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Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy
Illustrated by Wendelin Van Draanen
· Knopf Books for Young Readers
· Hardcover · Ages 10-13
· April 20, 1999 · $15.95 · 978-0-679-88852-9 (0-679-88852-7)
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She is supposed to be in church to get out of trouble...
Sammy is working off some junior high detention time by helping out at St. Mary's, but when Father Mayhew discovers that his ivory cross has been stolen, Sammy becomes the prime suspect. While she's looking for the real culprit, Sammy is amazed to find how much gossip and petty jealousy there is bubbling under the church's serene surface. This is just like junior high!
And school is abubble with intrigue as well. Sammy's in the middle of softball playoffs when her catcher's mitt is stolen. She's sure the hated Heather must have it, but knowing whodunit and getting the mitt back are two different things.
With a cast that includes a trio of singing nuns, a homeless girl in high tops, a former safecracker, and a red-hot shortstop, it's not so easy to tell the saints from the sinners...
"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
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.
Visit the Sammy Keyes web site
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