Four-star review of The Prophet of Yonwood: The Third Book of Ember by Jeanne duPrau
This is actually a prequel to the other Ember books, a story
about a girl dealing with the impending sale of a family house against the
background of an impending war. The story is well-written but not as engaging
as the others in the series. Eleven year-old Nickie travels to Yonwood, North
Carolina with her aunt after the death of her grandfather to see to the sale of
his home. She has three goals that summer: to keep the house from being sold,
to meet her true love, and to do something to help the world. Meanwhile, the
people of the town follow the so-called prophet’s mutterings as interpreted
incorrectly by one zealous woman whose proclamations lead to such actions as
banishing all dogs to the forests surrounding the town, and that includes the
one Nickie has adopted unbeknownst to her aunt. Although the story doesn’t lead
directly into the other Ember books, there are several interesting characters.
