By Linh N., Grade 10
My childhood consisted primarily of three things: drawing, playing imaginary games, and going to the park. I was not an avid reader. In fact, when my parents first tried to teach me to read using Bob Books, which had little more than three words per page, I broke into tears. These sessions almost always ended in tantrums (learning to read is hard!), but eventually I started to be able to sound out words, to read out loud, and finally, read chapter books. However, I did not become interested in reading more until fourth or fifth grade. One summer, my parents brought home several book series for me to read, including Keeper of the Lost Cities, Percy Jackson, and Fablehaven. I was immediately hooked on these books and could not put them down! As soon as I finished reading one, I would start the next in the series.
Keeper of the Lost Cities was my personal favorite. This book series explores the life of Sophie Foster, who has a secret power - telepathy - she has never been able to explain. When she discovers that she belongs to a different world, she feels both curious and apprehensive. As events unfold and Sophie starts adjusting to her new life, she notices fatal flaws in the way the elven society operates. She also learns that she is part of an experiment, one designed to give her elevated powers and perhaps other mysterious qualities. They hid her in the human world for a reason, and she has to find out why.
Keeper of the Lost Cities now has nine books with a tenth one coming out this November. As the series progresses, the reader finds out more about the Black Swan - the group that created her - and another rebel group.
I found this series so entertaining and interesting, and at the time, I loved the way Shannon Messenger wrote. There are several major plot twists per book, and the vague prologue that Messenger includes at the start of each book is slowly explained, creating major suspense. She also does an excellent job of describing the elven world and all of its special objects, powers, and inhabitants. I even remember wishing that I lived in that world for a few days to experience the same things that Sophie does.
My only complaint about this series is that the quality of the books started to decrease after Book 6 (Nightfall). The later books did not have the same cohesive plot the earlier books had, and I felt like they were there just to tie up loose ends before the finale, Book 10 (Stellarlune). Additionally, when I read the books now, the writing seems a bit basic and elementary - it’s still entertaining, but not a challenging book. This is expected though - Keeper of the Lost Cities is a series meant for younger teens and middle schoolers.
This series always creeped me out a bit. The fantastical world that the two protagonists, Kendra and Seth, live in is much more sinister than Keeper of the Lost Cities. There are many monsters and mythical creatures, and the series focuses on protecting the human world from these beings.
As Kendra and Seth explore their grandparents’ mansion and extensive grounds, they realize that it is a reserve for magical creatures. Although these beings look like regular animals - butterflies, bugs, and hummingbirds, they are far more complex than they seem. Their grandpa warns them that being a part of this world, and seeing these creatures for what they truly are comes with consequences, but the two want to be a part of this world anyway.
Soon, they realize that these creatures have their own intentions and do not have the same views of “good and evil” that humans do. There are many twists and turns throughout the series, and the later books explore Seth and Kendra’s quest to stop the worst of these creatures from escaping a mass prison.
Although I definitely thought that this series was interesting, I did not like it as much as the other two. My main problem with this book was that it was not well written at all; the writing style was very bland, I felt that the characters were very stereotypical and did not have much development, and the dialogue was not realistic to how people speak. On the positive side, each book has a very entertaining plot and so many mysteries that get unraveled as you read. The first and second books were definitely my favorite, and the last few did not disappoint either.
Percy Jackson is such an amazing series - I read it over and over and loved it each time. The series that comes after (Guardians of Olympus) expands on other characters but also includes characters from Percy Jackson.
Similar to Keeper of the Lost Cities, Percy realizes that he is a demigod, and a powerful one at that - he’s the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman. Unfortunately, these creatures take his mother, and he has to embark on a highly dangerous quest to rescue her. Each book follows Percy’s journey as he completes a task or quest, but his ultimate goal is to prevent Kronos from rising again. Throughout this series, he is aided by his fellow demigods, especially Annabeth and Grover.
I know so many people who also really enjoyed this series. Recently, it has been made into a very popular TV show, but to me, nothing will beat the original. Rick Riordan’s writing style is very funny, entertaining, and easy to read - each book is a short read. They all have a very similar structure as well - Percy receives a prophecy, embarks on his mission, and either is or is not successful. I don’t have any complaints about this series, and I would really recommend this to any elementary or middle schoolers.
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