Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Any one who has read the Harry Potter series, and loved it like I did, will love this book too. Shannon Messenger has created her own world and instead of a young boy (Harry) discovering his magical talents after being "hidden away" for the first decade of his life, this time it's a young girl, Sophie. Sophie knows she is different, but she has no idea who she really is or how powerful her magical talents are. I felt sad when she had to leave her "family" though, because in this case she really loved them and they really loved her. (Even presumably her bratty sister!)

In this first book of the series, we enter a world of elves. Sophie enters a special school and works with different professors that help her develop - and discover - special talents. So again, very Harry Potter-like. There are professors that seem to support her and those that oppose her, wanting her kicked out. Tiergan is her Telepath mentor, which is kept secret from others for most of this book. Telepaths were rare and in high demand. There are also ethics involved when you are a Telepath - which Sophie learns the hard way (even after being told!) Fortunately, Sophie has several wonderful people who seem to genuinely care about her (two sets of parent-figures) as she tries to figure out who she really is (who her birth parents are) and how she fits into the big picture of her dangerously changing world.

She develops some friendships, but I'm not really sure who will be her "side-kicks" throughout the series. She has a major crush on Fitz, and he seems to be more her "equal", but she relies on Dex and his loyalty to her just as much as she relies on Fitz to help her out of dangerous situations. (Because of his own talents and the importance of his father).

By the end of the book we find out that Sophie has a severe allergy (which could easily cause her death), suppressed memories that may or may not be her own, a weakness in alchemy, the ability to find an unmapped star and a photogenic memory. After a couple of mis-starts, she finds a new "family" (Grady & Edaline) and she passes her first year of school. All in all, a wonderful start to this journey!

Wendy's Rating: *****