Reviewed by Brown Bear Daughter, age 12:

I’ve been reading the five finalists for the Middle Grade Fiction Cybil award (Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller, Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz, Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Heat by Mike Lupica, Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata), and Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City has, so far, been my favorite.

What I really loved about Kiki Strike was that I could imagine myself as many of the different characters, and I would be content with who I was. I would think, “If I was Kiki Strike, would I be happy?” And the answer was yes. This made me love the book. Because simply imagining something can make me so happy.

Of course, it was terribly sad in the end, and yet happy too. I really enjoy sadness in a book. This one, sadly, didn’t make me cry, but it was very pathetic nevertheless. I can’t reveal the ending, but I wish I could because then I could explain why it made me so sad. But now you’ll probably want to find out why it is so sad, and you’ll read it.

The book is about a girl named Ananka Fishbein. Kiki Strike is a girl who goes to her school. Kiki Strike, with her deathly pale features and mysterious actions, arouses Ananka’s curiousity. Kiki Strike chooses Ananka and few other girls to form the Irregulars, a group which discovers one of the greatest secrets of underground Manhattan.

Sidonia Galatzina, or The “Princess,” as Ananka calls her, and Sidonia’s mother are the villains of the story. Sidonia is rich and snobbish, and becomes very interested in Kiki Strike, when Sidonia’s precious ring is stolen at school and Kiki reveals the real thief when Ananka is blamed. Sidonia’s suspicions are aroused, and not until the end of the book do you find out why Sidonia is so interested in Kiki.

Now I hope I’ve gotten you so interested in Kiki’s fate that you’ll read the entire book.

Note from the blog owner:
The winners of the 2007 Cybil Awards for Children’s and Young Adult Literature will be announced in just two days, on Valentine’s Day. I am one of the judges for the Middle Grade Fiction category, so I haven’t posted my reviews of the the finalists that I hadn’t read or reviewed before the judging started. The Middle Grade Fiction committee has chosen a winner, and you’ll see the announcement, as I said, on the 14th. Now you know which book was Brown Bear Daughter’s favorite, although she’s enjoyed all of the books she’s read for the award.

Semicolon review of Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Semicolon review of Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata.

Semicolon review of Heat by Mike Lupica.

A list of the books nominated in the Middle Grade Fiction category for the Cybil Award.