Peters, John (May 2003). "City of Ember (Book)". School Library Journal. 49 (5): 150. ISSN 0362-8930.

He wasn't just flipping through a picture book, either. He was actually reading it. A book with all words and no pictures. At this point, Lina decides to help the people of Sparks fight the fire. As this happens, Doon sees that Torren is trapped in the burning tree by the building and saves him before he catches fire. These acts cause most of the people of Ember to gradually join the firefighting efforts, until the fire is extinguished. Because this is a dystopian series, it is repeated that the modern world was destroyed in some sort of disaster many years ago. Lina learns that the Disaster was a combination of events: several plagues and then some wars caused by leaders of the separate nations.Aunque el nombre de los libros lo hacen algo obvio no me había dado cuenta de lo simbólico que son los nombres de Ember y Sparks hasta que los leí en la misma oración cuando Lina esta pensando en ambas ciudades. Ember significa ascua o braza, ese pedazo de materia que permanece apenas encendido después de que un fuego se apaga. Sparks es chispa, lo que inicia el fuego. Many readers have noticed the odd references in this book about religion. Side characters are heard wondering if there is a great Being watching over them and saying maybe or maybe not. Doon also wonders where life comes from and knows it’s a power greater than the Builders. The Believers are a group of people that aren’t in the book very much but do have the most “beliefs” of anyone. They claim to have seen the Builders coming again to “show them the way” in a dream. Now of course, in the story Lina and Doon save the day and the Builders are nowhere to be seen which is a great case for humanism, isn’t it? Except...the Builders did save them. Who wrote the instructions? Left the boats? The candles? And later in the series a few more surprises? I think it’s positing an interaction between their own efforts and what has been provided for them. It’s really not a huge theme of the book, but I would recommend some parental guidance for younger readers who are not strong in what they believe. What do you do when your fifth grader tells you he's reading the greatest book ever and he wants you to try it? You do whatever it takes to find that book and you read it with him. Enthusiasm is contagious...and supporting a child's love for reading is priceless.

Irv Slifkin for Video Business wrote, "this lavishly designed adventure saga from director Gil Kenan... plays like Terry Gilliam's Brazil — for beginners". He praised the "secret escape plan hidden by Ember's founders" and "impressive technical work," concluding that there were "drama and sometimes lethargic pacing, but there's enough here for middle- and high-school kids to think about and marvel over." [15] Jeanne DuPrau spends several hours of every day at her computer, thinking up sentences. She has this quote taped to her wall: "A writer is someone for whom writing is harder than it is for other people" (Thomas Mann). I appreciate a story in which the main character learns that hate breeds hate and the only way to stop it is to do good, no matter how hard it is. I really love that DuPrau shows, in this book and The City of Ember, how hard it can be to do what is necessary. I like that Lina struggles with helping the people of Sparks put out the fire, and I love the image of a single girl running across a smoky square to join the chaos and help a group with whom her people were about to do battle. Wouldn't it be strange, she thought, to have a blue sky? But she liked the way it looked. It would be beautiful - a blue sky.”

Many hundreds of years ago, the city of Ember was created by the Builders to contain everything needed for human survival. It worked…, but now the storerooms are almost out of food, crops are blighted, corruption is spreading through the city and worst of all—the lights are failing. Soon Ember could be engulfed by darkness… But when two children, Lina and Doon, discover fragments of an ancient parchment, they begin to wonder if there could be a way out of Ember. Can they decipher the words from long ago and find a new future for everyone? Will the people of Ember listen to them? Lina and Doon escaped the dying city of Ember and led their people to the town of Sparks. But it’s winter now, and the harsh realities of their new world have begun to set in. When Doon finds a book that hints at an important, long-lost device, it doesn’t take much for him to convince Lina to join him for one last adventure in the place they used to call home. But will this mysterious technology be enough to help their people? And what— and who—will they find when they return? I was afraid after the ending of City of Ember, the next books will lose the fantastic, gripping aura the first book has. The City of Ember is an engaging children's fiction novel that introduces young readers to courageous characters who take steps to make change happen. The author Jeanne DuPrau writes age-appropriate fantasy/dystopia with mystery, action, adventure, and an exciting cliffhanger that keeps kids interested in the series. My son absolutely LOVES this book! Loves it so much he doesn't want to watch the film adaption for fear of ruining his reading experience (he has learned this lesson early in life LOL). As soon as he finished reading his library copy, he took his allowance money to buy the book so he can own it (I'm SOOOOO proud!). I read this book along with him and I have to say it was pretty good! If you have a young person in your care that needs some reading recommendations, offer this title for them to consider! It is the first of four books so it should keep readers busy for a while.

I asked my best friend what kinds of books his children were reading (I'm always looking for books for my niece) and he said his oldest son had read and enjoyed the City of Ember series. So much so that he'd passed them along to his parents, who had read them and found them interesting as well. Add to it a movie coming out and I decided I would give the series a try. A pesar de que me encanta el romance en los libros me parece que mientras una historia posea estas dos características es un libro que vale la pena leer. In the English system you start by learning architecture. Actually you’re first job is making tea. English art departments are regimented by how you’re supposed to make the tea, based on colors charts. You use different shades to tell which teas everyone wants. It’s hell,” he laughs. “Then you work your way up to assistant where you have to learn to do the drawing and set design and all that kind of stuff. But it does give you a good grounding so that when you do become a production designer you know what all the different disciplines are. And occasionally I make the tea.” Jeanne DuPrau.com: Coming this year! The City of Ember: The Graphic Novel!" . Retrieved February 24, 2012.

SparkNotes—the stress-free way to a better GPA

TV Guide was more forgiving with 3.5 out of 4 stars, pointing out, "A fun and moving family film with a subtly dark feel rarely seen in kids' movies since the '80s, City of Ember succeeds despite its shortcomings, not only because of its fun and inspiring story, but because most of its flaws are things kids won't notice anyway... [T]he story spins into a classic fable; the ignorance that seemed so blissful shows it's just one half of a coin, where the other side holds apathy and hopelessness. The moral might well be lost on kids, but for adults, it's compelling — all the more so because we like the good people of this dying city." This reviewer praised the "series of exciting adventures" and argued that "Lina and Doon's vigilant sense of hope is, in the end, incredibly inspiring and extremely pertinent... It might be a staple theme in family films, but the City of Ember is a useful reminder about the power of the human spirit to triumph where our own hopelessly broken systems have failed. It's a message that the filmmakers didn't take for granted — and that hopefully viewers won't either". [17] Box office [ edit ]

I got to read this book aloud to my youngest sister and introduce her to the world of Ember. She's a fan. ;) It's interesting/worthwhile to have a children's adventure (even if its a dull-adventure) book deal with corrupt government (C.o.E.), an amorphic Disaster, war and peace, and, to a degree, socialism...Along with the twist I mentioned above, there were one or two other twists that I didn't expect but enjoyed. I can be pretty good at guessing story twists ahead of time so when I don't guess one that's fun for me. Rich, Katey. " City of Ember". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013 . Retrieved September 8, 2013.