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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
To quote the narrator, "Sometimes it was a good thing and sometimes it was not." I'd had a bunch of students read this and I thought, maybe I should too. I found the two protagonists to be lacking in character and I was unable to really feel for them the way I should have. The villains were cartoonish and predictable. I won't be reading the rest of the series.
I read this book since my students were reading it with their Literacy teachers. I loved how it correlated to our energy unit in science. A nice connection! The ending was interesting and made me think. I wasn’t aware that this was first in a series when I started the book, so I’m looking forward to seeing where the others take the storyline. Reminds me of Gregor the Overlander with the main characters.
Let’s normalize rereading books from our childhood please! I remember loving this series so much as a kid and I had the random urge to reread this and see if it pulled me in like it did back then. The plot is just as great as I remember, and the writing is very descriptive for a children’s book. I still want to hold it to the same standards I have today, so I have to take away a star for some plot holes and very convenient events/assumptions from the main characters. Sure, it’s a children’s book, but I was a smart kid and I remember feeling bothered even back then when things didn’t quite add up. Looking back, this was probably the first dystopian-adjacent book I read, which is cool to think about since I’ve read so many now.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
I love this story so far (I only wish it was written for an older audience! I managed to read it in a couple hours and the writing style was for a very young reader. It would have made a very interesting YA or adult book too.) That being said I'm still going to finish off the series, I can't wait to see what happens!
An interesting, well told story of two hopeful children in a dying world.
Perfect dystopian story for younger readers.
Ends on a cliff hanger though.
Perfect dystopian story for younger readers.
Ends on a cliff hanger though.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I remember this being the read-aloud story for all the fifth graders at my school. During a torrential downpour, something went wrong, and water started to pour into our classroom, sending us climbing atop our desks, shrieking. The whole fifth-grade wing was affected, so our teachers herded us to the music room, which was at a higher elevation. There, Mrs. Guzmann finished reading this book to all of us who gathered, slightly wet and somewhat shaken, but utterly, wholly transfixed by this remarkable story. I'll never forget that.
Another book set in a post-apocalyptic future, I can’t get enough of them. Jeanne DuPrau sets the scene in a brief prologue. Something major is about to happen on Earth, thought we aren’t told what that is. A city is created deep underground, along with enough supplies for people to live safely for two hundred years. After the two hundred years is up, the current mayor of the city will receive instructions on how to return to the surface, and hopefully begin civilization again.
I saw the trailer for an upcoming movie based on this book, that’s what got me interested. It’s a short novel, easily read in a day or two. I didn’t realize it’s part of an ongoing series, which really bothers me. I should have checked it out a bit more before I started reading. The book stands well on it’s own, though it does leave the reader hanging a bit at the end. Everything is resolved, but it happens so quickly it’s almost as if the author was anxious to move on to the next group of characters and stories she had created.
In the early parts of the book, something goes wrong. The instructions on how the city is to begin their exodus are lost, and the city is falling apart. It was only meant to stay underground for a set amount of time, and they are running out of food, their electrical equipment is failing, and because there isn’t a path out the people have no where to go.
The two main characters Lina and Doon, are curious enough to try and unravel the mystery and figure out a way to save their city. One is assigned to work near an underground river, the other is to become a messenger. Through their jobs, and by putting clues together, they start to figure out how Ember was created and how they can save it.
The book is interesting, if not a little bit simple. The author makes some decisions that are almost unbelievable. In two hundred years people hadn’t figured out some of these things that the children figure out in a few weeks? Of course they have a major clue nobody else had, but it still seemed strange that nobody succeded in going further with it. It’s not a huge issue though, and the plot and setting are interesting enough that I’ll read the next book.
I saw the trailer for an upcoming movie based on this book, that’s what got me interested. It’s a short novel, easily read in a day or two. I didn’t realize it’s part of an ongoing series, which really bothers me. I should have checked it out a bit more before I started reading. The book stands well on it’s own, though it does leave the reader hanging a bit at the end. Everything is resolved, but it happens so quickly it’s almost as if the author was anxious to move on to the next group of characters and stories she had created.
In the early parts of the book, something goes wrong. The instructions on how the city is to begin their exodus are lost, and the city is falling apart. It was only meant to stay underground for a set amount of time, and they are running out of food, their electrical equipment is failing, and because there isn’t a path out the people have no where to go.
The two main characters Lina and Doon, are curious enough to try and unravel the mystery and figure out a way to save their city. One is assigned to work near an underground river, the other is to become a messenger. Through their jobs, and by putting clues together, they start to figure out how Ember was created and how they can save it.
The book is interesting, if not a little bit simple. The author makes some decisions that are almost unbelievable. In two hundred years people hadn’t figured out some of these things that the children figure out in a few weeks? Of course they have a major clue nobody else had, but it still seemed strange that nobody succeded in going further with it. It’s not a huge issue though, and the plot and setting are interesting enough that I’ll read the next book.
I really enjoyed this Juvenile fiction book. I usually find myseld at least a little bored with the simple writing, but the storyline had me captured.
It helps that I'm re-playing fallout 4 and the city of ember reminds me of a super deluxe fallout bunker. Lina is a very strong young female, which I absolutely loved to see. I find that when it comes to middle school fiction you don't come across many female characters that are not falling over themselves for some love interest, this was very refreshing.
I will be recommending this to the grade 5s, no matter what gender. I think it's a great story.
It helps that I'm re-playing fallout 4 and the city of ember reminds me of a super deluxe fallout bunker. Lina is a very strong young female, which I absolutely loved to see. I find that when it comes to middle school fiction you don't come across many female characters that are not falling over themselves for some love interest, this was very refreshing.
I will be recommending this to the grade 5s, no matter what gender. I think it's a great story.