Project F
I picked up Project F based on the author alone. I assumed, rightfully so, that it was a dystopian novel, but Jeanne DuPrau is the author of the City of Ember series that my daughter and I both have enjoyed. Unfortunately, Project F doesn’t quite live up to that series or expectation. However, it isn’t a complete loss. Out of 5, I would give this novel a 3. It was a quick read, a bit intriguing, but also a bit awkward.
The premise of the book is what would life be like if everyone stopped using fossil fuels. In the history of the world of the story – the leaders of countries just decided that the only way to stop using fossil fuels was to actually stop. So they did. As a result, there was crisis and calamity as the world had to come to terms with a new way of life. The story is what the world is like 100 or so years later. Chapter 15 and pages 124-130 go into the history presented for the story.
In the author’s note, DuPrau discusses a time when she made a house sustainable on solar energy and that she has also been intrigued and empowered by this possibility. Her novel is her exploration and imaginings of what the ifs of the future could be like. These ifs are what is explored in the novel – what if we came close to destroying the earth and humanity, what if we didn’t use fossil fuels anymore, what if the use was a criminal offense, etc. One thing she fails to explore, which in truth is probably beyond the scope of the novel, is that there are real concerns and consequences for some of the “green” methods of energy use. For one, many rely on batteries and there are real consequences to people and the environment as key materials needed are mined for.
The story is a third person narration that mostly follows Keith and Lulu. Lulu’s is Keith’s cousin whose parents died in the ocean. Due to circumstances, Keith (13 years old) is taking a train ride to get Lulu and bring her home to live with them. Lulu is six. On the train ride, Keith meets a man named Malcolm who shares a bit about an intriguing project he is working on – Project F. Malcolm mistakenly takes Keith’s bag when leaving the train at his stop. On his return trip home with Lulu, Keith stops at the Graves Mountain exit to return Malcolm’s bag. While there, Keith learns what Project F really is and gets himself wrapped up in the events. Near the end of the book, it is discovered that coal is what makes this mysterious project work. Malcolm almost dies and Keith is almost banished for his part in it. Meanwhile, Lulu is left keeping the secret and her own secret about her parent’s death.
A bit of an awkward storyline weaved in the midst of the stuff with Keith and Lulu is a group of girls who live in the same city who go out for adventure every first Tuesday. There are chapters about their adventures – at the end Lulu and Keith are invited to go with them. I’m not really sure what the purpose of this storyline is other than to maybe show the creativity that can reemerge without TV and the entertainment brought about by the ease of electricity through fossil fuels.
Noteworthy quotes:
Malcolm to Keith - “The powerful people want everything to remain the same, as it has for so long. They have squashed ideas like ours over and over. But they can’t squash something they don’t know about” (54).
Keith’s history teacher to Keith - “I believe it’s most important to learn the history of what has brought the human race together in the last few centuries rather than what nearly destroyed it longer ago than that” (78).
A young girl kills a butterfly and the other girls are horrified by what she did, “She had killed it as if it were nothing, as if it were a scrap of trash. Doing it hadn’t hurt her heart at all. Amity hadn’t known many people like that before” (122).
The girls on an outing sing a version of the Christian Doxology song set to lyrics about the Earth. I don’t particularly like this use. However, it is certainly something I would discuss with your reader as you discuss the different worldviews at play. “Praise Earth from whom all blessings flow” (150).
“But what is more important: doing what you want, or doing what’s right?” (157).
“Keith saw the truth of Malcolm then, in his piercing, burning gaze: yes, he was a genius—but the kind who would set the world on fire to get what he wanted” (173). I think it is important to not generalize all people to be like Malcolm, which I think the novel can simply do in its explorations.
“What you know is best can be easily swept aside by what you want” (180).
Lulu felt responsible for her parent’s death. She finally confesses it to her aunt and begins to feel better. “There was a still sadness of missing her parents; that never went away. But getting rid of the secret made her feel clean and free” (201).
The novel does a good job of giving strong parents to Keith who try to help lead him correctly and to parent Lulu and lead her through her grief. Additionally, the keeping of secrets and lying is seen as negative in the novel. Once the children reveal the truth to their parents there is peace and reconciliation. These are good messages for young readers.
Overall, the story has an intriguing premise. I think if it were longer and drawn out that it would have ultimately killed the story; however, it was okay and had an interesting exploration – one that the author is clear is just her own exploration. “I wrote Project F to imagine one way that things might turn out. Is it the best way? No. The best way wouldn’t include a global catastrophe. But writing the book helped me to think about what sort of world we might want, if we could start from scratch” (213). In the author’s note she also mentions the negatives of fossil fuels and the damage done to the environment without any source notations – just an observation. She does likewise mention the modern marvels we have because of their use. Ultimately, we are called to be good stewards of God’s creation, and we really need to have discussions and explorations on what that looks like on both sides of the “green movement” without blatant assumptions that attempt to make a complex issue black and white.
