The Last Child

One of the books I chose to read this summer was The Last Child by John Hart. It is the story of a boy named Johnny who is looking for his twin sister that has been missing for a year. At first glance, it appeared to be just a mystery about a missing girl.  But as I progressed through the book, I realized that this was not so.  As Johnny’s story is told, Hart explores the unique bond between twins, the lengths that family members will go to in order to protect the ones they love, the sometimes misplaced importance of reputation, and the fact that ultimately, most people do the right thing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It had me sitting on the edge of my seat for an entire day, and I got in trouble for not socializing with my family on a trip to the beach (until my mom, my step-father, and my grandmother all read it; then they understood, and they didn’t socialize either!).

            Twins have a very special bond, and the author did a good job of illustrating it. Although I enjoyed this book, it was somewhat troubling to me.  The main character was a 14 year old boy (like me) who had a twin sister (also like me) that had been missing for a year (hopefully not ever like me).  These similarities made me wonder what I would do in such a situation.  What would life be like without Aimee Claire?  Would my family fall apart like Johnny’s did?  Would I go to the lengths Johnny did to find out what really happened? 

The author also addressed the lengths that family members will go to in order to protect those they love.  The saying “blood runs thicker than water” really rings true in this book. In some cases, this can be a positive thing, such as a father doing all he can to find his missing daughter, even to the point of leaving the rest of his family permanently.  But in some cases, this can cause people to make bad choices, such as protecting family members when they really should tell the truth.

Another theme in The Last Child is the often misplaced importance of status in society and the pressure placed on young people by their parents to be successful.  Sometimes people don’t tell the truth so they can either keep out of trouble or make themselves look better.  This happens frequently in our lives in seemingly unimportant situations, not life and death situations such as in this book.

In the end, the author showed that most people do the right thing, even if it is in a roundabout way.  Human nature is to try to stay out of trouble in any way possible, like Johnny’s best friend did.  He ended up doing the right thing by leading the right people to the scene, even though it cost him dearly, and good won out over evil.  The “last child” got his answer.