The Prophet of Yonwood is an apocalyptic science fiction novel by Jeanne DuPrau that was published in 2006. It is the third "Book of Ember" of the series, and a prequel to The City of Ember. It is set about fifty years before the Disaster and the establishment of Ember, and approximately three hundred years before the events of The City of Ember, The People of Sparks and The Diamond of Darkhold. It is the prequel to The City of Ember . Characters Nickie is the main character. Grover is her friend in the book. Also, there is the Prophet, Althea Tower, Amanda; her caretaker Mrs. Brenda Beeson, and Nickie’s Aunt Crystal. Plot The story starts off with a young girl named Nickie who is traveling with her Aunt Crystal to an old house in Yonwood, North Carolina. Nickie's great-grandfather has died, and the house where he lived, in a neighborhood called Greenhaven, is inherited by Crystal, who plans to sell it. Over time, Nickie begins to love the house and finds a girl named Amanda who lives there. She is there because she used to look after Arthur Green, the great grandfather of Nickie. Plus, Amanda has a dog named Otis that she gives to Nickie. In Yonwood, there is a Prophet named Althea Tower who sees the future of the world in burning flames and smoke, and subsequently spends months in a dream-like semi conscious state, in which she mutters phrases and words. A woman in the town calls them instructions from God and requires townspeople to comply with her interpretation of the words, and insists that the entire city quit their "wrong" ways and start to be good people, so God would be with them. She becomes the power that directs the police in the town to enforce the 'war against evil' and slaps buzzing bracelets on offenders who don't comply. The so called instructions gradually become more and more strict and unreasonable, beginning with things like no sinners, no singing, no lights, and eventually no dogs. During the time, verbal conflict between the U.S. and the Phalanx Nations is going on. The U.S. fears that the Phalanx Nations are trying to send terrorist spies to the U.S. and they take immediate action, although the U.S. never really goes to war with them until 50 years later. Nickie meets a boy named Grover who is obsessed with