City of Ember

 City of Ember

By Jeanne DuPrau

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4 stars

Summary: "It is always night in the city of Ember. 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. 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."

Summary taken from Amazon.com

The City of Ember reminds me a lot of The Giver, in the fact that the students are assigned their jobs at the age of 12, and the main characters learn a huge secret about their society through their new line of work.

Doon and Lina were easy to relate to and cheer for, despite the fact that a lot about their city goes unexplained. I'm wondering if DuPrau did this to put us in the main character's shoes, or really just didn't think about the little details. Like why in the world would a society that's been going on for hundreds of years not be able to start a fire. It's so easy even the cavemen were able to do it (sorry, Geico joke thrown in). But lack of explanation aside, DuPrau made a world that I greatly enjoyed, much like Hogwarts or Narnia or Middle Earth, and the map at the beginning of the story contributed to it. I also really enjoyed the fact that Lina and Doon had to solve the 'code' on the ancient paper she finds. After piecing things together, they realize the way out of the city of Ember. This puzzle aspect had me deeper into the text too, as I too was trying to piece things together before the characters did. 

I was totally hooked during the climax, unable to put the book down until the story ended.  And when it did, I was disappointed the journey was over.  The book ends with a slight cliffhanger.  But then I learned there was a sequel, so I set out for the library the very next day to read the next book in the series (The People of Sparks).

Overall, it's just a fun read.

And yes, I saw the movie.  However, the movie doesn't come close to the awesomeness of the book.  The movie left out a lot of stuff and changed other things that I didn't think was necessary.  I've included the youtube trailer of City of Ember to hopefully give you a glimpse of the book's awesomeness...