The Last Wild Place

A complex story about small town life and displacement—both of humans and of wildlife.

Chip Martin's life is going well, but now everything is beginning to fragment. His brother Justin's away at college and his sister Kate is busy with her high school activities. His single mom's lifelong friendship with Booker Wilson has suddenly taken a romantic turn, and now his best friend Luther won't speak to him. Even worse, Chip has to face the possibility of being uprooted.

Chip's feelings of dislocation are compounded when he meets kids at his community center who are refugees, left homeless in the aftermath of a recent hurricane along the Florida Panhandle. But then Chip discovers something unbelievable—a family of Florida panthers that have been driven out of their home in the Everglades.

Chip is alarmed when he hears that the last few acres of the woods are to be cleared to make way for a meat-packing plant. When he tries to protect the panthers, he learns that he has more friends than he thought.

Author Rosa Jordan's memorable, well-drawn characters are woven together into a web of complex relationships marked by the challenges of displacement."This is a good, gentle read for boys and girls alike."—Booklist

"The issues of development and declining habitats, and the importance of protecting "these last wild places" are made both real and exciting for middle-grade readers."—Kirkus Reviews

"An empowering story of friendship and kids who step up to make a difference. . . . While readers of Jordan's first two stories will enjoy meeting up with familiar characters, the novel easily stands alone."—School Library JournalRosa Jordan holds degrees from Santa Monica Junior College, UCLA, and the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. She is the author of several middle reader and adult books. In cooperation with Earthways Foundation of Malibu, California, Jordan has developed several grass-roots environmental and social justice projects. She lives in Canada.