The Diamond of Darkhold, Jeanne DuPrau

Ahh, back to the characters I know and LOVE from this series! Yes, Prophet of Yonwood was a little weird and I was a bit lukewarm about it, I really liked returning to the "Post Disaster" world. It's been awhile since I finished it, so unfortunately it's not as lucid, but I do know that I was very satisfied at the end.

One thing that is REALLY cool is that the people of Sparks get a chance to go on a salvaging expedition back to Ember. I love that the people of Sparks get proof of the underground city and realize that it wasn't a cave or something more primitive than their own current state, but rather far more advanced than they could have imagined.

Of course, Lina and Doon find another book that has been damaged and only has 8 pages of information remaining. Luckily there are a LOT of books that have been kept in Sparks that can help people of an inventive and engineering mind set, like Doon, to help reclaim some of the technologies previously lost after the "Disaster". And of course, it's a clean source of energy and it spreads throughout the land and people learn how to harness solar power on a scale we don't even use today (perhaps if we were forced into it, we would). There are flashes to the future which is very satisfying as a reader to know that the world is going to be ok. That the world is going to be a better place. And perhaps even better is the fact that Lina and Doon are not necessarily going to be famous in world history, but nothing they did was ever for the intent of gaining popularity or fame. They are always motivated by what the "right" thing to do is. Even when the right thing is not easy, popular, or promises dividends right away. And I think that fact is one of the things that made me fall in love with these characters and these books.

I just thought of another thing I loved....there is a family who mistreats Doon-they had found the City of Ember and took it for their own, sort of. Since the generator still spat out power every now and again. At one point when Doon finds a way to get away from them, he makes it impossible for that family to stay here. Later on in the book, this family resurfaces. And instead of condemning them for what they did, Doon forgives them and they allow this family to live in Sparks. It was interesting, because in the book it said something to the effect of "There were many reasons not to let them say" and then it states those reasons, and then says "But there were also reasons why they should let them stay" and it listed those reasons. I feel this is an important lesson to learn because people are going to wrong us all the time and we have to choose whether we are going to move past those things or not. Whether we will forgive or not. Whether we can ever let the good that people have the potential to reach, or let their imperfections always outweigh any future good.