Marvelous Middle Grade: Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Posted 10/10/2012 by alicemarvels in Fantasy

Overview

Genre: Fantasy

Author: Shannon Messenger

Year: 2012

Publisher: Aladdin

Release Date: October 2, 2012

Page Count: 496

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She’s a Telepath—someone who hears the thoughts of everyone around her. It’s a talent she’s never known how to explain. Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known. Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come “home.” There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory—secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans—that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.

BOTTOM LINE

A must-read for your middle grade shelf!

I already knew I loved Shannon Messenger’s writing style after snagging a copy of her 2013 YA release Let the Sky Fall at a BEA party, and plowing through it on the plane ride home. I was completely in love with the world and the characters she created. So when we were sent a copy of her middle grade fantasy adventure story, Keeper of the Lost Cities, I quickly called dibs on it. (I wish I could say I was a lady about it, but I’m pretty sure I snarled “That book is MINE, back OFF,” grabbed it, and ran away, glancing over my shoulder for book-thieving pursuers). I’m so glad I did. Turns out Messenger can sell me on just about any world she creates.

Keeper of the Lost Cities is a daring, imaginative story set in an exciting magical world with a whip-smart, lovable heroine and a fantastic supporting crew of friends, enemies, and bumbling adults.

Sophie is a child prodigy—a twelve year old high school senior with a mostly uncomfortable ability to read minds. The first mind she can’t read belongs to a strange boy who approaches her in a museum with a world-bending piece of information. Sophie doesn’t belong to the human world, she belongs in his world—a place filled with strange creatures, lost cities, and magic. A world for elves.

Why Keeper of the Lost Cities is a Must-Read for Your Middle Grade Shelf:

Wondrous Worldbuilding

Like J.K. Rowling, Messenger takes familiar fantasy elements—mythological creatures, supernatural powers, secret cities—and weaves them into an original, rich and fully functional magical world that co-exists with the human world in a believable way.

The hidden fairy cities Sophie visits in her new life are fleshed out beautifully, with vibrant colors and materials, and they are populated with an array of bizarre mythical creatures, and even some extinct ones—hello T-Rex!

The rules of the world are an interesting mix of science and magic (but hey, all magic is just as yet undiscovered science, right?). The elves travel by light, and can make themselves vanish, inflict pain mentally, read minds, and a whole host of other X-Men style powers.

Of course there is a school where elven kids go to train in these specialized subjects, and they usually manifest one power over the others while studying. Magical schools will NEVER be over, as long as they’re fresh and fun, and Foxfire Academy is both. If I couldn’t get into Hogwarts, Foxfire would totally be my safety school, and that’s a huge compliment (there are a TON of fictional magical schools out there).

Fabulous cast of characters

Sophie is so darned likable—she’s kind, vulnerable, smart, scared and brave. Not many kids could be plucked from everything and everyone they know and whisked away into a somewhat hostile environment—not everyone is happy to have her back—with such grace. The friends she makes at Foxfire are unforgettable—I love Fitz, the sort of hunky older guy who originally found her, his best friend Keefe, who is the master of snarky teasing, and Dex, her best guy friend, who is not a fan of Fitz. The stage is set for potential romantic entanglements in future books.

Sophie’s adoptive elven parents, Grady and Edaline are wonderfully fleshed-out characters, and their relationship with Sophie is one of the strongest elements in the book.

Utopia….kind of

The world of elves is a sort of utopia. Everyone has plenty of money, a worthwhile occupation, a clean environment, and magical powers. Death and violence are extremely rare. The human world is where violence, strife, and pollution exist in abundance. But not all elves agree on how to deal with the humans. A rogue group of rebels has their own agenda, and it may just involve Sophie.

Well done mystery

Figuring out why Sophie was put into hiding with humans, what secrets she holds in her head, and who is responsible for strange fires in the human world is so much fun. Messenger is a master of pace, doling out intriguing clues while giving us time to adjust to Sophie’s world, it’s rules, and the players. While not everything is fully resolved by the end (this is a series, after all), there is an exciting climax and satisfying conclusion to the story.

Age-proof Fun

There are a small group of middle grade books are completely age-proof, despite their young protagonists. Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Suzanne Collins’ Gregor the Overlander series come to mind. I would have loved these books as a fifth grader or a twenty-five year old. They are just SO much fun to read. You look forward to curling up with them, gleefully diving into an unfamiliar world where the problems are as small as “does this boy like me back?” and as big as “can I wield my magical powers to save my bestie from certain death?”

Keeper of the Lost Cities definitely has a place in this small age-proof pack. I couldn’t stop thinking about Sophie’s story, and I couldn’t wait to dive back in when I was forced to take a break (life….why’s it gotta intrude when I’m getting my fantasy world on?). This is a middle grade I expect to see in the hands of many grownups.

**Side note—if you’re worried about reading a middle grade book in public, do what I do, assume you’re selling the bejeezus out of the book. Personally, when I see a grownup flagrantly reading a middle grade book covered with brightly-colored cartoon characters on the subway/park bench/beach, I think “Wow, you are really into that middle-grade book. You didn’t read it in a closet or put it on your Nook. You’re showing it OFF. I need to check that out asap.” Keeper deserves to be proudly shown off.