From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

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

Jeanne DuPrau

Why we're reading this: The People of Sparks picks up where The City of Ember leaves off. Lina and Doon have emerged from the und…more
[close] The People of Sparks picks up where The City of Ember leaves off. Lina and Doon have emerged from the underground city to the exciting new world above, and it isn’t long before they are followed by the other inhabitants of Ember. The Emberites soon come across a town where they are welcomed, fed, and given places to sleep. But the town’s resources are limited and it isn’t long before resentment begins to grow between the two groups. When anonymous acts of vandalism push them toward violence, it’s up to Lina and Doon to discover who’s behind the vandalism and why, before it’s too late.

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What Members Thought

Oct 26, 2007 Lucy rated it it was ok

Shelves: middlegrade, post-apocalyptic, kidlit, sciencefiction

The people of Ember have made it out of their dying underground city. But now, faced with the prospect of life aboveground after living their whole lives without ever seeing the sun, they are practically helpless. When they stumble across the village of Sparks, they are relieved, and at first, the people of Sparks offer them shelter and food and aid. But as the weeks grow longer and it becomes clear that the people of Ember can’t fend for themselves and aren’t leaving any time soon, tempers begi ...more

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Jan 26, 2017 Melanie rated it really liked it

The ending was a little too tidy, but a very enjoyable story (and series) nonetheless.

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Jun 26, 2013 Elizabeth rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobooks-library, fiction, 2013, ya, post-apocalyptic, series

The People of Sparks grapples with the issue of the destructive nature of human aggression in a way that is thoughtful without being too simplistic. The book places the YA reader into the shoes of Lina and Doon as they make their new life in a town that has finally started to make strides in creating a stable community and is now more than doubled in population by the influx of refugees from Ember. In splitting the book between these two characters, DuPrau allows the reader to see the issues thr ...more

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Oct 27, 2008 Megan rated it really liked it

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

All the fun and interesting things about Ember are gone from the series, it seems, now that the Emberites have come above ground. I would have liked to see more of what it's like for people who've lived below ground and relied on electricity for their entire lives to come above ground, in the sunlight, and to live completely without electricity. I liked that Doon gets to inspect a whole world of new insects, and that Lina has never seen fire and is naturally very afraid of it, but I wish things All the fun and interesting things about Ember are gone from the series, it seems, now that the Emberites have come above ground. I would have liked to see more of what it's like for people who've lived below ground and relied on electricity for their entire lives to come above ground, in the sunlight, and to live completely without electricity. I liked that Doon gets to inspect a whole world of new insects, and that Lina has never seen fire and is naturally very afraid of it, but I wish things like that would have been gone into in a little more depth. That could have been really interesting, and maybe not too much to ask for after having sacrificed the whole cool underground sort of steampunk society aspect of the series in the first book. However, that just wasn't the focus of this book - the focus was mainly on the clashing of two societies which is used to examine in a more general sense the nature of conflict, and the beginnings of war. That part of the book is done, I think, extrememly well, especially for a YA novel. A great many things are over-simplified in order to bring the reader into a pretty raw contact with what kinds of things will pit two societies who mean well against each other. I think this is a great YA level examination of conflict and the causes and mentalities that produce war.

Actually, this book was a bit hard for me to read because the conflict brewing between the people of Sparks and the refugees from the city of Ember was so emotionally potent, and I'm generally a conflict-averse type person. As soon as I could see the telltale signs of a real clash between the societies coming, I started to shy away from the book altogether. (YA books are increasinly dark and gritty lately, it seems, perhaps following behind the more general literary trend. After reading especially realistic and/or gritty YA stuff like the Hungry City chronicles as well as Life As We Knew It and How I Live Now I was imagining all kinds of horrible outcomes that I just wasn't in the mood for.) About two thirds of the way through the book I just couldn't bring myself to read any more for a few weeks. I'm glad I eventually went back and finished the book, because I really enjoyed it. I think it's a mark of the author's ability to engage the reader that I was affected as strongly as I was, and that I was forced to take a break from reading until I was ready to handle what I felt was coming in the plot. I am excited to read the next two books in this series, even though I understand the next book is a prequel, back to the early days after 'the Disaster' and really I'm more interested in seeing what happens to the Emberites and People of Sparks next. ...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Sam rated it liked it

Definitely not as good as the first one, but The People of Sparks still kept me interested. I'm really interested in reading the third one, as it goes back in time and I'll finally be able to see what happened to the human race- what is constantly referred to as 'The Disaster' throughout the series. ...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Alice rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011

This was ok, not as good as the first book.

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Jan 03, 2008 Amy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, 2008-books-read, young-adult

In the second Book of Ember, the citizens of Ember meet the people of the post-apocalyptic world. As trilogies go, the quality always seems to go down as the book number in the series goes up. I guess it's hard to follow up a good idea. The book was enjoyable, but not nearly as much as The City of Ember. ...more

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