THE PEOPLE OF SPARKS

I think this is a really extraordinary book for young readers, introducing some serious real life topics through the story. I read this aloud to my 6yo son after first reading the City of Ember. Honestly, I didn't really connect with the first book; I found it slow and the plot a little weak, besides what I saw as scientific holes in the story. Canned food lasted 200 years? How do people not have rickets and other vitamin D deficiencies from living in the dark? And what about inbreeding in an isolated small population for 8-10 generations? However, my son wanted to continue, so we did and this second book was a wonderful surprise. The people of Ember are taken in, reluctantly, by the people of Sparks. This is a time after 'the disasters', which is never fully explained but was a time of war, disease and famine. There are no fossil fuels and there are multiple references to the technologies that used to exist. This is a great introduction to fossil fuels as a finite resource and our assumptions that other modern technologies will always exist. The town of Sparks is finally becoming self-sufficient after much struggle, but taking in 400 Emberites is a huge strain. They have worked hard for what they have and feel like it is 'theirs', but what is their (our) obligation to help people in need? The characters of both Doon and Lina become much more developed in this story; they are both confronted with things that confront their character and integrity. Sometimes it is hard to choose the good path. Some of the themes I liked were the challenges of different groups of people getting along. How do we identify with our group? It is easy to vilify people who are strangers or think of them as less intelligent. This is a common theme in our real world of borders and refugees and I think this book gives great fodder for conversation. Lina also contemplates war; what leads to war and why anyone would participate in this hugely destructive act. In the story, some events begin to create conflict between the two groups. Through a series of misunderstandings and assumptions you can see how anger, revenge and violence begin to spiral out of control, to the harm and destruction of everyone. Much of the deeper content of this book was over my sons head although he did enjoy the story. In general I think it would be more appropriate for a little bit older group, maybe 8-13. I will definitely keep this and come back to it again as a read aloud.

When the people of Ember thought all was lost, a couple of young kids were able to find their way out of the underground, dying city. Now, in The People of the Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau, the people of Ember must find a way to survive in a whole new world. Lina and Doon knew they couldn't stay in Ember any longer, but they didn't anticipate how life would be aboveground. It was beautiful, full of light and color like nothing the over 400 Ember refugees had ever seen. After three days, they stumbled upon a town called Sparks where life was hard, but people were living. In a world where multiple plagues and world wars had ravaged the land and left only a few survivors, the people of Sparks were survivors. But with only 300 or so residents of the small settlement, the addition of the 400+ ember refugees makes life tough on everyone. Barely able to feed themselves in rough winters, they have no idea what they are going to do now that they have more than doubled their population. At first people are kind and supportive and even a little amused by the Emberites naivete. They forget the people from the underground city wouldn't know about seasons, mountains, birds, or flowers, but they enjoy teaching them new things. Soon, however, the wear and tear of taking care of people who don't know how to take care of themselves makes charity difficult, and the people of Sparks begin to resent their new arrivals. Doon and Lina know something must be done, but they have very different ideas of how to do it. How do you stop a war between two groups of people who are both right? There is something magical about this series that when I read it, I feel like I am reading a fairy tale. I don't know how to explain it, and it isn't just the "youth" of the story, but it really does feel like reading a fairy tale full or moral and ethical lessons we all need to learn. It seems like a dark and heavy story for a middle reader, but it surprisingly isn't. It is told in a way that middle readers can relate to and never be overwhelmed by, which is the genius behind this series. This is a great second installment to the series, as it takes the people of Ember in a whole new direction. But more importantly are the central themes of outsiders, being different, tolerance, and helping people even when it makes things difficult for you. This is a beautiful series to read in your class with your students or at home together with your child as it has so much to offer as they grow and learn about the world. It should be a staple in every library as well. I am impressed by DuPrau, and can't wait to see where the story takes us!

It is a good book and very interesting but they should make this in the movie but sadly the city of embers movie was a failure so it’s not likely that they will make the another movie about people of sparks.

This book is all about possibilities, if we work together there isn’t anything that can’t be done. Working together is what it’s all about.

My kids really got into the Ember series with the first book. Given how that book ends I thought there wasn't much more the author could do with the story and it would go down hill; I was wrong. This book is even better than the first one. It packs a punch showing how small misunderstandings can lead to a community falling apart. The book presents two communities the people of Sparks who live above ground and the people of Ember who escaped their dying city below ground. The fact that the two groups distrust each other and that there will be conflict is obvious and I was worried would get boring, it doesn't. The author shows you that each side has legitimate fears and no one is the villain. Many stories in our culture tend to put good against evil, even great books like the Harry Potter series. This book presents humanity much more realistically with average people who are brought to the brink of disaster by their own flaws. It's a very mature outlook for a kids book and honestly we could all use a little of this perspective these days. It's also a tightly written story that keeps the pace moving. It's a great read .

This book was great; it had adventure, drama, mystery and excitement. I am anxious to read the next book in the series.

BUY IT! Especially if you have read the first one. My students were absolutely HOOKED on the first book. I bought this for them as end of the year gifts, they were PUMPED! I’ve read it and I loved it.

The People of Sparks, the second book in the Book of Ember series, written by Jeanne DuPrau has won the New York Times Bestselling Author award. The book tells the story of the Emberites coming into the new world, learning about the new world, and after a long journey finding a small town called Sparks. The world they come into is filled with equality and uniformity brought on by the struggles to rebuild. Societies have differences and will run into problems, they must overcome these differences and overcome the troubles they run into or be destroyed. We first meet our characters once again at the mouth of the cave they came out of. Lina and Doon were waiting and hoping that the message they threw down to the city was read. A day passed and just before Lina and Doon were going to give up the first people started to show up. When all of the citizens had come they started off. They only saw one road, so they started on it. The people saw so many new and confusing things; again and again they stopped to study a tree or sometimes a squirrel or bird. They had no idea what any of these things were, but they kept walking. While walking Lina’s little sister Poppy became extremely ill along with many other citizens. It became evident that if they didn’t find some kind of town Poppy and many others would die. Considering this they started walking even faster and before they knew it they were gazing upon a small town. The citizens of Ember marched into the town as the town leaders were coming to meet them. They talked to the town leaders for a while and the town leaders agreed to let them stay and teach them how to survive so they could build their own town. It was just their luck that a doctor lived in the town; the doctor took all of the sick to have medical attention. She started with the youngest and worked her way up treating everyone but Poppy. She didn’t know what was wrong with Poppy so she took Poppy, Lina, and her grandmother in so that she could watch over Poppy. The Emberites soon began working and learning. One day while Lina was sweeping a house she heard the footsteps of oxen and the voice of many people shouting with joy. It was Caspar the person that Lina had been hearing a lot about. Caspar had returned for a short time to give some gifts that he picked up while traveling. Soon though he left and without Doon knowing Lina had gone with him. While Lina was traveling things at Sparks weren’t going too well, they were running out of food, the people of Ember couldn’t get enough work done, and the two towns differences were threatening to ruin everything. The leaders of Sparks didn’t know what to do except for give the Emberites a deadline. The Emberites had six months to learn how to survive before the leaders would make them leave. The Emberites did not like this and thought that the people of Sparks were being selfish. The only way they could think to resolve the problem and resolve their differences was either the Emberites leave or have a war. The town leaders of Sparks discussed the matter and came to the decision that they would make the Emberites leave the next day and if they refused they would use “the weapon”. The next day came along and the Emberites found themselves in a tough decision. They did not want to leave, they wouldn’t survive but if they stayed everyone in the town would most likely all die too. The leaders of sparks wanted a decision but the Emberites didn’t give them one so they brought out the “weapon”. They start to fire it but it explodes due to lack of use, and causes town hall to catch on fire. The Emberites watch passively as the people of Sparks try to save the building, most hoping the building will burn down. But Lina decides to help the people of Sparks, causing most of the people of Ember to pitch in and they all succeed in putting out the fire. As this happens, Doon sees that Torren is trapped in the burning tree by the building, rushes in, and bravely saves him be fore he catches on fire. This act turns around the spiral of resentment and results in a bright future for both the people of Ember and the people of Sparks. The thrilling and suspenseful book keeps your attention throughout the whole story and overall was a fantastic read.