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The People of Sparks

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
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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  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The sequel to THE CITY OF EMBER finds the Emberites, led by Lina and Doon, climbing out of their dying underground city into the vastness of above ground, where there is endless sky and open fields. Here they encounter the people of Sparks, an agrarian community of survivors of "the disaster," who exist with little of the technology that Emberites once took for granted. Fear, greed, and hubris bring the disparate communities to the brink of disaster, and, once again, it's left to Lina and Doon to show the way to a better future. Unfortunately, Wendy Dillon's interpretation of DuPrau's curiously flat characters is whiny, reducing any sympathy the listener might have had for them. Further, the sound effects, which come and go seemingly at random, distract from the story. It all adds up to a disappointing audio endeavor. S.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 1, 2004
      At the end of The City of Ember
      , DuPrau's spellbinding debut, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, having made it safely out of their underground city, toss a message down through a chasm. This ambitious sequel opens as a boy, Torren, spies the survivors of Ember heading toward him, and he's "terrified." Torren's reaction foreshadows those of his fellow citizens. After Lina and Doon and the 417 people of Ember arrive in the town of Sparks ("We have not been aware of any post-Disaster settlements nearby, much less a city," their leaders claim), its citizens share their food and shelter, and they train the people of Ember to work in the fields with the goal of helping them set up a town of their own. But two lone acts of sabotage begin to eat away at the fragile trust between them. DuPrau takes on a sprawling world on the surface of the planet, and once again skillfully and confidently develops the idea of scarcity and how human beings react to a depletion of resources. However, the characterizations here take a back seat (for instance, Lina never visits Clary, an adult friend who played a pivotal role in Ember
      ; and Sadge Merrall and Mrs. Polster, both with strong personalities in Ember
      , melt into the masses while virtually invisible citizens such as Tick become major players). Lina stows away in a wagon headed for the city (to see if it could be the one she drew in Ember
      ); her experience at its ruins result in an epiphany for Lina that, oddly, has little impact on the rest of the novel. DuPrau offers a thought-provoking novel about brinkmanship and the way societies can plant the insidious seeds of war. Her overall message is ultimately uplifting, but it comes at the expense of the development of characters that made Ember
      so memorable. Ages 8-12.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 11, 2005
      In this ambitious sequel to The City of Ember
      , "DuPrau offers a thought-provoking novel about brinkmanship and the way societies can plant the insidious seeds of war," according to PW
      . Ages 8-up.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 24, 2004
      At the end of The City of Ember, DuPrau's spellbinding debut, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, having made it safely out of their underground city, toss a message down through a chasm. This ambitious sequel opens as a boy, Torren, spies the survivors of Ember heading toward him, and he's "terrified." Torren's reaction foreshadows those of his fellow citizens. After Lina and Doon and the 417 people of Ember arrive in the town of Sparks ("We have not been aware of any post-Disaster settlements nearby, much less a city," their leaders claim), its citizens share their food and shelter, and they train the people of Ember to work in the fields with the goal of helping them set up a town of their own. But two lone acts of sabotage begin to eat away at the fragile trust between them. DuPrau takes on a sprawling world on the surface of the planet, and once again skillfully and confidently develops the idea of scarcity and how human beings react to a depletion of resources. However, the characterizations here take a back seat (for instance, Lina never visits Clary, an adult friend who played a pivotal role in Ember; and Sadge Merrall and Mrs. Polster, both with strong personalities in Ember, melt into the masses while virtually invisible citizens such as Tick become major players). Lina stows away in a wagon headed for the city (to see if it could be the one she drew in Ember); her experience at its ruins result in an epiphany for Lina that, oddly, has little impact on the rest of the novel. DuPrau offers a thought-provoking novel about brinkmanship and the way societies can plant the insidious seeds of war. Her overall message is ultimately uplifting, but it comes at the expense of the development of characters that made Ember so memorable. Ages 8-12.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.9
  • Lexile® Measure:760
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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