(Found) Looking for book about underground city escape

[pedro]

I'm 37 and I'm looking for a book I read when I was younger about a boy who escapes from an underground city to get to the earth's surface by climbing up levels to get there. I can't remember all of the details, but in the end he does reach the surface... I think he travels with a girl companion, and they might have been hunted along the way... I can't really remember the rest, but I can't for the life of me find anything using Google. Thank you!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'd say it sounds like City of Ember, but that was written in 2003, and is YA. Incarceron would fit, but that's even newer. Poking around the internet I came up with This Time of Darkness, but that's from 2003, too.

it seems to be kind of a common theme lately, but I can't think of anything older.

 

[pedro]

Yes, this book would have been written before 1980, I believe. It sounds like a couple other more current books. Thanks!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Yeah, sounds like City of Ember, alright. I never read the novel itself, but the movie at least had that kind of story......

 

[zaelyel]

Reminds me of 'The machine stops':The Machine Stops - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but I don't think that's it.
Have you looked here:Underground City | books tagged Underground City | LibraryThing
I'll do some more poking later, I need to rush!

 

[pedro]

Found it!!

Initially I thought it might have been The City Under Ground by Suzanne Martel. But on further research, I believe it is This Time of Darkness by H. M. Hoover - won't know for sure until the book gets here. Wow that was a difficult search... Thanks all!