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The City of Ember (Books of Ember #1)

by Jeanne DuPrau

3.82 · rating details · 41,436 ratings · 4,375 reviews

The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers...more

Paperback, 270 pages

Published May 13th 2003 by Yearling

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Jan 05, 2008

Eric rated it

Shelves: science-fiction, young-adult

The City of Ember is a young adult novel that is a fantastic allegory for spiritual awakening, though I have no idea if it was intended as such. The story is of a girl who lives in an underground and completely self-contained city created by the “Builders.” The population of the city knows of nothing outside the city, in fact, though they speak English many of the words in it like “sky” are not understood in any terms but metaphorically. The problem is that the city is falling apart, the lights ...moreThe City of Ember is a young adult novel that is a fantastic allegory for spiritual awakening, though I have no idea if it was intended as such. The story is of a girl who lives in an underground and completely self-contained city created by the “Builders.” The population of the city knows of nothing outside the city, in fact, though they speak English many of the words in it like “sky” are not understood in any terms but metaphorically. The problem is that the city is falling apart, the lights are going out, the vast stores of supplies of light bulbs, canned food, and vitamins are running out. The reader is in on a worse calamity, namely, that a secret message in a timed lock box that was left by the Builders, which was meant to be handed down from mayor to mayor and that would open just in time to explain to the city dwellers how to get out of the city, was lost many generations back. Well, being a young adult novel it’s pretty predictable in that the box is in our hero’s closet, but a nice turn of events it is found by our hero’s baby sister who chews on it for a while before our hero gets her hands on it leaving the message is only partially legible. So the bulk of the story is the deciphering of the message, followed by the experience of trying to communicate its contents to the adults, who of course don’t accept the message (where else is there but here?) which is the equivalent of all prophets experiences of rejection by the status-quo. And finally, there is the adventure of eventual escape.
This book reworks the universal theme of Plato’s cave, and of all mysticism. What we think of as the whole universe is but shadow, and further, that to enter that “kingdom of heaven” you must be like a child. The insight that this version of that universal story led me to is part of the answer to why childishness is a necessary component of the transformation. Children haven’t yet become someone. Which means who they are is not yet at stake. For some reason our culture has this question “what are you going to be when you grow up?” Think about the hidden structures and assumptions in that question. Who are you? Have you figured it out yet? Is what you do, who you are? Is what you believe who you are? Is who you associate with who you are? I write these questions myself in shadow not in the condition of childishness, and with all of this, as Quaker’s say, “a notion,” i.e. not something that I have experienced, but rather something I think. But this thing that is mostly a notion for me, that the distinction between notional and experiential living is key to awakening, I am begining in small ways to actually experience.(less)

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Oct 11, 2011

♥ Cheshire Catt ♠ rated it

Recommends it for: no one

Shelves: end-of-the-world, sci-fi, steampunk, ya, feed-to-the-bunnies

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Well lets just start off with "I was not amused." I found this one on several "Best of" lists with raving reviews and figured why not - it has alternative history, it has an end-of-the world plot, it is steampunk; therefore, I should like it. Wrong!

My biggest upset with this one was logic flaws. Lots of it just didn't make sense (I'll get to the details later). At first I chalked this up to the fact that it is a kid's book but then that pissed me off even more...moreWell lets just start off with "I was not amused." I found this one on several "Best of" lists with raving reviews and figured why not - it has alternative history, it has an end-of-the world plot, it is steampunk; therefore, I should like it. Wrong!

My biggest upset with this one was logic flaws. Lots of it just didn't make sense (I'll get to the details later). At first I chalked this up to the fact that it is a kid's book but then that pissed me off even more. I have read incredible children series that could destroy many adult novels (example Harry Potter or His Dark Material's trilogy). It almost seemed like the author dumbed this down for the kids - which is insulting, kids are a lot smarter than you give them credit for.

Well anyway back to the novel, we have a city called Ember which is self contained underground. You can try and assume that this has always been or that there was some disaster and the people fled underground to be safe. I skimmed through the last part of the book and it seems that some people thought there was going to be a disaster so they buried themselves underground (by the end of the second we don't know if anything really happened in the 'real' world or not). It was designed to keep everyone incredibly stupid of everything and also that they would have everything they needed for at least 220 years. The problem was the Builders were stupid also by keeping their people stupid their exodus plan was lost, supplies are running out, none of the people were trained properly so they can't fix the generator or even know about fire or candles. They pretty much are all doomed unless they can get out of the city. My logistics issues are the following:
**We are told at the end of the book that old people were chosen and each given a baby - where the hell did they get the babies from?
**What happens to these people when they die in the city? The heroine's grandmother dies but we don't get to know any more - are they buried, where are they buried, etc.
**Umm hello population expansion - how could we have a city that has been going for 200 years and not run out of room. Doesn't seem to make sense?
**How the hell could the builders be sooooooooooo stupid as to not train some of the people with things like electricity, maintaining the generator, etc.
**Okay come on - none of the old people talked before they died? None of them told their adopted kids about what it was like before? I don't believe that one.
**Murders, insanity, depression - no one in this artificial underground city seems to suffer from this - in fact the jail only has one cell and is only for minor offenses.

Oh also the book is slooooow - very slow for not a whole lot of pay-off. Skip this and read a good children's series.(less)

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H. Smith Some of the logic gaps dont really seem to be gaps, though. For example, the thing about how they didn't really know how to fix a generator. They've...more
May 25, 2011 07:56am

♥ Cheshire Catt ♠ Okay still - I would think that if you were smart enough to create this city underground you would train people to maintain it. Considering how every...more
May 25, 2011 10:01am

Jul 19, 2008

Alicia rated it

Shelves: cities, young-adult-fantasy, sff

Ember is a city living in fear, ignorance, and ever-increasing poverty: both literal and metaphorical darkness threaten to engulf its hapless citizens. Only two 12-year-olds -- as impoverished and ignorant as everyone else, but gifted with a bit more curiosity and get-up-and-go -- stand between Ember and its plunge into utter blackness, both in the streets and in spirit.

I have never been a person who has been afraid of the dark -- at least, not on its own terms: the pitch-blackness o...moreEmber is a city living in fear, ignorance, and ever-increasing poverty: both literal and metaphorical darkness threaten to engulf its hapless citizens. Only two 12-year-olds -- as impoverished and ignorant as everyone else, but gifted with a bit more curiosity and get-up-and-go -- stand between Ember and its plunge into utter blackness, both in the streets and in spirit.

I have never been a person who has been afraid of the dark -- at least, not on its own terms: the pitch-blackness of my room growing up was never a concern, but naturally the same darkness on an urban street at night was a bit unsettling and arousing of my fight-or-flight (usually the latter) instincts. But the mere fact of darkness itself was never the worry for me that it was for others of my age. In fact, it was positively soothing.

The darkness surrounding Ember is, on the contrary, positively suffocating.

Much of this feeling arises from the simple yet effective fact that unless there is a working electric light present in a given location, the people of Ember have never been able to view that location for themselves. They have no portable lights of any kind -- not even fire -- and since they aren't certain how even the existing lights themselves function, they are growing increasingly panicked and edging closer to chaos with each passing (and increasingly lengthy) blackout.

It's even more terrifying for the reader, who is aware of several scary things the citizens of Ember take for granted -- the lack of the sun and moon and stars, for instance, which plays on the reader's claustrophobic sensibilities in a grandly nervewracking manner.

If these images -- darkness, light, a city -- sound familiar, you're not the only one to think so. All while I read this book I kept thinking of that old (well, not that old, I guess) hymn from church:

The people in darkness
Have seen a great light
The lord of our longing
Has conquered the night ...

It isn't so much that DuPrau is pushing religious imagery; her story merely uses images in common with both religion and intellectual pursuits (enlightenment, illumination, etc.). Meaning you can draw those connections without having to buy in to the ideology.

There is, in fact, religion in Ember, but it is only vaguely sketched out and has to do more with the imminent return of the mysterious Builders than it does with the questions of light and darkness -- oh, and exodus, salvation, and emergence into the light of day, now that you mention it.

The last scene is particularly good -- so much so that no description of mine can do it justice. Suffice to say that it was an illuminating experience -- with pun fully intended.(less)

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Dec 01, 2008

Michael rated it

Shelves: audio-book, fantasy, read-in-2008

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.

The City of Ember exists inside the darkness, where it's always night. Darkness is held at bay twelve hours a day by ...moreI 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.

The City of Ember exists inside the darkness, where it's always night. Darkness is held at bay twelve hours a day by artifical light, though the electricity is becoming sporadic and the city is running out of replacement bulbs. Founded many years before, there was some instructions on how to leave the darkness left behind but lost by one of the city's mayors. The city is facing shortages of supplies and the residents live in a sense of paranoia that the lights will go out forver, plunging them into enternal darkness.

It's a fascinating premise for a novel and one that begs a lot of questions, especially when you find certain things about Ember in the novel's final pages. The story follows two children, Doon and Lina, who have completed their schooling and have been given new jobs. Doon wants to fix the city and trades to have a job in the underside of the city, hoping to explore the mystery of Ember. Lina gets a job as a messenger and is able to run across the city, taking messages back and forth and discovering the full extend of the shortags to come. The two eventually begin to share their knowledge and piece together just what's going on in Ember. They also find a bit of the original instructions and try to fanthom what they mean (Lina's younger sibling eats part of them).

Lina and Doon discover there's more going on that meets the eye. The Mayor is a corrupt individual, hoarding resources for himself and seeking to discredit or lock up anyone who discovers otherwise. Lina and Doon are soon on a path to being rebels and forced to flee into the darkness surrounding the City.

A fascinating, compelling story that left me with a lot of questions and some good answers. The book is satisfying in that if offers resolution to some questions but leaves the door open for natural follow-ups. (less)

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Nov 10, 2008

Christine rated it

(This is for my book report)

"The City of Ember" is all about these two regular kids saving their city. Doon and Lina had never thought of being twelve years old and getting jobs. Lina orriginaly got chosen to work in the sewers as a pipework's laborer,but Doon knew being a messenger wouldn't do anything to help save the city, so he traded with Lina. Luckily, Lina just so happened to be a super fast runner and that's why she thought messenger would be a perfect job for her....more

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Sep 10, 2011

Marvin rated it

I am sort of a late-comer with Young Adult novels. I blame it on my age. When I was a teenager in the 60s there was no real level between children and adult literature. Teen literature was a bit of a no man's land. I didn't realize there might actually be real literature in YA until I read the Harry Potter series. Since then, I've dabble a bit with the genre and discovered some gems: The Hunger Games series, Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, and Dan Wells' John Wayne Cleaver series. Of course there a...more

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Oct 27, 2008

Megan rated it

Recommended to Megan by: Shinynickel

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, steampunk, young-adult, science-fiction, social-theory

I really really love the idea of a post-disaster society of people living underground. And I especially love the idea of reading about that society several generations in, where they no longer remember what daylight is, or why the city they live in is theren- or even where exactly their city is. I like the idea of this society making up their own myths about 'the dark' and having new origin stories and singing songs amid candles lit against the ever-present night. However, all those enchanting p...more

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Sep 21, 2008

Shelly rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone who love <u>The Giver</u>.

Recommended to Shelly by: Jacob Unsicker

Shelves: extra-ten, yal-utopian

My 12 year old son just knew I would love this book. He's been hounding me to read it since... early last spring. Finally, I have read it and Jacob (my son) was right.

Omigosh. What first hooked me were the vivid character descriptions that show more than tell, so the reader can draw their own conclusions. The story is told in third person, limited in two different perspectives. Lina Mayfleet, twelve years old, sat "winding a strand of her long, dark hair around her finger, wind...more

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Sep 10, 2008

Alice rated it

This juvenile allegory reminded me greatly of The Giver. Just as at the start of The Giver, the young people of the community of Ember receive their future work assignments, a device which quickly pulls the young reader into the story. Now almost adults, Lina and Doon are able to view their community with fresh eyes, and discover that the generator, the source of electric power on which the town depends, is soon to be exhausted. This will plunge the city into complete darkness. The children disc...more

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Aug 09, 2008

Britt rated it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, fiction, kids, apocalyptic

I enjoyed this book, though it did have some bothersome bits (don’t they all?). It was very predictable, but that didn’t really take away from the enjoyment of the story (except when I got annoyed with the characters for being about 5 steps behind me, but then I’m not the target audience). We are expected to accept some things without questioning, and certain events that should be dealt with on a deeper level are just brushed over. For instance, Lina’s grandmother dies, and she hardly seems to n...more

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Feb 20, 2008

Owen rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone age 11-17

I'm currently reading this book, I was at the library and just picked it up not really knowing what it was about. Anyway, as soon as I started reading it I couldn't stop. It's one of those books that you cant put down. Infact I have been late for school a few days because I stay up so late reading it.
It's not a very large book. But the story is incredible!
From what i've read so far it is about a girl who lives in a strange city called Ember, where there is no such thing as the su...more

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Mar 28, 2010

Jon rated it

Recommends it for: young fans of distopian novels

Shelves: young-adult

DuPrau makes a typical first-time novelist mistake throughout this book: she doesn’t trust her reader to infer. In other words, she often over-explains, following up dialogue and action sequences with redundant descriptions of a character’s take on what just happened. Another disappointment is that the mystery of Ember unfolds in an entirely predictable manner. There are no great surprises.

DuPrau's characterization of Doon is one dimensional. His spurts of rage create the only...more

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Jan 31, 2009

Taylor rated it

Great book! No lights no sun just darkness all the time only the Flood lamps, But ever one of them is beginning to brake and shatter so they have Blackouts atleast once a month. No one seems to be worried about this problem because theres "No where else to go!" oh really? 12 year old Doon and Lina are the only people who seemed to be woriied that onw day there will be no flood lamps left! Will they save the day or just be like everyone else where theres "No where else to go!"...more

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Nov 21, 2008

Mrs. Riding rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This was my first book to read on the Kindle. This futuristic story about twelve year olds Doon and Lina was wonderful. I felt just like the guy from Amazon hoped that I would while reading on the Kindle, that I would forget the medium and enjoy the story. Twelve year olds have such a simple world, even when confronted with big issues. When I told my own children how much I enjoyed the story I heard, "Oh, yeah. That's a good book. I read it last year." I wonder why I didn't pick ...more

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Sep 06, 2009

Makenna Baker rated it

This is also an amazing book. I have read so many books lately that I have lost track of the ones I have read. I just barely remebered this one! But back to the summary.
For about 200 years (I think :] ) the people in the city of ember have had to live in darkness. The only lights they have are big lights/ street lamps. But lately the lights have been flickering and they have had some black-outs. They are also running low on food, and other supplies needed to survive. The two main characte...more

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Nov 07, 2008

Julie rated it

Recommends it for: basically anyone

Recommended to Julie by: seeing it on the shelf at work, plus the movie coming out

Shelves: children-s, fiction, 2008, signed-out

Ahhhh, yet another book sort of difficult to classify. It's not quite sci-fi, because it deals with actual technology...

Anyway, I seem to be reading a lot of post-apocalyptic books the past month or so. The residents of the City of Ember live in an enclosed area lit only by electricity which is beginning to flicker; supplied with food and items almost solely from vast city storehouses, that are coming dangerously close to running out. Amidst this, Lina Mayfleet discovers what could b...more

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Feb 28, 2009

Ally rated it

I was forced to watch this movie on a long plane ride, and thought it was pretty bad, but for some reason I just couldn't get the story out of my head. Since it was full of end-of-the-world scenarios, Earth Day friendly lessons, and was a young adult book, I knew it would be right up my alley.

And it was great! For some reason, the movie decided to add a bunch of plotlines that didn't make sense. The book in its true original form is a well-spun story full of action and emotions an...more

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Apr 14, 2011

Katrina rated it

Shelves: favourites

I really liked this book. The idea was different and it was never boring, and, best of all, I never knew where it would take me.

It all started with that the founders of the city of Ember, so-called "The builders" built a city where the only light came from light-bulbs in the ceiling. They made storerooms for food and everything else the citizens might need. And they also made a box containing information about how to get out of the city, but the only way to open this box is t...more

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Nov 24, 2010

icybytes rated it

Shelves: series, motion-picture, fiction

In the City of Ember, the sky is always dark. How could this be, you may ask yourself, if the sky on Earth is a light, creamy blue? How is it possible for the sky to be as black as coal, year round? And yet, even as it seems nearly impossible to you now, it is perfectly, perfectly possible. Because this is how it is for the citizens of Ember.

In Ember, the only light comes from the giant floodlights that surround the city. The floodlights turn on and off at a specific time of day or ...more

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Aug 06, 2008

Jeremy rated it

Another book set in a post-apocalyptic future, I can’t get enough of them. Jeanne DuPrau sets the scene in a brief prologue. Something major is about to happen on Earth, thought we aren’t told what that is. A city is created deep underground, along with enough supplies for people to live safely for two hundred years. After the two hundred years is up, the current mayor of the city will receive instructions on how to return to the surface, and hopefully begin civilization again.

I saw the trai...moreAnother book set in a post-apocalyptic future, I can’t get enough of them. Jeanne DuPrau sets the scene in a brief prologue. Something major is about to happen on Earth, thought we aren’t told what that is. A city is created deep underground, along with enough supplies for people to live safely for two hundred years. After the two hundred years is up, the current mayor of the city will receive instructions on how to return to the surface, and hopefully begin civilization again.

I saw the trailer for an upcoming movie based on this book, that’s what got me interested. It’s a short novel, easily read in a day or two. I didn’t realize it’s part of an ongoing series, which really bothers me. I should have checked it out a bit more before I started reading. The book stands well on it’s own, though it does leave the reader hanging a bit at the end. Everything is resolved, but it happens so quickly it’s almost as if the author was anxious to move on to the next group of characters and stories she had created.

In the early parts of the book, something goes wrong. The instructions on how the city is to begin their exodus are lost, and the city is falling apart. It was only meant to stay underground for a set amount of time, and they are running out of food, their electrical equipment is failing, and because there isn’t a path out the people have no where to go.

The two main characters Lina and Doon, are curious enough to try and unravel the mystery and figure out a way to save their city. One is assigned to work near an underground river, the other is to become a messenger. Through their jobs, and by putting clues together, they start to figure out how Ember was created and how they can save it.

The book is interesting, if not a little bit simple. The author makes some decisions that are almost unbelievable. In two hundred years people hadn’t figured out some of these things that the children figure out in a few weeks? Of course they have a major clue nobody else had, but it still seemed strange that nobody succeded in going further with it. It’s not a huge issue though, and the plot and setting are interesting enough that I’ll read the next book.(less)

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Aug 01, 2008

Sara rated it

Shelves: middle-grade, 2008, sci-fi-fantasy

4 1/2 stars to this book. I really liked this - it drew me in from the very first page, which is pretty unusual and definitely a good thing. I read this in anticipation of seeing the film version when it comes out in October, and I'm glad I did because this has to be one of the best teen adventure novels I've read in a long time.

The city of Ember was created by "the builders" who wanted people to live there for 200-220 years before emerging; they left instructions in a ...more

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Mar 28, 2008

Nikki rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone

“The City of Ember” was an overall stunning book with just a few minor flaws in its science fiction writing style.
Jeanne Duprau, the author, must have had lightning strike her to come up with this story, as it is an extremely original storyline with well-rounded characters. The settings are vividly described and told with style. One problem that I found with the storyline was that it just ended and left you clamoring for the next book. I’m sure this helped sell the sequel, “The People of ...more

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Mar 09, 2009

Aimee rated it

We watched this movie not long ago with the kids and I kept thinking that there had to be something missing because some things I didn't quite understand. So, I decided to read the book and see what the story really was! It was a good book and one the kids will enjoy reading. I actually bought all the series and I'm on the 2nd book now....

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Aug 03, 2010

Purlewe rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, ya

A very good YA book. I listened to it as an audiobook, but I like it so much I want to read it again immediately.

The City of Ember was created by the Builders over 400 yrs ago to save humanity from their destruction on earth. But the instructions they left for returning were lost.

Lina and Doon are 2 children who have graduated to their first jobs in Ember. Lina is a messenger. Doon works in the pipeworks, under the city. Both realize that Ember is slowly dying. There ar...more

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May 13, 2011

Deleetra Henry rated it

This book was a book that I wouldn't take the time to read on my own. I like that the story had a lot of mystery in it, but I don't like that the book ends with an unfinished ending. This book is a very good book, but it's just not my type of genre to read. Well, the mystery part is, but the end of the book, leaving it a mystery, is not my type of genre that I really am interested in. Despite of The City of Ember not being my type of book to read and really like, this book is actually kind of in...more

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Jan 26, 2009

Tia rated it

AMAZING story!!!! I got so hooked into it I didn`t put it down before I was done! I recomend this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of the best books i ever read! Sorry if you think other-wise but I think it was realy good.

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Dec 21, 2008

Jen rated it

Really good series. The first wasn't quite as believeable as the second, but it was a good start to the series. I wonder if the movie is any good...

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Jan 06, 2009

Michael rated it

fairly good story, nice ending,and good conflict and dramatic parts, but the people are so ignorant. I don't like how the city came into being. It shows how some people feel like they know too much,and they do something massively Science Fiction-mad scientist-like, which I feel is kind of annoying.

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Nov 02, 2008

Travis rated it

Shelves: books-i-read-to-the-kids, fiction-english

This is a book I read to the kids (I read each night while they go to sleep).

It was a fun book. The idea was very original and interesting. We watched the movie last night, which was full of action and very fast paced, which doesn't make it all wonderful, but it was a testament to the original and complex idea from the book.

There were several dystopia ideas that were presented that I thought were interesting (I love dystopia stories). She obviously avoided the actual prob...more

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Jul 12, 2008

Kirk Worcester rated it

Recommends it for: Grades 4 and up

Shelves: realistic-fiction

Loved this book. The "founders" established an underground city with food and supplies to last over 200 years. Next they populated it with adults over 60 paired young children. The adults were sworn to never speak of the outside world...

Now 200 years later, the city is beginning to run out of supplies. They keep waiting for "The Founders" to return again, but must find a way to survive if the lights go out for good. The problem is, they don't know they are "u...more

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the movie!	42	158	23 hours, 58 min ago
Domuracki - Period 5: If Lina and Doon (in "the city of ember") hadn't found the river passage to the outside world, what other ways could they have gotten out? Be creative.	7	11	Nov 04, 2011 12:00pm
The City Of Ember	7	65	Aug 24, 2011 06:38am
More in the series	16	69	Apr 22, 2011 07:47am

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About Jeanne DuPrau

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).
This gives her courage, because she finds writing very hard. So many words to choose from! So many different things that could happen in a story at any moment! Writing...more

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Books by Jeanne DuPrau

The People of Sparks (Books of Ember, #2)

The Prophet of Yonwood (Books of Ember, #0.5)

The Diamond of Darkhold (Books of Ember, #4)

The Books of Ember (Books of Ember, #1-3)

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Quotes from The City of Ember

“The trouble with anger is, it gets hold of you. And then you aren't the master of yourself anymore. Anger is. And when anger is the boss, you get unintended consequences.” — 151 people liked it

“There is so much darkness in Ember, Lina. It's not just outside, it's inside us, too. Everyone has some darkness inside. It's like a hungry creature. It wants and wants and wants with a terrible power. And the more you give it, the bigger and hungrier it gets.
-Clary” — 55 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/307791.The_City_of_Ember?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298499778m/307791.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/307791.The_City_of_Ember?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau[/url]

The City of Ember (Books of Ember #1)

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