Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Yearling
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2003-09-09
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0375890440

"The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)" —Midwest Children's Book Review What Sammy should have done was put the binoculars down and call 911. What she does instead is tighten up the focus on her right eye to get a better look. There's something very familiar about this thief. But when Sammy eventually spills her story to Officer Borsch, he doesn't believe her. He treats her like some snot-nosed little kid. Well, Sammy's not going to stand for that. She's a snot-nosed seventh grader now, and she knows what she saw. And somehow she's going to prove it. The Sammy Keyes mysteries are fast-paced, funny, thoroughly modern, and true whodunits. Each mystery is exciting and dramatic, but it's the drama in Sammy's personal life that keeps readers coming back to see what happens next with her love interest Casey, her soap-star mother, and her mysterious father.

Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls

Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2011-10-11
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0375897356

"The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)" —Midwest Children's Book Review After being chased by a man wielding a shovel, scared silly by a mummy, and attacked by Heather Acosta, Sammy and her pals decide they've had their fill of monsters and head home to eat some candy. But along with bubble gum and chocolate bars, they discover something frightening in their trick-or-treating bags. Something that's definitely not sweet! Before they know it, Sammy and her friends are following suspicious gravediggers, ghoulish embalmers, and shady undertakers. And somebody is following them . . . The Sammy Keyes mysteries are fast-paced, funny, thoroughly modern, and true whodunits. Each mystery is exciting and dramatic, but it's the drama in Sammy's personal life that keeps readers coming back to see what happens next with her love interest Casey, her soap-star mother, and her mysterious father.

Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy

Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Yearling
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2008-12-24
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0307545407

Sometimes it's hard to tell the saints from the sinners... Sammy was supposed to be in church to get out of trouble, not into more. But while she's at St. Mary's working off some school detention time, a valuable cross goes missing and Sammy becomes the prime suspect. She knows she's innocent, and also what it feels like to lose something important. Her treasured catcher's mitt has been stolen--heartless Heather must have taken it to throw Sammy off her game in the upcoming softball play-offs. Trouble is, it's working. Sammy needs that glove back. Throw in nuns in feather boas, a homeless girl in high-tops, a carrot-chomping dog, and a safe that needs cracking, and you've got just another week in the life of Sammy Keyes. Praise for the Sammy Keyes series: “Sammy Keyes is feisty, fearless, and funny. A top-notch investigator!” —New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton “The sleuth delights from start to finish. Keep your binoculars trained on Sammy Keyes.” —Publishers Weekly “Sammy Keyes is the hottest sleuth to appear in children’s books since Nancy Drew.”—The Boston Globe

Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary

Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2003-11
Genre: Children's stories
ISBN: 9780439973182

Sammy Keyes is usually pretty cool but currently she's reeling at the teen scene at a New Year's Eve party. She has to find out who burned down Moustache Mary's pioneer-era cabin and a series of puzzles before she can regain her self-confidence.

Sammy Keyes and the Kiss Goodbye

Sammy Keyes and the Kiss Goodbye
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Yearling
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2018-05-29
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0307930637

The final mystery starring Sammy Keyes: “the most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)” —Midwest Children’s Book Review Sammy doesn’t go looking for trouble, but she seems to find it everywhere. She’s forever sniffing out clues and chasing down bad guys—and driving her friends a little nuts. She’s gone up against thieves and counterfeiters and gangsters and blackmailers and murderers, and always stayed one step ahead. Until now. Last night, one of the bad guys caught up. Last night, someone followed Sammy up the fire escape and pushed her from the third story. Now she’s in the hospital, out cold. And her friends are left with the questions Sammy’s always been so good at answering: Why? How? But most of all . . . WHO? In this emotional conclusion to her beloved long-running series, Wendelin Van Draanen shows just how many lives one nosy girl can touch and pays tribute to a life well sleuthed. Praise for Sammy Keyes: “If Kinsey Millhone ever hires a junior partner, Sammy Keyes will be the first candidate on the list. She’s feisty, fearless, and funny. A top-notch investigator!” —Sue Grafton “Sammy’s brave, resourceful, observant and a loyal friend, but this girl sleuth is no well-mannered Nancy Drew. She’s endearingly hot-tempered, nosy, and not always obedient—in short, she’s someone I want to read about again.” —Margaret Maron

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Yearling
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2009-01-16
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0307544982

“The hottest sleuth to appear in children’s books since Nancy Drew” (The Boston Globe) is back! Don’t miss the eighth book in the series that’s been described as “a combination of Carl Hiaasen’s Flush and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books” (School Library Journal) and hailed as “nonstop whodunits” (Kirkus Reviews)! The artsy crowd thinks Sammy Keyes has a lot of nerve showing up at a fancy reception in high-tops. But when she tackles a robber who’s brandishing a gun with one hand and pulling paintings from the wall with the other, they’re glad she has nerve. Or are they? Sammy may have stopped one criminal, but the real crime at this show has yet to be discovered. The real crime is more subtle, more artful, than anything Sammy’s ever seen. Who knew art could be so dangerous? Praise for the Sammy Keyes series: “If Kinsey Millhone ever hires a junior partner, Sammy Keyes will be the first candidate on the list. She’s feisty, fearless, and funny. A top-notch investigator!” —New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton “The sleuth delights from start to finish. Keep your binoculars trained on Sammy Keyes.” —Publishers Weekly “The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)” —Midwest Children’s Book Review

Flipped

Flipped
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Ember
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2003-05-13
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0375825444

A classic he-said-she-said romantic comedy! This updated anniversary edition offers story-behind-the-story revelations from author Wendelin Van Draanen. The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. Juli says: “My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss.” He says: “It’s been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.” But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down: just as Bryce is thinking that there’s maybe more to Juli than meets the eye, she’s thinking that he’s not quite all he seemed. This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny voices. The updated anniversary edition contains 32 pages of extra backmatter: essays from Wendelin Van Draanen on her sources of inspiration, on the making of the movie of Flipped, on why she’ll never write a sequel, and a selection of the amazing fan mail she’s received. Awards and accolades for Flipped: SLJ Top 100 Children’s Novels of all time IRA-CBC Children’s Choice IRA Teacher’s Choice Honor winner, Judy Lopez Memorial Award/WNBA Winner of the California Young Reader Medal “We flipped over this fantastic book, its gutsy girl Juli and its wise, wonderful ending.” — The Chicago Tribune “Van Draanen has another winner in this eighth-grade ‘he-said, she-said’ romance. A fast, funny, egg-cellent winner.” — SLJ, Starred review “With a charismatic leading lady kids will flip over, a compelling dynamic between the two narrators and a resonant ending, this novel is a great deal larger than the sum of its parts.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred review

Runaway

Runaway
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Ember
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012-04-10
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0307975975

This diary of a runaway girl and her search for a home celebrates hope, resilience, and happy endings as only Wendelin Van Draanen, the author of Flipped and other acclaimed novels, can. Holly has run away before, but this time she actually gets away—and what at first felt like an escape soon becomes a daily struggle for survival. She is smart and resourceful, and she manages to make it across the country on her own. But how long can this go on? It’s getting harder to avoid the truth—Holly is now homeless. Runaway is a remarkably uplifting portrait of a girl still young and stubborn and naive enough to believe there’s a better place for her in the world. “Will grab readers from the first entry.” —Kirkus Reviews “Holly’s lively self lingers in the way the best characters do. Runaway is certainly one of the best young adult books of the year.” —The Sacramento Bee

Confessions of a Serial Kisser

Confessions of a Serial Kisser
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher: Ember
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2009-12-22
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0375842497

Does the perfect kiss exist? This smart and funny modern romance from the author of Flipped explores the pleasures and perils of love. Perfect for fans of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Evangeline Logan wants a kiss. Not just any kiss—a “crimson kiss,” like the one in a romance novel she’s become obsessed with. But the path to perfection is paved with many bad kisses—the smash mouth, the ear licker, the “misser,” the tentative tight lipper. The phrase “I don’t kiss and tell” means nothing to the boys in her school. And worse: someone starts writing her name and number on bathroom walls. And worst of all: the boy she’s just kissed turns out to be her best friend’s new crush. Kissing turns out to be way more complicated than the romance novels would have you believe. . . . “Evangeline’s strong, entertaining voice will pull plenty of readers, who will root for their heroine as she begins to piece together a grown-up life.” —Booklist “The pacing is near-perfect: readers realize, just when Evangeline does, that it is not a kiss she is [really] after. In the end, the playful title and premise are matched by tender and convincing storytelling.” —Publishers Weekly

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2008-05-16
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781435277687

Thirteen-year-old Sammy's penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at the "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors' building where she is living with her grandmother.