text: the last dog on earth the last dog on earth is a 2003 young adult novel written by daniel ehrenhaft . it follows logan , a lonely 14 - year - old boy who adopts a dog from an animal shelter and names her jack . the pair 's relationship is soon threatened by an incurable prion disease spreading across the nation . infected dogs become unnaturally violent and bloodthirsty , culminating in the deaths of several people . as public fear heightens and the government intervenes to control the outbreak , logan struggles to reform his life and remain with jack . the last dog on earth largely focuses on the impact of disease and both public and governmental panic . society is ravaged by fear over the epidemic , endangering logan and jack despite the two being uninfected . additionally , the novel presents a coming of age story in which logan , a troubled youth , matures through his relationship with jack , his only friend . despite 17th street productions holding the rights to the last dog on earth , dell publishing gained permission to publish it . the company released the novel in hardcover in 2003 and in paperback in 2004 . throughout 2009 , the book was published on various e - book readers , including the nook , kindle , and several apple inc. products . the last dog on earth was a winner of the texas lone star reading list and recognized by yalsa on a 2006 book list for young adults . the novel garnered mixed feedback from critics , who generally felt that the plot held appeal , but that ehrenhaft tended to rely on coincidence . plot logan moore is a troubled 14 - year - old boy living with his mother marianne and stepfather robert in newburg , oregon . logan does not get along well with robert or his mother , and holds a grudge against his biological father for leaving when he was young . after an incident at a barbecue , robert decides to purchase a labrador retriever in order to teach logan responsibility . eager to rebel against his stepfather , logan convinces his mother to adopt a dog from an animal shelter . he plans to choose an ugly dog and teach it destructive behavior . at the shelter , logan encounters a young female mutt who immediately takes a liking to him . logan adopts the dog and names her jack after robert 's former dog . meanwhile , a new prion disease named psychotic outburst syndrome ( or pos ) is affecting dogs , causing friendly pets to become violent . officials struggle to control the disease and immediately terminate any dogs that catch it . humans soon begin to contract the disease . logan quickly bonds with jack and values her as his only friend . after getting into trouble while attempting to protect her , logan is sent to boot camp while jack remains at home . both he and jack manage to escape , find each other , and begin traveling together . during their journey , they encounter another dog called white paws : jack 's brother who has become infected with pos . white paws attacks jack and severely wounds her before dying . logan worries that jack may have contracted the disease through contact with white paws . the pair continue their journey until they reach the town of dayville . logan faintly remembers that his biological father lives in the town and decides to find his father and confront him . while logan is stealing food from a local shop , jack is found by three men who , fearing that she may be infected , beat her . logan is arrested and manages to find his father 's address at the police station before escaping . he returns to find jack nearly dead and carries her , attempting to find his father 's house , until he faints from exhaustion . he awakens in the house of his biological father , dr. craig westerly , who had found logan unconscious by his car . logan learns from craig that he had not abandoned him and his mother , but that marianne had divorced him . logan fears for jack 's life , afraid that she is infected or will be euthanized . craig runs tests on the dog and learns that jack , despite having been in contact with pos , isn 't infected : she is immune . craig decides to take jack to a doctor so that a vaccine can be created . during the meeting , rudy stagg , a man infected with pos who had been killing dogs in order to contain the outbreak , stumbles into their room . rudy ignores pleas to spare jack and shoots at her , but logan dives in front of the dog and is shot instead . logan suffers a collapsed lung and falls into a coma . he awakens weeks later and learns that jack is on life support . he says a final goodbye to jack before her life support is turned off . jack 's immunity to pos leads to the creation of a vaccine and cure , and logan is finally able to reconcile with robert , craig , and devon wallace — a childhood enemy whose dog died due to pos . the novel 's epilogue , written as a newspaper article , reveals logan and his family hold a private ceremony to honor jack . themes and style ehrenhaft deals with several themes over the course of the last dog on earth . kirkus reviews commented on the " backdrop of rising governmental and public panic " that interfere with jack and logan ; despite escaping the disease , they are unable to escape the panic . rachel seftel , author of a journal of adolescent & adult literacy review , also commented on the " mass hysteria " that arose due to pos and noted the novel 's core theme of a troubled youth being taught " valuable lessons until an external force threatens to tear them apart . " in order to track particular events and plot points related to pos , ehrenhaft inserts various messages , faxes , and articles throughout the novel . publication history 17th street productions , a branch of alloy entertainment , holds the rights to the last dog on earth . dell publishing ( a division of the larger publisher random house ) made arrangements with 17th street to have it released under their name . on february 11 , 2003 , the novel was released in hardcover , and was later reprinted in paperback under dell 's yearling book imprint on june 8 , 2004 . in january 2009 , the novel received a barnes & noble nook release in the united states , enabling it to be read on the nook e - book readers . the listed file size of the last dog on earth is 2224 kb for the brand . on january 21 , 2009 , the book was released for the kindle , amazon.com 's online e - book reader . its listed file size is 448 kb . on february 3 , 2010 , the last dog on earth was released on apple inc . ' s itunes . it is listed as being compatible with the iphone , ipod touch , and ipad . later , on february 25 , 2009 , the novel was released digitally with and mobile - specific file types for the borders group e - book app . reception and influence the last dog on earth has been nominated for several awards . the novel was recognized and listed on the texas library association 's 2004 – 2005 texas lone star reading list . the book was also a nominee for the 2005 mark twain award and 2007 minnesota young reader award . the last dog on earth was named on " popular paperbacks for young adults 2006 " , a list created by yalsa ( young adult library services association ) , a division of the american library association . the list is conceived by a committee and compiles various novels that hold appeal to teen readers . the last dog on earth was included in the " what you ? " category , comprising literature " about how diseases , disorders , and other general health related symptoms affect our lives " . in a 2005 interview , daniel ehrenhaft mentioned that a school in chicago created an extracurricular activity wherein " kids designed games and gadgets " , having been inspired by logan 's hobby of inventing devices . the last dog on earth has received mixed reception from critics , who have praised the plot , but criticized the heavy use of coincidences to advance the plot . kirkus reviews commented that " happenstance plays a large role in the plot " and thought ehrenhaft had " a tendency to trot in typecast characters , then summarily drop them " , but wrote that it would appeal to " disaster - tale fans with a taste for the lurid " . within the journal of adolescent & adult literacy , volume 47 , rachel seftel reviewed the novel . she felt that the last dog on earth 's main strength was the " well - developed and sympathetic protagonist " logan , but noted that the " memos and several subplots " interspersed between chapters and ehrenhaft 's " [ somewhat ] heavy - handed " attempts to foreshadow were drawbacks . seftel concluded that , despite ehrenhaft 's " reach at times [ exceeding ] his grasp , " the last dog on earth was " an interesting and absorbing variation " of the slightly conventional " boy - and - his - dog story . 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