The Prophet of Yonwood Reviewed by Aidan Jalili

The Prophet of Yonwood is the third book in the City of Ember series. It is a science fiction novel written by Jeanne DuPrau that takes place in a small village called Yonwood in North Carolina. The main character Nickie, sets three goals for herself  in hopes of accomplishing all of them throughout her trip. She wanted to keep her great grandfather's house which Crystal was going to sell. She wanted to fall deeply in love, and finally she wants to do something helpful for the world.

Nickie is in a constant struggle between wanting to trust Ms. Beeson, a religious leader who believed that the “Prophet” was talking to God and trusting Grover, a self confident boy who is very interested in snakes and doesn’t care for all the new rules Ms. Beeson is enforcing. She wants to help the community, but also doesn’t want to make enemies in the process. She doesn’t know if it would be better for her to help Ms. Beeson by trying to spot “sinners” and by following her rules, or to help the society by going against what Ms. Beeson is enforcing and allow people to have more freedoms. The entire world is in conflict with a terrorist group, the Phalanx Nations. Ms. Beeson used the citizens’ fear of the Phalanx Nations in order to control them. The Phalanx Nations are one of the reasons why Nickie wants to live in Yonwood, which she believes to be a safer village than the city. However, as the story progresses Nickie realizes that some of Ms. Beeson’s rules are nonsensical (e.g. not allowing singing or dogs) and that even in Yonwood, which is a so called a “safer city”, people still deny themselves their basic rights. During the book's progression Nickie changes sides over and over not sure who to pick until the very end. Throughout the book you can really feel the curiosity and excitement with Nickie and Grover. You also feel strongly for the group that you thought was right, which for me was the group that believed Ms. Beeson was totally misguided.

DuPrau was very successful in showing true emotion and empathy. She really created a great sense of atmosphere and allowed me to relate to Nickie’s struggle between who to trust and who to hate. She wrote about Nickie’s experience with a lot of finesse and at some points literally made me feel that I was Nickie. She allowed me to feel alongside Nickie and Grover’s determination, curiosity, and worry, even persuading me to believe their point of view on the Prophet. You couldn’t help but feel the stress and worry amongst the Yonwood citizens about the Phalanx Nation and their attempt to terrorize their town and country. As the president's deadline for the terrorist group to make peace draws nearer and nearer you can feel a lot suspense, and worry. You could not help but feel Nickie’s love for Otis (her dog) and her fear and panic when he was taken away. Even when DuPrau changed the perspective to Grover's, you could easily feel his worry and dread when the community put a bracelet on him. A bracelet is a way to punish those who seem to be bad people by annoying them with a loud humming noise almost to the point of insanity. The Prophet of Yonwood changed the way I look at how we decide similar situations in our society. For example how much security we want if it means less freedoms.