 | | |
| The City of Ember (The First Book of Ember) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jeanne Duprau
Publisher: Yearling
Category: Book
List Price: $5.99
Buy New: $2.65
You Save: $3.34 (56%)
Buy New/Used from $1.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  (409 reviews)
Sales Rank: 931
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 270
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0375822747
EAN: 9780375822742
ASIN: 0375822747
Publication Date: May 25, 2004
Release Date: May 25, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she?s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.
From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon.com Review
It is always night in the city of Ember. But there is no moon, no stars. 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. "Besides," they tell each other, "there is nowhere but here" Among the many other things the people of Ember have forgotten is their past and a direction for their future. 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. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 404 more reviews...
 inventive & methodically plotted...though the pacing plodded... October 14, 2008
What an interesting book! Sitting down to write a review of The City of Ember is not easy. I have thought a bit more than usual about what to say here.
On one hand, you have a solid storyline that I felt was hampered a bit by a plodding, workmanlike pace and by less than ideal character development.
On the other hand, you have a book whose ideas are not only engaging, but extremely timely. The city itself is a remarkable creation of imagination. The parallels between what the people of Ember face and those that we at the end of the age of fossil fuels face are eye-opening.
In Ember, as with us shortly, the world has moved on. But the people in both Mrs. Duprau's fictional world and in our real world cling to the ways of the past.
Boiled down to its core, The City of Ember is a book in which the two main characters--Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow--solve a puzzle.
But this book, and the ideas within it, is about so much more than this small story. I wouldn't call it an allegory really. Let's call it a juxtaposition.
All in all, I am glad to have read The City of Ember. Though I do think this book could have lost about 70 pages and been much more effective as a story.
I give The City of Ember my recommendation.
Great Story, Recommend for Younger Teens October 10, 2008
This book has a great story-line, but it is very predictable and much too simple for advanced minds. Although I felt like I always knew what was about to happen, I still found it pretty entertaining. Even though it wasn't my favorite book to read, I still want to read the next one because I liked the story.
OK audio book, but one I would rather have borrowed from the Library October 9, 2008
The age listing for the book is accurate. It was entertaining and a good story. I have suggested to my daughter that she read it (she is ten). Having listened to it, I feel it is age appropriate for her and is close to her reading level.
As an audio book, the narrator was excellent, but the female voice did seem to fit in my mind with the story. The dramatic parts never really held a sense of drama.
At times the book drug on at a slow pace and whereas I would have skimmed had I been reading, I more or less had to endure it in the audio book format. Though I could have fast forwarded on my iPod, I find that that is not the same as skimming.
I suspect I will donate my copy to the library.
 Rediscover the Joy of Learning October 4, 2008
Through this book, Jeanne Duprau takes us on a journey to The City of Ember, an underground city built as a home for a new civilization detached from the existing advances of the human society, but safe from its impending apocalypse. However, as the years advance beyond the age Ember was built for, the society's infrastructure starts to fall apart - and the natural instincts of greed and survival starts to tear into the previously blissful city.
While the plot may seem familiar, it contains all the elements of a good story and allows us to discover what a world would be like without many of the things that we take for granted. We relive what it feels like to discover new objects and we find ourselves urging them to find out how to use the so called inventions they have just discovered. In fact, this "ignorance" of common modern household items is also used as the basis of much of the more effective humor found in this book.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable read and an inventive way to tell a story. It is a provocative story that not only entertains but teach us to be more grateful of what we have. While the plot may be predictable for the older age group, the journey itself is fully worth the read.
 A Great Start To A Fantastic Series September 28, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is the type of book that gets you hooked. You start reading and are enjoying it, but then the more you read the better it gets, the more you like it, you feel involved in the drama and action and want to help the characters, help them solve the mysteries and problems. I highly reccommend this book. It has an air of mystery and intrigue about it that fills you with curiosity for what will happen next. The author can perfectly relate to you the characters thoughts and feelings and not one emotion is out of place. The novel is not highly predictable so you don't feel like it's a waste of time to finish. This book has light humor in it and would be good for kids aged 8-12. It will even satisfy fantasy and sci-fi lovers alike. Not at all confusing, expertly written and worthy of five stars.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |