Kiki Strike: The Empress’ Tomb, by Kirsten Miller
Miller, Kirsten (2007). Kiki Strike: The Empress’ Tomb. NY: Bloomsbury USA. 350 pages.
Oh, man, I love the Kiki Strike books! The Empress’ Tomb is the second in Kirsten Miller’s series following a rogue group of young teen girls who call themselves the “Irregulars” and, with the guidance of their mysterious leader Kiki Strike, foil the sinister plots of some of Manhattan’s most dastardly crooks. Narrated by Ananka, the Irregular who is probably the closest to Kiki, the new novel (like the first book in the series) is 99% narrative and 1% instructions to the young reader cum spy.
In the second book in what I hope is a protracted series (and, if Miller’s “Kiki Strike” website is any indication, the Irregulars have a lot more evil to encounter), Manhattanites take notice when both graffitti-ed images of large squirrels and large squirrels, themselves, begin to show up on the city streets. When the squirrels seem to be signaling the Irregulars, Ananka and her friends become involved with an old enemy–Lester Liu–and some new complications–a potential romance with the squirrel-handler for Betty, the Irregulars’ mistress of disguise, for one. The new installment is long (350 pages) and complex though very satisfying; the various plot strands ultimately come together in a conclusion that somehow doesn’t seem pat. Although the primary conflict involves some comicly eccentric characters, these figures are not introduced in a way that would render them stock pieces and even these secondary figures have quirky depth.
Like the old Christopher Pike novels (think Chain Letter and Weekend, not Whisper of Death), the “Kiki Strike” books are sophisticated pieces that don’t pander to their youthful audience. It is Miller’s authorial empathy for her teen characters and her authorization of their subjectivities (even as their maturity seems to belie their age) that make this book a pleasure to read.