Let me come right out, risking flaming and opprobrium, and say it Jeanne Deprau’s, City of Ember and its sequels are better then Harry Potter and I think my kids learned more from them. They aren’t more exciting (and I’m certainly not saying that Harry Potter isn’t very good), but their themes are deeper and subtler. If Harry Potter is chocolate chocolate chip ice cream, then The City of Ember is French vanilla.
Quick summary, Ember is a city deep underground surrounded by darkness. An aging generator that fails more and more frequently powers the lights and thus sustains life itself. The people of the city have no idea that there is any world beyond their home or that they are underground or why they are there.
I give nothing away when I explain that the city was built as a reserve against the possibility of cataclysmic war and that the inhabitants had instructions on how to leave that were supposed to be revealed years ago. But the instructions were lost and the city is running low on supplies. A pair of teens discover the remains of the instructions and ultimately find their way of out of the city.
In the sequel, The People of Sparks the refugees from Ember, now on the surface encounter a village which wrestles with what to do with these newcomers. In the final book of the series, The Diamond of Darkhold the main characters return to Ember.
What do I like?
First, there is no Dumbledore (not that Dumbledore is not awesome) but in the Ember series the kids figure things out for themselves. There is no wizard to guide them.
Second, there is no Voldemort. This is not about good versus evil. There are good people and bad people. But the bad people are usually bad in their smallness and their greed. This has a quality of realness, rather then the more cartoonish figures of Harry Potter. Children will meet petty adults, they will hopefully not encounter Voldemort.
Third, the action is low-key. There is action, tension, and scary moments. But there is very little deadly violence (although there is modest violence.) It is not Harry Potter exciting, but things happen. Prophet of Yonwood is a “prequel” to the series and its connections to the other books are pretty nominal. BUT, it does a terrific job of depicting a dictatorship emerging in a way that is harrowing, but completely appropriate for children –a nice bit of writing.
Fourth, the writing is clear and gentle. I also like the descriptions of both life in Ember and life in the post-disaster world in which people are struggling to rebuild. There is not discussion of grand politics, but rather a sense of how day-to-day life is lived.
Fifth, is the way the commonplace becomes magical. Anyone could write about a world of spells and fantastic creatures. But in the Ember series (particularly the first and last books) electricity, and the lack of it, are important elements of the plot. Much that is commonplace for us is in fact quite magical – if we open our eyes to it.
Finally, the City of Ember works to introduce children to one of the most profound ideas in history, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
The Movie
City of Ember was made into a movie and I would be remiss to not mention it. The action is “bigger” as befits a movie for the big screen, but it is basically true to the book appropriate to children of kindergarten age and up – and it has Bill Murray who is always fun to watch!
City of Ember was made into a movie and I would be remiss to not mention it. The action is “bigger” as befits a movie for the big screen, but it is basically true to the book appropriate to children of kindergarten age and up – and it has Bill Murray who is always fun to watch!
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