Last Pick: Rise Up

by Jason Walz

Overview

In a world ruled by alien overlords, Earth's unlikeliest heroes rise up to save humanity in this thrilling conclusion to Jason Walz's dystopian graphic trilogy, Last Pick: Rise Up.

Wyatt, a young man on the autism spectrum, finds himself the reluctant leader of the "last picked"—the disabled, the elderly, and those deemed too young to be useful by their alien captors. Armed with only their wits and determination, Wyatt and his ragtag allies must find a way to topple an entire alien federation.

As Wyatt fights on Earth, his twin sister Sam and her girlfriend Mia wreak havoc across the galaxy in a daring attempt to rescue Sam's parents. But even if the family is reunited, their battle is far from over. Can they survive long enough to witness the end of the alien regime and restore freedom to humanity?

Last Pick: Rise Up is a powerful tale of resistance, family, and the fight for a better future. With diverse characters and themes of disability advocacy, this sci-fi action-packed conclusion will resonate with fans of dystopian adventures and anyone who roots for the underdog.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250809520
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Series:	Last Pick , #3
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	98 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Jason Walz is a comic creator and teacher working in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Born in the south, he bounced around between Kentucky and Tennessee before working his way up north. He is best known for his debut graphic novel Homesick, which was nominated for a 2014 Eisner. He followed that up with the creation of an online comic series called Crap Shoot where he worked with some of today's biggest comic creators. A Story for Desmond is a bedtime story about loss and the gifts left behind by those who are gone.

Jason's three-book series called Last Pick pulls from his desire for his children to grow up reading about a diverse world full of young people exceeding the expectations others may place on them.

Editorial Reviews

"Walz’s series has been consistently fantastic, with its inclusive worldbuilding and electrifying pacing coupled with dazzling, cinematically styled art... An affecting and unforgettable SF series with heart." —Kirkus

From the Publisher

★ 2020-10-22
In this trilogy closer, a group of teens fights their final battle against intergalactic foes.

Picking up where Born To Run (2019) left off with its nail-biting cliffhanger, siblings Samantha and Wyatt Erickson are trying to find each other across vast galaxies. Sam and girlfriend Mia escape from an interstellar prison while Wyatt and friend Adiva fly across the cosmos to save them. Sam believes her parents are alive and presumes to have found the prison where inmates are forced to fight in an alien civil war. The maliciously evil extraterrestrial known as the Sheriff, now sick with a mutating virus, is in close pursuit of the Ericksons. As the tension ratchets up with a ferocious intensity, they face off for the ultimate battle, which both profoundly thrills and devastates with its bittersweet conclusion. Walz’s series has been consistently fantastic, with its inclusive worldbuilding and electrifying pacing coupled with dazzling, cinematically styled art. Throughout the series, the characters have explored what it means to be labeled “useless,” affirming the intrinsic value of those considered lesser for being different by small-minded bigots (in this case, virulent, war-hungry aliens). The team that saves the day encompasses a broad spectrum of identities: Sam, neurodiverse Wyatt, and Harper, Wyatt’s Deaf girlfriend, present White; Mia is cued as Latinx; and Adiva is a brown-skinned, hijabi Muslim girl from the U.S. South.

An affecting and unforgettable SF series with heart. (Graphic science fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews