Doon and Lina are two teenagers who live in a city called Ember. A city built by "The Builders" using an underground river to power their generator which runs all their lights and storerooms filled to the brim with all their daily necessities - light bulbs, clothes, canned goods, etc. - that should last them forever. Well, sadly forever is here and their generator keeps breaking down and causing flickering lights and blackouts through the city that last longer and longer each time. There are also scary rumors of their storerooms being empty.As the residents of Ember start becoming aware of their city’s dire situation and the mayor’s lack of providing them with a solution, they all start to realize that it is only a matter of time before the city will go dark permanently. As the townfolk begin to worry, Lina finds a very intricate box in one of her closets but sadly her little sister, Poppy, has chewed up the paper that was inside. So it is up to Lina and Doon to decipher this message that is mysteriously written in the same handwriting used by "The Builders" when they provided the city with their books on rules to live by. Together they will piece clues to lead the population out of the dark and into the light.
I know I'm a little old to read this book, but maybe that is what makes this book stand out and get noticed. This tale was able to hold my attention almost two decades after middle school, which I believe is the focal age group for this book.
This book will make you hold your breath in anticipation every step of the way. You'll cheer for the main characters and good folk of Ember. Ms. DuPrau’s description of this world is brilliant and you can picture the crumbling city as you read the book.
The story is full of mystery, adventure, great characters, and vivid descriptions. It plays with themes of light and dark. A fun, easy read that pulls you in from the very first chapter and will keep you hooked until the very last page! This book is very well written and I whole-heartedly recommend it to young and old alike.
6 comments:
No such thing as too old! Lovely review, Nely. I definitely need to read this one.
I liked this book too. Do you usually read young adult fiction, or was this a change for you? I read a lot of it myself; I find there's a lot of great stories out there that you can miss because they're not marketed to adults.
There are quite a few middle readers that have the power to hold adult's attention. All my friends love Holes by Louis Sacher, for example.
I really need to get around to reading this. I have owned it forever!
Great review. I read this last fall and really enjoyed it and recommended it to my 9 year old son. I read People of Sparks last month and enjoyed the continuing saga and the added depth of the plot as things continued beyond Ember.
Thanks for a great review.
I just read this one a couple of weeks ago and loved it, too! So much that I had to immediately put a hold on the next book at my library.
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