After years of contending with unwanted telepathic powers and the feeling that she is not like everyone else, 12-year-old prodigy Sophie Foster discovers that there is a perfectly logical explanation: she is an elf. Moreover, she is an elf who has been hidden among humans, with secret elven information stored in her memory. An encounter with a mysterious boy named Fitz reveals Sophie's true heritage, and she returns to the elf world, a network of lost cities assumed to be mythical by humans. This series opener spends a lot of time world building and establishing Sophie's new life. Comparisons to Harry Potter are obvious, especially once Sophie starts studying at the exclusive Foxfire Academy to hone her elf abilities. Some mysteries, such as Sophie's role as a Keeper and why she was embedded amongst humans, remain largely unanswered. A large and varied cast of supporting characters and an intriguing premise contribute to make this an exciting start to a promising series.--Dean, Kara Copyright 2010 Booklist

Gr 5-8-This debut novel is a powerful and appealing package of skillful world-building, fantasy, suspense, mystery, and middle-school relationships. Sophie Foster, a friendless 12-year-old high school senior with a photographic memory, is plagued by the hubbub of other people's thoughts in her brain. She has always known that she is different, but her life changes profoundly when she learns that she is an elf with telepathic and other magical abilities. She is transported away from her human family forever to the elvin world, where the Lost Cities (Atlantis, Shangri-la, etc.) exist and extinct animals are thriving. As Sophie starts at her new school, her concerns about friendships, midterms, crushes, and grades in subjects such as "the Universe," "elementalism," and "alchemy" will hook readers. While navigating her new life, Sophie must solve two mysteries: First, who is setting all those magical-seeming fires in the human world? And second, who could be leaving items in her locker that repeatedly put her in serious danger? The more she learns, the more her memories return, uncovering secrets about her past. The suspenseful climax leads to a satisfying resolution, although Messenger leaves just enough threads hanging for a possible sequel. A slew of interesting and well-drawn characters, careful plotting, and just plain good storytelling will have readers racing through the pages.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A San Diego preteen learns that she's an elf, with a place in magic school if she moves to the elves' hidden realm. Having felt like an outsider since a knock on the head at age 5 left her able to read minds, Sophie is thrilled when hunky teen stranger Fitz convinces her that she's not human at all and transports her to the land of Lumenaria, where the ageless elves live. Taken in by a loving couple who run a sanctuary for extinct and mythical animals, Sophie quickly gathers friends and rivals at Foxfire, a distinctly Hogwarts-style school. She also uncovers both clues to her mysterious origins and hints that a rash of strangely hard-to-quench wildfires back on Earth are signs of some dark scheme at work. Though Messenger introduces several characters with inner conflicts and ambiguous agendas, Sophie herself is more simply drawn as a smart, radiant newcomer who unwillingly becomes the center of attention while developing what turn out to be uncommonly powerful magical abilities--reminiscent of the younger Harry Potter, though lacking that streak of mischievousness that rescues Harry from seeming a little too perfect. The author puts her through a kidnapping and several close brushes with death before leaving her poised, amid hints of a higher destiny and still-anonymous enemies, for sequels. Wholesome shading to bland, but well-stocked with exotic creatures and locales, plus an agreeable cast headed by a child who, while overly fond of screaming, rises to every challenge. (Fantasy. 10-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.