I first read Keeper of the Lost Cities on October of 2020, for the Stone Soup Book Club. I had nothing to read, and the book was in my favorite genre: adventure fantasy. I had previously enjoyed many fantasy series: Harry Potter, Wings of Fire, How to Train Your Dragon, Artemis Fowl, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Percy Jackson, of course. Basically, 90% of my personal library is just adventure fantasy. And so I thought, Well, why not? It’s not like anything bad could come of trying out a new fantasy book. Little did I know I was not only right, but I would develop a massive obsession with every aspect of Keeper of the Lost Cities. The protagonist of Keeper of the Lost Cities is a girl named Sophie. At the start of the story, Sophie is an outsider, amazingly smart with a photographic memory, and she has just been invited to Yale University at twelve years old—but she has a secret. Sophie can read minds. She always knew she was strange, but soon finds out that she is an elf in a human world. Another elf, an older boy named Fitz, introduces Sophie to the Elvin world. Sophie has to come to grips with the fact that her human parents and little sister cannot be her real family, because she is an elf. Worse, she must leave her human family and her pet behind when she goes live with the elves. Sophie has many adventures in the scattered estates and cities the elves call The Lost Cities. She finds out more about her powers of telepathy, meets a goblin and lots of gnomes, learns to use a “leaping crystal,” and even fights against kidnappers. Keeper of the Lost Cities is the first book in a series of ten. One odd detail about the numbering of the series is that the tenth book is labeled “Book 9,” because the ninth book is labeled “Book 8.5.” All other books have regular numbers. I have just finished Book 9, and it is a major rollercoaster of emotions, overflowing with revelations that tie into previous books. Every time a question is answered, ten more are raised—but more on that later. I would probably recommend Keeper of the Lost Cities to ten-year-olds and up, because there is plenty of blood, gore, pain, and cruelty. I would not recommend it to people who throw up or have nightmares easily. To be honest, on the outside, you would not think of Keeper of the Lost Cities as much different from any other fantasy book, complete with goblins, trolls, ogres, dwarves, gnomes—and elves, of course. But what makes Keeper of the Lost Cities different from most other fantasy series is its riveting plot. It shows you what you are supposed to think, then says it just in case you missed it, and two chapters later, when you are positive you know what is going on, it reveals that the total opposite is true. Shannon Messenger does not just tell you the story, she makes you feel like you are experiencing it, without holding anything back. Keeper of the Lost Cities is emotional, and jarring, and soothing, and chock-full of sadness, and joy, and anger, and love, and the best part is that when you read the book, you can feel the main character’s emotions as well as sensations. Keeper of the Lost Cities is deep, yet light, and humorous, yet tear-jerking, and this might just be me, but flipping through its pages, lost in the story’s embrace, Keeper of the Lost Cities feels like an old friend, there to comfort me and help me through whatever I’m going through, or just make me laugh, or put a smile on my face. That’s why Keeper of the Lost Cities is my favorite book series of all. Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger. Aladdin Paperbacks, 2013. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Weekly Creativity #235 | Flash Contest #51: Write a Story/Poem in which the Protagonist/Speaker Struggles with Their New Year’s Resolutions
Write a story/poem in which the protagonist/speaker struggles with their New Year’s resolutions.
Saturday Newsletter: December 31, 2022
Imagination (watercolor) by Ivory Vanover, 12; published in Stone Soup December 2022 A note from Emma Wood Dear friends— First, I hope you’ve been enjoying December, and all of the lights, sugar, family time, and festivities it brings. I write to you from the sofa in a house that has the distinct, palpable feeling of emptiness which the departure of a houseful of family members creates. Conner is already in Ecuador, where he is spending the first few weeks of 2023 teaching his undergraduate students as a part of a study-abroad program. So, tomorrow, I will be ringing in the new year with my two young children on European time then going to bed early! Second, I’m thrilled to be writing to you for the first time not only as Editor but also as the new President and CEO of Stone Soup. It’s a dream and an honor to have the opportunity to lead this wonderful organization into the next fifty years of its life, just as we are entering our fiftieth anniversary year. William: Thank you for creating this project, for running it for all of those years, and finally, for trusting me with it. I hope I can bring the same energy, enthusiasm, and dedication to Stone Soup as you have. I would also like to thank Gerry Mandel, Stone Soup’s co-founder and editor emerita, for her devotion to Stone Soup for its first forty-five years—it would not be here without you! Lastly, a word about my plans for Stone Soup. Many people I speak to recognize the name of Stone Soup. However, many of those same people are surprised to hear that it still exists! In 2023, I will be focused on building partnerships with organizations, foundations, and individual authors to both raise more visibility for the Stone Soup of today and to help us grow into the Stone Soup of tomorrow. As we close out the year, we are closing out our annual drive. If you haven’t yet had a chance to make a tax-deductible gift to us this year, I hope you will consider doing so today to help me realize these plans and help Stone Soup enter its next generation. Finally, I hope to see many of you ‘in person’ at the Donor Meeting on January 14th. Happy New Year! New year, new term! We are happy to announce the continuation of our virtual classes for the Winter 2023 term beginning January 21st, 2023! They will run weekly through March 25th. We are additionally thrilled to once again present Isidore Bethel’s filmmaking workshop and are incredibly grateful for his continued partnership with Stone Soup. Also on offer is Conner’s popular writing workshop! For the year of 2023, we plan to alternate Conner’s and William’s workshops to consolidate and boost enrollment. If you were looking forward to William’s class, check back in the spring and try out a course with Conner or Isidore in the meantime! Introduction to Short-Form Filmmaking with Isidore Bethel, meets at 9 a.m. Pacific Time every Saturday. Isidore is an award-winning filmmaker who will guide students through the process of making their own film. Discussing and writing about other filmmakers and their work will complement the students’ own filmmaking journeys. Sign up here for Short-Form Filmmaking. Conner’s Group: At 11 a.m. Pacific Time every week, Conner Basset will teach his writing workshop focusing on the nuts-and-bolts of writing. Conner teaches English at Albright College and has experience instructing younger writers. He is a poet and translator in addition to being a brilliant teacher. Sign up here for Conner’s workshop. Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498.
