Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Ellen

The City of Ember is a fantasy story by Jeanne Duprau that tells about two people named Lina and Doon that are trying to find a way to get out of their city. In Ember there is no light, without light bulbs, and there are less and less light bulbs each and every day. Although all of the people in Ember dont know it, the city is underground. That is why it is so dark. Lina and Doon are trying to find a way to get out to where we live, to where the sun is what lights the sky. They dont know where normal humans live, but they are taking a quest to figure out how to get there. When Lina finds instructions that will help get everybody out of Ember, everything changes. In the very end of the book Lina and Doon arrive above ground by following the instructions.
Duprau is an exquisite novelist that uses vivid actions to tell her stories. I like this because it gives me something different to hear. In most books I read the descriptions are given through talking or seeing, but in Dupraus writing I get descriptions out of actions. The thing in this story that stood out to me the most was her description of when Lina and Doon were in their old school. The planks of the floor were scuffed gray, and there was a cloud of finger smudges on the doorknob of every door. This sentence gave me a wonderful description of each doorknob and the floor of the school. I think The City of Ember very interesting book that I would recommend to anyone.