Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries

Hi I am @keeperseeker. Sadly it has been a while since I last posted.
I have decided to redo my summaries of Keeper of the Lost Cities (KOTLC).
Since all the books of KOTLC series are so large, I will be summarizing multiple chapters in one post.
Let's begin!

Disclaimer: My posts may include spoilers. The KOLTC series is written by Shannon Messenger. I do not claim ownership of any of the characters or plots described in the series.

KOTLC Book 1


Chapter 1:
Sophie Foster was on a field trip to the Natural History Museum with her class when she got called out by her teacher for having her headphones in. She used the music to block out the voices she had heard since she was five years old. Mr. Sweeney, her teacher, told her to give the lecture on the how the Lambeosaurus was different from the other dinosaurs they had studied. Sophie did it flawlessly due to her photographic memory, upsetting her teacher and class.
Sophie got bullied by a boy, who was upset that she---a twelve-year-old, senior in high school--- got accepted into Yale while they had declined him, despite her parents saying she was too young to go to college. Newspapers even covered Sophie Foster "The Child Prodigy" instead of the “bizarre fires with white-hot flames and smoke that smelled like burnt sugar.”
Sophie noticed a “tall, dark-haired boy” reading the paper about her then glancing over in her direction. His eyes were teal “like smooth pieces of sea glass”. The boy walked over and asked her---in a crisp accent--- if the picture on the front of the newspaper was her. She nodded. Something about the conversation felt off to Sophie. Then the boy asked if she thought the Albertosaurus looked like it did in the display. She said no. The boy started to leave when a group of screaming children came running in. Their thoughts felt “like an angry porcupine” was “attacking her brain”.
Sophie noticed the boy had the same problem. When he asked “Did you just… hear that?” and “Are you a Telepath?” Sophie froze. The boy told her his name was Fitz and he was also a Telepath. Fitz said they had been looking for her for twelve years. Sophie ran. While she was running, she crossed the street but did not see a car that was coming her way.

Chapter 2:
The car swerved and hit a streetlight, which fell towards Sophie. Sophie’s instincts took over. Pulling strength from her mind and pushing it through her fingers, Sophie held the lantern with her mind. Fitz told her to put the lantern down causing her to drop it. Fitz had to yank Sophie out of the way of the falling streetlight. Sophie had no idea how she did that.
Fitz pulled her away, out of sight. Once they were out of sight, Sophie and Fitz started to talk. Sophie asked Fitz why they were looking for her. Fitz said her could not answer but told her she was different with her brown eyes instead of the blue eyes they had, despite her being one of them. Fitz said “We are not human” vanishing for a second to prove his point.

Chapter 3:
Fitz told her they were elves and asked “Would you believe me if I showed you?”. Fitz pulled out a pathfinder---“a slender silver wand with intricate carvings etched into the sides”. Fitz told her to hold his hand and concentrate only on that. On ‘three’, Fitz pulled Sophie forward into the beam of light the pathfinder created. They arrived at a breathtaking place where a row of crystal castles “glittered in the sunlight” across from a “glassy river”. The background was snow-capped mountains surrounded by a valley. The “crisp, cool air smelled like cinnamon and chocolate and sunshine”. The place was so beautiful, Sophie forgot about Fitz for a moment.
Fitz informed her they were in Eternalia or Shangri-la, the elven capital, and how all the ‘Lost Cities’ were real. Sophie wondered where everyone was. Fitz pointed at a domed building that looked bigger, less sparkly, and more serious than the rest. Fitz pointed to the blue banner flying and told her that it meant a tribunal was happening which was when the Council ---elven royalty--- held “a hearing to decide if someone had broken the law”. That was a big deal, considering laws were rarely broken in the Lost Cities.
Sophie asked if what she was seeing was magic. Fitz told her magic was a human way to describe things they could not understand. When Sophie asked how they were in San Diego then in Eternalia, Fitz told her they light leaped (riding a beam of light to a destination). Sophie still did not believe Fitz, so he light leaped her somewhere else. Sophie was confused, Fitz was saying she had to throw away everything she had ever learned. Fitz also told her elven minds were more advance than a human minds. That was when Sophie fully realized she was an elf.

Chapter 4:
A bell chimed and Fitz pulled Sophie into hiding, again. Sophie saw a goblin---creatures who “were at least seven feet tall” and “wore only black pants”, for the first time. The goblins had “flat noses and course gray skin” with their muscles on display. Sophie asked why they were hiding. Fitz told her it was because they were dressed as humans, who were forbidden in the Lost Cities. Fitz said humans were violent and that the Ancient Councilors did not accept violence in the Lost Cities so they left they humans to themselves.
Then Fitz asked Sophie if she was ready to go home. Fitz and Sophie returned to the smell of smoke in the air. Fitz wondered why the humans had not put out the fires. Sophie stated that they were trying but the fires were not normal.
Eventually Fitz had to leave to tell his dad he had found Sophie. Fitz made Sophie promise to not tell anyone about their trip to the Lost Cities. Before he left, Sophie asked why she could not hear his thoughts. He explained how the elves had strong minds unlike humans, how elves had different abilities, how being a Telepath was rare, and how she was the youngest to manifest at twelve. Him previously being the youngest at age thirteen. Fitz was really surprised to learn Sophie had actually manifested at age five. Fitz tried reading her mind but could not and asked if she was ‘blocking’ him (a trick elves used to stop Telepaths from reading their thoughts). Fitz told Sophie to try reading his thoughts which she did successfully, surprising Fitz since no one else could read his thoughts when he blocked them.
When Fitz pulled out his pathfinder to go to the Lost Cities, Sophie asked him if she would see him again to which he responded he would tomorrow and he would find her.

Continuing the Conversation

  1. If you were on a trip and a stranger walked over and started to talk to you, how would you respond?
  2. When you think of a breathtaking place, what is the place you image?
  3. If you could have any super power/ability, what would it be?

Comment if you have enjoyed this series so far.
@KEEPERSEEKER

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I love that you put little discussion questions at the end. I think there’s a couple of book club communities as well, have you looked into them? Might be worth cross posting and seeing if there’s some there that have also read these books 🙃

Thank you for the suggestion. I will look into that.