The+City+of+Ember+(2)

Dave Dorosko LIC 552 Adolescent Novel Review //The City of Ember//


 * Summary **

// The City of Ember // by Jeanne DuPrau is a science fiction novel for young adolescents. Ember is a strange colony that exists in a place with no sun or natural light and in total isolation from any outside human contact. When the aging generator goes out, the people of Ember are left in total and terrifying darkness. Not only are the dreaded blackouts becoming more frequent, but light bulbs, canned food and other supplies left by the mysterious builders are running out. Despite assurance from Mayor Cole that solutions are in the works, feelings of uneasiness and panic spread through the population. The main characters, twelve-year-olds, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, discover a few clues that lead them to believe there may be an ancient, secret escape route out of their crumbling world. The two make a desperate leap of faith and go on a risky adventure to save themselves and the people of Ember.


 * Critique **

The National Middle School Association (2010) describes young adolescents as “intensely curious,” and this novel contains the type mystery that will play right into their inquisitive nature (p. 56). What is in the strange box that was passed down from mayor to mayor and then lost? What did the instructions say before Lina’s baby sister chewed them up? What is behind the locked door? Another mystery that literally surrounds Ember is the Unknown Regions, an empty, dark, dangerous, rocky void that seemingly goes on forever. This is a concept that middle grades learners can especially identify with. To them, everything outside their small world is an Unknown Region waiting to be explored. Just like Lina and Doon, young adolescents are searching for purpose and trying to find their place in the world as they begin their path to adulthood.


 * Language Arts **
 * Creative writing project on man’s early attempts to harness fire and light
 * Evaluative questions about Ember’s system of assigning jobs
 * Write about what they would bring on the boat if forced to flee their home tonight
 * Divergent questions about Lina and Doon’s decision to leave without warning others


 * Math **
 * Supply clerk-rationing project where students are given stats on population, quantity of light bulbs and average rate of use
 * Discuss if there is an advantage for going first or last in Ember’s job assignment system, probability
 * Word problems with population size and quantity of boats
 * Graph blackout frequency and length to predict date of permanent electric failure


 * Physical Education **
 * Messenger game based on Lina’s new job


 * Science **
 * Whooping cough that kills a mayor and other citizens, students could research infectious diseases and come up with a list of possible candidates
 * Environmental comparisons, what supplies are we getting short on? Who are our “Doons?” Who is working on our shortages and what exactly are the measures being taken?


 * Social Studies **
 * Lina messenger job could be compared/contrasted with delivering messages over the ages from first Greek marathon to Paul Revere to NYC bike messengers to email
 * Compare Ember’s government to communism and socialism
 * Unknown Regions, tie Lina and Doon’s exploration to Maori, Vikings, Shackelford, Cook
 * Convergent Questions about Mayor Cole political corruption and current scandals in the media

References

National Middle School Association. (2010). //This we believe: Keys to educating young// //adolescents.// Westerville, OH: Author.

DuPrau, J. (2003). // The City of Ember //. New York City, NY: Random House Children’s Books.