MAY 2018 - AudioFile
Applegate's new fantasy series has a fascinating cast of characters, and narrator Lisa Flanagan does justice to each. Byx may be the last of her species. When she views the site of her family's slaughter by human soldiers, Flanagan portrays her shocked horror and palpable loneliness. But she gradually builds trust as an unlikely band of travelers becomes family. Flanagan aids listeners' imagining of each character with differing timbres and touches—from Tobble, a comic, devoted creature, to Khara, a human with deep feelings and conflicts. From coldly cruel to ruthless, Flanagan varies her portrayals of the menacing villains. Overall, she represents a range of dark and light moods in this fast-paced, family-friendly audio. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Laurel Snyder
Katherine Applegate may be best known for the Newbery Medal-winning novel The One and Only Ivan, but she is also the writer who gave us the young adult science fiction series The Animorphs. Her new book…calls to mind both accomplishments as it blends careful and often lovely prose into a wild, fast-paced fantasy…Perhaps the most powerful thing about Endling: The Last is that the characters are capable of serious wrongdoing as well as genuine goodness…As these characters are threatened or empowered and come to know one another better, their instincts and relationships shift, and so does our understanding of them. We see that almost anyone has the capacity to become a hero or a villain…Readers will fall in love with Byx and race with her through Nedarra, breathless and eager, thinking deeply all the way.
Publishers Weekly
★ 03/12/2018
The gripping first installment of Applegate’s (The One and Only Ivan) new fantasy trilogy assembles a motley crew in a suspenseful, tautly drawn quest. The narrative centers on Byx, the 11-year-old runt of a litter of an almost extinct, threatened species of dairnes—highly intelligent doglike creatures who walk upright and can talk, glide, and distinguish any lie. When the curious Byx ventures beyond the confines of her pack’s carefully hidden home, she saves a humorously polite creature, a wobbyk named Tobble, meets a 14-year-old tracker named Khara disguised as a boy, and misses the slaughter of her community that leaves her the last of her kind, an endling. The conflicting motivations of the strongly drawn characters prove compelling as Khara captures the grieving Byx and Tobble to take them to an island city to consult a scholar whom Khara believes will save Byx (while paying a hefty price). Persuasive emotional underpinnings give depth and urgency to the adventure as the team unites against sinister forces. Ages 8–12. Agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (May)
From the Publisher
★ “Applegate effortlessly constructs her fantasy world, briskly moving readers through its imaginative details while creating winning, unique characters. This epic series starter is a bracing, propulsive read that will be a challenge to keep on the shelf.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)
★ “Fantasy lovers are in for a treat with this smartly paced, enthralling adventure. The heart and courage Byx and her companions must find as they stand up against unimaginable odds will inspire and delight. A sweeping fantasy epic that will have readers clamoring for a follow-up.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
★ “Applegate skillfully builds a fully realized world of intrigue and wonder without ever letting up on the story’s quick pace. Themes of genocide, conservation, and magic are interwoven, providing thought-provoking questions for astute readers. A savvy choice for readers of fantasy.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
★ “A suspenseful, tautly drawn quest.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Endling: The Last blends careful and often lovely prose into a wild, fast-paced fantasy. Readers will fall in love with Byx and race with her through Nedarra, breathless and eager, thinking deeply all the way.” — New York Times Book Review
“The first book in a new series, this volume will whet readers’ appetites for more of Byx’s fascinating world and the next stage of her quest. Give this to lovers of animal fantasies and environmentally minded readers.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Praise for The One and Only Ivan: ★ “Will capture readers’ hearts and never let go. A must have.“ — School Library Journal (starred review)
★ “Exemplifies everything youngsters need to know about courage.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
★ “Animal-loving youngsters and their adults will find plenty of food for thought in Ivan’s extraordinary story.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
★ “Animal-loving youngsters and their adults will find plenty of food for thought in Ivan’s extraordinary story.
New York Times Book Review
Endling: The Last blends careful and often lovely prose into a wild, fast-paced fantasy. Readers will fall in love with Byx and race with her through Nedarra, breathless and eager, thinking deeply all the way.
ALA Booklist (starred review)
★ “Applegate effortlessly constructs her fantasy world, briskly moving readers through its imaginative details while creating winning, unique characters. This epic series starter is a bracing, propulsive read that will be a challenge to keep on the shelf.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
The first book in a new series, this volume will whet readers’ appetites for more of Byx’s fascinating world and the next stage of her quest. Give this to lovers of animal fantasies and environmentally minded readers.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
The first book in a new series, this volume will whet readers’ appetites for more of Byx’s fascinating world and the next stage of her quest. Give this to lovers of animal fantasies and environmentally minded readers.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
The first book in a new series, this volume will whet readers’ appetites for more of Byx’s fascinating world and the next stage of her quest. Give this to lovers of animal fantasies and environmentally minded readers.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
★ “Animal-loving youngsters and their adults will find plenty of food for thought in Ivan’s extraordinary story.
School Library Journal
★ 04/01/2018
Gr 4–7—Byx has always thought of herself as last: last-born sibling, the youngest in her whole family, and least adept at all the skills valued by the caninelike "dairnes." But when her family, the last-known group of dairnes in Nedarra, is hunted down and murdered by humans under the rule of the villanous Murdano, she truly becomes the last—an Endling, the sole survivor of a species. Byx sets out on a desperate but hopeful journey in search of Dairneholm, a mythical settlement of dairnes. Along the way she is joined by an increasingly unlikely group of adventurers including Khala the human, a girl disguised as a boy with a mysterious past, and Tobble, the small and fiercely loyal wobbyk. Their mission becomes more dangerous as they discover the true machinations behind the dairnes's eradication. Fantasy lovers are in for a treat with this smartly paced, enthralling adventure that pairs novel and exciting world-building with classic high fantasy tropes and political intrigue. Applegate's characters feel fresh and modern, and their questioning of the status quo will resonate with today's middle graders. Illustrations and maps will help young readers imagine the rich setting filled with fantastical creatures that vie for power in Nedarra. The heart and courage Byx and her companions must find within as they stand up against unimaginable odds will inspire and delight. VERDICT A sweeping fantasy epic for the middle grade set that will have readers clamoring for a follow-up. A first purchase.—Darla Salva Cruz, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
MAY 2018 - AudioFile
Applegate's new fantasy series has a fascinating cast of characters, and narrator Lisa Flanagan does justice to each. Byx may be the last of her species. When she views the site of her family's slaughter by human soldiers, Flanagan portrays her shocked horror and palpable loneliness. But she gradually builds trust as an unlikely band of travelers becomes family. Flanagan aids listeners' imagining of each character with differing timbres and touches—from Tobble, a comic, devoted creature, to Khara, a human with deep feelings and conflicts. From coldly cruel to ruthless, Flanagan varies her portrayals of the menacing villains. Overall, she represents a range of dark and light moods in this fast-paced, family-friendly audio. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-02-19
What do you do when you're the last of your kind?Applegate transports her readers to a new land, one inhabited by numerous sentient species, six of which have fought to the top of the food chain: humans, dairnes, felivets, natites, terramants, and raptidons. In this world, readers meet Byx, a dairne—a doglike creature that walks erect, glides like a flying squirrel, and has opposable thumbs—on the day she becomes the last of her species. It's also a day when Byx meets two other creatures: Tobble, a wobbyk, with large ears and a short round body, and Khara (short for Kharassande), a 14-year-old, brown-skinned human girl who pretends to be a boy so that she is not limited by the gendered rules of human society. Bonded through lifesaving acts, the three embark on a journey to find Ferrucci the Gharri, a scientist and scholar who may be able to protect Byx from a human emperor who is hellbent on killing off her entire species. Applegate skillfully builds a fully realized world of intrigue and wonder without ever letting up on the story's quick pace. Themes of genocide, conservation, and magic are interwoven, providing thought-provoking questions for astute readers and educators.A savvy choice for readers of fantasy; individual readers and book clubs will love it and demand to know when the sequel will be available. (Fantasy. 8-11)
