Jeanne Du Prau On her website Jeanne Du

Jeanne Du. Prau

On her website, Jeanne Du. Prau writes: I didn't really set out to "be a writer. " I just wrote. Reading and writing have always been my favorite things, though for a while I wanted to be a writer and an illustrator. I still have my very first book, which I wrote when I was about five years old. It's called Frosty the Snowman, has five pages, and is illustrated with red and green crayon.

- Jeanne Du. Prau has written several books of nonfiction for children and adults and four books to date in the City of Ember series. - She has been a teacher, an editor, and a technical writer. - She lives in Menlo Park, California, where she keeps a big garden and a small dog.

• Jeanne Du. Prau grew up in the 1950 s, when many people were worried that there might be a nuclear war. Some of them were building bomb shelters in their back yards, which is what she thinks influenced her idea for Ember—a city built to protect the human race from a terrible threat. • But she was also just interested in the idea of a city that had no light other than electricity.

She wondered what it would be like to live darkness, and to know that light and food and supplies were all running out? And not to know about weather or trees or animals (except for a few rats and insects) or any other places? All kinds of questions grabbed her imagination. So she wrote The City of Ember, and hoped it would make people think about our world—about the sun and the moon, the forests and the ocean, the wind and the rain—and how precious it all is.

The City of Ember (2003) – This story takes place in a sunless, moonless city where the only light comes from electric lamps. As supplies run low and the electrical system starts to fail, the city is headed for disaster. Two children, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, take on the task of finding the way out.

The People of Sparks (2005) – The story opens where The City of Ember left off, with the residents of the dying city of Ember joining young heroes Lina and Doon and making their way to a small settlement, where all at first goes well but conflict soon arises.

The Prophet of Yonwood (2006) – This is the third novel in the series. However, it is a prequel, rather than a sequel, to the other two books. It is set about fifty years before the Disaster and the establishment of Ember, and approximately three hundred years before the events of The City of Ember and The People of Sparks. The story focuses on a woman's frightening vision of the future and the townspeople's reaction to it.

The Diamond of Darkhold (2008) – The Diamond of Darkhold is the fourth book in the series. It picks up where The People of Sparks left off, during the Emberites' first winter above ground. The two children must go back to Ember to discover something that was lost and left behind.

Other Books • Jeanne Du. Prau has written several non-fiction books. Some of them are for classroom use and you don't really find them in bookstores, while others are out of print. • Her current books are The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, The Prophet of Yonwood, The Diamond of Darkhold, and Car Trouble.