The People of Sparks by jeanne duprau

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I didn't like this book as well as the first one, which I found much more interesting. And I found the "lesson" of the story at times too heavy handed and simplistic. But simplistic isn't always a bad thing in children's stories I suppose. I was mostly bothered that for even those who did not want to fight regarding the disagreement there didn't seem much understanding of the other side or awareness that they didn't have a right to expect a share in provisions others had worked for for themselves.

I enjoyed the parts where Lina when off away from the town exploring better and found them more interesting.

But overall kids who liked the first book will probably like it, and be interested in knowing what happened next. And it would be a good conversation starter about disputes between groups of people, how they can escalate, how to dispell them, as well as appreciating generosity of others without feelings of entitlement.

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mertsi

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I have always wanted to read this book when I was in middle school but never got around to it until recently. It is not a horrid book, it is decent. It did drag on in some sections, it was also boring in some, but it was also good in other sections. Overall a good book to read to middle schoolers.

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MK_Alex

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Ένα βιβλίο γεμάτο μηνύματα και ερεθίσματα για σκέψη κατά της κακίας, της εκδίκησης και των πολέμων.
Η αντιμετώπιση της βίας,η επιμονή για τη διεκδίκηση του δίκιου,οι ακραίες πολιτικές και συμπεριφορές που οδηγούν κατευθείαν σε πρόκληση διαμάχης και διαταραχές ανάμεσα στους ανθρώπους.
Το κακό μπορεί να ξεπεραστεί χωρίς εκδίκηση.
Το καλό σίγουρα σπέρνει σπόρους φιλίας,ομονοιας, αλληλεγγύης και αγάπης.
Βρήκα έξοχο τον τροπο που πραγματεύεται υψηλές αξίες και ιδανικά που υπάρχουν και καλλιεργούνται μέσα στο ανθρώπινο μυαλό και ξεκινώντας από ένα δυστοπικό κόσμο κάτω από τη γη φτάνει με δεξιοτεχνία να τις προωθεί σε όλες τις ανθρώπινες κοινότητες και σε μικρές ή μεγάλες κοινωνικές ομάδες προσπαθώντας απρόοπτα και προκλητικά να ανοίξει χώρο στο μυαλό και να προωθήσει τα ιδανικά της ειρήνης, της αγάπης και της δικαιοσύνης.
Ολα αυτά ειναι γραμμένα με τροπο απλό και λιτό,ευχάριστο και κατανοητό.

Καλή ανάγνωση!!

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IsaacAcotas

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

6/3 - I started reading this on the train this evening because my other current book was way too big to fit in my handbag and I didn't want to have to carry it in my hands for the whole night, so I chose something more compact and this was it. I managed 31 pages before I met my friend at the train station. From those 31 pages I can already see that it has similarly immature language and that there's going to be a number of lessons to be learned while reading this book. Was DuPrau a school teacher before becoming a writer? Because filling a YA book so full of morals and 'lessons' smacks of something a primary school teacher might do, hoping to impart some important values and life lessons into their students while at the same time getting them read. Now that I'm back home and not having to worry about how unwieldy my book is I'll be going back to the mutant-sized one. I'll get back to this in a few days once I've finished The Passage. To be continued...

9/3 - I feel like this book was one big lesson on the evils of revenge against perceived injustices. At the back of the book there is a short biography of DuPrau which tells us that she has been a teacher at one point in time, and I can see the evidence of that in her writing (did I say that in my review of The City of Ember?, if I did it's even more apparent in this book). The people of Ember have left Ember, their underground home, and are now trying to fit in with the people of Sparks, the nearest town to the location of Ember. The people of Sparks are concerned (and justifiably so, in my opinion) that the new arrivals (400+ new people, doubling the size of Sparks) are going to eat up all their food and make life harder for the original inhabitants of Sparks. These concerns fuel the people of Sparks' frustrations and feelings that the idea of having to share with the people of Ember is an unfair hardship. At the same time the people of Ember feel unwanted by the people of Sparks and all these feelings of injustice lead to 'attacks' back and forth between the two groups. The first attack leads to a retaliation, which leads to revenge until both 'towns' are in such a frenzy that two people (the two main instigators from Sparks, as it happens) are nearly killed in the fighting. Doon saves the life of one of the people in danger, while Lina is the first to rush in and help fight the fires the fighting has sparked (no pun intended). These two acts of selflessness are enough to finally get the people of Sparks to see the people of Ember as more than just a burden on their town, they can help make the town even more prosperous. Double the people doesn't just mean half as much food for everyone, in the long run it means double the workers to keep the town running.

I wish this didn't preach quite so much, but I will read the last book in the trilogy because I want to see where it goes.

PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge: A Book with Bad Reviews

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Animez-Senpai

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

This is a lovely series. The kind of dystopia where people actually live with the consequences, instead of, you know, evolving into advanced societies with kings/queens/mutants/totalitarian governments that are obsessed with deathly competitions. Get what I'm saying? This feels real. Hundreds of years ago humans were jerks. BOOM. Everyone died and now centuries later, with a significant portion of the population and technology kaput, they are struggling to stay alive and trying to make small advances to regrow life.

The City of Ember and The People of Sparks have the same tone and yet, different as well. Ember was underground and the mood was a mixture of excitement, dread and suffocating. Ember is above ground so it isn't as dark and dank but there's still a cloud of anticipation hanging over everything as in Ember, what will happen next?.

n n

I hope Lina and Doon grow up, though. I liked the absence of it first but I'm starting to miss the teenage love drama. There's a reason I like YA.

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Yuri-Chann

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

The weak writing, admittedly present in City of Ember, is more apparent here in the second book...and the story is a bit overbearing & heavyhanded with its message, at the expense of the story-unfolding... The message is peace-keeping and war-avoiding though, so I guess I have a bit of leniency for the message-hammering.

The people of Ember have emerged from their underworld, and have found Sparks--a village that has survived the Disaster. I liked reading about the people of Ember seeing sun for the first time, figuring out that it rises and sets--and green grass--and finding fruit growing in the wild...and encountering people. I liked how City of Ember had electricity--and the post-Disaster village of Sparks had plenty of comforts and innovations that Emberites had never seen, but no electricity.
I found a lot of the build-up of conflict (to set the stage for the peace message) between the People of Ember and People of Sparks pretty dull. Still, it's decent for fans who want more of Lina and Doon--and it provides some mind-flipping concepts for the upper elementary set, which is fun.
It's interesting/worthwhile to have a children's adventure (even if its a dull-adventure) book deal with corrupt government (C.o.E.), an amorphic Disaster, war and peace, and, to a degree, socialism...

As in the first book, I'm fairly sure DuPrau was writing with a movie in mind--and as with the first, it felt a bit cheap and hole-y for this. [The almost-war scene especially--SO boring to read--but if you were seeing what you were reading, it would probably feel quick and exciting.] BUT, as with City of Ember, the ending is so so so good. Before the last chapter I was thinking I was tired of these books, and probably could have done without reading the second. When I finished the last chapter I was so glad I'd read the book. Read it for the last chapter!

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Robop-MAL

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

If I could give this book 6 stars, I would. I enjoyed City of Ember as a fun, quick YA read, but this sequel is just as entertaining, while also being profoundly thought-provoking and insightful.

I loved that the main characters - Lina and Doon - are honest and warm, with realistic struggles: Doon is still working on controlling his temper, and Lina's curiosity and impulsiveness still tend to cause trouble. However, they are both guided by good advice and a strong conscience, paving the way for growth.

Incidentally, I was very surprised to see so many mediocre reviews on this book! I agree that the writing is fairly simplistic, but I actually felt that this contributed to the story, rather than being detrimental (I felt the same about City of Ember). Also, the message never seemed pushy or preachy to me. It's still definitely YA literature, but I highly recommend it for its great plot, wonderful characters, and quiet inspiration.

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playa03

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

A sequel that holds true to its original characters, but puts them in a totally different situation and set of adventures. If I had one problem with these books, it would be that I suspect the authour starts writing the books with a "what values can I leave the readers with?" idea in her head. But, to her credit, I usually agree with her values (avoiding crowd mentality, being tolerant, solving problems non-violently) and the story is exciting enough anyways.

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Book of Ember #2

The People of Sparks

jeanne duprau

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Lina Mayfleet

Doon Harrow

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About the author

jeanne duprau

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