Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy

ANNOTATION

Sammy continues to make life with her grandmother interesting as she tries to discover who is stealing from St. Mary's church, befriends a homeless girl, and plays in a softball tournament against a bitter rival.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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 CRITICS

Children's Literature - Jacki Vawter

Sammy Keyes is a likeable seventh grader with friends, a boy interest, and a grandmother as her only family. Sammy plays on her school's baseball team and dutifully fulfills her after-school detention of community service at the local Catholic church. It is there Sammy meets the Sisters of Mercy, three traveling nuns who have arrived in town to raise money for the church with entertaining performances. When valuable items are stolen from the church, Sammy is accused. Yet Sammy is resourceful and pursues the trails of possible culprits. Sammy receives help from her grandmother's friend who knows a great many things and, Sammy thinks, may have worked for the CIA. Sammy adds opening a safe to her list of problem-solving skills. In this third book of the Sammy Keyes mysteries, the climax deals with competing tensions as Sammy struggles in the playoff games, the Sisters of Mercy perform their final show, and Sammy takes control of the NunMobile.

Children's Literature - Childrens Literature

Wendelin Van Draanen's creation of Sammy Keyes is a boon to young mystery fans. Sammy, 13, appeals to readers because she has all the qualities of a pre-teen. She is defiant, curious, high-minded and eager for a bit of danger. In the 1999 Edgar Allan Poe Award winner Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief, Sammy spies a man through her binoculars combing through a purse in the hotel room across from her grandmother's apartment. When he sees her, she waves. Now he knows what she looks like and where she lives. Officer Borsch thinks her story is fabricated. It's up to Sammy to right all the wrongs. The newest book in the series is Sammy and the Sisters of Mercy in which Sammy befriends a homeless girl, meets a trio of singing nuns and discovers that even in the church there is gossip and petty jealousy bubbling beneath the church's surface. Just like junior high. Sammy keeps us turning the pages. 1999, Knopf, Ages 9 to 12, $15.00 and $4.99. Reviewer: Jan Lieberman

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-Actress Tara Sands narrates this third adventure in the series by Wendelin Van Draanen (Knopf, 1999). This time Sammy is serving detention at St. Mary's church where she find herself a suspect when Fr. Mayhew's gold cross is stolen from the safe. Intertwined around this main event are equally riveting ones: Sammy's relentless curiosity about Holly, who she notices while working at the Homeless Shelter; the junior high school rivalry between Sammy and Heather that escalates during baseball season; and the flamboyant manners of the Sisters of Mercy who descend upon St. Mary's. Sands retains the voices, evoking a continuity of images for the more familiar characters. Listeners can almost touch the soft, gray hair of Grams, with her gentle and caring voice, while Officer Borsch's gruff and gravely one epitomizes the image of an overweight, street-smart cop. Adding to her repertoire of voices, Sands stretches her abilities with more subtlety. Meeting the homeless girl Holly, Sands is able to give her a feral-like quality, yet inflict a vulnerability that tugs on listeners' heartstrings. With the Sisters of Mercy, she offers just the right amount of lightness in tone, and her renditions of their singing will make listeners laugh out loud. Sands' voice personifies the Sammy Keyes character, with all its adolescent love, anger, and humor. Listeners who love baseball will delight in this novel, as the playoffs for the championship highlight this story. Mystery fans will enjoy this 1999 Edgar Award winner for Best Children's Mystery.-Tina Hudak, St. Bernard's School, Riverdale, MD Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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