The City of Ember

Rating:
Summary: Original Storyline
Review: The city of Ember is a great read for anyone between the ages of nine and fourteen. I am not a sci-fi fan, but I really like this book. Hopefully the rest of this book review will answer who, what, when, and where this story takes place. If you have not read this book yet, and would not like to know anything about the story then you should not read the rest of this review. It will not give away the ending; it will just give a summary of the book.
Who: The main characters in this book are Lina and Doon.
What: This story is about a city with no natural light. The only light there was, was a few lightbulbs that were hooked up to a generator. This generator is old and is about to break down. Lina and Doon are trying to save the City of Ember by fixing the generator.
Why: They do not want the city to run out of light forever.
Where: This story takes place in the city of Ember.
When: This story takes place in the year 249.
The antagonist in this story was the mayor. He was the enemy because he stole food from the city when the city was having a food shortage. He had a secret hideout in the pipeworks. Only Lina and Doon knew they were stealing. The alerted the guards, but he was giving them some of the stolen food. The guards soon put up wanted signs for Lina and Doon all over the city. The signs said that they were wanted for spreading vicious rumors, and not to believe a word they said. They also offered a reward for anyone who catches them. When Lina and Doon saw these signs they ran from the guards of the city.
For the most part I really liked this book. It was interesting and it didn't have the same old storyline. The only thing I would have changed would be if the author explained the city more in the beginning of the story. Out of one hundred percent I would give this book a 94 percent.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book for adventurers.
Review: The City of Ember is about two teenage kids. They are trying to find a way out of the town they live in because after the town's lights, there is complete darkness. They both have jobs for the town. Doon works in the pipe works where the river runs the generator which creates electric for the town. Lina is a messenger. She takes messages from person to person. They want to find there way out of the town becuase the generator is breaking down and no one wants to be stuck in complete darkness. Join Doon and Lina on this action packed adventure.

I liked this book very much. It was action packed and kept me wanting to read. The middle was the very best part of the book. This was when they were searching for the way out of Ember.

What I didn't like about the book was the ending and also it took awhile for the book to get into the flow of things at the beginnig.

Rating:
Summary: Not since Oz has a city been more intriguing
Review: The city of Ember is in trouble, but the complacent citizens seem to ignore the food shortages and frequent blackouts. The Builders, when they created the city some 241 years ago, made provisions for its citizens in the form of a note called "The Instructions." Unfortunately, The Instructions were not handed down through the generations as they were supposed to be, and suddenly 12-year old Lina, a city Messenger, has discovered them. After trying to tell her friends and even the Mayor about the discovery of the partially destroyed Instructions, Lina turns to a one-time school friend, Doon, a worker in the underground Pipeworks, whom she believes will understand their importance. But what can two children do with such important information, and who would even believe them?

The City of Ember is a clever novel which tells the unique story of two unintentional heroes who fight the status quo in order to bring hope to their city. The descriptions of the world of Ember are fascinating, leaving the reader to appreciate the incredible imagination of first-time novelist Jeanne DuPrau. The narrator thoughtfully informs us of the setting-the unusual and self-contained world of Ember-slowly throughout the novel, and not all at once in the first chapter. It's only in chapter 8 that we even realize that there are no animals in Ember and the words "heaven" and "boat" have no known meaning. The characters are outstandingly original yet touchingly familiar in their pre-pubescent views of the adult world. The deaths of Lina's parents and then custodial grandmother create a sympathy for her that causes us to, all the more, wish for her triumph. It is the curiosity of Lina and Doon that drive this narrative, and it is the nice balance between primary and secondary characters that keeps the reader on his/her toes. While we expect a happy ending, it's not until the final pages of the novel that we understand what has happened and why. And, as always, we forgive a good author for the blatant suggestions of a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: The City of Ember was awesome!!!
Review: The City of Ember was an awesome book! I loved it.
I don't personally like fantasy, but this book was great because it didn't have monsters popping out of the book and things like that. It is so intruging. Some books you just read and then put it aside and then start reading it again. But with the City of Ember I didn't stop reading from the beginning to end. It was on a Saturday morning that I started it and was done in about an hour and a half. It was one of the best books that I have ever read(even though I haven't had a very long life). I will tell anyone that wants to read a good book, they should go out and buy the City of Ember.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Book
Review: The City of Ember was created around 240 years ago by the Builders. This city is only lit by the lamps in the city's streets and in people's home, there is no sunlight. Beyond the city there is total darkness and nothingness. The people of Ember have learned that their city is the only light in the vast darkness and that there is no other life beyond their city. Lina and Doon are best friends and have just finished school, at age 12, and started working at their new jobs. Jobs are given to the students by drawing job names out of a bag. Unfortunately, Lina gets Pipeworks as her job. Working at the Pipeworks entails fixing things that go wrong underground. Doon pulls out Messenger for his job, which he did not want. A Messenger runs around town carrying messages for people. Doon suggests to Lina that they switch jobs. Lina, who wanted to be a messenger, complies easily. When Lina comes home after her first day of work she finds her grandmother digging through the closet saying that she must find something that was very important and was lost a long time ago. Lina spots a beautiful box a latch that had opened. Lina's sister Poppy was chewing on a paper that she had taken from the box. On the paper there was very neat, perfect, lettering. Because of Poppy chewing on the paper many of letters where missing. Lina believes this is an important paper that the Builders left for the people of Ember to use in a time of need. Ember has been slowly running out of food and light bulbs in the last few years. Recently there have been more frequent and longer power outages. If the people of Ember can not get more supplies or travel out of Ember, they may be stuck in darkness forever with no way out. Lina decides to tell Doon about her discovery of the paper. As the two crack the code it is even more evident that the paper is very important indeed. The City of Ember was and excellent book with much suspense and plot twist. I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy and adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Great Plot and Amazing Concept
Review: This book has a great plot and a very creative basic concept. I still wouldn't classify it as Science-Fiction even though it has somewhat of a Sci-Fi look to it, but I wouldn't classify it as fantisy either because it really doesn't have any "magic" in it. I would say it has a category all its own like many of this sort of books (I just made a paradox, didn't I). Even so, I can't really describe it. I just can't wait for the sequil.

Rating:
Summary: the city of ember
Review: this book was great. i could not put it down and i can't wait for the sequel,the people of sparks. it keeps you guessing until the very end. the characters were so real you felt like you knew them. i would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Light up your day!
Review: This book was wonderful to read, never dull, never slow. You'll love the characters and the things they do and you'll love its simple, fantasy plot. It's intriguing and adventurous without being needlessly complicated. I can't wait for the sequel to be released!

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This book, I must say from the beginning, was a little predictable in certain spots. I don't want to spoil the story for you so I'll say it this way instead. By the description of the city, I could pretty much guess the location of such a place. But don't let that spoil it for you. This was a way awesome book. I can't tell you how much sleep I lost over this book because it was so hard to put down at night. I can't wait for "The People of Sparks". I think the coolest part is that I found another favorite author who writes wacked out stuff that is way cool. And that, my bookworm friends, is Sweeeeeeeet!! Keep up the phenomenal work Miss DuPrau... I hope you write more books with twists like this. Your writing rocks!!

Rating:
Summary: Teacher
Review: This is a fabulous book for a read a-loud. There are parts of a "message" at one point in the book that can be written on the board for the students to literally see and help decipher. I would recommend this book for 4/5, especially gifted students.

My class is actually writing sequels, as we anxiously wait for the sequel, People of Sparks. We are also, using the book as a theme for our end of the year party.