The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrauAR Reading Level: 5.0
On the library stacks: Children's/YA Fiction
Awards: Book Sense Book of the Year Award/Honorees; ALA Notable/Best Books
Series: Book 1 of 4 (Ember)
Recommended for: Grades 3+
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The city of Ember is always dark. When it is time to wake up, the electrical lights that power the city turn on and everyone heads to school or work.
At the age of 12, the students are each randomly assigned a job. Lina and Doon swap their assignments so that Lina becomes a messenger, running messages through the city, and Doon works down in the Pipeworks. Lina and Doon both realize that the mayor is up to no good. There are frequent blackouts in the city and low food and light bulb supply rations seem to indicate impending disaster.
I thought this book had good ambiance, appropriate for the dark city of Ember. I enjoyed the story of Lina and Doon and their quest to save their dying city. It's good post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction appropriate for the younger grades, but I think older kids who enjoy the genre will like it too. As an adult reader, I read a spiritual awakening metaphor in the plot that I enjoyed mulling over.
Now that I've finally gotten around to reading it, I will let myself watch the movie...Well, maybe I'll wait until after my kids have read it first so we can all watch together.
Also reviewed by: Emily's Reading Room ~ Tiny Little Reading Room ~ At Home With Books ~ book:thirty ~ Bending Bookshelf ~ The Bluestocking Society ~ Teen Lit Review ~ The Book Group Broads ~ It's All About Books ~ Ticket to Anywhere ~ Becky's Book Reviews ~ Your link here?
Book 67 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge, Book 42 of 50 for the New Author Challenge, Book 32 of 50 for the YA Reading Challenge, Book 28 of 50 for the RYOB Challenge, Book 48 of 55 for the Countdown Challenge (2003)
Source: Purchased
5 comments:
Sounds like a good one. I'm curious about what the mayor is up to.
I really like this one. I read it after the movie, and enjoyed both versions.
I read it before watching the movie too. I thought it was a lot of fun to read.
I, too, thought this was a nice enjoyable read. You'll likely enjoy the movie too, even though it's a bit different. I have the next couple in the series but haven't gotten to them yet.
Oh, and thanks for the link love.
This is a fun book and a great opening to the series. I read book 2 and really enjoyed it (in some ways even more). I really need to get back and finish the series.
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