear what decade these books take place in, Brallier made sure to exclude cell phones from his canon, believing that access to instant information and the inability for a kid to get really lost in an adventure has put a damper on growing up in the 21st century.
We talked a bit about the books’ characters and their individual personalities. Max admitted that Jack Sullivan, the awkward hero of his own tale, is based on himself. He also wanted to bring in some other unique yet practical heroes into the mix. Jack’s beset friend, Quint, is the ultimate STEM kid. He creates gadgets, weapons, machines, and vehicles out of basically nothing, always looking at a situation with a practical if somewhat terrified way. June is the ultimate badass. In the first book, Jack thinks she’s trapped in the school and he needs to save her, but when the rescue mission commences, she ends up saving them… with a very June-like eyeroll of annoyance. Dirk was the hardest for the author to write, and trying to give the former class bully more than one note of personality was a bit tough. However, in the subsequent books, Dirk the heavy has grown into a gardening, soft-hearted, loyal member of the group.
Speaking of tough, we also discussed the death of an important character that took place during the series. The author admitted that this was tough for him, but he knew there had to be hardships and losses for the kids for them to grow. I’m going to tell you that this particular death crushed me when I read it (shut up!), so I can only imagine what Jack, Quint, June, and Dirk went through, not to mention how hard it was for the author himself to write it.
When asked if Dirk and Quint would get a standalone novel the same way June did with The Last Kids On Earth: June’s Wild Flight (2020), Brallier would not confirm or deny that this would happen. Interesting…
The author excitedly admitted that he was even able to help out with the upcoming video game, The Last Kids On earth and the Staff of Doom. He contributed equipment designs, gameplay attacks, the mechanics, and the layout. And although there will be new characters in the game that we haven’t seen yet, Brallier has no plans to add to the current core quintet. And that’s fine by me.
Pre-order your copy of The Last Kids On Earth and the Staff of Doom at the link below.
