The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau (Audiobook Review)

Audiobook Reviews from Audiobook-Heaven

To stop a war between two peoples, it will take a selfless act of courage, but who will step forward to be the hero?

Title: The People of Sparks
Series: Books of Ember, book 2
Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Narrator: Wendy Dillon
Publisher: Listening Library
Duration: 7 hours, 44 minutes
Copyright: 2004
Genres: science fiction, adventure, juvenile
Filed in: Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.

THE GIST: For generations, the residents of the secret underground City of Ember lived their lives hidden from the surface world. They were a planned colony, meant to survive the wars and disasters that were destroying the Earth. After 240 years, the river-powered generator is breaking down, and supplies are running low. It is time for the City of Ember to return to the light.

On the surface, the people of Ember find a world of destroyed cities and vanished technology: no more gasoline for the cars, or even electricity. Earth has been returned to an agrarian society of small, distantly spaced villages.

Upon surfacing from Ember, the refugees first encounter a small village called Sparks. The Emberites slightly outnumber the people of Sparks, which presents a problem. The people of Sparks are barely growing enough food for their own population, let alone twice that number. It will be a serious struggle feeding this many people, but the people of Sparks grudgingly agree to do what they can until the Emberites can build a village of their own and get on their feet.

The agreement seems to work at first, the people of Sparks feed the Emberites with whatever they can spare, while the Emberites help out with the work and learn how to survive in this strange new world. Over time, however, tensions begin to mount as more and more of the food stores are used up. Soon there are acts of violence by and against both groups. Aggressions escalate until the two groups are on the verge of war with one another. These desperate refugees will be doomed to repeat history unless they can find some way to settle their differences.

MY THOUGHTS: “The People of Sparks” is the second audio book in Jeanne DuPrau’s Ember series and I liked this one a little better. “The City of Ember” was an interesting story, but felt like a simple string of events with no undercurrent at all. There’s a link below for my audio book review of “The City of Ember.”

“The People of Sparks” however, while perhaps not as exciting, had a definite plot and it felt like there was some thought behind it. The overall feel of this second audio book was slightly more mature than the first.

I like the theme of “The People of Sparks.” For younger readers, this audio book provides some good basic information on how wars begin, and how they might be averted. The heroes of the story are two kids, Lina Mayfleet and Dune Harrow, and it is through a combination of their unique experiences that the war between the Emberites and the Sparkies is narrowly averted.

Incidentally, I don’t remember Jeanne DuPrau giving a name to the people of the village of Sparks. Would you call them Sparkies? Or maybe Sparklers? Sparkians doesn’t sound right at all.

NARRATOR: Wendy Dillon did another good job with this second audio book of the series. Her voices are unique and are very animated which should help to draw in younger audio book listeners.

I tried to find some information on Wendy Dillon, but there is surprisingly little available. She doesn’t even have a Wikipedia article. I’m guessing she must be new to the scene.

FINAL WORD: “The People of Sparks” is a good audio book for kids. There are some good lessons to be learned from this audio book.

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (Audiobook Review)
The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau (Audiobook Review)
The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau (Audiobook Review)
The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau (Audiobook Review)

If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get "The People of Sparks" (Unabridged Audiobook)[6-CD Set] (Book #2 Ember Series) from Amazon.com.

This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
Come back soon for more audiobook reviews from Audiobook Heaven