In a world where animals no longer exist, twelve-year-old Kester Jaynes sometimes feels like he hardly exists either. Locked away in a home for troubled children, he's told there's something wrong with him. So when he meets a flock of talking pigeons and a bossy cockroach, Kester thinks he's finally gone crazy. But the animals have something to say. And they need him. The pigeons fly Kester to a wild place where the last creatures in the land have survived. A wise stag needs Kester's help, and together they must embark on a great journey, joined along the way by an overenthusiastic wolf cub, a military-trained cockroach, a mouse with a ritual for everything, and a stubborn girl named Polly. The animals saved Kester Jaynes. But can Kester save the animals?
My Thoughts
This book, which was first published in 2013, is the best children's book I have read since I started reviewing them as an adult. It is, as the cliche goes, most definitely a Future Classic. Original, funny, exciting, beautifully written, The Last Wild has absolutely everything going for it, and the concept - a world where animals no longer exist - is frightening, gripping and, if we do not get our act together and look after our planet better, terrifyingly prescient.
As a pigeon-phobic, I actually loved the talking pigeons that kick off the adventure, and indeed Mr Torday's lovely story has gone some way to calm my terror of these feathered friends (ie. they are okay outside, 6 metres away from me or more!). I love the cockroach, the stag broke my heart, and Kester's sidekick Polly fixed it again. What a journey. What a wonderful book. If you have been under a rock and not yet found this gem, then I urge you to nip to the library, or your local bookshop, and pick up a copy. You are in for a thrilling adventure.