City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

[garcia5]

Following the final book of J.K. Rowlings Potter series I searched high and low to find a fun yet smart book that I could read to my kids and sifted through a ton of very poor books. City of Ember is the first in a trilogy of books about a msyterious civilization realized through the characters of Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, two young citizens who believe there is more to their small dark world then just Ember. When Lina discovers a mysterious box which at one point contained a single piece of paper, which unfortunatly gets chewed on by her younger sister, yet another mystery unravels concerning a world that may exist outside of her own in Ember. With the help of her best friend Doon she sorts through the puzzle looking for wa way to save the city which is on the brink of being cast into total darkness.

This was such a good read. I usually put the kids in bed and read them a chapter but my 10 year old, everynight, pleaded for me to go just one more chapter. We finished reading this book last night and it ended so wonderfully that it just makes the entire story so good. The City of Ember is set to be released as a film very soon by Walden Films. Hopefully it will be as good as the book. Fingers crossed.

[MOVIES REVIEWER]

Following the final book of J.K. Rowlings Potter series I searched high and low to find a fun yet smart book that I could read to my kids and sifted through a ton of very poor books. City of Ember is the first in a trilogy of books about a msyterious civilization realized through the characters of Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, two young citizens who believe there is more to their small dark world then just Ember. When Lina discovers a mysterious box which at one point contained a single piece of paper, which unfortunatly gets chewed on by her younger sister, yet another mystery unravels concerning a world that may exist outside of her own in Ember. With the help of her best friend Doon she sorts through the puzzle looking for wa way to save the city which is on the brink of being cast into total darkness.

This was such a good read. I usually put the kids in bed and read them a chapter but my 10 year old, everynight, pleaded for me to go just one more chapter. We finished reading this book last night and it ended so wonderfully that it just makes the entire story so good. The City of Ember is set to be released as a film very soon by Walden Films. Hopefully it will be as good as the book. Fingers crossed.

I'd recommend the Xanth series by Piers Anthony - starting with A Spell For Chameleon. The early Xanth novels are FUN reads - with interesting characters, fun word plays/puns, good story-lines,...

A Spell For Chameleon (aka Xanth: A Spell For Chameleon) by Radiant Productions is soon to be released by Warner Bros. supposedly sometime this year. Screenwritten by Tim McCanlies (Secondhand Lions, Iron Giant).

Other recommended series for kids and young adults are The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series,....

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[garcia5]

We finished off the Spiderwick books before they came to the theater and liked them. The Dark Materials Books were great for me and I read the first book to the kids but think that as the series moves along they get a little to serious to read to my children at their ages. I'll definitly check out the one you recommended after were done with the Ember series.

[MOVIES REVIEWER]

We finished off the Spiderwick books before they came to the theater and liked them. The Dark Materials Books were great for me and I read the first book to the kids but think that as the series moves along they get a little to serious to read to my children at their ages. I'll definitly check out the one you recommended after were done with the Ember series.

A few other recommendations.......

A Wrinkle In Time - Quintet - series by Madeleine L'Engle

Eion Colfer's ARTEMIS FOWL series

The Last Mimzy by Henry Kuttner (also a motion picture)

Susanna Clarke's JONATHAN STRANGE and MR. NORRELL (soon to be a motion picture)

STARDUST by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' (illustrated) edition (also a motion picture)

And the old standby classic - The Arabian Nights

AVOID:
Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson The Olympians series - lack-luster mediocre BORING and unimaginative.

:rocks::rocks::rocks:

[Tomcat]

I have never read the book. The movie tailer is interesting. I may want to give this book series as a gift. Will you recommend for an 9 year-old to read them?

BTW, I enjoyed Nancy Farmer's "House of the Scorpion" very much. If I am not wrong, it was one of your recommended books, garcia (sorry if somone else's recommendation..).

[MOVIES REVIEWER]

We finished off the Spiderwick books before they came to the theater and liked them. The Dark Materials Books were great for me and I read the first book to the kids but think that as the series moves along they get a little to serious to read to my children at their ages. I'll definitly check out the one you recommended after were done with the Ember series.


Check out also works by CORNELIA FUNKE and ENID BLYTON.
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