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

by Jeanne DuPrau

When the people of the underground city of Ember follow Lina and Doon to the surface, little prepares them for what they will encounter. Leaving behind the darkness that has been their home for generations, they discover a world of colour, warmth and light. The people of the small village of Sparks seem willing to help them . . . at first . . . but life on the surface has it's dark side too.

Before long the villagers of Sparks become more reluctant to share their precious resources with the strange, new underground people. Lina and Doon watch in horror as the differences between the two groups grow into resentment, anger and hate. Somehow they must help overcome the distrust and bring the people of Ember and Sparks together.

• ISBN10: 0552552399
• ISBN13: 9780552552394
• Publish Date: 2 February 2006 (first published 1 January 2004)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
• Imprint: Corgi Childrens
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Now freed from the slowly darkening City of Ember, Lina and Doon lead about 400 citizens across the war ravaged wasteland until they stumble upon Sparks. Faced with abandoning these people to the wastes or taking them in, the Town Council votes to adopt of the people of Ember for six months, until they can learn to fend for themselves.

Fear of food shortages and rising tempers lead to traded worlds and animosity between the two peoples, and soon, there's the threat of violence. Doon, wanting to see justice served, find himself conflicted at the idea of fighting back... but it's only fair, right? And Lina takes an unexpected adventure that leads her to understand how the world ended before.

My actual review for this is 3.5 stars. It's not bad, and I think that there are a couple aspects of my specific experience that made me enjoy it less. For starters, Wendy Dillon's narration is hit-or-miss. She does a few voices that really annoy me, and ruin the scenes those characters who are in. Secondly, I'm way older than the intended audience, so that's a factor too.

I think that for the right audience, and in print, The People of Sparks is a good response to The City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau is true to her characters and the message of greed and the importance of empathy is strong. I still believe she does an incredible job balancing storytelling for middle grade readers and weaving a successful dystopia. The overall storytelling is still enough to make me push forward, but this isn't one I'll be adding to my hardcopy collection.