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KIKI STRIKE: INSIDE THE SHADOW CITY
Kirsten Miller
Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Fiction
ISBN-10: 1599900920
ISBN-13: 9781599900926
400 pages
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview -- June 1, 2006
Ananka Fishbein has led a quiet life for her first 12 years. As an only child living with two preoccupied, book-absorbed parents in New York City, Ananka is forced to look after herself, both for entertainment and companionship. For the most part, she occupies herself with the hundreds upon hundreds of books her parents keep stacked throughout the house. As for friendships, however, she hasn't had too much luck. At her exclusive, top-dollar private school, she slips unnoticed between the different cliques to invisibly wander the halls alone, not fitting in with either the famous Princess Sidonia and her snobby, rich tagalongs or the poor but intelligent scholarship girls. But then one day something happens that turns her lonely New York City life upside down.
Ananka glances out her apartment window early one Saturday morning to notice that an unusual sinkhole has swallowed the city park across the street. And stranger yet, a dirty, elf-like girl climbs up out of the hole, gives Ananka a wave and then disappears. Of course Ananka has to get a closer look. Hesitating for only a moment, she slips down the rope into an underground room. The city workers soon arrive to repair the damage to the park, so she only has a second to explore, pocketing an old dusty book in her haste.
Back in her room, she pours over the strange book whose author describes unusual spots to visit in 1800s New York City. The author also mentions an unknown, hidden part of the city used by criminals and those not wishing to be found, a place called the Shadow City. It lies beneath New York, buried deep within the earth --- and Ananka has just discovered a way inside.
Unfortunately, the city workers quickly fill in the sinkhole, closing off Ananka's passageway into the Shadow City. But Ananka studies the old book with determination, hopeful to find another gateway to the underground city. And then she literally comes face to face with another clue to the mystery as she notices a new girl at her school, the same one who had climbed up out of the sinkhole. Introduced as Kiki Strike, she enlists Ananka's help in a massive project --- exploring and mapping the Shadow City. To round off their team, they recruit four other girls, each with certain essential talents: DeeDee, the chemist; Oona, the forger and hacker; Luz, the engineer; and Betty, master of disguise.
Together, the six form the Irregulars, a group vowing to discover and uphold the secrets of the Shadow City. But almost from the start, it seems as if Kiki Strike is hiding something. Ananka begins to doubt Kiki's intentions. Which side is she really on? When doubt clouds the bonds of a dangerous mission, that's when people start getting hurt, or even killed.
Kirsten Miller has accomplished an awesome adventure with her first novel. Non-stop thrills starting from page one challenge the reader to put it down while the mysteries deepen, leaving the curious begging for answers. In between the 100 MPH excitement and the fascinating and intensely diverse characters, Miller has expertly woven a vital message into her story: the importance of a young woman having strength and belief in herself. She supplies readers with a number of helpful (and sometimes humorous) suggestions to achieve these worthy goals, while at the same time entertains with her fast-paced, exciting journey into our imaginations.
--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman (author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND)
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