Simone Chen

Simone Chen
The Diamond of Darkhold

Jeanne DuPrau
Science Fiction
Just Right
Pg. 21

1. Right now the people of Ember are still trying to adjust to their new life in the real world outside. Before they had lived in the dying city of Ember, which was underground. The conditions in their new home above ground are very different from the conditions underground. They have to learn to cope with rain, wind, snow, thunder, and lightning. Earlier the people of Sparks (who had generously taken them in to temperarily live in Sparks) had been conflicting with the people of Ember because the Emberites were eating their food and living in their homes. By now most of the Sparks and Ember citizens have learned to get along. Doon and Lina are best friends, and they were the ones who found the way out of Ember. Doon's dad just tripped and fell onto a piece of glass which cut open his hand.



2. I can't say specifically if I like or dislike this book so far because I'm only on page 20, but I think I will like it because I've read the three other books of the Ember series. I like the author's writing style a lot; it's descriptive and captivating, and not boring at all. I like how the author portrayed what could happen to the human race in the near future if we keep fighting and having violent wars; three quarters of the human population would be wiped off the face of the earth because of a huge world war. Then we would have to start all over again, and we'd lose everything we had worked so hard for hundreds of years for- for example our current advanced technology. We would all have to become farmers again and live in tiny mud/straw huts. The author is depicting how damaging fighting and wars can be, and I think she is doing this in a very creative way.



3. A theme that I've noticed so far is reliability. All the Emberites rely and depend on each other a lot to survive, especially in this unfamiliar and dangerous new place where water and electricity (lightning) come from the sky. They share their food and welcome each other into their homes because they are all part of the same community and like one big family. A good example of their reliability of each other is when Doon's father gets his hand cut open by some glass. Many people near him notice this and offer strips of cloth from their clothing to wrap around his hand to help stop the bleeding. They help him because they all depend on each other and they know that he would do the same thing for them.



4. My favorite character is Mrs. Murdo because she is very smart and stern, but at the same time she's kind-hearted and caring. When Lina and her little sister Poppy's grandmother died, Mrs. Murdo (their neighbor in Ember) took them in and let them live with her. She is like a mother to them now. Mrs. Murdo is also a big help to Dr. Hester, who is the only doctor in the small town of Sparks. She helps her by making bandages and makes medicine. Even though these may seem like small tasks, Dr. Hester needs all the help she can get- and Mrs. Murdo provides just that.

5. There is no particular character that stands out to me as my least favorite character, but if I had to choose I would say the roamer who arrives at Sparks in the beginning. She has a ratty, torn-up book that Doon takes interest in because he likes books. She doesn't even need it or want it, but when Doon offers something to trade for it she presses him to give him more for the old book than it is really worth. This makes her seem greedy; for money especially.

6. My prediction of what is going to happen next is that the book Doon eventually got from the roamer will be important- maybe a journal of somebody from before the Disaster. The journal might give clues of what life was like before the Disaster happened and millions of people died. I think Doon and Lina will go on some kind of adventure again, and on that adventure they might find something that could help Sparks as winter is approaching- something like a place with tons of food, or clothes or tools.