Sophie has never felt like she fits in. At only 12 she is the youngest in her classes due to her academic achievements, but she is shunned for being smart. At home, she has a loving family, but something has always felt strange. She doesn’t look like her family and has never had a great relationship with her sister. It didn’t help that from the age of 5, Sophie could hear other’s thoughts. They are sometimes completely overwhelming, giving her terrible headaches.

When at a school trip to the museum, she escapes the ‘noise’ of others and meets a boy named Fitz. He begins talking to her, and suddenly seemed surprised. When she learns he has been looking for her, she’s not sure what to think. This soon turns to complete shock when with the use of a hand held tool no bigger than a toothbrush, he sweeps the air and they are standing in front of a palace.

The more Fitz explains to Sophie, the more shocked she is. Could it be possible? She feels unconnected to her family and classmates, because she’s not actually even human?

Learning she is Elvin is both terrifying and a relief at the same time. The more she thinks about it back home, the more things begin to make sense. At least a little. Can she do what Fitz has asked though? Can she leave her family behind forever?

This would mean never seeing them again, attending an academy called Foxfire, and trying to fit in to a whole new life, culture, history and group of Elvin her age.

The question largest in her mind is who are her parents and why did they leave her in a Lost City of humans?

This is the first Graphic Novel adaptation for this incredibly popular series. This episode only tells the first half of the first book in the series (of the same name), and has definitely got me hooked.

If the novels look a little too daunting to you (they are Harry Potter sized length), this graphic novel might be just what you need to grab you into this series too.

Sophie is a likeable character having to deal with not only a huge upheaval in her life but a fantastical one at that. There are a lot of characters to get your head around, and they are all ‘beautiful people’, prodigies or the parents or teachers of these chosen ones, at a special academy called Foxfire. Magical creatures and long extinct ones too, are common-place along with creatures Sophie never dreamed possible. 

This is a land of Elves, Goblins, Ogres and other magical types, although Elvin folk are the main focus of this first graphic novel. There are many mysteries laid out for the reader and Sophie as she embarks on this new and challenging life. There is also a heady mix of emotions stirred in. Surprise, shock, guilt, unease, uncertainty and lots of blushing and heart thumping moments for Sophie who isn’t used to all the positive attention – especially from boys.

A brilliant introduction/adaptation to this series of 10 novels. 

Author – Shannon Messenger

Adapted to Graphic Novel by – Celina Frenn

Illustrator – Gabriella Chianello

Age – 10+

(2023, Simon & Schuster, Series, Fantasy, Family, Fitting in, New Life, Elvin folk, Elves, Foxfire Academy, School, Telepathy, Telekinesis, Powers, Supernatural, Guilt, Crushes, Magical Creatures, Extinct animals)