The Last Book In The Universe

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What gang controls the “latch” (or neighborhood) in which Spaz lives?

2. How old is Little Face?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In Chapter 3, Spaz reveals to Ryter that he is aware that books used to be held in libraries, that they weren’t always kept in homes. Why does this intrigue Ryter?

Paired Resource

“Rodman Philbrick” | Video by American Graduate DC

• Meet the author of The Last Book in the Universe, Rodman Philbrick. In this video, he explains how he got his start writing and what lead him to write books for young adults.
• The author says in the video that “A lot of writing is about memory and how you see detail.” What do you think he means by that? How might having a good memory help individuals become better writers?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. What is a “takvee”?

2. What is the name of the film star who Spaz idolizes?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What are Billy Bizmo’s three rules for anyone who lives in his latch?

2. What is Spaz’s first memory, as he recalls in Chapter 6? What feeling does he associate with that memory?

Paired Resource

Electric Lit’s “9 Books About the Beauty and Complexities of Chosen Families”

• Though they are not related by blood, Spaz feels a deep connection with his adopted sister Bean, as we learn in this section. Bean is part of a kind of “chosen family,” as opposed to “biological family,” for Spaz.
• This list showcases other books that discuss the “beauty and complexities” of non-biological families. 
• When considering the Foundational Nature of the Family Unit, in this list of titles as well as in The Last Book in the Universe, does it matter if the family is biologically related or not?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. How many warring latches must Spaz cross to get to his old family unit?

2. What type of illness does Bean have?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In what ways is Billy Bizmo a kind of father figure to Spaz?

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. What gang surrounds Spaz, Ryter, and Little Face in Chapter 10 while walking through the Edge?

2. What phrase does the holo of Mongo say?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe the concept of “looping” and, specifically, what kind of “looping” has Mongo been doing?

Paired Resource

“What Phones Do to Teen Brains (And What Teens Wanted to Know about That)”

• The Last Book in the Universe uses “mindprobes” to tell a parable about what will happen if society allows technology (for example, smartphones) to become increasingly dominant in people’s lives.
• In this segment by John Daley for Colorado Public Radio News, they ask what, precisely, cell phones do to teens’ brains as they use them.
• How do you feel about the role of technology in your life? Do you think there is a comparable form of “looping” in present-day society?

Chapters 13-15

Reading Check

1. In the takvee headed toward the Pipe, what does Spaz promise to Little Face in an attempt to calm him down?

2. What area acts as Eden’s “first line of defense”?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Lanaya unfazed when riding through the minefield on the way to Eden in Chapter 15?

Chapters 16-18

Reading Check

1. What is one of Lotti Getts’ nicknames?

2. What does Lotti ask of Spaz and his group to allow them to visit Bean?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What plot does Vida reveal to Spaz and the group in Chapter 18? What is the purpose of this plot?

Chapters 19-21

Reading Check

1. What is a “deef”?

2. Where do Lanaya and Ryter think they need to go to find a cure for Bean?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Spaz feel shame about his reaction when the Vandals attack Vida and the Furies from all sides?

Chapters 22-24

Reading Check

1. What does Lotti have Spaz tell Billy in Chapter 22?

2. What color was the plate that Spaz and Bean treasured just before Spaz was kicked out of their family house?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why are proov parents known as “contributors”?

Paired Resource

“Is It Ethical to Create Genetically Edited Humans?”

• This New York Times article asks if it is morally questionable to genetically modify human beings, in much the same way that proovs in The Last Book in the Universe involve questionable genetic modification.
• If children can be genetically modified for certain traits, it stands to reason that certain children would be divested with qualities that give them Leadership and Privilege. Why do many scientists and ethicists view this as a moral “slippery slope”?

Chapters 25-27

Reading Check

1. When Bean awakens from her coma, after being injected with the improved genes, where does she think she is?

2. What game does Little Face love to play?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is the lab and scientific hub of Eden called the Prime located underground?

Chapters 28-30

Reading Check

1. When Spaz and Bean have settled in Eden in Chapter 28 and experience a period of peace, in what activity do they partake most often? 

2. During Spaz’s first night back in Urb, what sound awakens him in the middle of the night?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. At Spaz’s trial in front of the Masters in the Stadium, what primary question is being deliberated? What is the verdict?

Chapters 31-33

Reading Check

1. As a mob forms around Ryter and Spaz in the stackboxes, what does Ryter call out to Spaz and ask him to rescue for him?

2. What method do the Bangers use to kill Ryter?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. While Ryter is tragically killed, but what is the fate of Lanaya and Little Face?

Recommended Next Reads

The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

• The Giver is considered one of the most influential dystopian YA novels of the 20th century. It tells the story of Jonas, a young boy growing up in carefully cultivated society where each member is assigned a partner and a job; in fact, virtually everything about their lives is dictated by the community.
• This novel explores some of the same key themes as The Last Book in the Universe such as Memory’s Impact on Society and The Foundational Nature of the Family Unit.
• The Giver on SuperSummary.com

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick (1993)

• Like The Last Book in the Universe, this novel by Rodman Philbrick features lead characters that are differently abled. Freak the Mighty has two protagonists, one of whom is a slow learner, and the other has leg braces.
• This novel builds upon The Last Book in the Universe’s themes of Inner Versus Outer Beauty, Class Structure, as well as Leadership and Privilege.
• Freak the Mighty has won numerous awards, including the California Young Reader’s Medal, the Arizona Young Reader’s Award, and the New York State “Charlotte” Award. It was also adapted into a movie in 1998, starring Sharon Stone and Kieran Culkin.
• Freak the Mighty on SuperSummary.com