The Prophet of Yonwood (Books of Ember Series #3) by Jeanne DuPrau

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In this prequel to The City of Ember and The People of Sparks, the residents of Yonwood, North Carolina, await the world's destruction. When a respected townswoman is seized by visions of fire and destruction, her neighbors struggle to parse to her strange, prophetic words. In the midst of this panic and uncertainty, a young girl named Nickie conducts her own investigations.

From the Publisher

It’s 50 years before the settlement of the city of Ember, and the world is in crisis. War looms on the horizon as 11-year-old Nickie and her aunt travel to the small town of Yonwood, North Carolina. There, one of the town’s respected citizens has had a terrible vision of fire and destruction. Her garbled words are taken as prophetic instruction on how to avoid the coming disaster. If only they can be interpreted correctly. . . .

As the people of Yonwood scramble to make sense of the woman’s mysterious utterances, Nickie explores the oddities she finds around town—her great-grandfather’s peculiar journals and papers, a reclusive neighbor who studies the heavens, a strange boy who is fascinated with snakes—all while keeping an eye out for ways to help the world. Is this vision her chance? Or is it already too late to avoid a devastating war?

In this prequel to the acclaimed The City of Ember and The People of Sparks, Jeanne DuPrau investigates how, in a world that seems out of control, hope and comfort can be found in the strangest of places.

Cindy L. Carolan - Children's Literature

Eleven-year-old Nickie and her aunt Crystal have taken a trip from their home in Philadelphia to Yonwood, North Carolina, to clean up a recently inherited mansion that has been owned and inhabited by family members for over 150 years. Nickie is intent upon keeping the mysterious old house and Crystal is just as committed to sell it quickly. Viewing the trip as a life-changing event, Nickie make a list of three goals: to keep the mansion, to fall in love, and to help the world. These ambitions are somewhat overshadowed by the urgent facts that: their nation appears to be on the brink of war (Nickie's father was sent away on a secret government job months ago), and the townspeople are struggling to decipher the messages of the "prophet" in the community. Other strange things keep popping up in Nickie's path, such as the girl and the dog on the third level of their home and the disturbing humming noise she detects frequently. Themes of soul searching, calm amidst general hysteria, and the power (positive and negative) of the masses, are introduced. The author is a New York Times Bestselling author and lives in California. This book is the third in "The Books of Ember" series, a prequel to the titles The City of Ember and The People of Sparks. Recommended. 2006, Random House Books for Young Readers, Ages 8 to 12.

Steven Kral - VOYA

Eleven-year-old Nickie Randolph travels with her aunt to Yonwood, North Carolina, to catalog, repair, and eventually sell her great-grandfather's old house. Arriving in Yonwood, Nickie discovers a town under the spell of The Prophet, a woman who has had a vision of impending doom. As the story progresses, Nickie must answer serious questions. Are The Prophet's visions genuine? Are they correctly interpreted? Can the terrible vision be prevented? Will Nickie be able to convince her aunt not to sell the house that Nickie has fallen in love with? What secret project is Nickie's father involved in and what coded message is he leaving her in his postcards? DuPrau crafts a coming-of-age story in this prequel to The City of Ember (Random House, 2003/VOYA June 2003). Readers looking for a description of the building of the City or the Cataclysm will be disappointed. The City and the Cataclysm are briefly touched on in the last chapter, which feels tacked on and rushed, whereas the rest of the story is Nickie's coming to terms with herself, her world, and her first stirrings of love. DuPrau sets it against an escalating world crisis that she expertly uses to explore issues such as the use of fear to control a population and how fear can make simple eccentricities seem sinister. Despite the disappointing last chapter, this exploration and Nickie's story make the novel an enjoyable read. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2006, Random House, 304p., and PLB Ages 11 to 14.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-In this prequel to The City of Ember (2003) and The People of Sparks (2004, both Random), 11-year-old Nickie accompanies her aunt to Yonwood, NC, to help get her great-grandfather's house ready to be sold. Months earlier, a woman in the community named Althea Tower had a vision and collapsed, muttering about fire and disaster. The townspeople interpreted it as a premonition of events since war between the U.S. and the Phalanx Nations is eminent. Althea is hailed as a Prophet and an ambitious Mrs. Beeson appoints herself Althea's interpreter. Soon she's urging everyone to give up sinful things like singing. The townspeople believe that by being virtuous they will build "a shield of goodness" around themselves and not be harmed. In her effort to be a good person, Nickie falls prey to this collective brainwashing and betrays a friend. She has her own secret. She's hiding a dog in the house. When Mrs. Beeson thinks the Prophet has said "no dogs" and forces everyone to get rid of them, the child is outraged and confronts the Prophet to demand the truth behind her pronouncements. This novel has a great deal of immediacy in light of current world events. It sharply brings home the idea of people blindly following a belief without questioning it. However, it's really more of a stand-alone title. The plot details that tie it and Ember together are only revealed in the last chapter, entitled "What Happened Afterward."-Sharon Rawlins, NJ Library for the Blind and Handicapped, Trenton Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

With the U.S. teetering on the brink of war and her father off on a secret government job, 11-year-old Nickie's trip with her aunt to the small town where her great-grandfather lived and died is a welcome break from reality. Yonwood, however, is governed by a cabal who interpret for the Prophet, a local woman who has been struck insensible by a fiery vision of doom. Nickie wants to comply with the Prophet's apparent directives, but she struggles to understand how her friendships with Grover, a local boy, and Otis, a lovable mutt, fit (or don't fit) into the Prophet's plans. DuPrau effectively depicts a community in the grip of a millennial fever, the residents eager to appease an angry God in increasingly twisted ways. Less successful are subplots involving Nickie's explorations of her great-grandfather's effects and the weird research of a curmudgeonly astronomer. Thinnest of all is the connection to Ember, which is encapsulated entirely in an afterward. This will disappoint Ember's fans, but those who read this offering with no series expectations will find it a provocative read with an appealingly conflicted protagonist. (Fiction. 10-14)

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