DuPrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember. New York: Yearling/Random House. 2003. ISBN: 0-375-82274-7.
Plot Summary:
The story begins with the ‘Builders’ who leave instructions in a time release vault which are important for the future of the city of Ember. The story flashes forward to over 200 years later and the vault has been misplaced. The city seems to be experiencing shortages of necessary items from the stockpile beneath the city. The shortages concern the citizenry, especially the shortage of light bulbs. There is no light in Ember without the light bulbs which are powered by an enormous generator which runs beneath the city, which also shuts down frequently.
All citizens must go to work at age 12 and they choose their jobs at random. Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow are of age and draw ‘pipe works laborer’ and ‘messenger’ respectively. Neither are happy with the choice so they trade jobs. Both go to work and Lina ends up finding the time release vault in her house and the important instructions left by the ‘Builders’, but her younger sister found them first and destroyed parts of the instructions accidentally. Lina tries to figure out what the instructions say and enlists the help of a few people, including Doon, who is trying to figure out how to save the city on his own. The pair discovers that the instructions are for how to get out of Ember, a feat which no one in the history of the city has accomplished. Set against the backdrop of tension at the lessening of supplies and the increasing failure of the generator, the pair believes that they must escape to save the city. They are pursued by the mayor of Ember and his henchmen who try to catch the pair who end up uncovering more than a possible escape route.
Critical Evaluation:
It is difficult not to read this book in one setting as the author is able to pull the reader in and hook them through to the end of the book. There is a sense of urgency in the writing and the characters are fighting against a number of forces which could bring them down at any point in the book. The two principle characters are excellent and are quite a bit cleverer than anyone else in the settlement, which allows them to meet the aforementioned struggles. The detail the author has put into building the city through word is great. Enough detail is given to give the reader a good idea of the city without boring with unnecessary details. The story goes deeper than just the problems at hand and touches on the bigger subjects of the ignorance of a populous and the corruption of those in power. Although this book has a very post-apocalyptic science fiction feel about it, almost anyone could be attracted to the good writing, the character development, and the original story. The book does not have any overt controversial subjects so it might be suitable for ages much younger than the 15-19 age grouping, yet older teens and even adults would surely find a good read in this book.
Reader’s Annotation:
Lina and Doon are residents of a city of darkness and shortages. Both have a desire to save their city and get the opportunity when Lina finds and old cryptic document which may save the city. Finding what the document means could save the city, but they must do this before total darkness takes place.
Information about the author:
The City of Ember is the first in a four part series, and was also the first novel written by Jeanne DuPrau, though she had some writing experience before this. DuPrau was born in San Francisco in 1944 and received a BA in Literature from Scripps College in Claremont, California. DuPrau has held a number of jobs before becoming a writer including: high school English teacher, technical writer, and an editor.
She is an animal lover and has a few dogs which she lives with in Menlo Park, California. She has a number of hobbies which keep her occupied when not writing. Among these is gardening, piano playing and vegetarian cookery.
Genre:
Science Fiction
Curriculum Ties:
N/A
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Focus on the ignorance of most of the community in the city and how it seems to look the other way in regard to the problems the city is facing.
2. Discuss the urgency the main characters feel and the forces which bring this feeling about.
3. Center the discussion on the figuring out the puzzle of instructions that makes up much of the story.
Reading Level/Interest Age:
12+
Challenge Issues:
N/A
Challenge Defense Ideas:
1. Read the book.
2. Be Familiar with the policy of the ALA and your institution.
3. Make a note of the contents of the work and how they fall in with the collection development policy of your institution and the standpoint of the ALA.
4. Gain an awareness of the awards, reviews, and criticisms of the work, as well as other works by the same writer.
5. Know the process for materials challenges at your library.
Why did you include this book?:
I had never seen the film, but heard of it before I heard of the book. The trailer for the film interested me and I thought I would give the book a read. This book has wide appeal across age and genre-preference groups.
Author’s Website:
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