The People of Sparks: The Second Book of Ember (Books of Ember) by Jeanne DuPrau
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.94 You Save: $4.05 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The People of Sparks: The Second Book of Ember (Books of Ember)
Book Review: An excellent follow up to the remarkable "City of Ember"
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a bit skeptical when my children, with whom I had read the "City of Ember," came to me asking for the sequel. It seemed to me that book was in a way complete, and had dealt with the issues it had to deal with in a very thoughtful and intelligent and readable way. I didn't think there was much mileage to be gotten from putting the same people in a new situation to see how they fared there. I was wrong; as a sequel this book performs admirably, taking the characters from the first into a new set of interesting struggles and raising a number of very important but new issues along the way. In the first book, we find our heroes in an underground city, which we discover was prepared for them to protect them from a catastrophe. In this book we discover more about the nature of that catastrophe - both war and environmental disaster. More importantly, the situations in this book prepare the reader to ask why such disasters occur in the first place and how they can be avoided. Reading this book provided an excellent opportunity to speak with my children about the motivations of war and conflict -- issues that they can't help but face in today's world. The book also prepares the reader, without sentimentality or preaching, to consider what it would take to resolve conflicts without killing each other and ourselves.Book Review: Lighting the people around you!
Summary: 5 Stars
Lighting the people around you!, July 16, 2005
A Kid's Review
Lina & Doon lead their people into a world where the sky is blue and light comes from the sky. But when they finally find civilization they have more things coming than they think!
They had found out about the disaster (the tree plagues and 4 wars) which they guess is why Ember was built. But when the people of Sparks and people of Ember find differences between each other, Tick (some guy from Ember) plans the have war. At first, Doon thought it was a good idea but then when his father said what might happen he breaks away from Tick.
Meanwhile, Lina snuck on a roamers truck (it belonged to the brother of a kid from Sparks who was searching for a treasure) and discovered some more things like this poem:
Remember the city, the city remember
where treasure is hidden under ground
the city the city always remember
that's where the treasure will be found
Try and figure that one out!
Now it is up to Doon and Lina (when she gets back) to find a way to settled the differences between Sparks and Ember.
To find out if they succeed, read the marvelous sequel to the City of Ember - The People of Sparks!!!
Book Review: Sparks v.s. Ember
Summary: 5 Stars
The book The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau is a book that I liked. I liked it because of the plot and the conflict.
The plot is awesome! the people of Ember have come to meet other people above ground. The people from above ground are nice at first, but then they start to turn against each other. The main plot is the growing friction between the people of Sparks and the people of Ember. THe groups are silently detesting each other until a couple of things happen and the hate turns into a full-scale riot. There's an interesting twist at the end of the story.
The conflicts in The People of Sparks are big and small. If you've read the first book then you know who Doon and Lina are. They start to become distant after a while. A great disaster in the city of Sparks is what it takes to bring the once friends together again. The other conflict is the one mentioned earlier, the one between Sparks and Ember. There are other conflicts, but they are insignificant and would take forever to describe.
You've read a brief description of the great book called The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. If you had any sense, you'd read it!
Book Review: Excellent sequel--or stand alone novel
Summary: 5 Stars
The People of Sparks is a wonderful sequel to Ms. DuPrau's The City of Ember. I enjoyed the widened scope of the novel, and some of the new characters were quite enjoyable--my favorites were Maddy, who acted as a mentor-figure to Lina, and Dr. Hester, forever in disarray.
Duality seems to be a major theme of this novel, although perhaps a reader in the targeted age/grade range wouldn't pick up on it right away. Almost immediately, Lina and Doon are separated, and their courses parallel each other, although each path is separate. Lina journeys outside their newfound city of Sparks to find answers, whereas Doon searches within the borders, both of Sparks and himself. Each of them finds a mentor figure and must choose to act on that figure's advice or not. This dichotomy of Lina and Doon sets up the conflict between Ember and Sparks. I can't explain more because, well, that would be the story.
DuPrau brings things together perfectly in this novel. I would recommend it to anyone, because everyone can find something to take away.
Book Review: Facing the new world
Summary: 5 Stars
In "The People of Sparks", Jeanne DuPrau follows Lina and Doon and the people of Ember as they climb out from their underground city into the sunlight of a new-old world, the world after the apocalypse. This is a different kind of book from "The City of Ember", one that deals with a different kind of drama. DuPrau bravely looks into the darkness of our human hearts, well intentioned but weak in the testing. How does a small village deal with 400 dazed and helpless strangers whose numbers take a heavy toll on its resources and tolerance? People want to do the right thing, for the most part, but doing the right thing is hard. In elegantly clear and plain language, DuPrau lays out the problems facing the peoples of Ember and Sparks, and in doing so, grapples with some very large issues. There's a good story here, too, and interesting new characters. Everyone's flawed, as people are. Will the worst instincts of the peoples of Sparks lead to war and chaos again? Read it and find out. You won't easily forget this book.