My love for Keeper of the Lost Cities started when I was in a bookstore. I was allowed to get one book that day for good grades, so I was trying to find one that I really liked. I was browsing through the "M" section when I found a shiny paperback book. In big, bold letters, it said it was Keeper of the Lost Cities, written by Shannon Messenger. I flipped over the back excitedly and read the description. In those few sentences of the back, I had already knew this would be the book I'd choose.

So we bought it and I read it as soon as I got home. I finished it fairly quickly, and was absolutely in love with it. When I was allowed to get more books at the bookstore, I immediately headed to that same section, my mind only on the second book, Exile. They didn't have it in that store, so I looked in another. And another. Finally, after returning to that first store, they had restocked their shelves and I could finally get Exile. I already had Everblaze; Neverseen wasn't out then.

When I first read the series, I was only in fourth or fifth grade. I read it as a just for fun thing, not really relating to many characters.

When Neverseen came out, I was excited and I read it, but I didn't finish it. Suddenly, it seemed as if I wasn't interested in the series as much as I was before.

Flash forward to 2016. I decided I would re-read the whole series, and that I would finish Neverseen. I found myself falling in love with those books again, getting to know and meet the characters that I fell in love with as well. During this time, I wasn't feeling the best, but reading the series made me smile, laugh, and love it again.

And then around November or so, when I was reading Neverseen again, I learned my dad cheated on my mom, and that he went to move in with the girl he cheated on her with. Suddenly, I couldn't seem to get into books anymore. I was sad, angry, and my emotions were so mixed up. And I still couldn't finish Neverseen.

But then I started to think about the series again. Now I knew the rage Sophie felt, and that my emotions were similar to hers. I found myself relating to Keefe the most, a boy who couldn't seem to trust his parents anymore. A boy who said that our family doesn't decide who we are. We decide.

So, in 2017, I had my grandma buy me Lodestar as a late birthday present after she offered. I finished Neverseen, and I read Lodestar quickly. And most importantly, I got back into reading again.

So that's why Keefe Sencen is my favorite character, ever. Because of him, I started using humor to cope with the emotions I was feeling. It made me feel better. He gave me one of my favorite quotes: "Our family doesn't decide who we are. We decide." Here was this character I actually related to, who had to go through things similar that I did.

Keeper of the Lost Cities helped me when I felt so lost, when everything I had known and hoped for wasn't there anymore. To this day, it's quite possibly my favorite series ever, and that's saying A LOT.

And this all started when I found the book on that bookshelf.

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This is definetly the most personal thing I've ever written, but I felt like I should write it. It fits with the book. 

Enjoy, ~Kirs.