The City of Ember

Title: The City of Ember
Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Publisher: Random House
Reading Level: 3 and up
Pages: 270
Genre: Science Fiction









Summary:

People known as the builders are at the beginning of this story. They have just constructed Ember, and undergound city, but they realize the resources won't last forever. Ember was built because a great war was wiping out all life, so people were sent to live underground to survive. Because of the worry of shortages in many years the builders made a special box to pass form mayor to mayor until the time it would open on its own. There would be instructions on how to get out of Ember, however, this was not told to anyone. The mayors passed the box on, but nobody knew what it contained. It eventually got lost, but nobody worried about it. The story then jumps forward to 'appointement day' 241 years later. Lina and Doon are waiting for their job that they will work. Lina picks pipeworks and Doon picks messenger. They switch because they do not like the ones they picked and the go off to work. Lina loves her job and she learns about the whole city in and out. Doon wants to find a way to save Ember. The lights have been running out, and the electricity has been failing, leaving them in utter darkness. He finds the generator, but he has no idea how to fix or find any problems. Lina returns home after work and helps her little sister and her old grandmother. When Poppy finds an old paper in a box she chews it up before Lina can grab it. However Lina saves the scraps and tries to get the message decoded. Lina askeds Doon to help her and they find out that it is directions to get out of Ember. They go to the pipeworks to find the way out and they run into Looper. Lina had run messages from him to the mayor and had been puzzled by them. He was stealing the city's resources, which are already running out! They try to report him, but the mayor goes to have them arrested for spreading rumors. Lina grabs Poppy and, with Doon, they go to escape Ember. They find a boat and many things that they don't know how to use. However, they figure it out and the get to a rocky shore. Poppy finds a book and Lina keeps it for later. The kids walk up a slpe for a while and they are astounded to see the real world. They sun, the moon, the stars; it's all brand new to them! They read the journal and figure out the history of Ember. They are amazed, and then they continue to explore. They see a cave and they go into it. They are astonished to see that Ember is undergound! THey never knew that they have been living undergound for hundreds of years! They know the city is going to fail and they can't return. However, they want to save everyone. They write a note and wrap it up in Doon's shirt. They throw it over the cliff inside of the cave and it falls down into the City of Ember. Mrs. Munro, down in Ember, sees it fall and picks it up. She starts to unwrap it, and the book ends.

My Reaction:

I love this book! I love the imagination to create a world underground, and trying to rescue everyone. Definitely a page turner for me!

Potential Problems:

The lying between the mayor and his people is an issue. The theft that Looper does with the cities resources is also a problem. Other that that there wasn't anything very big that was an issue, I thought.

Recommendations:

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read. It's fun, and not to hard to get through. You grow to love the people, and you will want to read the sequels.