Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Dede

This book is a pretty good imaginative tale. The City of Ember is crumbling and dying. The book follows Doon, who is a mechanically inclined 12 year old and Lina, who is a free spirited girl. On assignment day for the city, Doon gets messenger and Lina gets Pipeworks worker. Each wants the job of the other and they switch. When Ember was made, the builders left instructions for what to do when the city started breaking down and left it in a box that would open only when it was time. Lina's grandma finds the box and Lina's little sister Poppy chews on the instructions before Lina gets them from her. Lina and Doon team up with half eaten instructions to figure out what they need to do. They do eventually get it, and have to leave together before telling anyone what they have found, due to a corrupt mayor trying to stop them. So Lina, Doon and Poppy face the adventure by themselves and learn of a place that was beyond their imagination.