The Diamond of Darkhold (Ember #4)

The Diamond of Darkhold is the fourth Ember book by Jeanne DuPrau.

Lina and Doon and all of the people from the city of Ember have been living in Sparks for about nine months. It is winter and the added population has caused food to become dangerously low.

Lina and Doon decide to sneak off and go back to Ember to collect enough food for the winter. They know that everyone left quickly, without being able to bring everything they might have wanted.

But when they get back to Ember, it is not empty. And now that Doon has been captured and turned into a slave to raid the empty buildings, Lina must find her way back to Sparks alone to get help.

DuPrau, Jeanne. (2008). The Diamond of Darkhold. New York: Random House.

The People of Sparks (Ember #2)

The People of Sparks, the second book of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau continues the story of Lina, Doon and the people from Ember.

Now that the Emberites have escaped their dying city, they have a lot to learn about living above ground. The come across the village of Sparks. And though the Emberites outnumber the Sparks (417 to 322), the people of Sparks agree to take them in and teach them the skills they will need to survive.

This novel is an interesting look at things we take for granted every day - the sunrise, wind, plants, etc... The people of Ember had electricity, which the post-Disaster village of Sparks does not have, but they lack the basic skills they need to go day to day. Not to mention that after 200 years underground, they are prone to sunburn.

DuPrau looks at people's desire to fight over the smallest slights and what can be done to keep the fight from escalating into war.

DuPrau, Jeanne. (2004). The People of Sparks. New York: Random House.

The City of Ember (Ember #1)

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is the first book in the Ember trilogy.

The city of Ember is a city with no natural light. It is either underground or perhaps covered in a dome that blocks the sun. Electricity is on from six a.m. to nine p.m. each day. Everything needed for the city is kept in the giant storage facility or grown in one of the five green houses.

But in the 214th year of the city, supplies are beginning to run low. And the generator is having problems, causing blackouts.

At the age of 12, kids finish school and start working. Each year there are jobs that need to be filled and the 12 year-olds choose from them. In this year's class, Lina is a messenger and Doon works in the Pipeworks - the underground water system that supplies water from the river to each building in Ember.

Doon has noticed that the city is starting to look older. He is convinced he can improve the generator if he can only gain access to it. Lina is happy just running through the town delivering messages.

When Lina's grandmother finds a box with an ancient message inside, they try to make sense of it to find salvation for the city. Unfortunately, before Lina finds the message, her baby sister has chewed some of the important parts.

Using the incomplete message and what they know of the city, will Lina a Doon find a way to save Ember?

DuPrau, Jeanne. (2004). City of Ember. New York: Random House.