Cozy up with a new book this winter season. Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger is a heartwarming and dramatic story. Sophie Foster, a twelve-year-old who believed she was human like everyone else, is told a terrible truth – she’s an elf who must be immediately transported to the elven world from the only home she’s ever known.
Cynthia Doran, a fourth-grade teacher at Patrick M. Villano School, chose the book for a read in the Villano Book Club. That’s a morning book talk group open to students in all grades. Keeper of the Lost Cities is the first book in a series by Messenger.
“Keeper of the Lost Cities is a book geared toward the ages 8-12, so it’s for middle school students. It was published in 2012, and has been beloved ever since.”
Hailey Ciavaglia is a fourth grader and member of the club. Ciavaglia said even if the title wasn’t on the list for the club, she’d have read it anyway due to its popularity.
“I like fantasy books and I like mystery, but I like adventure, too.”
Keeper of the Lost Cities is all three of Ciavaglia’s mentioned genres rolled into one – an exciting mystery concerning Sophie’s creators, a novel set in a beautiful fantasy world, and adventures at every turn. It leaves readers on the edge of their seats and makes many unexpected twists and turns.
“I liked the description. It was very interesting. It was very detailed,” Samanya Panda, a sixth grader, stated.
Just like the warm feeling of coming home for the holidays, Sophie at the end of the book feels happy and settled in her new adoptive home, not alone for her many adventures, truths to dig up, and deathly choices ahead.
