“The little bag was
made of faded green material, gathered at the top with a black string. Lina
hesitated a moment, then put her hand inside and fingered the bits of paper.
Feeling as if she were stepping off a high building, she picked one. Messenger.”
–The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Lina Mayfleet knew that Assignment Day was going to be the
biggest day of her life; lo and behold that piece of paper would decide her
fate and eventually the fate of another world in which the people of Ember were
completely oblivious to. Together with Doon Harrow, Lina embarked on a journey
to find the secret of their city’s past in a letter written by a previous mayor some two hundred
years ago. The lights were beginning to flicker so they knew there wasn’t much
time left…
This week’s read was light on the emotional side of things
and heavy on the imaginative, a science fiction, which was a good change of
pace for me. I found myself in a 10 year old state of mind while reading this
book because there was a fantasy that involved saving people in the nick of
time, the discovery of something not previously known, and sprinklings of
family values as well.
I was not all that impressed with the diction of this book;
however it was probably written for an audience less my age. Despite the fact
that I flew through this book, it was thoroughly engaging and had my mind
working right along with Lina and Doon in their adventures within the city. The
style was more elementary than I had expected but there was continual suspense
and curiosity that would propel me into the next chapter.
The light bulb was a very significant symbol in this story
because the city of Ember relied on electricity to survive. The great lights of
Ember had kept the darkness out for hundreds of years and then all of the
sudden the destiny of the city was in the hands of the electricians, literally.
The light bulb was their source of life, prosperity, and normalcy. But
obviously the city was saved, and the discovery of a new and brighter world
changed the Emberians forever.
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