Looming in the Fog, A Review

The fellows at Unshelved have created a really nice, concise review of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember. This book has been a very popular post-apocalyptic read with 4-7 graders the last few years. Even though it's a sci fi, it reads more like a mystery--Lina and Doon have to figure out what/where Ember really is before they can find a solution to their problems, and all they know of existence is their city and the surrounding darkness (no one is aware the city is underground). As a sci fi reader, I figured out what was going on before the characters or (I'm assuming) the typical kid reader, but it was still a good book with a lot of appeal.

I was even more impressed by the sequel. City of Ember ended with Lina and Doon finding their way to the surface to discover a wondrous new world and sending a message back to the city for everyone to follow. It's a "happily ever after" kind of ending. At the beginning of The People of Sparks, though, the 400 some odd Emberites are wandering through the wilderness, lost and confused and in danger of starving. They finally happen upon a village called Sparks and are grudgingly taken in. What follows is an excellent sociological study. Both groups are initially willing to work hard and share their limited resources; both are aware that war has almost wiped out humankind and the dangers that discord can bring. Yet they can't seem to prevent the petty jealousies and divisions that grow to the point of violence. There is very little black and white in this depiction as both Lina and Doon struggle with the moral shades of grey facing them and their survival. This book is a really interesting look at right and wrong, politics and "international" relations, and the fallacy of happily ever after.