City of Ember (Book 1 of Book of Ember series)

"I love the world that DuPrau has created underground, and the way she described what it would be like if electricity was an incredibly rare resource. And I’m quite keen on post-apocalyptic literature anyway. Actually, I have quite a large collection of post-apocalyptic novels both grown-ups’ and children’s. But what it really comes down to is the writer’s ability to create characters that you care about, and DuPrau does this brilliantly. She introduces us to these two characters who you care about, and with whom you want to go on a journey. The book and the quadrilogy of which it is part has a strong anti-nuclear theme. I wonder if, in the era of Trump, we will be seeing a resurgence of children’s literature dealing with power and oppression and with a strong anti-nuclear theme. We see this in, for example, Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking trilogy , a work of genius, which — in a sci-fi and adventure story setting — deals with massive themes, everything from love to genocide to feminism and sexism and racism ."