Book Book Tour with Jeanne DuPrau - Day Three

For this third day on the Jeanne DuPrau blog book tour I have two things to share with you. One is a bio of Jeanne, and the other is book giveaway. If you are interested in a SIGNED advanced reader's copy (ARC) of The diamond of Darkhold please drop me a line with your name and your address. Two winning entries will be chosen at random. Please remember that ARCs should not be sold or quoted from. If you win one of these giveways keep it and treasure it.


Jeanne DuPrau's bio:
Jeanne DuPrau was born in San Francisco, California. She credits her mother with inspiring her to read and write well. Jeanne’s mother would read her school papers and help her clarify and organize her work. Her mother encouraged her to look hard at her work and express herself clearly. At the age of six Jeanne wrote her first story, “Frosty the Snowman.” Jeanne still has the illustrated five-page story bound with yarn and written in crayon. Another influence in her early life was a seventh grade teacher who encouraged her love of the English language, grammar, vocabulary, and word usage. But she says that her imaginative side of writing comes from her love of reading. All through school she wrote and wrote. Some of the writing was for school but she also assigned herself other types of writing to do on her own: poems, stories, journals, and letters.

After graduating college Jeanne DuPrau worked as a high school English teacher, a technical writer for Apple Computer, an editor in educational publishing companies, and a freelance writer. Jeanne used her experiences, the people she knew, the books that she had read, and ideas that occurred to her as her subject matter.

Jeanne DePrau has lived in Menlo Park, California for over 23 years. She likes playing the piano and growing a big vegetable and flower garden. Jeanne and her small cairn terrier named Ethan enjoy long walks, naps, car trips, and working in the garden together.


To find out more about Jeanne please visit her website.

Book Blog Tour with Jeanne Du Prau - Day Two

For this second day of the Jeanne Du Prau blog book tour I have got an interview for you to look at.

1. What, if any, was the inspiration for the idea of a city underground?
I grew up in the 1950s, when many people were worried that there might be a nuclear war. Some people were even building bomb shelters in their back yards. I used to read magazine articles with instructions about how to do this. All of it made a huge impression on me, and there's no doubt that it influenced my idea for Ember, which is a place built to save the human race from a terrible threat.

2. The Prophet of Yonwood takes a big step back in time from The City of Ember. Did you find it hard to make this step in the writing process or was the transition an easy one to make?
When the idea for The Prophet of Yonwood first came to me, I thought it was going to be a separate book, not connected to the Ember series. But as I started writing it, I soon realized that it was connected after all. It was a story about fear and unreasoning belief and what can happen when people see their own side as absolutely right and all others as absolutely wrong. It was a story about the origins of conflict, in other words--the kind of conflict that can lead to a disastrous war, and it was that sort of war that led to the building of Ember.

3. In the Diamond of Darkhold the diamonds that Lina and Doon find end up being crucial for the people of Sparks. Where did you get the idea for the diamonds, and do you feel that there is an environmental message here regarding solar power?
I have been interested in solar power for a long time. I'm hoping we will find a way--soon!--to use it efficiently for all our energy needs. Twenty years ago, I built a small house powered entirely by photovoltaic panels. It was a wonderful feeling to know that my lights, my refrigerator, and my computer were all being run by the sun! So of course I'd like others to share my enthusiasm.

4. At the end of The diamond of Darkhold you mention that a space ship has come from an alien world to visit Earth. This sounds intriguing and I for one would love to know what happens next. Do you plan on writing about this story in a future book?
I don't think so. I too would love to know what might happen in an encounter between human beings and people from another planet. But it isn't easy to create a convincing alien in a story. I've rarely seen it done. What I'd really like is to live long enough to be here in this world when we make contact with intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe. That would be an unimaginable thrill.

5. In writing these books were you trying to get young people to think about the future of our planet?
I did not start out, when I wrote The City of Ember, to deliver that message. But I myself am thinking about the future of our planet, and so that concern naturally shows up in what I write.

6. Do you plan out your books in advance or do you just let the story unfold as you go?
A little of both. I make a rough plan and write according to the plan until I see that it doesn't work any more, that the story has taken a new direction. Then I make another rough plan and follow that one for a while until it doesn't work anymore, either. And so on. It's a difficult and rather messy process, but I'm afraid if I outlined every step of the way and wrote exactly to the outline, my books would be less likely to come alive. And the truth is, I'm no good at outlining anyway.

7. What was your favorite book when you were twelve or so years old?
This is always a question that gives me trouble. I've never had one favorite book, not at any age. I read so much and love so many books that I can never pick just one. At twelve I was probably reading books by Agatha Christie, Charlotte Bronte, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allen Poe, Jack London...I could go on and on.

8. Do you have a consistent writing plan that you stick to every day or are your days more fluid?
I schedule my time loosely rather than rigidly. My best working time is in the morning. I don't usually write for more than two or three hours a day, especially when I'm working on a first draft. That's the hardest kind of writing for me. When I'm revising, sometimes I work more hours. The rest of the day gets filled up with answering mail, reading, and doing all the things it takes to keep my life running more or less smoothly.

9. You must be excited about the City of Ember film that is coming out. Did you participate in the film making process at all?
Yes, the movie is exciting--I never dreamed it would happen! I haven't had a lot to do with the process, though. I don't think most authors do, unless they happen to be very, very famous. I read the filmscript and commented on it, and I have met the director and seen a few scenes from the movie. I've also had e-mail from a few people who worked as extras on the film, so I've gotten little glimpses of what that was like. But the finished movie will be almost as much of a surprise to me as to everyone else. I'm hoping it will be fabulous!

10. Did you ever think that your books would be as successful as they are? How has their success changed your life?
I did not expect this success. I'd always been a writer and had had several books of non-fiction published before The City of Ember. But Ember was my first novel, it was very hard to write, and I didn't know how it would be received at all. I had no idea that I'd be writing sequels to it, and certainly no inkling that it would be made into a movie. Because of all this, my life has indeed changed. For one thing, I've done more public speaking in the last five years than in all the rest of my life put together! I've connected with readers of all ages, all over the world. And I now get to spend my time in the place I like best--my office at home--doing the work that's more rewarding to me than anything else.

Please visit the other blogs that are participating in this tour. They are:

01 Charger, the 160acrewoods, A Childhood of Dreams, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, And Another Book Read, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, Cafe of Dreams, Comox Valley Kids, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Hyperbole, Never Jam Today

Book Book Tour with Jeanne DuPrau

For the next three days I will be featuring a Blog Book Tour for Jeanne du Prau's new book The Diamond of Darkhold. Today you can read my review of the book.

The Diamond of Darkhold
Jeanne DuPrau

Fiction (Series)
Ages 12 and up
Random House, 2008, 978-0-375-85571-9
Nine months have passed since the people who once lived in the underground city of Ember made their way to the surface. The refugees from Ember are now will settled in the town of Sparks but life is far from easy. Winter is approaching and food is scarce. The Emberites are not used to cold temperatures, to thunder and rain, and to the dangers of ‘normal’ life. Sometimes a few of them even think of their life in Ember with nostalgia. One of these people is Lina. Surely her life was easier when she was living in Ember than it is now?
One day a roamer comes to Sparks and Lina buys an old book from the woman for her friend Doon. Though most of the pages in the book are now missing, Doon quickly realizes that the book was left for the people of Ember to find. He is sure that the book contained instructions or directions of some kind so that the people of Ember would be equipped to deal with the world above ground when it was time for them to emerge. Doon cannot tell what the “Instructions for Use” are for, because so little information remains in the book, but he is determined to find out. Doon thinks that the instructions describe how some kind of “machine” or tool should be used, and he believes the machine - whatever it is - could very well make life in the town of Sparks a lot easier.
There is only one thing that Doon can do – he has to go back to Ember to try to find more information about the book or the special tool that was left for the Emberites to use. He askes Lina to go with him, and though she is afraid of what they will find and of the journey that they have to make, Lina agrees to go with her friend.
In this fourth and final title in the Books of Ember series Jeanne DuPrau takes her readers on a fascinating and exciting journey back underground to the city of Ember. All kinds of surprising events take place, and connections with the past that have been lost over the course of time are reestablished. Lina and Doon, who worked together to lead their people out of the city of Ember, have new challenges to face, and readers will be intrigued to see how these two young people face their fears and overcome the trials that they encounter.
Through this book, and indeed the entire series, Jeanne DuPrau encourages her readers to think about their world and their place in it. What would it be like if there was a global nuclear war? What would we need to do to survive? If we change our outlook and behavior could be prevent such a terrible thing from happening?

The other books in this series are The city of Ember, The People of Sparks, and The Prophet of Yonwood. You can find my reviews of these books on the Books of Ember page on the Through the Looking Glass Book Review website.

Please visit the other blogs that are participating in this tour. They are:

01 Charger, the 160acrewoods, A Childhood of Dreams, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, And Another Book Read, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, Cafe of Dreams, Comox Valley Kids, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Hyperbole, Never Jam Today

The New Issue of Through the Looking Glass Book Review

This month on the Through the Looking Glass Book Review visitors will find reviews for a wide variety of books, along with some interesting features, profiles, and spotlights.

• We are celebrating the last real month of summer. You will find reviews of general summer books and reviews of beach related books.
• The special feature is about circuses. If you love the big top and would like to find books about circuses, circus people, and circus animals then this is the feature for you.
• In the Bookish Calendar you will find links to a number of interesting feature pages that explore books about, among other things: The dropping of the first atomic bomb, the erupting of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D 79, the discovery of gold in the Klondike, and the birthday of musician Louis Armstrong.
• The award winning book for this month is The Adventures of Marco Polo by Russell Freedman
• The series spotlight for August is The Rats of Nimh Trilogy
• Jeanne DuPrau is the author who is spotlighted in this issue. Her book The Prophet of Yonwood is reviewed in this issue as well.
• The Editor's Choice title for this month is The day the World Exploded:The Earthshaking Catastrophe at Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. This book is beautifully written and presented, and in it Simon Winchester not only describes what happened to the island of Krakatoa in the late 1800's, but he also shows his readers that the event had a truly worldwide impact on the environment and on people.

I hope you enjoy this new issue and that you are having a wonderful summer.