The People of Sparks

The People of Sparks

First edition cover
Author	Jeanne DuPrau
Language	English
Series	The Book of Ember series
Genre	Young adult, Science fiction, Fantasy novel
Publisher	Random House/Yearling
Publication date	May 25, 2004
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	338
ISBN	0375828249
OCLC	53932528
LC Class	PZ7.D927 Pe 2004
Preceded by	The City of Ember
Followed by	The Prophet of Yonwood

The People of Sparks, a post-apocalyptic novel by Jeanne DuPrau that was published in 2004, it is the second book in the Books of Ember series which also includes, The City of Ember, The Prophet of Yonwood, and The Diamond of Darkhold.

Plot summary

Having emerged from hundreds of years in an underground city, the 400 survivors of Ember can't go back, but have no idea how to survive on the surface. Wandering for days, exhausted and hungry, they come across the village of Sparks. The people of this small village reluctantly agree to take in the refugees for 6 months, just long enough to teach them to survive on their own.

But food is tight as a dog in a cage, the starving Emberites are stupid and don't seem to know anything, and the villagers soon begin to resent having to take care of them. As tensions mount a mysterious series of acts of vandalism against the people of Ember heightens the anger on both sides, until conflict seems inevitable.

The people of Ember are growing restless and the people of Sparks want to get rid of them, as they are not being very civil to each other. Soon the food the Emberites open is more and more unpleasant. They are unwelcome and they know it, they are forced into an old hotel, the Pioneer Hotel, which was once grand but has now fallen into disrepair. The Emberites are told that at the end of the month they will have to leave and start their own civilization. Meanwhile, Lina leaves with a group of Roamers- people who go to old cities to find treasure, hoping to find the city she has been dreaming of and drawing. There she finds not a beautiful city like she expected, but a ruined and crumbling metropolis. She arrives back at Sparks disappointed.

The climax occurs when Sparks' town hall catches 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, upon which most of the Emberites decide to pitch in and they all succeed in putting out the fire. As this happens, Doon sees that a young boy is trapped in the burning tree by the building, rushes in, and bravely saves him before he catches on fire. This act turns around the spiral of resentment and it is discovered that it was in fact a person belonging to the people of Ember, Tick, who perpetrated the acts of vandalism against the people of Ember. This results in a bright future for both the people of Ember and the people of Sparks. A bright future including the rediscovery of electricity.