The City of Ember (The First Book of Ember) (edition 2004)

This book was really good. I saw the movie of it too, and it was really good too! ( )

Great for the age range, a little older and Wool has similar themes for an older reader. Fine as a stand-alone novel. ( )

[b:The City of Ember|307791|The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)|Jeanne DuPrau|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397931596s/307791.jpg|2285229]
Author: [a:Jeanne DuPrau|2347|Jeanne DuPrau|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1209127290p2/2347.jpg]
Publisher: Random House
270 pages
YA, middle-grade fantasy

The City of Ember is surrounded by darkness. For 12 hours a day the darkness is pushed back from the city by lights, kept shining by a generator installed by the Builders. But supplies, including light bulbs, are beginning to run out. The city might soon be engulfed by total darkness.

Lina, and her friend Doon, have just come of age and have been assigned jobs. As they go about their daily routine, they begin to notice that things are going wrong. People are hoarding and stealing supplies. Power outages are becoming longer and more commonplace. City officials are corrupt. Then Lina finds a box containing a message that might be the key to saving the populace of Ember. They just have to figure out how to decipher it and get an entire city to listen to them....

City of Ember is book 1 of a series for middle-grade children. It was recommended to me by a 5th grader, and I'm glad she did! I have yet to come across a child who read this series and didn't love it. I have read some reviews that called the plot too simplistic and faulted DuPrau's writing. Adult readers must keep in mind that this book is NOT adult fiction. It is written for young readers. DuPrau's story telling keeps the plot age appropriate, while depicting the city's dire predicament. She portrays the start of a slow destruction of society and safety without going too far. Readers who don't want to read a story that is appropriate to middle-grade children should probably stick to adult fiction. The intended audience for YA fiction is children, not adults.

My one complaint -- City of Ember ends on an extreme cliffhanger. And, as I'm writing this, I don't have book 2 yet!!! :) Great excuse to go to the bookstore!

There is a movie version as well. I have not seen it yet, but have read good reviews. I will request it from Netflix and add to this review once I've seen it. I hope it follows the book closely and doesn't make any sweeping changes. The story is wonderful as it is.

I look forward to reading book 2. I'm headed to the bookshop tonight for an author signing event (Kevin Hearne - Iron Druid Series!)...so I'm definitely picking up The People of Sparks while I'm there!

My Rating: 8/10
Ages 10 ( )

This book would be perfect for a middle grades English class. I read this book when I was younger and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book has a lot of science fiction in it and it leaves you on a cliffhanger. I think that an English teacher could do a lot with this book. For example, the teacher could ask the students to write what they think the future of society would look like. This book takes place in a dystopian society where it is always dark, a girl finds something that will lead her out of the dark dreary world. ( )

This story is about Scientist builders who built this city underground in order to save the human population. There is left the special box with instructions of when and how to leave the city of ember. In the 200 some years that has passed the box was forgotten about while the city is running out of food and the generator keeping the lights on is going out. These two kids find the box and try to find a way out of the city of ember to save the people with many conflicts stopping them. This is a very good adventure book and is one of my favorites. I wish it was more widely known. ( )