The City of Ember (Books of Ember)
by Jeanne DuPrau
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeanne DuPrauBrand: Yearling
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-26
ISBN: 0385736282
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Yearling
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780385736282
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The City of Ember (Books of Ember)
Book Review: Fabulous Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau, Random House, New York, copyright 2003. This book is the first book in a series of three and contains 270 pages. It is a Mystery Book and the reading level is at a 4.6 grade level.
This book is a twisting mystery that keeps the reader guessing the entire time. The book begins by explaining that the people, called the builders, created this town as a way to escape something. They presented a locked box to the mayor. This box contains information that will save the city in 200 years. The city will not survive without knowing the information in the box. The box becomes lost throughout the years, and magically opens in a closet. The story begins 41 years after the box opens. The city is a fictional city where there is no sunlight and it only survives on an old generator. Over time, the supplies and generator begin to perish and the city suffers from occasional blackouts.
The two main characters are recent 8th grade graduates named Lina and Doon. When students graduate 8th grade, they receive a job that will support the town. Lina becomes a messenger and Doon becomes a pipeworks laborer. Doon hopes to select a job that would allow him to fix Ember's light and food problems. Lina struggles to take care of her younger sister Poppy and her Alzheimer's grandmother. One afternoon, Lina discovers her sister chewing on a mysterious letter found from a box located in her closet. Only Lina and Doon believe that this note is important. However they have a problem, only half of it is readable. It is up to them to discover the clues and solve the mystery of the light, food sacristy, and who the builders are.
I enjoyed reading this book! While reading the book, the story allows the reader to continuously ask questions and keeps the reader guessing about how it will end. It is very interesting how the characters in the book reuse everything that they have as well as how they do not know how to use simple objects that we take for granted; for instance, a match or candle. I like how the two main characters come together to solve the mystery.
One negative of the book is the author's presentation of the setting of the book. The setting of the story is hard to visualize and comprehend. I had a hard time inferring that there is no sun in this town and that they only rely on electricity. It is also never told that no one in the city understands how electricity works. Knowing this information is useful for the reader to understand what is going on in the book. Also, by knowing this information, the reader is able to continue to ask more difficult questions during the read.
Summary of The City of Ember (Books of Ember)
NOW A MAJOR motion picture starring Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Saoirse Ronan, and Harry Treadaway! This tie-in edition of The City of Ember features a movie-art cover and an 8-page photo insert. Jeanne DuPrau?s instant classic tells the story of the great, underground city of Ember, designed as a last refuge for the human race. But when the storerooms run out of food and the lights begin to fail, it?s up to two teens, Lina and Doon, to decipher the fragments of an ancient parchment and find a way out of Ember.It is always night in the city of Ember. But there is no moon, no stars. The only light during the regular twelve hours of "day" comes from floodlamps that cast a yellowish glow over the streets of the city. Beyond are the pitch-black Unknown Regions, which no one has ever explored because an understanding of fire and electricity has been lost, and with it the idea of a Moveable Light. "Besides," they tell each other, "there is nowhere but here" Among the many other things the people of Ember have forgotten is their past and a direction for their future. For 250 years they have lived pleasantly, because there has been plenty of everything in the vast storerooms. But now there are more and more empty shelves--and more and more times when the lights flicker and go out, leaving them in terrifying blackness for long minutes. What will happen when the generator finally fails? Twelve-year-old Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet seem to be the only people who are worried. They have just been assigned their life jobs--Lina as a messenger, which leads her to knowledge of some unsettling secrets, and Doon as a Pipeworker, repairing the plumbing in the tunnels under the city where a river roars through the darkness. But when Lina finds a very old paper with enigmatic "Instructions for Egress," they use the advantages of their jobs to begin to puzzle out the frightening and dangerous way to the city of light of which Lina has dreamed. As they set out on their mission, the haunting setting and breathless action of this stunning first novel will have teens clamoring for a sequel. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell City of Ember is now a major motion picture (releasing in October 2008) starring Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, and many more. Enjoy these images from the film, and click the thumbnails to see a larger image in a new browser window.
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