The City of Ember

The First Book of Ember

By: Jeanne DuPrau

Narrated by: Wendy Dillon

Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

ALA Notable Children's Book

Ember is the only light in a dark world. But when its lamps begin to flicker, two friends must race to escape the dark. This highly acclaimed adventure series is a modern-day classic—with over 4 MILLION copies sold!

The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to dim. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. Now, she and her friend Doon must race to figure out the clues to keep the lights on. If they succeed, they will have to convince everyone to follow them into danger. But if they fail? The lights will burn out and the darkness will close in forever.

Nominated to 28 State Award Lists!

An American Library Association Notable Children’s Book

A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Selection

A Kirkus Reviews Editors’ Choice

A Child Magazine Best Children’s Book

A Mark Twain Award Winner

A William Allen White Children’s Book Award Winner

“A realistic post-apocalyptic world. DuPrau’s book leaves Doon and Lina on the verge of undiscovered country and readers wanting more.”—USA Today

“An electric debut.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred

“While Ember is colorless and dark, the book itself is rich with description.”—VOYA, Starred

“A harrowing journey into the unknown, and cryptic messages for readers to decipher.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Don't miss Lina and Doon's other adventures in The City of Ember.

©2003 Jeanne DuPrau (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

A Kirkus Reviews Editors’ Choice

A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Selection

USA Today "DuPrau’s first foray into fiction creates a realistic post-apocalyptic world. Reminiscent of Robert O'Brien's Z for Zachariah, DuPrau’s book leaves Doon and Lina on the verge of the undiscovered country and readers wanting more."

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly"Thanks to full-blooded characters every bit as compelling as the plot, Lina and Doon’s search parallels the universal adolescent quest for answers. An electric debut!"

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews "Well-paced, this contains a satisfying mystery, a breathtaking escape over rooftops in darkness, a harrowing journey into the unknown, and cryptic messages for readers to decipher. The likeable protagonists are not only courageous but also believably flawed by human pride. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers clamoring for the next installment."

Disappointing Performance

Where does The City of Ember rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Much lower than I expected.

What did you like best about this story?

A very well written book.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Wendy Dillon?

Definitely!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Unfortunately not.

Any additional comments?

I loved this series but was very disappointed in the narration. The reader made the book feel like it was for a seven year old.

Much better than the movie!

I saw the movie many years ago, and when Audible came out with the book, I had to listen. I found the book to explain things much better. The movie had stuff in it that was not in the book. I found the story to be believable in a lot of ways!
#tagsgiving
#sweepstakes

Just another Post-apocalypse YA

Loved the narration by Wendy Dillon, but the story itself dragged and dragged. I had to force myself to push on, blindly, ignoring the massive plot holes that continued to crop up. The characters had the depth of Saturday morning cartoons. I get that this was written for a younger audience, but this was basically a crayon-colored picture book without any pictures.

4 th grade read

This book is amazing and in listening to it with my 4 th grade child, we were able to discuss and enjoy the book together. On to book two!

Love this book

If you haven't watched the movie yet you.should it is a good movie, on that note the book is amazing and much better than the movie like most books for some.reason studios decide to change stuff for the movie. This is a great ready and a good movie.

Great story. Terrible narrator

I listened to this story because it was being used as a read aloud and writing assignments for my students. Interesting premise and creative setting. I liked the sound effects. The only downside was the narrators voices of some characters were annoying. They sounded like cartoon characters. The narrator's reading the events of the story was good.

wonderful book

very interested from the star it's one of those books were you can't stop hearing it.

Good book

my yooung teens really liked it. They wanted more explanation as to why the people were underground.

Loved it!

We can't wait to get started on the next book! I highly recommend this series!

amazing

excellent story. kind of reminds me of a vaults from Fallout I am excited to read the next one