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Loading... The City of Ember (2003)by Jeanne DuPrau
Genre: Science Fiction Characters: Lina, Doon, Mayor Cole, Barton, Sul, Barrow, Clary, Poppy, Mrs. Murdo, Joss, Lizzie, Captain Fleery Setting: Underground City Theme: Society in chaos Genre: Dystopia Summary: An underground city lit by lights is slowing running out of power. The city is plagued by a deadly cough. There is no cure. The outside world is feared because no one has every ventured out or even knows how to escape. The mayor holds a box that is believed to contain the directions to the outside world. It is said that the “builders” place these instructions in a box but were not to be opened until 200 years later. Two hundred years pass and no one notices the box opens. Lina goes home to find her Grandmother looking for the box only to find the contents ripped to pieces. Lina and Doon decipher the contents and set off to find the outside world. They find out that their parents had attempted to go beyond the City of Ember but her father drowned in an underground river. While on their journey they discover the mayor had been keeping canned food from the city. They are finally able to make it to the surface but don’t realize it because it is night but realize they have made it to the surface when the sun rises. They then tie a message to a rock and drop it back down to the city. Audience: Middle/High School Curriculum: science fiction Personal Response: I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a great science fiction story that would be used for creative writing. I especially enjoyed the plot of the story. It didn’t have much down time and would easily entertain a teenager. The only thing I would have like to have seen was a little of development of the characters but overall a great book that keep you wondering what is next. 4.5 stars. A very compelling and exciting story that leaves you wondering what will happen next. I'm very intrigued to read the next one. I didn't like the book, but it would be great for young adults and preteens.
While a book like ''Faerie Wars'' diverts young readers from their daily lives, one like ''The City of Ember'' encourages them to tackle the most ambitious tasks. Hard work can save the day, it promises. It's an old-fashioned lesson that is somehow easier to swallow when delivered in a futuristic setting. Has the adaptation
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0375822747, Paperback)It is always night in the city of Ember. But there is no moon, no stars. The only light during the regular twelve hours of "day" comes from floodlamps that cast a yellowish glow over the streets of the city. Beyond are the pitch-black Unknown Regions, which no one has ever explored because an understanding of fire and electricity has been lost, and with it the idea of a Moveable Light. "Besides," they tell each other, "there is nowhere but here" Among the many other things the people of Ember have forgotten is their past and a direction for their future. For 250 years they have lived pleasantly, because there has been plenty of everything in the vast storerooms. But now there are more and more empty shelves--and more and more times when the lights flicker and go out, leaving them in terrifying blackness for long minutes. What will happen when the generator finally fails?Twelve-year-old Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet seem to be the only people who are worried. They have just been assigned their life jobs--Lina as a messenger, which leads her to knowledge of some unsettling secrets, and Doon as a Pipeworker, repairing the plumbing in the tunnels under the city where a river roars through the darkness. But when Lina finds a very old paper with enigmatic "Instructions for Egress," they use the advantages of their jobs to begin to puzzle out the frightening and dangerous way to the city of light of which Lina has dreamed. As they set out on their mission, the haunting setting and breathless action of this stunning first novel will have teens clamoring for a sequel. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:33:14 -0500) In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. |
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The year is 241. Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger and finds part of an ancient message she feels sure will help save her decaying city. The first in The Books of Ember series.