Introduction

Samantha Mae Costas, called Sam, the eleven year old daughter of two prominent New York archeologists, spends boring summers on her Grandpa’s farm on Mile High Mountain as her parents search the Mediterranean for the Lost City of Atlantis. Her red hair and green eyes is a sharp contrast to her dark haired family, and she’s always felt “different.” She’s slight, wears nerdy but functional glasses, suffers from debilitating asthma and has to quit the school soccer team. The team is the tether that ties her to her friends. Without it, they share little in common and slowly draw away. She follows a faint path through the primordial forest that skirts the back of the farm and encounters Prince Buznor, “Buzz” at the hidden Mirrored Pool. The thumb-sized Awokian is on a mission to find Sam, the special Outworlder that according to legend, can wield the power of the Crimson Crystal and save his world from destruction by Bottomworld’s war-like Zogs. Reluctantly she agrees to help, but first the Crystal must be found. Seeming insurmountable obstacles are mastered during her quest to do so. She soldiers on to the confrontation with Drogon, the Zog leader. As she stares into the face of ultimate evil, the tiny being must conquer her fear if she is to fulfill her destiny.

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Excerpt

Sam gazed down at the wondrous sights below and for the moment forgot she was suspended in air on a very precarious perch. It was a cavernous place of highly polished granite thousands of times larger than the chamber where she had first entered. The ceiling sparkled with meandering veins of diamonds that radiated even brighter as they were struck by ambient light bouncing along the top of the Awokian world. The dazzling, magnificent Crystal Kingdom below was a city of lights and radiant mists of constantly changing colors.

Tree-lined roads dotted with small cottages converged on a broad plaza that surrounded a shimmering, crystal castle. Hues of different colors streamed from the tops of the Castle’s six towers and blended together in an iridescent misty cloud above. Silk swallow-tailed banners flew from the highest peaks of the towers. Other buildings of prominence rimmed the plaza, but their combined glory did not match that of the Castle. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

1.What is the core message of the book?

2.What specific theme(s) does the author emphasize throughout the story?

3.Do the characters, creatures and worlds seem real and believable?

4.Can you relate to Sam’s conflicts and doubts?

5.How does Sam evolve throughout the course of the story, and what events trigger these changes?

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