The People of Sparks

I loved this even more than City of Ember. Most of the people of Ember have now escaped, and joined Doon and Lina in the outside world. But they have no skills needed to survive, and winter is coming...

One of the things I loved most about this book is how much empathy you feel for everyone. The people of Sparks have really worked so hard to scratch a home in the barren post apocalyptic wilderness, you can just feel how amazingly unfair it is to suddenly have twice as many people to feed, and the new people as inexperienced as children. But you also feel the blazing unfairness of the treatment of the Emberites, given small rations, forced to sleep on the floor in a ruined hotel while the people of Sparks have houses, given all the worst show more jobs and unfairly blamed for things they didn't do. It's a situation with no easy answers. Even the Bad Folk TM are well motivated - Torren ignored with little love from anyone, even the brother he cares most about, and even Tick, who comes closest to being an Evil Caricature, is trying to work out how to make things better for his people (idiot!)

It is also a book full of hope, but gritty realistic hope. Yes, it might be all doomed, but you work together, against the cold and the hunger and the fire. You tell the truth, because it heals, and you listen to each other. And in the darkest night, the light shines a promise. show less

Lina, Doon and the people of Ember came up from their dying underground city at the end of the first book, The City of Ember. The People of Sparks takes place immediately afterward. The people of Ember find a nearby settlement, called Sparks. The people of Sparks try to take in the Emberites and help them survive and learn to navigate the above-ground world, but it doesn't take long for tempers to flare, distrust to arise, and resentment to abound on both sides. The Emberites are weak and ignorant of how to survive above ground, and the people of Sparks lose patience with them quickly. One thing leads to another (and another, and another) until the two peoples are on the brink of all out war.
The theme is grander and deeper and more show more moral-centric than what most YA books offer, and it is worth noting that the primary plot line can be discussed without mention of Lina and Doon, the two primary characters. Each has a vital role to play, and each is involved in some sub-plots, but the overall theme of this book is how enemies are made and how war begins. show less

4.5 stars. This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

This is the sequel to the New York Times bestselling dystopian The City of Ember, which I reviewed here (link goes to my blog). There are some inevitable spoilers from the first book, so read ahead at your own risk!


Where Ember was a story of setting and plot, this was a story of characters and relationships. The people of Sparks are reluctant to care for four hundred extra people out of their own reserves, and the people of Ember quickly become embittered about the "stinginess" of their unwilling hosts. The book is one long look at conflict: the small things that can spark big wars, and the devastating effects of human anger.

A few times in the book characters talk about show more the idea that the only way to stop bad events from escalating, is to return good for bad and convince your opponent to stop the cycle of retaliation. This was the idea that stuck with me most strongly when I first read the book many years ago, and it's the idea that once again hits me with the most force. It's a very important message, and one that everyone could take a moment to consider.

Lina and Doon play prominent roles in this book, which makes me happy because I love them. What I particularly love about them is that they don't let their relationship drama consume the story: in fact, I wouldn't even call it "drama." They go through a small rough patch in their friendship, but it doesn't consume the story. They've each got much bigger issues to deal with as Doon struggles to decide what to do/where his loyalties lie during the revolution, and Lina worries about her sick sister and finding a place to live away from Sparks. They spend most of the book apart from each other, both physically and emotionally, but there's none of that "oh no, we'll never be friends again" garbage that authors often throw in to add some tension.

On another note, it's fascinating to see the world a couple centuries after the cataclysmic events ended. People survive by scavenging goods from old deserted cities, the science of electricity long forgotten. It's like a primitive time period from our own past in many respects (the water pumps, the farming for survival, etc.), but it's also futuristic in the most fascinating and kind of depressing way. Roamers, who pick through ruins to find goods to trade for, drive trucks - that's right, trucks - pulled by horses or mules. One woman buys (via trading) an old sink top with hot and cold faucets, because she likes the looks of it and wants to use it as a candleholder.

It's hard to put this book into words, but it really is a gripping, fascinating, throught-provoking read about the future, the past, the nature of conflict, and the road to peace. If this sounds interesting to you, read The People of Sparks - I promise you won't be disappointed! show less

Great exploration of the positive and negative roles of community and leadership, and how quickly the pendulum can swing. Simple enough for the age range, but complicated enough to actually have something to say. If you're reading more than one book in the series, this is worth it. I think it's really a two book series though, the rest have less to recommend.

After escaping from the underground city of Ember, Lina and Doon are joined by 400 of their fellow Emberites. With little food and no knowledge of life above ground, they stumble upon the city of Sparks, a town with a rocky past of their own. Though the people of Sparks are generous, the Emberites more than double the strain on their own limited resources. When tension mounts and anger begins to flare on both sides, can Lina and Doon help the people of Sparks and the people of Ember avoid war?

I think what I’m seeing in this book is that the author’s desire to insert a theme and to teach kids something she believes in made the story a lot less interesting than it could have been. Exploring the idea that these people have lived their show more entire lives underground, in a city that was built for them, with technology they never understood, and literally don’t even know what the sun is, much less how seasons work, did take up some of the book, but it fell by the wayside when the “War is bad” motif took over. Yes, war is bad, and yes, in the context of this story, war is what drove the Emberites’ ancestors underground. And it’s what left the people of Sparks in a primitive lifestyle, only now finally able to store excess food for an emergency. However, I’m not sure I buy that the people of Ember, who have just barely survived the death of their city and the stumbling around in a foreign land to find shelter, could produce someone who wanted power for himself and would be willing to incite others to violence to get it. It seemed like the ramping up to a conflict happened really fast.

Following Lina as she tried to understand her vision/memory/whatever about the gleaming city almost seemed like an afterthought. She took a lot of risk and a lot of the story was taken up by her adventure, just for a really minor pay-off.

I do like what ultimately transpired in the climax and the aftermath of that, and frankly, it went better than I expected it to. I anticipated a really simple, heavy-handed resolution, and though what actually happened wasn’t necessarily unique and unexpected, it was nice. And the book ended well, leaving me still interested in the next in the series. While I think this book could have been MUCH better, it’s not a bad follow-up for those who enjoyed the first in the series, and might be more enjoyable for the age group that it’s meant for than it was for me. show less

I found this book a bit too simplistic to keep my interest, though I do give the author credit for exploring the reasons for war in a way that is accessible to the younger end of the young adult spectrum. I'm still curious about the history of the disaster that struck this version of earth, but not quite enough to keep going on this series.

The People of Sparks continues the story of Lina and Doon as they lead the people of Ember to the surface world. They discover a small village called Sparks, whose residents reluctantly agree to share their limited resources. As tensions grow between the newcomers and the villagers, misunderstandings and fear threaten to turn into conflict. Jeanne DuPrau delivers a thought-provoking tale about cooperation, prejudice, and the choices that shape communities. A compelling follow-up to The City of Ember that blends adventure with important lessons about empathy and peace.