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Keeper of the Lost Cities by [Shannon Messenger]

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Shannon Messenger

Keeper of the Lost Cities Kindle Edition

by Shannon Messenger (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,442 ratings

Book 1 of 9: Keeper of the Lost Cities

A New York Times bestselling series
A USA TODAY bestselling series
A California Young Reader Medal–winning series

In this riveting series opener, a telepathic girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world before the wrong person finds the answer first.

Twelve-year-old Sophie has never quite fit into her life. She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t really connect with the older kids at school, but she’s not comfortable with her family, either. The reason? Sophie’s a Telepath, someone who can read minds. No one knows her secret—at least, that’s what she thinks…

But the day Sophie meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy, she learns she’s not alone. He’s a Telepath too, and it turns out the reason she has never felt at home is that, well…she isn’t. Fitz opens Sophie’s eyes to a shocking truth, and she is forced to leave behind her family for a new life in a place that is vastly different from what she has ever known.

But Sophie still has secrets, and they’re buried deep in her memory for good reason: The answers are dangerous and in high-demand. What is her true identity, and why was she hidden among humans? The truth could mean life or death—and time is running out.

Reading age

8 - 12 years
Print length

497 pages
Language

English
Grade level

3 - 7
Lexile measure

670L
Publisher

Aladdin
Publication date

October 2, 2012
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

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ISBN-13

978-1442445949
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From the Publisher

Review

“A delightful and dangerous adventure with complex characters and relationships you'll root for to the end of time.” —Lisa McMann, New York Times bestselling author of THE UNWANTEDS

"Keeper of the Lost Cities is a little bit Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a little bit Lord of the Rings, and a little bit Harry Potter. And it's all fun!" —New York Times bestselling author Michael Buckley

“A large and varied cast of supporting characters and an intriguing premise contribute to make this an exciting start to a promising series.” —Booklist

“A slew of interesting and well-drawn characters, careful plotting, and just plain good storytelling will have readers racing through the pages.” —School Library Journal

About the Author

Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She’s studied art, screenwriting, and film production, but she realized her real passion was writing stories for children. She’s the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many different languages. She lives in Southern California with her husband and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at ShannonMessenger.com.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-This debut novel is a powerful and appealing package of skillful world-building, fantasy, suspense, mystery, and middle-school relationships. Sophie Foster, a friendless 12-year-old high school senior with a photographic memory, is plagued by the hubbub of other people's thoughts in her brain. She has always known that she is different, but her life changes profoundly when she learns that she is an elf with telepathic and other magical abilities. She is transported away from her human family forever to the elvin world, where the Lost Cities (Atlantis, Shangri-la, etc.) exist and extinct animals are thriving. As Sophie starts at her new school, her concerns about friendships, midterms, crushes, and grades in subjects such as "the Universe," "elementalism," and "alchemy" will hook readers. While navigating her new life, Sophie must solve two mysteries: First, who is setting all those magical-seeming fires in the human world? And second, who could be leaving items in her locker that repeatedly put her in serious danger? The more she learns, the more her memories return, uncovering secrets about her past. The suspenseful climax leads to a satisfying resolution, although Messenger leaves just enough threads hanging for a possible sequel. A slew of interesting and well-drawn characters, careful plotting, and just plain good storytelling will have readers racing through the pages.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York Cityα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Booklist

After years of contending with unwanted telepathic powers and the feeling that she is not like everyone else, 12-year-old prodigy Sophie Foster discovers that there is a perfectly logical explanation: she is an elf. Moreover, she is an elf who has been hidden among humans, with secret elven information stored in her memory. An encounter with a mysterious boy named Fitz reveals Sophie’s true heritage, and she returns to the elf world, a network of “lost cities” assumed to be mythical by humans. This series opener spends a lot of time world building and establishing Sophie’s new life. Comparisons to Harry Potter are obvious, especially once Sophie starts studying at the exclusive Foxfire Academy to hone her elf abilities. Some mysteries, such as Sophie’s role as a Keeper and why she was embedded amongst humans, remain largely unanswered. A large and varied cast of supporting characters and an intriguing premise contribute to make this an exciting start to a promising series. Grades 4-7. --Kara Dean --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN : B005C776A8
Publisher : Aladdin; Reprint edition (October 2, 2012)
Publication date : October 2, 2012
Language : English
File size : 4365 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 497 pages
Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #16,425 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #69 in Children's Books on Friendship
- #110 in Children's Fantasy & Magic Adventure
- #406 in Children's eBooks (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
1,442 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		88%
4 star		8%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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LucasH

Not the best

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2019

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I love books for children and young adults. I'm picky though and not every book that graces my reading glasses is worthy of finishing aka I did not finish this book. I might in future when I run out of better books to read, but as of now I just cant.
I bought this book originally because I wanted to be transported to a wonderful new world. Yes I'll admit I was craving Harry Potter but couldn't muster up the strength to reread them. So right off the bat I've already set this book up for failure. Still I was hopeful.
While the fantasy concept and world building is great. The characters are terrible. These elves are incredibly racist against humans. Every single one I've met so far act high and mighty. Not a single one is down to earth and relatable. I suspect and hope this will be addressed in future books.
The main character is way to agreeable. She agrees to give up her loving family for a better one (not a great message to be sending kids). She agrees to give up on the human race for a better one (also not a great message) She agrees to letting people walk over her and ignore her questions. She is always sorry for her actions, apologizing for everytime she mess up. Plus she's a bit vain always noticing looks before personality. Overall not a great female role model. Maybe she'll grow into one, but I'm not seeing any seeds planted
I haven't totally given up on this book I'm sure I'll pick it up later. The world building is great and the author does have imagination. I just don't relate to the Elves (probably because I'm an ugly, not smart human...their words not mine) and the main character.

50 people found this helpful

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WesternMan

A great blend of old and new

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2017

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Keeper of the Lost Cities is one of the best series debuts I’ve read in a long time. It combines the tales of fascinating stories of old, such as Atlantis, with modern-day worries and places seamlessly. It is a wonderful tale of determination and magic.

Sophie Foster is a child genius who’s been avoiding unwanted attention her whole life. Then, suddenly, she’s whisked away to a new land of elves, to discover where she really belongs. The plot thickens as the mysterious, unidentifiable fires around San Francisco get bigger and worse. With her elvin school’s final exams approaching, Sophie turns to a new friend for help, but the pair are kidnapped. They must then find their way back to the Lost Cities on their own, but not without help. Even when they get back, Sophie still has to deal with the dangers of being special in a special world.

Keeper of the Lost Cities will keep you on your toes, your heart beating in anticipation to see what will be revealed next!

24 people found this helpful

Helpful

justme

Pretty good adventure for all ages... Despite narrator

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

Overall, the story was pretty good. I do feel like the book ended with more unanswered questions and dangling threads than I care for, but it is the first book in a series. There is quite a bit of typical middle grade gross-out humor. The is a bit of violence, but no swearing. The "romance" is pretty non-threatening early teen girl-likes-boy stuff, but doesn't overwhelm the plot.

Julia Roundtree wasn't one of the better narrators that I've listened to, and I would never purposely buy another Audible edition she narrated. I hate to be mean, because I don't read aloud terribly well myself (I am an excellent reader just not aloud, I trip over my tongue when I try)... But I just didn't enjoy her narration.

I picked up book two became I want to follow the story some more. The Audible edition of book two, _Exile_ has a different narrator and is in Audible's children's sale that ends on 11-27-17 for $3.95. Seems worth a try, although I notice books three through six don't have audio editions and text-to-speach is disabled in the Kindle editions (I just now noticed that), so that may be as far as I go. My vision isn't bad enough that I totally require text-to-speach, but shame on publishers--especially of youth-oriented books--that disable it. Text-to-speach on the Kindle Fires could open literary doors to worlds of wonder for so many, if the bigger publishing names would stop disabling the feature in Kindle books.

18 people found this helpful

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Kayleigh Norris

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C. J.

So close to 5* except....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

There might be a rant somewhere in this review, you have been warned.
Ok, I'm not really the target audience but, I really like this book, I don't give out four star ratings if I'm not going to carry on with the series. The world building worked for me, it wasn't overly descriptive. I enjoyed the many varied personalities you get to see in this book. Some characters happily reminded me from other books I've read, Fitz - Edward Cullen, Dex - Ron Weasley, Keefe - Adrian Ivashkov. It did remind me a little of Harry Potter but not so much that I enjoyed it any less, there are always going to be similarities because Harry Potter came first, but Keeper Of the Lost Cities is definetly original and stands out on its own two feet.
Now for the reason of the one less star, the instant crush! When I opened this book I wasn't expecting any love, I know it's not love, but there were so many heart flutterings! I'm so worried because I can predict who Sophie is going to end up with, I hope I'm wrong! Or just keep'er single (sorry couldn't resist) Just wish it hadn't happened so fast (compared to Harry Potter where there are no crushes for the first couple of books) this is only the first book and the second and third are already out, I've started this series late and there are probably so many relationship developments in the following books that I have to wait for till I get my hands on them!
Overall, a fun story, with a cute cover.

5 people found this helpful

Olivia

a magical and whimsical MG perfect for friends of Harry Potter

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2020

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A magical and whimsical MG perfect for fans of Harry Potter (as it says on the cover).

The story of Sophie Foster discovering who she is and getting into crazy hijinks throughout the school year as friendships form and her life is inevitably put in danger. A classic story with added interest and fun thrown in, making it a truly wonderful book to read.

The world building is incredible and the idea of a series of hidden cities intrigues me immensely and I cannot wait to see how Shannon Messenger continues this lovely, whimsical series because I for one need to know what happens to Sophie and Dex and all the other students at Foxfire!

Anie

real page turner

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2020

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From the moment she stood up in class and corrected her teacher I knew that sophie had the most complicated background (She was a 12yr old in one of the highest years high school). the book has so much ation, so much emotion and so much suspense that no matter how many times someone asks you to stop reading you cant help flip to the next page then the next then the next.
most of the characters Messenger puts in the book are totally realistic. Keefe in particular was my favorite character (along with sophie and biana) he would sometimes make you want to smack him so hard you'd leave a mark and sometimes his sarcastic comments would make you
throw your head back and laugh.

i recomend it to anyone that is reading this review.

DatAvidReader

Incredible start to an incredible series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is book one of (at the time of writing this) 9 book series, and without it I would never have gotten into the wonderful world of Keeper of the Lost Cities. When I was 9, my mother bought me this book and I instantly fell in love, with the grounded start before evolving into a mystical world of incredible things. The book picks up pace with the mystery of Prentice, and upon rereading the moments between characters are heartwarming. I love every single part of it, and when it gets to the climax I'm fully invested in the series.

The rest of the books continue at this high standard, and this is perfect for anyone who likes Harry Potter, Percy Jackson or Artemis Fowl.

LeftieNix

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

My daughter devoured this book. It's quite a hefty book & she read it in a fortnight & demanded the next one. She says it was interesting, exciting, great story & the characters were believable. It's one of her favourite books

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