The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Random House, ISBN: 0375822747
Jeanne DuPrau’s first novel, The City of Ember, depicts life in an underground city—post-apocalypse.Ember, encompassed by total darkness, is lit exclusively by electric lights: floodlights in the streets, in greenhou`ses, lamps in shops and homes. The short first chapter, a prologue really, introduces readers to the builders of the city and their concerns for the future of those who will live in the city of Ember. They stock the city with what seems like an endless supply of everything the citizens of Ember will ever need. However, the builders know their stockpile is far from unlimited, so they leave instructions for what to do when the well inevitably runs dry. These instructions are handed down secretly by each mayor to the next, kept in a box timed to open only after 200 years.
As the first chapter begins, the reader sees that things have indeed gone awry. Now the city is crumbling, and its youth, upon achieving the ripe old age of 12, are forced to leave school and take assigned jobs that support the life of the city, a life that is quickly fading. In the year 241, Lina Mayflower, the 12-year-old female protagonist of the novel, lives with her younger sister and grandmother. We eventually learn that her parents died several years before—her father from “coughing sickness” and her mother in childbirth.
Doon Harrow—the male counterpoint to Lina—leaves school at the same time, and he becomes Lina’s friend and eventual compatriot after switching assigned jobs with her. As they both become aware of the sorry state of their city, Lina discovers what could be an important message in a box stashed far back in a closet in her family’s apartment—a box that used to belong to one of her ancestors, a former mayor of Ember. With determination and a firm belief that they can save the people of their city, Lina and Doon decipher the message and desire to share the “Instructions for Egress” with the citizens of Ember. However, they encounter corruption on all levels as they try to let others know that they have discovered important information about an exit strategy. As the city’s food and clothing supplies begin to run perilously low, and as the electricity becomes less reliable, they realize the doom that awaits everyone in Ember unless they find a way out. Declared outlaws by corrupt officials who wish to maintain the status quo, their only option is to run.
Escaping from the dishonest mayor’s guards, Lina takes her younger sister, and together with Doon, they leave the city of Ember. They send word of their escape and instructions for others to follow, setting up the next novel in the series, The People of Sparks. The prequel to the series is actually the third book by DePrau, The Prophet of Yonwood. In this work, readers learn how the city was built, by whom, and the identity of a key figure that explains the mystery of Ember. Both the second and third books in this series continue their saga and are every bit as fun and engaging for readers of all ages as the first.
The City of Ember is an exciting book with likable heroes and intriguing bad guys. It moves quickly through a series of unexpected and enthralling plot twists to a satisfying conclusion. The City of Ember will be of interest to both boys and girls; it’s a fun fantasy book for students aged 9–12.
In the Classroom
If you are fortunate enough to have a copy of The City of Ember in your classroom, you might want to consider doing a whole-class read-aloud, or have students read it together in small groups, if you have multiple copies. As a class or in small groups, you could discuss the role of reading and language learning in the plot—the decoding of the builders’ message is dependent upon the main characters’ acquisition of vocabulary and word knowledge. Connect to the need for students to pursue their own personal language learning, and begin a Word Wall with some of the words integral to the story, such as:
- Downstream
- Egress
- Instructions
- Loyal
- Ponderous
- Rapid
- Region
- Tunnel
- Upholstery
- Wail
- Wriggle
As part of your exploration of vocabulary in this novel, you may want to talk about the loss of vocabulary/phrases over time because of the characters’ lack of background knowledge or experience. See p. 120 for the following examples:
- Heavens above
- Hogwash
- Batting a thousand
- All in the same boat
As you talk about language use portrayed in the novel, you could also talk about phrases that are common now but which an older generation might not know. You might have some older community members come to class to share phrases they used in their youth but which are unknown to the students.
As students read the book, it could be fun to decipher the message with Lina and Doon—if you choose this book for a read-aloud, you could copy the “message full of holes” onto chart paper, and as students guess what it says, fill in the chart with sticky notes until the message is completed—match with what it really turns out to be.
You might want to discuss the following themes in the book, or have students talk about them in small groups:
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Preciousness of paper and how characters write on the back of can labels;
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Lack of proper books (the library in Ember is very different than our own libraries);
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Lack of e-mail and other easy communication (oral messengers or characters who write on
precious and often tiny scraps of paper) might be fascinating to contemplate for a “plugged-in” youth of today.
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