City of Ember by Jeanne duPrau

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0375822747/ref=nosim?tag=beyondwordsle-20

Overview: Imagine a mysterious city that is always dark. It has no natural sunlight and relies on an aging generator to produce electricity for their dark city, and to survive. The residents live on canned food that is stored in a huge warehouse.

But – the food is running out, the light bulbs are running out, and the generator is breaking down more and more often. Even worse, the residents have no idea how to escape or even what lies outside their city in the pitch- black darkness beyond. Only the two protagonists of the story, who are 12 and 13 years old, have the courage to try to escape.

This is the setting and plot of the City of Ember by Jeanne duPrau. This is one of the most exciting and suspenseful novels ever written specifically for the middle school crowd. The suspense will keep readers on the edge of their seats and guessing until the very end.

This Bundle includes:

• one introductory, hands-on activity to get students interested, plus an introductory set of Study Questions for Chapters 1 and 2, with key;

• three intermediate multiple-choice quizzes (12 questions each) on chapters throughout the book including key;

• A word Search puzzle for students who have read ahead, or as a fun activity;

• a complete end-of-novel test (40 questions) including key;

• An activity to complete after first five chapters called "City of Ember Journal - What Job Would You Pick?"

• An enrichment handout activity called "What is a Generator?" which explains in clear language what a generator is, complete with illustrations;

• An enrichment activity called "Stranger than Fiction: the True Story of the Thai Soccer Team Cave Rescue." A fascinating article about the 2018 cave rescue

• A complete test over the whole novel - print and digital

  
  

Age Level and Length: Vocabulary level is 4th grade; interest level goes through 7th or 8th grade. The book should take 3-5 hours total for the average 7th grader to read. The test takes 30 minutes or less; the other products take 20 minutes or less.

Maturity Issues: None. There are strong friendships but no romance or physical intimacy. There is no actual violence, though there is strong suspense and sometimes an atmosphere of dread. No political issues, and strong family loyalty is emphasized.

Additional Comment: There are a couple of more books in the series; the immediate sequel is called The People of Sparks. In our opinion the sequels are okay but not nearly as good or as exciting as the original book. There is also an entertaining movie released in 2013 that is family-friendly and reasonably faithful to the original book.