Tag Archives: Jeanne DuPrau

Book Review: The City of Ember: The First Book of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

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The City of Ember: The First Book of Ember is the first book in the city of Ember series, written by the author Jeanne DuPrau. The City of Ember is a 270-page science-fiction book. The book follows two main characters Lina and Doon. As is the custom in their city they were given jobs at 12. The city of Ember is falling into decay often having blackouts, giving citizens the fear of it forever being dark. The two main characters however learn the secret of their city and what lies beyond. However, greedy villains try to survive by themselves letting the rest die.

What makes this book so interesting is how it tells us what we might be causing in the future. It tells of a city hidden away from the world human life died. Technology keeping the city down starting break fail. It has a message to our present world on how dangerous we can be with how little regard humans have for the health of the world and nature. However, the book also teaches us hope, that there always good individuals trying to save our world and people. The book is about growing up and learning the dark secrets of their world, and trying to stop them. With puzzle solving the conflicts and problems are often solved with ingenuity rather than force. The book is placed in a city built by people who thought that a nuclear war was inevitable and created a safe haven hidden from the rest of the world before everyone on the surface died.

I would recommend this book to anyone 12 and over who is interested in dystopian, science fiction, or how humans survive Nuclear war. It’s a great book with interesting ideas, and can get you thinking more than the difficulty of the book would be expected.

–Luke G.

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

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The City of Ember is a dystopian novel. Although it takes place in the future, the mysterious Builders of the city from a couple of hundred years ago have greatly restricted their technology. Instead of phones, they have Messengers who run from place to place delivering messages. They have no movable lights or cars; the only light in the entire city comes from the many lamps lining the streets and in their homes, and they can only walk or run to places. 

When creating the City, the Builders knew the people would eventually need to emerge from their new home – after 200 years, to be exact. They created the Instructions and locked it into a box with a timed lock, to be passed down from mayor to mayor, set to open when those 200 years had passed. Yet, when the seventh mayor became sick and desperate for a cure, he brought the secret box, which no one but the mayor knew about, to his own home. Unsuccessful in opening it, and passing away soon afterward, he became the last to know of its existence. 

The story then skips to around the year 240 (in years of Ember), where the lights have now begun to flicker and sometimes temporarily go out, and their food, supplies, and resources are beginning to quickly run out. 12-year-old Lina re-discovers the now-open box. However, since her little sister Poppy ate some of the paper message contained inside, she struggles to make sense of it. She and Doon, her former friend and former classmate, set to work attempting to decipher it and save Ember from the imminent permanent darkness.

I usually don’t like dystopian stories, but The City of Ember was actually an enjoyable book that contained logical puzzles throughout.

-Peri A.

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.