The City of Ember

Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Year: 2003
Genre: Sci-Fi
Reading Level: Intermediate
Series: Books of Ember

Plot Summary: In the city of Ember, times are getting hard. The lights are flickering and supplies are running out. Lina Mayfleet is twelve years old and just started a job as a messenger while her friend Doon Harrow starts working in the depths of the city in the Pipeworks. When Lina finds a mysterious message, she and Doon slowly realize it's a message from the city's founders--the Builders--and it tells them how to leave the city for somewhere better. Unfortunately Ember's mayor isn't going to let them shake things up and Lina and Doon have to rely on each other to solve the mystery.

Award: 2006 Mark Twain Award

Movie Version: City of Ember

My Rating: A-. I really enjoyed this book. I don't know exactly how she did it, but DuPrau totally evokes the suffocating atmosphere of this underground city on the brink of desperation. The characters may be a little bit flat (or maybe just standard) but they don't detract from the story. I do think her writing got a little clunky when trying to describe things that Lina and Doon had never seen, like a boat and candles. But overall, it was a good read.