The second in the City of Ember series, the people of Ember have emerged from the underground city and find their way to a little town in the middle of nowhere. Most of the world's population has been wiped out by war and plague and centuries later the people are still trying to recover. 
 The town of Sparks was built by settlers and has finally grown to have a little safety net. The influx of four hundred and seventeen people, however, overwhelms the town. The people are worried that they won't have enough to eat. The people of Ember are so clueless about everything above ground. Sparks give the Emberites a place to live and put them to work, in theory to show them how to do all the jobs it will take for them to go and settle their own town. However, tensions soon blossom and a sense of "us" versus "them" takes over. 
 Truly a discourse on war and peace (but way shorter), The People of Sparks isn't exactly light-handed in its approach, but it does couch it in a readable narrative.