The People of Sparks

Book of Ember #2

by Jeanne DuPrau

A modern-day classic. This highly acclaimed adventure series about two friends desperate to save their doomed city has captivated kids and teachers alike for almost fifteen years and has sold over 3.5  MILLION copies!
 
Lina and Doon have led the citizens of Ember to an exciting new world. When they discover a village called Sparks, they are welcomed, fed, and given places to sleep. But the town’s resources are limited and it isn’t long before resentment begins to grow between the two groups. When mysterious acts of vandalism cause tempers to erupt, putting everyone’s lives in danger, it’s up to our two heroes to find the courage to stop the conflict and bring peace.
 
Praise for the City of Ember
 
Nominated to 28 State Award Lists!
An American Library Association Notable Children’s Book
A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Selection
A Kirkus Reviews Editors’ Choice
A Child Magazine Best Children’s Book
A Mark Twain Award Winner
A William Allen White Children’s Book Award Winner
 
“A realistic post-apocalyptic world. DuPrau’s book leaves Doon and Lina on the verge of undiscovered country and readers wanting more.” —USA Today
 
“An electric debut.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred
 
“While Ember is colorless and dark, the book itself is rich with description.” —VOYA, Starred

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Middle Grade, Post Apocalyptic

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2004

About the author

Jeanne DuPrau is an American writer, best known for The Books of Ember, a series of science fiction novels for young people. She lives in Menlo Park, California.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book 6 stars, I would. I enjoyed City of Ember as a fun, quick YA read, but this sequel is just as entertaining, while also being profoundly thought-provoking and insightful.

I loved that the main characters - Lina and Doon - are honest and warm, with realistic struggles: Doon is still working on controlling his temper, and Lina's curiosity and impulsiveness still tend to cause trouble. However, they are both guided by good advice and a strong conscience, paving the way for growth.

Incidentally, I was very surprised to see so many mediocre reviews on this book! I agree that the writing is fairly simplistic, but I actually felt that this contributed to the story, rather than being detrimental (I felt the same about City of Ember). Also, the message never seemed pushy or preachy to me. It's still definitely YA literature, but I highly recommend it for its great plot, wonderful characters, and quiet inspiration.

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sequel that holds true to its original characters, but puts them in a totally different situation and set of adventures. If I had one problem with these books, it would be that I suspect the authour starts writing the books with a "what values can I leave the readers with?" idea in her head. But, to her credit, I usually agree with her values (avoiding crowd mentality, being tolerant, solving problems non-violently) and the story is exciting enough anyways.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compared to the first book, People of Sparks comes off very one noted. The message--"War is bad." And that message comes across in the most surface of ways. Lena and Doon lose their interesting personalities and instead become silhouettes. Lena screams, "I want to explore" and Doon yells, "No more war." The book lacks the interest and intrigue of the first book and instead becomes a poor peace call for the world. Given the possibilities of having a previous lost civilization meet one recovering from apocalypse, there are so many possibilities. What happens here follows exactly the path that would be expected and varies from it very little. Even the mystery that comes up in the song about the lost city lacks teeth, as they resolve its solution nearly immediately after it is posed. Part of the fun of the first book was figuring out the cryptic message that led Lena and Doon out of Ember. DuPrau misses that opportunity by not introducing the rhyme until half way through the book and then resolving it in the next chapter.

[°°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ʜᴇʟᴇɴ Ροζουλί Εωσφόρος ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° ★·.·´¯`·.·★ Ⓥⓔⓡⓝⓤⓢ Ⓟⓞⓡⓣⓘⓣⓞⓡ Ⓐⓡⓒⓐⓝⓤⓢ Ταμετούρο Αμ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ένα βιβλίο γεμάτο μηνύματα και ερεθίσματα για σκέψη κατά της κακίας, της εκδίκησης και των πολέμων.
Η αντιμετώπιση της βίας,η επιμονή για τη διεκδίκηση του δίκιου,οι ακραίες πολιτικές και συμπεριφορές που οδηγούν κατευθείαν σε πρόκληση διαμάχης και διαταραχές ανάμεσα στους ανθρώπους.
Το κακό μπορεί να ξεπεραστεί χωρίς εκδίκηση.
Το καλό σίγουρα σπέρνει σπόρους φιλίας,ομονοιας, αλληλεγγύης και αγάπης.
Βρήκα έξοχο τον τροπο που πραγματεύεται υψηλές αξίες και ιδανικά που υπάρχουν και καλλιεργούνται μέσα στο ανθρώπινο μυαλό και ξεκινώντας από ένα δυστοπικό κόσμο κάτω από τη γη φτάνει με δεξιοτεχνία να τις προωθεί σε όλες τις ανθρώπινες κοινότητες και σε μικρές ή μεγάλες κοινωνικές ομάδες προσπαθώντας απρόοπτα και προκλητικά να ανοίξει χώρο στο μυαλό και να προωθήσει τα ιδανικά της ειρήνης, της αγάπης και της δικαιοσύνης.
Ολα αυτά ειναι γραμμένα με τροπο απλό και λιτό,ευχάριστο και κατανοητό.

Καλή ανάγνωση!!

[Sara Saif · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely series. The kind of dystopia where people actually live with the consequences, instead of, you know, evolving into advanced societies with kings/queens/mutants/totalitarian governments that are obsessed with deathly competitions. Get what I'm saying? This feels real. Hundreds of years ago humans were jerks. BOOM. Everyone died and now centuries later, with a significant portion of the population and technology kaput, they are struggling to stay alive and trying to make small advances to regrow life.

The City of Ember and The People of Sparks have the same tone and yet, different as well. Ember was underground and the mood was a mixture of excitement, dread and suffocating. Ember is above ground so it isn't as dark and dank but there's still a cloud of anticipation hanging over everything as in Ember, what will happen next?.

I hope Lina and Doon grow up, though. I liked the absence of it first but I'm starting to miss the teenage love drama. There's a reason I like YA.

[E.F. Buckles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing how I have known the story of the first Ember book for so long, I was a little nervous about whether or not I'd like the rest of the series now that I'm finally getting around to them. Thankfully, I did enjoy this second book. It was interesting to see these people who have lived underground for generations (and didn't even know they were underground) come to the surface and discover what it's like to have a blue sky, moving air, and changes in seasons. I especially enjoyed Lina and Doon's sense of wonder at things we in real life see as mundane. It had to be hard for the author to find ways to describe everyday objects from the perspective of people who have never seen them before without just taking the easy road and telling the reader what it was. She pulled it off well. I also appreciate that, for once, the Goodreads synopsis did not spoil the story, especially the fact that the people of Ember discover other humans above ground who actually survived the Disaster. This was a fun twist because it was not what I thought would happen.

I loved some of the new characters (like Maddy) and loathed some others (which was intended by the author), and of course still loved Lina and Doon. I thought the author did a good job developing our two main characters as they interacted with the new world. They were still themselves as well as retaining realistic teenage characteristics, but grew and changed into better people. There were actually fairly few characters who didn't grow and change in some way, even if some individuals grew less than others.

Along with the twist I mentioned above, there were one or two other twists that I didn't expect but enjoyed. I can be pretty good at guessing story twists ahead of time so when I don't guess one that's fun for me.

The few things I didn't like about this story were pretty minor. They were mostly related to one obnoxious child I wanted to shove over a cliff 😛 but he was actually learning lessons and getting a little more tolerable by the very end, so that wasn't too bad. One reason I tend to not like dystopian is because it can be pretty sad, if not outright depressing to see the world "ending" or having already "ended" (I put that in quotes since someone always survives in order for there to be stories about it so it only ever "ends" to a certain extent.) Like Maddy, I'd rather see something beginning than ending. While there was a little touch of that sadness in this story, the author did a good job simply using it to teach the characters (and possibly the readers) a necessary lesson and then refocusing on the other elements of the story, so I was okay with that.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book to the point I actually read it very quickly (at least for me :P). I loved the ending, and look forward to the rest of the story.

Content Advisory:

Violence: Mrs. Murdow tells Lina that when people realized there was a way to leave the dying city of Ember, they basically panicked. Some people fell down stairs and got trampled to death in the rush to get out. The mayor and some of his employees fell into the river and drowned. Mrs. Murdow implies that it was terrible to watch and she'll never forget it, but doesn't get detailed about it.

A little boy who is generally very rude gets annoyed with Lina for existing and pushes her so hard she nearly falls down. She pushes him back, but not as hard.

There are threats of violence through much of the story as tensions between the people of Ember and the people of Sparks increase. One individual in particular encourages the people of Ember to take revenge of the people of Sparks, going so far as to tell them to use weapons like rocks and metal rods if their demands are not met. To give an example of how to use the weapons, this individual slashes violently at a bush and some trees until he accidentally hits a baby bird that flops on the ground, injured. He almost finished the bird off, but is stopped before he can and kicks the limp body aside. The people of Sparks, in return for the Emberite's refusal to do as they are told, threaten them with something referred to simply as "The Weapon."

A little boy, in a fit of anger, imagines that "The Weapon" may be some sort of bomb and then imagines/wishes that he could use this supposed bomb to blow up individuals he doesn't like and the hotel in which the people of Ember are staying. Fire is mentioned but there are no are no other details to his imaginings.

A man angrily pulls Doon backwards off of the town fountain so he lands on his back on the ground and then has to scramble to get up.

A riot breaks out in the town plaza in which there is shouting and some of the people of Ember throw rocks at the town hall, breaking windows. Doon is distressed to see some of the people of Sparks running and hiding like they think they will be hurt too, and realizes that this is indeed a possibility.

Later, tensions increase even more and some of the people of Ember approach the town hall with their rocks and metal rods. One of the leaders of Sparks tries to push the leader of the group of "warriors" and gets hit in the arm with a rod in response. He then brings out "The Weapon" which turns out to be a machine gun, aims it at the people of Ember, then turns it on, however, someone changes the aim so the bullets go into the air, hitting buildings and breaking windows instead of hitting people. The weapon then blows up, knocking down one of the leaders of the town, setting fire to a large tree and the town hall. The fire spreads to other parts of the town putting many people in danger. Miraculously, no one gets killed during this whole thing and only a few are injured. It is said that the town leader who was knocked down by the explosion had to go to the down doctor because his arm was nearly blown off. (No details.) He is later wheeled around on a stretcher and has a bandage on his arm and his eye.

Mention of a little boy's feet being burned from getting too close to the fire and having to sit with them in a bucket of cold water.

Sexual/Romance: One teenage girl (who is a friend of Lina, but remains a minor character) shifts her romantic interests easily. She starts the story wearing a black scarf in mourning for her boyfriend who didn't make it out of Ember, but quickly develops interest in another boy and becomes fiercely loyal to him instead. Her crush on the boy is only hinted at and never reciprocated. It is never indicated that the boy even notices her since he only ever treats all the people of Ember the same.

Spiritual/Worldviews: Maddy briefly mentions that she doesn't believe humanity (or life in general) will ever be wiped off the face of the earth forever. She believes that whatever sparked life to begin with will spark it again even if everything and everyone died off for a little bit. She keeps this comment vague and does not specify what exactly she thinks sparked life and does not reference any specific real world belief system.

Other:

Though they start out generous, the people of Sparks start to become selfish and refuse to feed the people of Ember enough for them to have enough energy to do the work they're required to do in order to live in the town. Though some Emberites request more food politely, some become rude and demanding, thus causing anger between the people groups.

The aforementioned rude little boy never receives any discipline from his parental figure for his behavior, though it is clear to everyone around him that he shouldn't be behaving like that and that his behavior hurts others. He does, however, experience some natural consequences for his actions.

In a fit of anger, someone throws two crates-worth of tomatoes at a building and then blames it on someone else, refusing to tell the truth even when that other person is treated badly because of the lie.

The people of Sparks say mean, resentful things about the people of Ember behind their backs and then to their faces. Some of the leaders of the workers even become verbally abusive to the Emberites working under them, treating them as if they are lazy or stupid even though the Emberites are doing the best they know how to do.

Doon once or twice lets his anger get control of him and yells at someone only to regret it because it makes things worse.

Someone uses mud to write hostile things about the people of Ember on the plaza and on the wall of the hotel. Someone also dumps a bunch of mud, garbage, and leaves in the hotel which causes the people of Ember to get terrible, itchy rashes after they clean it up. It turns out that the person who did these things was one of Ember's own people who was intentionally trying to increase hostilities so he could lead an army and get glory for himself in the war he intentionally tried to start.

Caspar is generally not nice to anyone he meets on the road and makes enemies easily. He carries a whip with him which he readily uses to scare off any perceived threat even if the person wasn't actually doing anything bad. He refuses to share food with one starving roamer even though Lina and Maddy both try to convince him to give the man just a little bit. (Note: The starving man acts strangely because he's weak and sick. Particularly young readers may find him frightening even though he's only briefly on the page.) Caspar, Maddy, and Lina wake up after a night's sleep to find that the starving man stole the food he needed from them and dumped dirt and feces on the rest of their supplies as revenge for Caspar's treatment of him.

Because this is a dystopian series, it is repeated that the modern world was destroyed in some sort of disaster many years ago. Lina learns that the Disaster was a combination of events: several plagues and then some wars caused by leaders of the separate nations.

At first, Lina is excited to go see one of the cities that was destroyed during the Disaster because she has hopes for it as a home for the people of Ember, but when she learns of how so many people were killed, the place becomes frightening for her. She imagines that she still sees the flames and hears people's terrified screams, as if the terrible things that happened there are like a shadow that still hangs over the city. This results in her never actually entering the city. The worst of the actual destruction that she sees are a crumbled highway bridge as well as seeing crumbled buildings from a distance.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

The weak writing, admittedly present in City of Ember, is more apparent here in the second book...and the story is a bit overbearing & heavyhanded with its message, at the expense of the story-unfolding... The message is peace-keeping and war-avoiding though, so I guess I have a bit of leniency for the message-hammering.

The people of Ember have emerged from their underworld, and have found Sparks--a village that has survived the Disaster. I liked reading about the people of Ember seeing sun for the first time, figuring out that it rises and sets--and green grass--and finding fruit growing in the wild...and encountering people. I liked how City of Ember had electricity--and the post-Disaster village of Sparks had plenty of comforts and innovations that Emberites had never seen, but no electricity.
I found a lot of the build-up of conflict (to set the stage for the peace message) between the People of Ember and People of Sparks pretty dull. Still, it's decent for fans who want more of Lina and Doon--and it provides some mind-flipping concepts for the upper elementary set, which is fun.
It's interesting/worthwhile to have a children's adventure (even if its a dull-adventure) book deal with corrupt government (C.o.E.), an amorphic Disaster, war and peace, and, to a degree, socialism...

As in the first book, I'm fairly sure DuPrau was writing with a movie in mind--and as with the first, it felt a bit cheap and hole-y for this. [The almost-war scene especially--SO boring to read--but if you were seeing what you were reading, it would probably feel quick and exciting.] BUT, as with City of Ember, the ending is so so so good. Before the last chapter I was thinking I was tired of these books, and probably could have done without reading the second. When I finished the last chapter I was so glad I'd read the book. Read it for the last chapter!

[Muzzlehatch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frustrating but ultimately pretty decent sequel to the fascinating "City of Ember", this picks up right after the finish of the first volume, as the entire populace of the dying underground city make their way out of harm's way, into the upper world. "Sparks" covers the travails of the next few months, as the Emberites encounter a small town struggling to get by, with a population even smaller than the 400 survivors of the underground world. There are two major problems with the book I think, first that it is far less original in feel and setting -- the postapocalyptic worlds of films like the "Mad Max" series, and countless SF novels from the past century aren't ever very far off; and second, the whole premise of the arguments between the two communities rests on the notion that the leaders of Sparks are arrogant and unwilling to speak with the Emberites as equals, or even really as other intelligent people. While it is true that the Emberites are ignorant of many things (such as seasons, which become a big plot point that is not dealt with particularly realistically), it's also clear that they have their own special knowledge, and yet they act demoralized and the people of Sparks act superior from the get-go. The apocalypse is only two centuries past; surely someone besides the two young heroes of the first book, Lina and Doon, would have some notion of cooperation?

Still the book has some narrative drive, Ms. Duprau's pacing is fairly solid and she manages to keep up interest in the plot despite the basic storyline/originality issues I have with it, and she also succeeds I think in creating some fairly interesting characters (Maddy, Mrs Hester) without seeming to try very hard. There is still some promise in this series, and I'll be keeping up with it.

[Nikoleta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Το δεύτερο βιβλίο της σειράς τελικά μου άρεσε λίγο περισσότερο απο το πρώτο, καθώς το βρήκα κάπως ωριμότερο, γεγονός που δεν περίμενα, διότι η πλοκή του δεν είναι τόσο πρωτότυπη όσο του πρώτου βιβλίου. Για άλλη μια φορά λοιπόν και σε αυτό, η Ντυπρό πραγματεύεται σημαντικά ζητήματα που αφορούν κάθε κοινωνιά -κι ας τα βασίζει σε φανταστικούς κόσμους- είναι γεμάτα ηθικοδιδακτικά μηνύματα, όπως το που οδηγεί η φοβία για το κάθε ξένο στοιχείο, και για την ομορφιά της υπομονής και της θέλησης. Ωραίο βιβλίο. Τέλειο για τις μικρότερες ηλικίες. 3,5 αστεράκια

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

TW// mentions of drownings, mentions of war

I read The City of Ember over ten years ago and it was one of the books that first got me into the dystopian genre. I don’t know why I put off reading the rest of the series for so long, but now I sort of wish I never decided to finish it.

The City of Ember was unique and provided new ideas to the dystopian genre. The People of Sparks was a whole different story. It felt like the most cliché dystopian story I’ve ever read in my life. Why is the world destroyed? War and illness. Literally no other details were given. It was so generic. Why are these two groups fighting? Over a lack of resources. This is a concept we’ve heard hundreds of times in the dystopian and futuristic genres. I wanted more out of this book, especially because I know that this author has the creative abilities to create unique dsytopian stories, but this book never delivered on the author’s potential.

Torren is a really annoying new addition to this series. He’s very self centered and manipulative. A lot of the bad things in this book wouldn't have happened if he simply expressed his emotions through crying or yelling like any normal kid his age. I really had a hard time getting invested in this story because I kept being so annoyed by his presence.

The one positive thing to this book is how it teaches kids a strategy to work through conflict. I think this message is a good one for kids to take away from this series.

Overall I didn’t enjoy my time with The People of Sparks, but I think it was in large part because I’ve read tons of dystopian books with the same ideas. It’s possible that if you haven’t read many dystopian books, this one might work for you.

[Alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book as well as the first one, which I found much more interesting. And I found the "lesson" of the story at times too heavy handed and simplistic. But simplistic isn't always a bad thing in children's stories I suppose. I was mostly bothered that for even those who did not want to fight regarding the disagreement there didn't seem much understanding of the other side or awareness that they didn't have a right to expect a share in provisions others had worked for for themselves.

I enjoyed the parts where Lina when off away from the town exploring better and found them more interesting.

But overall kids who liked the first book will probably like it, and be interested in knowing what happened next. And it would be a good conversation starter about disputes between groups of people, how they can escalate, how to dispell them, as well as appreciating generosity of others without feelings of entitlement.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The audiobook is not good at all. It's not because the reader has no talent for reading, but Wendy Dillon is horrible at voicing children and not great at voicing characters in general. I did learn, however, that the "au" in DuPrau is pronounce like a long o. I'm leaving the 4 star rating from when my kids and I read it back when it was new.

This is a sequel which begins right after the first book after Lina and Doon have left the city of Ember where those who have fled Ember end up finding the town of Sparks. Those from Ember have spent all of their lives living underground and don't have the skills to survive in the world they find, so they are taken in temporarily by the people of Sparks. Naturally, things happen that bring conflict between the two groups.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last fall I raced through City of Ember and really enjoyed the world and the characters. The ending wasn't a cliffhanger per se, but it really left me wondering what would happen next...so much so that I raced out and bought the next book. Sadly, life got busy and it took me another 4 months to finally read the continuation.

In Sparks there are some rather significant changes to the plot dynamics which allow for some intriguing new commentary on humanity and social interactions. We're given a post-apocalyptic world in which humanity is trying to recover and rebuild. This high level genre is compounded by being seen primarily through the eyes of children and also by making the Emberites ignorant of the disasters that befell humanity or even of human history at all. In fact, through the entire first book, they had no knowledge of any other human culture at all and thought their microcosm to be the extent of humanity.

The main new dynamic in the book acted as a commentary on the interactions between people in strained situations and the passions which lead to prejudice, anger, and eventually to war. The plot separated for a time the two main characters from Ember, Lina and Doon.

Lina acts as the reader's guide to understanding the history of this new world and how humanity fell into war as well as understanding the current geography and social structure. She undertakes a journey to one of the old cities in the hopes of finding something akin to the drawing she made in the first book. Instead, she finds disaster and learns about war, disease and destruction.

Doon serves as the reader's guide to watching two struggling groups of people dealing with hardships and sacrifices as the Emberites are taught about life in the new world and how to survive above ground. He feels the sting of hostility as the people of Sparks grow resentful of the Emberites consuming their food and other resources. That resentment grows into mistrust and eventually sparks begin to fly (pardon the pun).

As tensions grow between the people, one of the Emberites named Tick Hassler (an antagonistic name if ever I saw one *grin*) grows hungry for a fight and begins riling up the people of Ember to prepare for battle. Doon feels conflicted throughout and Lina (once she returns) has new found knowledge into the near-destruction of humanity. Unfortunately, by then, things are spiraling out of control and it's difficult to see a viable resolution.

I really enjoyed the character dynamics DuPrau set up in this novel. With very few exceptions, all of the players were honestly trying to do good. She set up some great conflicts which resulted in each group of people trying to do what was good, and yet that "good" was conflicting and causing tension. It's the old adage "you can't please everyone all the time." There are always self-interests of individuals and even of groups which will collide with other individuals and groups. This book presented great examples of how people interact and shows motivation for making compromises and looking at the situation from the point of view of the other person.

It's difficult to compare to Ember and say which I liked better. I think I preferred Sparks because the plot and dynamic was more interesting to think about. Still, they are each presenting such different concepts, that it's hard to pit one against the other. They are great stories with a lot of thoughtful concepts to ponder. It's actually quite thought provoking, especially when considering the fact that it's a children's book. Children and youth will enjoy the vivid characters and the action. Adults can still enjoy it with its fluid writing and its deeper themes.

****
4 stars (out of 5)

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please tell me that if there really was a war that killed most of humanity, stupid people would not be left in charge...like they apparently were in The People of Sparks. Truly, the leaders in both Sparks and in the preceding City of Ember are exceedingly elementary in their thinking. Why wouldn't the people of Sparks just look on the Emberites as newly added, contributing members of their society? Instead of isolating the Emberites, why not allow them to work and better the city of Sparks? But, the people of Sparks, and conversely, the people of Ember, are close-minded and quite stereotypical of one another.

Another puzzling issue is the "library" in Sparks. In the Sparks warehouse is a room with hundreds of books, which no one apparently uses or reads. But, the people of Sparks are aware that before the Disaster, people had electricity, were capable of flight, had moving vehicles powered by "gasleen," etc. One would think that if there were hundreds of pre-Disaster books lying around one would peruse them to gain the missing knowledge of electricity, indoor plumbing, medicine, etc. Doon is in the warehouse, blindly picks up a volume and opens it to a chapter entitled, "The Thermodynamics of Aluminum." Why is no one in Sparks seriously studying these books? Is this what it was like during the Dark Ages, after Rome's technology fell by the wayside? I can't believe that it took a couple of Emberites to embrace the idea of organizing the volumes and that it never occured to the people of Sparks to utilize this massive resource.

I enjoyed the people's mispronunciations of things, like "gasleen," and, my favorite, the area known as "Sanazy."

[AziaMinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall Rating : B+

"Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad."

Few series have good sequels to them, but this book managed to pull through. This book takes place pretty quickly after The City of Ember, and just like it's predecessor, manages to convey meaningful messages that all ages are able to comprehend and learn.

Still targeted for a very young age group, and really sells the mindset of each age group. Ended on a hopeful note and a way forward, which is something hard to come by.

People of Sparks, Citizens of Ember, we can all learn along with them what it means to be human. The good and the bad.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always wanted to read this book when I was in middle school but never got around to it until recently. It is not a horrid book, it is decent. It did drag on in some sections, it was also boring in some, but it was also good in other sections. Overall a good book to read to middle schoolers.

[Sarah (is clearing her shelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/3 - I started reading this on the train this evening because my other current book was way too big to fit in my handbag and I didn't want to have to carry it in my hands for the whole night, so I chose something more compact and this was it. I managed 31 pages before I met my friend at the train station. From those 31 pages I can already see that it has similarly immature language and that there's going to be a number of lessons to be learned while reading this book. Was DuPrau a school teacher before becoming a writer? Because filling a YA book so full of morals and 'lessons' smacks of something a primary school teacher might do, hoping to impart some important values and life lessons into their students while at the same time getting them read. Now that I'm back home and not having to worry about how unwieldy my book is I'll be going back to the mutant-sized one. I'll get back to this in a few days once I've finished The Passage. To be continued...

9/3 - I feel like this book was one big lesson on the evils of revenge against perceived injustices. At the back of the book there is a short biography of DuPrau which tells us that she has been a teacher at one point in time, and I can see the evidence of that in her writing (did I say that in my review of The City of Ember?, if I did it's even more apparent in this book). The people of Ember have left Ember, their underground home, and are now trying to fit in with the people of Sparks, the nearest town to the location of Ember. The people of Sparks are concerned (and justifiably so, in my opinion) that the new arrivals (400+ new people, doubling the size of Sparks) are going to eat up all their food and make life harder for the original inhabitants of Sparks. These concerns fuel the people of Sparks' frustrations and feelings that the idea of having to share with the people of Ember is an unfair hardship. At the same time the people of Ember feel unwanted by the people of Sparks and all these feelings of injustice lead to 'attacks' back and forth between the two groups. The first attack leads to a retaliation, which leads to revenge until both 'towns' are in such a frenzy that two people (the two main instigators from Sparks, as it happens) are nearly killed in the fighting. Doon saves the life of one of the people in danger, while Lina is the first to rush in and help fight the fires the fighting has sparked (no pun intended). These two acts of selflessness are enough to finally get the people of Sparks to see the people of Ember as more than just a burden on their town, they can help make the town even more prosperous. Double the people doesn't just mean half as much food for everyone, in the long run it means double the workers to keep the town running.

I wish this didn't preach quite so much, but I will read the last book in the trilogy because I want to see where it goes.

PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge: A Book with Bad Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very worthy sequel to a 5-star first book, The City of Ember. The story, which pits the Emberites as refugees in a prospering post-Disaster town, drew many relevant real-world parallels to refugee crises around the world. What happens when your homeland becomes unlivable? Do prospering places have a respinsibility to take in, shelter, feed and teach refugee populations? The story was told with a heaping dose of reality and humanity - hats off to DuPrau. The end was much more exciting than the beginning and, for me, it doesn't live up to the wonder of The City of Ember, but it was wonderfully told.

[28AveryM3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dystopian book “The people of Sparks,” is a good book for middle school students. I rate this book a 4 star because it is a very good book for middle schoolers, and it is an easier book to read. I really liked this book because it had lots of parts where I just couldn’t put the book down. Especially towards the end of the book when lots started to happen. This book had a lot of surprises and interesting things that happened. There are 2 main characters in The People of Sparks are Lina and Doon. They have jobs and they are trying to find a way out of the underground city. The underground city has lots of problems the lights go out a lot and when the lights go out it is almost impossible for them to see. Everyone in the city is exhausted, hungry and they must find different ways to survive. Their living style underground is very different then the people living in the real world. Lina and Doon get very sick of the underground city, and they become more determined to find a way out.
The second half, towards the end of the book is when it starts to get interesting. Lina and Doon take the river and find their way out of the underground. YES... they found the way out of the underground. Lina and Doon take the river back to the underground to get their family and friends to take them to the real world. But just because they are in the real world doesn’t mean they don’t have any problems. They all must find a place to stay at because they don’t have a house or anything. They also must find a way to make and buy food. Overall, living in the new world is going to have difficulties to, it is going to take a little bit to adjust to the new world and figure out the living style. This book is recommended for kids and teenagers.

[Linda Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sequel to New York Times bestselling dystopian The City of Ember. The first book, Ember, was a story of setting and plot, while Sparks is a story of characters and relationships. The author has done good job of capturing the tensions involved in a refugee situation, especially one where there aren't enough resources to go around--a better job, I think, than most adult books on the topic.

As a Middle school or Young Adult read it opens the door to a good discussion of the difficulties and rewards of politics, and there are some good life lessons, not the least being the idea that the only way to stop bad events from escalating, is to return good for bad and convince your opponent to stop the cycle of retaliation:

“Can't it be stopped?" said Lina. . .
"Maybe it can be stopped at the beginning," Maddy said. "If someone sees what's happening and is brave enough to reverse the direction."
"Reverse the direction?"...
"Yes, turn it around."
"How would you do that?"...
"You'd do something good," said Maddy. "Or at least you'd keep yourself from doing something bad."
"But how could you?" said Lina. "When people have been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?"
"You wouldn't want to," said Maddy. "That's what makes it hard. you do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad.”

Though it is not as plot driven as Ember, I found this a thought-provoking read about the future, the past, the nature of conflict, and the road to peace.

Audiobook version (fantastic production with this.)

[Christina Morland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found The People of Sparks, the second book in the Book of Ember series, to be an even stronger book than its predecessor. Author Jeanne DuPrau’s use of imagery and character development seemed more engaging this time around, and while the first book probably had a more compelling plot for younger readers, this sequel did a better job of wrestling with big questions about human nature.

As a story about refugees and the community attempting to absorb these migrants, The People of Sparks is a great read for discussing current events with children. But no matter what’s in the news, the major issue of the book—what do you do when the enemy you face isn’t a person or an outsider but your own fear?—will always be relevant.

I read this book aloud to my eight-year-old daughter, and we ended up having several meaningful discussions as a result. I highly recommend the book to other parents/caregivers/adults looking to spark (yes, pun intended) conversation with children. (But do read Book of Ember first, or much of the plot in this book won’t make sense.)

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the simplified concepts of war in this book. It discussed how war begins and how to stop it before it goes to far. Choosing good is hard and even harder when we are physically or emotionally hurt by someone else. It made me think about making the right choices in tough situations. It's nice that you learn small bits about the "disaster" but that is not the focus of the book. I liked the way Lina and Doon both carried on through this book. They went there separate ways and came back together at the end.

[Athena of Velaris]

I read these books what feels like forever ago, and I enjoyed them back then, but it’s been so long I don’t think I can give it a rating.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this book! The world, and the characters were interesting, and the story was pretty great overall. This book is meant for a younger audience, and the writing reflected that. However, I think kids and adults would both find this story interesting. The only reason it wasn’t a five star rating, was because it wasn’t quite as suspenseful, and exciting as the first book.

The characters in this book are interesting, and I found I liked nearly all of them. The characters that are portrayed as villains, have many different layers, and are not just evil, and the character that is portrayed as a sort of hero has many different sides to him. I think Jeanne DuPrau did a great job at coming up with a variety of characters, that are thought provoking and interesting to read about. Unlike other books, I found myself drawn to every aspect of the story, not just one characters adventure.

The plot in this story is interesting. While still continuing with some aspects of the first book, different problems arise, and along with that comes a variety of different characters, who influence the main characters in different ways.

Overall, it was a fun, and interesting book. The only complaint I have, is that it is slightly less suspenseful, and a bit more predictable then the first. But still, a great read for all ages.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea why I put off reading this book but there you go - The story continues almost immediate after the events of Ember and pretty much follows the exodus (you knew it was going to happen and it pretty much is needed to set the scene for this book) from the failing underground settlement.

The book pretty much follows what happens next although there a few side stories about what happened "before" that drove the people underground to Ember and how the residents of Sparks are as they are.

So story is pretty much linear although it does occasionally shift perspective you get the feeling that although the story is focused around the settlement there are more stories to come of this strange new world

[Tyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was afraid after the ending of City of Ember, the next books will lose the fantastic, gripping aura the first book has.

At least People of Sparks proved that I was wrong. It is highly exciting, it kept me reading with a heart that beat faster than usual, wanting to know how it all would end, feeling all the basic and even more complicated emotions in my heart as I went through the pages.

The books are set in a post-apocalyptic world. The world is healing; things start to get better, but the world is still almost empty of civilization, and destroyed, abandoned cities loom everywhere. This is the world to which the citizens of Ember emerge from the deep, and how many astonishing things are waiting for them! Things they haven't known, such as the sun, trees, stars, the changing seasons... and war.

It is interesting how DuPrau managed to show us how even in a rather small group of people (well, about eight hundred in total), so much hate and so many blow-exchanges can happen, just because of one person's evil intent, one person's finger-pointing at another... It all made me shudder with fear. And how a small step of a human being can set changes toward the better. A small step taken by two very humane, young characters, with their own setbacks and mistakes and fears, but they gather enough courage to make their small steps. Almost made me weep.

People of Sparks is as depressing as the claustrophobic City of Ember, but at the end, there's always a glimmer of hope. I'm curious of how this series will continue... and end.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a really good job of capturing the tensions involved in a refugee situation, especially one where there aren't enough resources to go around -- a better job, I think, than most adult books on the topic. The tensions were clearly presented, and the emotions were well shaded and realistic. While the book did slide a bit towards having people turn out to be "good guys" and "bad guys," I think it's not any more so than any political discussion; I'm sure most readers hate certain actual political figures more than they would hate any person in this book. And this book is, in its sneaky way, about the difficulty and rewards of politics.

I liked that 300 pages through the book, I still didn't know what would happen between the People of Ember (the "cavepeople," it made me think of Fred Flintstone every time I read that) and the People of Sparks. And if the happy ending came a bit too easily -- if people were a bit too willing to take blame upon themselves rather than heaping it on others, a bit too willing to abandon the demagogues they had been following, a bit too willing to let bygones by bygones -- well, it is a YA book. The ability to honestly tackle as a difficult an issue as humanely treating refugee populations -- showing how difficult it is, and at the same time showing a plausible path forward -- is not a common one, and the ability to do all that in the context of a genuinely entertaining book is even less so.

[Zahra Dashti · Rating 3 out of 5]

خوب بود. خیلی قشنگ و ملموس چگونگی شکل گرفتن آشوب و جنگ رو نشون داده بود. شاید ساده بیان شده بود ولی واقعا ته اش به همین سادگی شروع می شه.
یه نکته قشنگ دیگه اش حرف مدی بود که اعتقاد داشت حیات ، همیشه هست و اون کسی که حیات انسان و بقیه موجودات رو فراهم کرده خودش حافظ اون هست و نمی ذاره از بین بره. و این خارج از اراده آدمهاست

[Kye Ryvers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing!!! So much better than book 1!!!

[Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this series.