ISBN:1417808128
Price : $17.50 library binding
Reader's Annotation: Ananka Fishbein, Kiki Strike and the rest of The Irregulars are determined to discover the hidden city beneath the streets of New York.
Summary: Ananka Fishbein's adventures begin when she looks out her window to see a pale figure climbing out of a hole that has suddenly appeared in the park across the street. The hole leads to an city beneath the streets of New York. The girl is Kiki Strike, who calmly responds to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" by saying only "Dangerous." Kiki befriends Ananka, and together they gather other girls to form The Irregulars, a group of slueths determined to map the Shadow City. Then, Kiki disappears, and The Irregulars begin to wonder if she really was who she claimed to be.
Genre: action, adventure, book, friends, mystery, royalty
Series : The sequel to this book is Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb.
Why it belongs in a Tween Collection: Kiki and The Irregulars are strong, smart and bold, and scoff at those who underestimate the power of tween girls. This is a fantastic longer read for fans of mysteries and adventure, or for anyone who thought Nancy Drew was too outdated for their tastes.
Readalikes :
- The City of Ember by Jeanne Du Prau
- Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter
- School Library Journal with Kirsten Miller
- Kiki Strike Website -- discover which of The Irregulars you are!
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. White-haired, leprechaun-size Kiki Strike is a new student at Atalanta School in New York City when she meets 12-year-old Ananka Fishbein, the narrator of Miller's debut novel. Together they begin a detailed exploration of the Shadow City, the subterranean rooms and streets under New York's subway system, and Kiki recruits a team of other precocious 12-year-olds, whose skills include hacking, chemistry, lock picking, forging, making handmade explosives, and mechanical engineering, to join them. Ananka, the team's urban archaeologist, will supply her family's extensive library and learn everything about rats, the current Shadow City inhabitants. As the girls try to obtain layered maps of New York City's infrastructure, they fear that terrorists with the same goals are putting the city in terrible danger. The peripheral plotline about a nefarious, exiled princess of Pokrovia, who is a fellow Atalanta School student, adds intrigue. First-time author Miller has created a fascinating, convoluted mystery-adventure, which features early-adolescent girls with talents and abilities far beyond their years. The novel will attract both male and female readers, as Harry Potter did, especially since many chapters conclude with perspectives on such universally appealing topics as "How to Be a Master of Disguise" and "How to Foil a Kidnapping." While some discerning readers may complain that the conclusion is too quick and tidy, readers will welcome the hints of sequels, all hopefully narrated by Ananka, the most intriguing and carefully developed of Miller's characters.
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