THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD: The Fourth Book of Ember

I have LOVED the Ember series. I found CITY OF EMBER when it first came out--Karen at Cover to Cover recommended it and it became our year's first read aloud. It was one of the best first read-alouds ever. A perfect combination of plot, action, adventure and lots to talk/think about.

When PEOPLE OF SPARKS came out, I was ending the cycle with the class who had read CITY OF EMBER. The publisher was nice enough to send me an ARC so we finished off our year with that book as read aloud. The book caused lots of conversations and disagreements--so much for 5th graders to talk and think about.

I read THE PROPHET OF YONWOOD when it came out. I liked it but didn't love it like I had loved the others.

I picked up the fourth and final book--THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD--last week and have been staying awake a bit too long reading it the last few nights. It is a PERFECT ending to a great series. I think sequels and final books can be very disappointing but this one was far from either of those.

The fun in this book is that Lina and Doon return to the city of Ember. I must say, as a reader, it was like I was returning too. It was changed, but I remembered it. I remembered being there and I reentered the world of Ember just as Lina and Doon did. I am not sure how DuPrau accomplished this as a writer, but it works well. I won't tell the story here but this series is a great one for readers of science fiction. And this ending book is perfect--closure but surprises; characters we see grow and change, goodbyes and new hope.

If you have yet to read any of the books in this series, I would read CITY OF EMBER quickly--before the movie comes out in October. I think it will be a great movie--the trailer shows a bit of it. But I can't imagine the movie can even compare to the book.