Tag: Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities, book 9.5

I love a good series. Once I’m invested in the character, knowing there will be another book with more story makes the book ending so much easier. I love introducing young readers to a good series because they too get so excited for the next book.

Last week I waited impatiently for the latest book in Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series. Book 9.5, “Unraveled,”(yes, this book follows book 9 and comes before book 10 because it parallels book 9) detours from the usual narrator, Sophie, to her friend Keefe telling his story of the time he is away from the Lost Cities.

A little background on the “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series…in book 1, we meet 12-year-old Sophie, who always felt different than other children and even her own family. She has a photographic memory, but what really makes her different…she can read minds. She keeps this secret hidden until she meets Fitz, who shares something so big, mind reading seems small in comparison. Sophie is an elf, as is Fitz and there is a whole secret elf world that humans don’t know about. Sophie leaves her family (whose memories of her are removed by another elf) and moves to the elf world in the lost cities.

The series follows Sophie as she learns there are secrets buried in her memories and that she has a much larger purpose in the elf world. She was hidden in the human world for a reason and now that she has been found, Sophie and her friends will need to battle evil, while manifesting other special skills and being normal teenagers who attend elf school.

This series has all sorts of twists and turns, adventures, betrayals, battles, family challenges, friendship challenges, and unicorns. While being an elf and meeting unicorns might make the story seem especially childish, it isn’t. It is written in a way that it feels very real and believable. Shannon Messenger weaves a complicated tale while keeping a myriad of big personalities on their interwoven journeys. It’s a good read for tween, teen, and adult readers.

What Messenger does best…she gets her readers excited for the next book. If your young reader enjoys the “Keeper” series, be sure to follow Shannon Messenger on social media. She talks about the characters, does count downs and give aways for preorders of the next book. Young “Keeper” fans count down the days to the next book. Anyone who can get young readers that excited about the next book in a series gets a big recommendation from me. I highly recommend this series. If your tween or teen likes fantasy, be sure to introduce them to Sophie (definitely start with book 1, this isn’t a jump in the middle of the series kind of book).

Waiting for the next book in a Series

I love a good series. I like that there is another book to look forward. I often read series after multiple books are out which is nice because I can run and grab the next book as soon as I finish one. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten into a few series as they were being written, so I’ve had to wait for the next book.

While I may not be the most patient person, I recommend reading a series while it is being written, and to follow the author on social media during that process. Following the author is great because they give little glimpses into the next book. One author we follow has shared small bits of conversation from the next book giving just enough to make you really curious where the story is going. Sometimes they share a few deleted scenes from the book as well.

The authors tend to do a lot of buildup on social media prior to the release of the next book. If the previous books are already best sellers, the authors may do pre-order incentives. We’ve preordered multiple books in Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series and Messenger does a great pre-order incentive (which has been different for each book so it’s worth pre-ordering all of them). When you pre-order the book and send in your receipt, you may receive a signed book plate sticker, other stickers related to the book, a drawing of a character, or other items that make young readers excited about the book to come. The authors also will share social media if they are doing a book tour or online book discussions.

While it is exciting to be able to race through an entire series, reading one as it is being written brings its own excitement. All of these things build anticipation for a book and make young (and older) readers so excited to read the next book. Waiting for the next book builds anticipation and teaches readers like me patience.

Book inspired Halloween costumes

This week, several friends sent me a photo of a little girl dressed up as a book fairy. Her wings were made from an open hard cover book. Her skirt was made from lose book pages. The costume was brilliant, and I wish I was going to a Halloween party just to be a book fairy. The fact that multiple friends sent me the same image made me happy…they know me well.

This got me thinking about other bookish Halloween costumes. I know I originally said I would write about ways to bring books alive, and I will cover that more soon, although I think Halloween costumes are a perfect way to make a book come alive for a child (or teen, adult, pet, anyone). Dress up as your favorite character whether they are from a movie, cartoon, book, or comic book.

If a child likes a book series, what better way to get them even more excited about reading more in the series then for them to dress up as that character. We often see Harry Potter and Hermione, and I love that children love the characters so much that they choose to dress up like them. In our house, costumes have been some very popular book characters and some more obscure. Some of my favorite book character costumes from our Halloweens past include Gerald from the Mo Willems “Elephant & Piggie” books, a borrowed Sophie Foster costume from Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series (and yes, we had a friend who happened to have that costume), Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” and a group costume consisting of Hermione, Harry’s Owl (carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet), and Doby.

Some characters are challenging because their costumes look like regular clothes, so how do you identify it as a costume? Fear not, it is still possible. For many of our book costumes, I made a trick or treat bag. I picked up a package of plain white cloth bags and printer transfer paper. Print a full sheet book cover onto your transfer paper and iron it onto the bag. It’s simple (although read the instructions to see if you need to flip the image before printing so you don’t have a backwards book cover). Easiest way to immediately identify that the child is dressed up as their favorite book character, and that bag will likely become a favorite little book tote bag.

I can’t wait to see all the costumes, especially the book inspired ones this Halloween. If you dressed up as a book character, be sure to share a picture. I’d love to see it!