After the breakdown of society and the death of the vast majority of humans, Griz’s family survives on Mingulay. This tiny island in the Scottish Outer Hebrides is large enough for Griz’s parents and two siblings, ponies, sheep and dogs, but almost too small for the ghost-like memory of a sister who died on the cliffs and the sorrow for the loss of the rest of humanity. The family knows there are other people left on earth, but they are surprised when a stranger named Brand arrives, in a boat with red sails, on their lonely shore. Brand’s hasty departure, after drugging the family and stealing from them, begins teenage Griz’s treacherous and eye-opening journey to take back what is rightfully theirs in C. A. Fletcher’s A BOY AND HIS DOG AT THE END OF THE WORLD.

Griz doesn’t stop to think when he grabs what he can, jumps in his own sailboat and follows Brand south toward the “mainland.” The lying and thieving is upsetting to Griz, as is the realization that his family had been tricked and harmed. But the most grievous insult was the theft of Griz’s beloved terrier, Jess. Griz travels with Jip, another family dog, to find Jess and bring her home. It is true that Griz has left Mingulay before, but the pursuit of Brand means travelling much farther than ever before, and doing so totally alone. Across the mainland, a whole new world for Griz, the search for Brand continues.

"Fletcher’s rendering of the world after the loss of most of its people is lovely and lonely, scary and fascinating, a great setting for an adventure propelled by love, loyalty and curiosity."

Along the way, through the landscape of ruin devoid of most human life, Griz meets many challenges and obstacles --- some physical, some intellectual and many that are emotional. While having the skills to track Brand, Griz is only minimally prepared for the world with its emptiness, quiet and echoes of the humanity of a once teeming planet. Fletcher puts Griz in mundane and sacred spaces, both of which evoke sorrow and contemplation, as well as a renewed dedication to the task at hand: the rescue of a beloved companion.

Two characters, apart from Griz, Brand and the dogs, are pivotal in the novel: Griz’s sister, Joy, who died years ago, and John Dark, who, like Griz, is on a quest to find someone who wronged her. The spectre of Joy looms large and connects to the other losses of life and possibility in Griz’s mind. John Dark is a powerful presence who allows Griz to be both saved and savior (a repeated trope in the novel).

The causes for the apocalypse are varied and a bit murky here, but perhaps that is as it would be for the survivors who only know the myths they have inherited. Fletcher’s rendering of the world after the loss of most of its people is lovely and lonely, scary and fascinating, a great setting for an adventure propelled by love, loyalty and curiosity. Griz is such an interesting character, and the trek across Scotland is a gripping undertaking. Fletcher’s emotional observations are often keen, and readers will cheer for Griz, a book-loving super tough but really sensitive kid. Fletcher does occasionally give his hand away a bit with too much heavy-handed foreshadowing (“...the rest of the afternoon was a very good day. Until it wasn’t.”), but there are also some terrific surprises here.