The Prophet of Yonwood

Jeanne DuPrau

May 2006 · The City of Ember Book 4 · Sold by Random House Books for Young Readers

About this ebook

A prequel to the modern-day classic The City of Ember. This highly acclaimed adventure series has captivated kids and teachers alike for almost fifteen years and has sold over 3.5 MILLION copies!
 
Nickie will grow up to be one of the first citizens of the city of Ember. But for now, she’s an eleven-year-old girl whose father was sent away on some mysterious government project.
 
So when the opportunity to move presents itself, Nickie seizes it. But her new town of Yonwood, North Carolina, isn’t what she’d anticipated. It’s a place full of suspicion and mistrust, where one person’s visions of fire and destruction have turned the town’s citizens against each other. Nickie explores the oddities around her—her great-grandfather’s peculiar journals, a reclusive neighbor who studies the heavens, a strange boy who is fascinated with snakes—all while keeping an eye out for ways to help the world. Or is it already too late to avoid a devastating war?
 
Praise for the City of Ember books:

Nominated to 28 State Award Lists!
An American Library Association Notable Children’s Book
A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing Selection
A Kirkus Reviews Editors’ Choice
A Child Magazine Best Children’s Book
A Mark Twain Award Winner
A William Allen White Children’s Book Award Winner
 
“A realistic post-apocalyptic world. DuPrau’s book leaves Doon and Lina on the verge of undiscovered country and readers wanting more.” —USA Today
 
“An electric debut.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred
 
“While Ember is colorless and dark, the book itself is rich with description.” —VOYA, Starred
 
“A harrowing journey into the unknown, and cryptic messages for readers to decipher.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Ratings and reviews

You’d have to keep in mind, this is a prequel. So none of the characters in previous books will be featured in the book. It took me a bit to get used to this, but the main storyline was interesting. I liked Nickie, but there were times when I didn’t. Although it wasn’t entirely her fault (due to the brainwashing), you’d think at her age (11) she might be able to tell what’s right or wrong. So I thought she acted way younger than she is, and was just a little too naive. There were also times where I couldn’t help but feel angry. I couldn’t stand Brenda. I wanted to choke her out of the book. It’s these kinds of people that blow everything out of proportion and made the situation more dangerous and harmful than it really is. When the incident with the dogs happened this was where I just about had it with her and wanted a bomb to drop on her house. Despite my intense dislike for this character, I liked how the book shows the reader how this sort of situation can show the worst (and the best) characteristics in individuals. I bothers me a little, that this really has nothing to do with Ember (until you find out much later, near the end of the book) and it may annoy readers as it’s oddly placed in the middle of the series, and some might argue that it’s not a prequel at all. The plot was good, although it was slow moving. You’re more than halfway through the book and the plot is still crawling. My suggestion, is to skip this book and read the fourth one, then read this one. You won’t be missing much anyway. It’s not the best I’ve read from the author but it’s readable if one wants to complete the series.

While visiting the small town of Yonwood, North Carolina, eleven-year-old Nickie makes some decisions about how to identify both good and evil when she witnesses the townspeople's reactions to the apocalyptic visions of one of their neighbours. It's 50 years before the settlement of the city of Ember, and the world is in crisis. War looms on the horizon as 11-year-old Nickie and her aunt travel to the small town of Yonwood, North Carolina. There, one of the town's respected citizens has had a terrible vision of fire and destruction. Her garbled words are taken as prophetic instruction on how to avoid the coming disaster. If only they can be interpreted correctly. . . . As the people of Yonwood scramble to make sense of the woman's mysterious utterances, Nickie explores the oddities she finds around town-her great-grandfather's peculiar journals and papers, a reclusive neighbor who studies the heavens, a strange boy who is fascinated with snakes-all while keeping an eye out for ways to help the world. Is this vision her chance? Or is it already too late to avoid a devastating war? In this prequel to the acclaimed The City of Ember and The People of Sparks, Jeanne DuPrau investigates how, in a world that seems out of control, hope and comfort can be found in the strangest of places. From the Hardcover edition. another book of ember that brought tears to my eyes

Yes it is before ember but it is book number three because it's an informative book telling the past. This makes it so we the readers can better understand the present and the future of the series. If they put it before the first two it would just be a boring book explaining the past happenings. This would cause the plot and suspense in the first two books to be lesser or even non existent. So they placed this book properly as number three because that's the order they wanted you to read the information in.

About the author

JEANNE DuPRAU is the New York Times bestselling author of the City of Ember books, which have been translated into multiple languages and are a time-honored staple in elementary school classrooms. She also wrote Escape the Vortex, part of the multiplatform sci-fi adventure series Voyagers. Visit her website at jeanneduprau.com.