The City of Ember (The City of Ember Book 1)

The City of Ember is a rule-bound place, where all the lights go out at 9 each night, everyone rises early for breakfast, and careful recycling is a way of life. Lately, though, the lights have begun flickering. Supplies are shorter each year, and some foods are no longer available.Until their 12th year, the children of the City of Ember go to school. But at the end of that year, they are assigned the jobs they will do for years after, perhaps to the end of their lives. Lina yearns to be a Messenger, running free in the streets, learning the secrets of the city. Doon wants desperately to be an electrician's assistant or a pipeworker, because he dreams of fixing the ancient, failing generators of the city.When each receives the assignment the other wants, they switch jobs, and begin a conspiracy that will not end until they learn how to save the entire city. Along the way, they solve an ancient puzzle, defeat the greed and subterfuge of the Mayor and his minions, and discover a much wider world than either had ever dreamed existed.When I read children's literature, I look for more than a tale well told. Juvenile science fiction is not hard to come by, especially today in the age of Harry Potter. But fiction that lauds heroism (particularly the kind of courage which every child will have an opportunity to demonstrate), extolls the value of friendship, and shows when adult precepts and rules are worthwhile, and how to tell when they are not - that is uncommon. (Those qualities form the foundation of the Harry Potter stories, too, and explain the widespread appeal of the boy wizard and his friends.)The City of Ember has that same appeal. Doon and Lina are courageous; they do things children would do, yet also show judgement, persistence and intelligence. These are kids who love their parents, and still see that they must take extraordinary steps outside the regimented life they have led. In the end, they do save their city, and if they do not battle great evil, they do encounter and overcome the kind of petty nastiness that is far more common in the world.On Kindle, the book loses none of its original charm, with the possible exception of the maps and notes. Where these extend across the page, they are difficult to enjoy, even in Zoom mode.The book works best in tandem with its sequel, The People of Sparks: The Second Book of Ember (Books of Ember). Together, they are an interesting story - even for an adult. I recommend it highly for boys and girls who want something better than comic-book heroes and video-game battles, and for readers who are no longer children, but still yearn toward the hero we can each become.

Great read if seeking to add variety to kids reading

I read this book with my 11 year old son and we both enjoyed it so much.The story follows 12-year-olds Lina and Doon, residents of Ember, a city with rapidly dwindling resources that is only illuminated through artificial light. When Lina finds a partially intact note that seems to lead to a way out of Ember, she partners up with Doon to decipher the letter and hopefully get help for the rest of the city’s inhabitants.This book is definitely geared toward the 9-12 year old range, but it was still a really interesting and engaging story that I fully enjoyed reading. I especially liked that the writing style made for good read-aloud material. My son and I are both looking forward to starting the next book in the series soon.

The City of EmberBy: Jeanne DuPrauWarning: it tells about the end of the book.In the City of Ember it is told upon creation that no one can leave for at least two hundred years or two hundred twenty. On assignment day it is 241. Doon and Lina are trying to get out of Ember and the light does not come from the sky, the light comes from the street in the ground and it goes out every now and then. The time that passes is not even a year. The setting reminds me of real life a little bit.When I read the book, I felt excited and happy. I felt the feeling of being sad, happy, and scared. The author used this approach in feelings because he wanted to change it up throughout the book.Lina and Doon are the main characters. Lina is white with blond hair. Her mom and dad died so she had just her grandmother. Her Grandmother died too! Lina has a sister named Poppy and another person named Mrs. Modo. Lina is twelve. She is nice and she likes to make friends. Doon is white with black hair. Then author didn’t talk much about his parents. He does not have any brothers nor sisters. Doon is usually with Lina. He is also really friendly and likes to make friends too. He is twelve too. Doon works as a pipeworker and Lina works as messenger. I enjoyed all the characters.Doon and Lina would like to find another safe place. Doon and Lina try to get out of Ember. Lina and Doom travel through a journey of pipes that became the escape from Embers.I did like the book from beginning to the end. I would not change any part. I would recommend it to friends, and I look forward to reading the next three books.This report is by Bennett Keagan Porter

My kid ACTUALLY READ THE ENTIRE BOOK!!!!!

its a good book. not everyones cup of tea but i loved it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Unfortunately, I saw the movie before I read the book, but even knowing generally what would happen before it happened, I really enjoyed it. The characters were younger than I'm used to, most of the kids being 13 or so. At first I thought the book would be too kid-friendly for me. While it is very kid-friendly (relatively short with none of the more adult material found in the YA books meant for older teens and young twenty-something's), it was not boring, and managed to keep a reasonably fast pace through most of it while the MC's figured things out.I'm very happy with my purchase, and would definitely recommend this to others. It's a refreshing story, with a new idea and a new point of view, and it addresses some interesting underlying themes in the background. I'll definitely be reading the next book to see what happens!Also, on a side note:The audiobook for this, purchased via Audible, was great (especially for kids)! I listened while in the car and at work. The female narrator did some great voices for each character, and there were occasional background audio tracks for things like the rushing river, or noises of the city, creaking doors, etc. maybe a bit too kid-friendly for most adults, but great for kids! Some voices, like the Mayor's were downright silly, but all were pretty entertaining.