The reason? Sophie’s a Telepath, someone who can read minds.

She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t really connect with the older kids at school, but she’s not comfortable with her family, either. Twelve-year-old Sophie has never quite fit into her life. I am looking forward with anticipation to the growth of this genre into a more interesting, complex, diverse genre.īelow are eight books about lost cities and lost civilizations that are exciting, that will charge your wanderlust, that will make you want to explore, discover, and dig deeper into the histories you may know little about.A New York Times bestselling series A USA TODAY bestselling series A California Young Reader Medal–winning series In this riveting series opener, a telepathic girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world before the wrong person finds the answer first. There are many books out there, too, that feature imperialist or racist outlooks - and even books that have been partially recanted because the author realized it wasn’t their story to tell. I am particularly invested in finding such books, as these lost places and mysteries are most often set in places where the majority of the population is non-white, and in places that have been colonized or “discovered” by white men. If you find any such titles, please let me know.

Unfortunately, the world of adventure and exploration writing seems to often fall to white authors, often men, and I was largely unable to find nonfiction books on lost cities and lost civilizations by women, gender-nonconforming writers, and authors of color. The world of archaeology has experienced true moments like this, whether it be explorers disappearing under mysterious circumstances or a few adventurers making an archaeological discovery that shifts history altogether. While that classic action movie is fun, there are real-world stories too: lost cities and lost civilizations rumored, discovered, and uncovered. But through a maze of traps, illness, surprises, suspense, romance, adventure, and villains, they end up withdrawing, the secrets and the treasure lost, the rush of discovery fresh in the hearts of our protagonists. The films and books abound, particularly in fiction: a group of explorers hack their way through a jungle in search of a mysterious lost city and its trove of treasure.

The lost cities book