Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City

By Kirsten Miller
Rating: 3 3/4 stars
Reviewed by Noelle

Ananka is not too pretty, not too popular, and fairly bored with life. Then one day she spots a giant sinkhole in the park across the street and a girl climbing out of it. Curious, Ananka climbs into the sinkhole herself to find a trapdoor into some deep tunnels. It is the Shadow City, an entire network of tunnels and businesses and rooms underneath the city of New York. Soon, Ananka is contacted by Kiki Strike, the girl she saw come out of the sinkhole, and they recruit 4 other teenaged girls with special skills--forgery and lockpicking, chemistry, mechanics, disguise--to form the Irregulars. With the Irregulars, Ananka finally finds some friends and learns some valuable life skills. Together, the Irregulars explore and map the Shadow City until a disaster causes an injury to one member of the team and for suspicion to fall upon Kiki Strike. Why did she bring them all together in the first place? What was her real reason for exploring the Shadow City? Is Kiki a friend or an enemy? The Irregulars fall apart, but soon they come back together when they find their city threatened by possible terrorists and that nothing is what it seems, not even Kiki Strike. An unbelievable but fun story of 6 very strong, smart girls and their adventures below and above ground. Although the story runs a little long in parts, girls dreaming of becoming spies will love this one.