City of ember why the city was built

She was winding a strand of her long, dark hair around her finger, winding and unwinding it again and again. Sometimes she plucked at a loose thread on her ragged cape or bent over to pull on her socks, which were loose and tended to slide down around her ankles. One of her feet tapped the floor softly. In the second row was a boy named Doon Harrow. He sat with his shoulders hunched, his eyes squeezed shut in concentration, and his hands clasped tightly together.

He had dark, thick eyebrows, which made him look serious at the best of times, and when he was anxious or angry came together to form a straight line across his forehead. His brown corduroy jacket was so old that its ridges had flattened out. Both the girl and the boy were making urgent wishes. He repeated it over and over again, his lips moving slightly, as if he could make it come true by saying it a thousand times.

Lina was making her wish in pictures rather than in words. She made this picture as bright and real as she could. Create a List.

List Name Save. Rename this List. Rename this list. List Name Delete from selected List. Save to. Save to:. Save Create a List. Create a list. The People of Sparks. Jeanne DuPrau. The Diamond of Darkhold. The Prophet of Yonwood. The Fourteenth Goldfish. Jennifer L. The Phantom Tollbooth. Norton Juster. Fuzzy Mud. Louis Sachar. The Apothecary. Kenneth Oppel. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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Carl Hiaasen. Minecraft: The End. Catherynne M. Minecraft: The Voyage. Lina visits a store on Night Street, run by Looper, that has colored pencils, a rare commodity in Ember. There, she buys two, one green and one blue, but loses Poppy. In response to the blackout, citizens attend a meeting in Harken Square. Mayor Cole attempts to calm the crowd, saying those in power are managing the problem.

But the townspeople sense he is lying. They grow angry and yell and surge at him as he escapes into the Gathering Hall. Nearby, Poppy chews and rips up a piece of paper lined with perfect printing.

Lina studies the paper scraps and concludes the original note must have come from the Builders and the box must be the lost item Granny was seeking. Many of its words are now missing, but Lina regards the message as a mystery and determines to solve it, believing the message could help Ember. At work, Lina invites Captain Fleery to her apartment, where Captain Fleery reviews the message, only to dismiss it as unimportant. Captain Fleery then reveals she is a Believer: someone who thinks the Builders will return to save the city.

After Lizzie shows no interest in the message from the box, Lina writes to the mayor, notifying him of her find, but she receives no reply. As Lina studies the broken message more, slowly filling in words such as river and door , she realizes the message pertains to the Pipeworks and that kind, curious, observant Doon is the right person to help her fill in the blanks.

Doon uses his spare time at work to explore the Pipeworks. No Entry. In the place where the river leaves the Pipeworks, Doon sees wrinkled rocks with grooves that resemble writing.

Later, Doon hopes to gain insight on inventing a portable light, so he visits Ember Library, where he encounters Lina. As he reads important words such as open , follow , and door , Doon recalls the locked door in Tunnel The two visit the Pipeworks the following day, where they hear someone enter Tunnel from its ceiling hatch and then open the locked door. Doon and Lina determine that the man, who walks with a lurching gait that Lina finds familiar, must have discovered the way out of Ember.

They believe the man will reveal his discovery to the city, so they decide to stand by for an announcement. Lina attends to Granny, who is sick with a fever but relieved when Lina tells her she has found the lost object. Later, when Lina draws her imagined city, in color for the first time thanks to her new pencils, she colors a blue sky despite never having seen one before. That night, Granny grows more ill and dies in her sleep. Lina is comforted when Mrs. Murdo invites her and Poppy to move in.

Lina later sees Lizzie leaving the Supply Depot carrying a sack. When Lizzie falls, out roll cans of applesauce and other coveted goods no one has seen in years. Lizzie reveals that her new boyfriend and storeroom worker, Looper, explores forgotten rooms in search of rare goods.

She tells Lizzie that it is wrong that a select few should possess such precious goods while others go without. Doon revisits the closed door in Tunnel and finds a key left in its lock. Inside, he sees a brightly lit room filled with food cans, clothes, light bulbs, and other supplies. He also spies a cozy living room where Mayor Cole, overweight and stuffed with food, dozes in an armchair. Doon shares his discovery with Lina, who in turn reveals her findings about Lizzie and Looper, including her recent revelation: The mysterious man with the lurching gait in the tunnel must be Looper.

And, based on the message he asked Lina to relay on her first day of work, he is conspiring with the mayor.