The City of Ember (The First Book of Ember) | Jeanne DuPrau

The City of Ember (The First Book of Ember) | Jeanne DuPrau | A great intro to science fiction for children.....and adults

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The City of Ember ...

	The City of Ember (The First Book of Ember) Jeanne DuPrau Yearling, 2004 - 270 pages average customer review:based on 429 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Seeing the Light

The City of Ember is an unusual place. It has no sun or moon; only floodlights alleviate the darkness. It has no history--the townspeople only know that it was constructed by "the Builders" a few hundred years ago. And the people do not produce their own goods--they rely on what the Builders left for them in storerooms. But Ember has fallen on hard times--walls crumble, resources run low, and food has become scarce. Worst of all, the electrical system is failing and threatening to plunge the entire city into permanent darkness. Ember's citizens lack the knowledge to combat these problems, and their leader, the mayor, is not interested in finding solutions. Then twelve-year-old Lina Mayfleet stumbles on a forgotten message from the Builders that could help to save the city, but the message is incomplete. Enlisting the help of schoolmate Doon Harrow, Lina works to decipher the message before darkness falls permanently on the city.

In The City of Ember (Yearling, 2003), Jeanne DuPrau creates an intriguing world that prompts readers to wonder, what would it be like to live without fresh air or sunshine and without knowledge of anything beyond your own town? DuPrau's story of a civilization that is running out of resources could be read as a cautionary tale by conservationists, but more than that, it is an adventure and a mystery, an empowering story showing young people that they can make an enormous difference in their world.

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A great intro to science fiction for children.....and adults

I bought the book for my daughter when it first came out after reading a number of rave reviews. I thought the premise was so intriguing, I read it myself and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although a great introduction to science fiction for children and teens, the City of Ember is so well written, it transcends age groups. It is wonderfully atmospheric with sympathetic protagonists that you root for all the way to a poetic conclusion. I loved the sense of impending doom as the blackouts of Ember become more frequent, as well as the clever solving of the puzzle of Ember by the children. Sadly I just saw the movie City of Ember starring Bill Murray and was appalled at how truly awful the film version was. The only redeeming feature was the set design which did indeed capture what I thought the underground city looked like. But in every other respect, the film is vastly inferior to the book. Save your money - and ninety minutes of your life - and don't see the movie. But definitely read the book.

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Excellent read

The City Of Ember was a fantastic read, whether you are an adult or a child. The writing was at the level of a fourth grader, but once you get past that, the story captivates you. What would happen to humanity if a catastrophic event forced us underground? While you don't know what happened in the past, Ember gives an intriguing view of life not knowing anything about the outside world. I would definitley recommend adults and children read it, preferably together.

City of Ember at a cafe in my mind

I found this book to be quite an easy read. Keep in mind, the audience this book is aimed towards is kids though. The pictures were great, since I never watched any trailers for the movie, to fill my mind with images of the characters acting out the scenes before my very eyes. This is a great book to read with your children. Jeanne Duprau writes in such a way that allows any aged reader escape into this fictional broken down town. The immediate twist reminds me of Harry Potter when I was only a little one. Since Harry Potter came out when I was in 1st grade, I had a similar experience with that book that i did with this one. Now with this, 13 years of experience and troubles allowed me to relax more to enjoy this wonderful book. I cant wait to read the next few.

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Good beginning for the series

"City of Ember" is the children's version of anti-utopian fantasy. The protagonists - twelve-year old girl and boy - live in the gloomy underground city Ember, where the knowledge of most technologies and even many day-to-day things are forgotten. So, Ember does not have computers, cars, any manufacturing, or even boats and matches. It still has the generator that supplies electricity, but nobody understands how it works. What will happen when generator fails? What will happen when food supplies, stored by previous generations, are exhausted?

Even though the premise of the plot has some loopholes, it was interesting enough to keep my daughter and myself reading the book, trying to find what happens next. My daughter liked the book more than me, since she was fascinated by the idea of under-ground city; she also liked the brave and reckless heroine well enough, to forgive her some really stupid acts. I personally was slightly disappointed by the slow action in some parts of the book.

Despite these shortcomings, "City of Ember" is a good read for kids who are interested in fantasy or sci-fi ("City of Ember" is closer to sci-fi, in any case), but are tired of dragons, wizards and magic schools. In our case, my daughter went to read the next books in the series.

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