Spring 2019, Wild Readers 5 discussion

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is a young adult novel that is packed with mystery and adventure, following two young children during their fight for survival. The story takes place in Ember, where the resource supply is running low and blackouts are occurring more with each passing day, darkness looming over the city like an ominous cloud. When the two main characters, Doon and Lina discover an ancient piece of parchment that just might hint at a way out of the blackening city, they must work as a team to piece together the information that could lead to their people’s safety and salvation.

I read this book in two days and couldn’t seem to put it down. After each chapter ended, I found myself moving to the next without even thinking. Author, Jeanne DuPrau, did a fantastic job setting up the plotline in a fun and interesting way that’s also very easy for children and young adults to follow. This story allowed the reader to play with their imagination as they read about Doon and Lina’s quest to find a way out of Ember. It also taught important life lessons, as every good young adult novel should, about perseverance and believing in the extraordinary, no matter how unrealistic it seems.

This novel is a must-read for anyone who craves books that highlight adventurous post-apocalyptic scenarios. It felt like the child version of other popular teen novels like Divergent or The Maze Runner. All three books contained child or teenage main characters who, similarly, fought to escape the “norm” of their society and pursue change. Whether these societies contained monsters or manipulative villains, in the end, the main characters discover the undeniable strength that they have carried all along, and it is that strength that protects and saves those around them.