Today begins the Kidz Book Buzz blog tour for the Diamond of Darkhold, by Jeanne DuPrau. 

Diamond is the fourth book in the Ember series, and while The City of Ember remains my favorite in the series, Diamond runs a close second. Doon and Lina are back together for a grand adventure in The Diamond of Darkhold, and I so enjoy keeping company with them.

I’ll give you a review of the book in a couple of days. Today I want to offer a free copy of an ARC (advanced reader copy).  Well, it’s not going to be totally free–you have to work for it. Here’s what you’ll need to do. Sometime between now and Wednesday, visit three of the participating blogs on the tour (their links are at the bottom of this post) and leave comments. Then on Thursday come back here and leave a comment telling me which sites you visited and commented on.  I’ll draw a winner from the entries, if more than one of you enters. You might not want to do this contest. Because the publisher was pretty generous and several of the bloggers on the tour have ARCs to give away. So skip around–you may find a contest you like better than this one. 

Becky, at Becky’s Book Reviews, has done a wonderful job of discussing the first three books in the Ember seies. (The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, and The Prophet of Yonwood) Go and read this post for her thoughts. 

I have to agree with her. I’ve wanted more of Ember since the first time I read it. It was one of those wonderful stories I didn’t want to end and one that made me particularly sad because I knew I wouldn’t get any sequels in the city. I wished, and wished that DuPrau would have given us three books in the city, ending with the exodus instead of beginning with it. I wonder if there is a way she can go back and do that? Her city was so well developed–the people, the customs, the lifestyle. It was real. It was exciting. It was fresh. 

So…it’s no wonder that the movie is coming out in two weeks. I wasn’t the only one who loved Ember. Yeehaw! The kids and I can’t wait! The trailers look great. If you’ve not read the book, I urge you to read it now, before the movie. It may ruin the movie for you–reading the book usually does. But it is such a rich experience, I’d hate for you to miss it. 

And I think that’s one reason I loved The Diamond of Darkhold so much. We got Lina and Doon, and we got one more peek at Ember. 

Be sure to visit other blog tour participants:

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, Looking Glass Reviews, Never Jam Today