The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The City of Ember. Written by Jeanne DuPrau. 2003. ISBN: 0-375-82274-7. Contemporary (slightly) Realistic Fiction. Ages 10+.

The City of Ember is the first book in a three part series about the City and the people of Ember. It is Jeanne DuPrau's first novel. The two books to follow in the series are The People of Sparks and The Prophet of Yonwood.

In Ember, a city deep within the earth, life once thrived. The "Builders" or engineers of the underground city, created a place to ensure the survival of humanity. Ember's citizen's including Lina Mayfleet and her Grandmother and baby sister, as well as Doon Harrow, all have known of no other world besides Ember. The history books in school claim that Ember is the only place in the universe.

Lina Mayfleet has trouble believing this. She dreams of beautiful cities and wonders if the sky is actually blue instead of black. Doon Harrow, Lina's classmate knows that Ember is failing as a city, and he is determined to get to the bottom of it and save the city. Doon is correct, Ember is failing, as the city has housed it's inhabitants for longer than the Builders intended. The builders left instructions for a way out of Ember, and entrusted these instructions to the Mayor of the city, to be passed from Mayor to Mayor until the box finally opened on it's own and revealed how to get out of Ember for good. This never happened, as one Mayor, Lina's great great grandfather died before being able to pass the box along.

Doon and Lina begin an adventure to figure out how to save the city and its people from being trapped in the dark forever. They soon discover that the Mayor is selfish and evil and is no help, and so they are on their own. Lina finds the Builders Instructions, but only after her baby sister chews them up and half of it is missing. The deciphering and exploring take them all over the city, and soon they discover that the cities supplies and power are diminishing faster than they think. They figure out the Builders Instructions to escape and they plan to tell everyone, but they are accused by the Mayor for being vicious rumor spreaders and so they are forced to escape and save themselves. The two of them, along with Lina's baby sister, emerge into a world of blue skies, green grasses, forests and natural fruits. They soon discover the realization that Ember is underground, and the real world is where they are.

This book is fun and exciting and has suspense and action. It is a similar concept to that of the Giver, but not as extreme. I believe that this could be a fun class book to read out loud to a class, and then have them make predictions as to what will happen next, as there are a lot of twists and turns. This book also brings up an interesting concept on the topic of humanities survival. Do the children think this concept of living underground is possible? Would they ever volunteer to leave their life behind to go underground - or to another planet to live? Also, since this book is so descriptive, an art project would be fun for children to create a scene from the book.

This book has now been made into a film.