Shine on
The Ember saga is, overall, a smart, enticing, thrilling, kid-centric tale about a subject that's not necessarily kid-friendly. How it deals with that duality is something special, something that made me pick this book up as soon as I knew what it was.
The series began in 2003, with The City of Ember (which has since been made into a movie) and has continued with The People of Sparks and The Prophet of Yonwood. Personally, I consider Sparks to be the weakest of the then-trilogy, although by no means less powerful or adventurous.
The village of Sparks, a settlement in a vast unnamed land, is suffering through a disastorious winter. The people from Ember are starting to wish they never left their underground city - even though it was dark and lifeless, at least it was warm and their food came in convienent cans. The industrious Doon thinks there ought to be food and supplies left over in Ember, and after finding a book of instructions he is sure is meant for Emberites, he convinces close friend Lina to go back to Ember with him. But when Doon is captured by intruders, the spirited but sensible Lina attempts to trek back to Sparks with the help of Maggs, a "roamer" who goes from village to village to barter goods. Doon's captors are the family Trogg, who think they've found not only the perfect place to live - safe, warm, and full of supplies - but also a great treasure, a large blue diamond that makes them the riches folks around. But Doon is sure the diamond is something more, something the Emberites were meant to have and use.
The plot is the strongest element here, pulling you in for a mysterious ride and diverting your attention from the wonderful twist. These books all have a mystery-like quality, but the biggest emphasis is the cast of young characters and the message that kids can figure out anything. This is very important given how bleak the setting is - the post-apocolyptic land has to deal with bad weather, hungry wolves, and greedy roamers, while the readers are left to ponder how their world can possibly arrive at such a state. At the same time, the entire series' message is that hope springs eternal, and the tweens that (time and again) save their society are living proof. DuPrau is a master at using these conflicting ideas to create something affective and moving and quite thought-provoking. Doon and Lina are great characters, complementing one another and inspired by their curiosty and insistence on knowing the truth. And at times like these, worrying about shielding children from the horrors of life's truths is superfluous.
DuPrau is most engrossing, I think, when she veers into science fiction (Yonwood is a great example). It really makes you expand your mind to include not just the Earth, but those that may live beyond. I hope she will (or has already?) continue on this thrilling path. Rating: 4 matches out of 5.