Synopses & Reviews
Now in Knopf Paperback, seventh-grade gumshoe Sammy Keyes returns in her second mystery--a Halloween intrigue involving Frankenstein and a skeleton man in a tale of greed, grudges, and getting even.
Review
"Artfully throwing in clues, red herrings, and well-timed revelations, Van Draanen keeps her heroine on the hop...Sammy is as resourceful and tough as ever, and the breathless pace of this adventure will rivet readers from page one." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"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
Review
"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
Synopsis
This Halloween is more than just tricks and treats--it's deadly serious.
It was supposed to be a simple ding-dong ditch. A dare to give them bragging rights. But as Sammy and her friends sneak up to the spookiest house in town, they get scared witless by a skeleton, and then witness something frightening enough to make even Sammy scream.
Things have taken a scary turn at school, too, with horrible Heather spreading embarrassing rumors about Sammy. Sammy devises a plan to expose her, but it's going to take a deceptive disguise, some good friends, and a lot of guts to pull it off...
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
Synopsis
What does Frankenstein have that a skeleton wants?
Sounds like a bad Halloween joke. But Sammy Keyes isn't laughing. She's the one who collided with the skeleton while he was making his getaway. And she's the one who discovered Frankenstein tied to a chair with his head twisted around. Someone's taken "trick or treat" way too far.
When Sammy starts to investigate what really happened Halloween night, she's amazed at how many people have something to hide. Of course, Sammy's got a few secrets herself. And more than a few tricks up her sleeve...
About the Author
Books have always been a part of
Wendelin Van Draanen’s life. Her mother taught her to read at an early age, and she has fond memories of story time with her father, when she and her brothers would cuddle up around him and listen to him read stories.
Growing up, Van Draanen was a tomboy who loved to be outside chasing down adventure. She did not decide that she wanted to be an author until she was an adult. When she tried her hand at writing a screenplay about a family tragedy, she found the process quite cathartic and from that experience, turned to writing novels for adults. She soon stumbled upon the joys of writing for children.
Feedback from her readers is Van Draanen’s greatest reward for writing. “One girl came up to me and told me I changed her life. It doesn’t get any better than that,” she said. Van Draanen hopes to leave her readers with a sense that they have the ability to steer their own destiny—that individuality is a strength, and that where there’s a will, there’s most certainly a way.
Wendelin Van Draanen is the winner of the 1999 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Children’s Mystery Book for Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief and lives with her husband and two sons in California.
From the Hardcover edition.