Jeanne Duprau - The City of Ember

Pros: Feistly, determined young folks fight the apathy of a future dying society

Cons: You'll be up all night reading it and want it never to end.

The Bottom Line: Smart, clever kids disentangle the ancient past of their present city's decline into darkness and food shortages. A gripping adventure/sci fi novel!

Review: Jeanne DuPrau, of Menlo Park, California, has written a first novel for older kids/teens which is equally engrossing for adults. The story concerns a city generations ahead of us, dimly lit with weak bulbs, constantly subject to blackouts, which teeters ...

Pros: Great story
A different take on the disaster scenario
Interesting Society

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: You MUST read this one!

Review: Quick Facts Title: The City of Ember Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Novel Publication Date: 2003 Pages: 288 Reading Level: Grades 4 - 7 Ages: 9 to 12 The Book I love to read young adult books. It's easy for me to ...

Pros: Good Size, Great Plot

Cons: Can't put it down!

Review: I am a big fan of Harry Potter and I would recommend this book to any young adult or fiction fan. The plot is amazing and the story is set in a world like our own, only different. The characters are strong-willed, independant, and a variety of other ...

Pros: Pretty cover, interesting premise, good female protagonist.

Cons: Could have, and should have, been one stand-alone volume, not part of a series.

The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line froze, its eyes racing upwards. Above, the rusty, grime-dimmed streetlight - the last functioning light in the City of Epser - flickered and died.

Review: I know I’m getting older, because I’m starting to utter sentences that begin, “When I was a kid…” and conclude with some ponderous, boring rant about how things were better Back Then. But some newfangled things are actually ...

Pros: very engaging setting, prose, and characters

Cons: absolutely unoriginal storyline, prologue gives it all away

The Bottom Line: The City of Ember is one of the best new young adult books I've read in a good long while.

Review: Sometimes it isn't the story itself but the way it's told that makes a book stand out from the crowd. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is just such a book. It doesn't have a single original idea between its covers but it's so well written and ...

Pros: Engaging book that should get even reluctant kids reading

Cons: Somewhat predictable for those of us who read often

The Bottom Line: is wandering in the dark, wishing she had a flashlight

Review: When I first read a review of The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau here on Epinions, I thought the story sounded intriguing. So when I saw this at my local Costco, I snatched it up and scuttled away with ...

Pros: Interesting plot

Cons: The same story has been told a million times--and in far better ways

The Bottom Line: I didn't love it, but I really want you to like it. All decent books deserve a chance. This missed it with me; maybe you can offer a second opportunity.

Review: Assignment day! For twelve-year-old Lina Mayfleet, this day could mean the beginning of something beautiful. Or it could be total drudgery. Everything comes down to a slip of paper.Lina's hopes are tied to pulling out the piece that reads ...