Van Draanen, Wendelin
Mystery – Adolescent
Van Draanen, Wendelin,
[Start with Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief.]
ammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief. Random House, 1998, 163 p.
Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man. Yearling, 1999, 176 p.
Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy. Yearling, 1999, 240 p.
Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes
Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy. Yearling; reprint edition, 2002, 288 p.
Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception
A few years ago, Wendelin Van Draanen was coming to a book symposium at the Provo Library. Weeks before the symposium, I sent my son to the library to check out Sammy Keyes books, and he brought back the five he found. We knew we weren’t starting with the first book in the series, but I started reading, and so did my twelve year old daughter Emily. It worked anyway. After we sent back and read the first one, we realized that it explains some things we were wondering about, and we did get more of a physical description of the infamous Heather Acosta than we’d thought was available, but the individual books are each good enough to stand on their own.
Emily and I adore Sammy Keyes. In past years I’d had several girl students turn in book reports on Sammy Keyes books. I hadn’t read the books, so I didn't think too much about the books. After reading several of the books I appreciate what Wendelin VanDraanen has done. She’s written absorbing stories about this likeable girl who lives an interestingly unconventional life yet shares so many of the fears and worries of other kids her age. She’s smart and brave enough to stand up for herself, help other people, and solve mysteries.
Sammy is twelve years old and is just starting seventh grade at the beginning of the series. She doesn’t know who or where her father is, and her mom has gone off to seek stardom in Hollywood, leaving Sammy with her grandmother. A further complication in Sammy’s life is that Grams lives in a high-rise building exclusively for senior citizens. So Sammy has to sleep on the couch and sneak in and out, often by way of the fire escape, as part of her regular leaving and returning “home.” Her best friend Marissa, who does the McKenzie dance when she gets nervous but is willing to go outside her comfort zone for a friend, is also a character worth getting to know, as is Sammy’s grandmother, a certain policeman who gets very frustrated with Sammy, and a senior citizen gentleman friend of her grandmother who also becomes a good friend to Sammy. Then there’s Heather Acosta, another seventh grader and Sammy’s arch enemy – one of those characters the reader loves to loathe.
Sammy has a knack for getting into trouble, and for getting involved in other people’s troubles. In the first book, the mystery she must solve involves a thief who knows that she witnessed a burglary in progress, and is out to get her. Along with that, she's starting seventh grade and manages to make an enemy of the queen of mean at her new school.
