Lights out!

In City of Ember, two kids desperately try to save an underground city that is slowly losing its power

It’s dark in the city of Ember. Unless, of course, the lights are on. But there’s no sunlight, no moon, no starlight in Ember. There’s nothing but light bulbs to illuminate this community that is, unfortunately, breaking down.

Why is Ember this way? More than 240 years ago Ember was built…underground. The plan was that 220 years later, when it was safe to go back to Earth’s surface, the citizens would escape. But the escape plan has been lost.

Over those two centuries the entire city has depended on the power generator that keeps the lights bright, but now those lights are flickering and dying. If Ember’s citizens can’t find a way out of Ember, they’ll be doomed.

Enter two 12-year-old kids who’ve just graduated from school (12 is the age you finish school in Ember). There’s Lina, who gets a job as a messenger, carrying notes from person to person (they don’t have email), and Doon, who works in the Pipeworks, trying to keep the city operating.

Together, Lina and Doon discover a secret that may lead to a way out of Ember. But first they’ll have to contend with the city’s corrupt mayor.

City of Ember opens October 10