Look out Harriet the Spy! Here comes Sammy Keyes, a resourceful, brave, too-curious-for-her-own-good young sleuth who gets into trouble with her grandmother's binoculars. Sammy was just killing time when she looked across the avenue with the binoculars. She certainly didn't imagine that she would see a thief in the act of stealing something from one of the rooms at the Heavenly Hotel. The worst part is that the thief saw Sammy spying! And what did "smart" Sammy do then? She waved at the thief! Now Sammy is in loads of trouble. Can she solve the mystery of the hotel thief before the thief finds her and before the police discover that she has been living illegally with her grandmother? (Oh, don't ask--it's just another stressful situation in this young detective's life.) Teens of all ages, shapes, and persuasions (especially reluctant readers) will adore Sammy and her crazy adventures. She is much more than a brilliant detective: Sammy Keyes, who is curious in all the right ways, is the sort of person you'd love to have as a friend.


From Publishers Weekly
Sammy, an intrepid girl detective, discovers a number of secrets about the hotel across the street from her home. "The solution will likely come as a surprise, and the sleuth delights from start to finish," said PW. Ages 10-13. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-Mystery fans will welcome Samantha Keyes, a feisty 13 year old who lives with her grandmother in an apartment designated for retirees only. At home one day, Samantha trains her binoculars on the world outside. That's when she witnesses a robbery in the hotel across the street. She can't call 911 because that would give away the fact that she's spying and the authorities might discover that she is living with Gram. Instead, she waves at the thief. So begins her adventure. Later, when Sammy tries to tell police what she knows, she is hampered by their unwillingness to listen and by her need to keep her living situation a secret. Readers will love the clever way she catches the crook and they are sure to identify with this likable teenager who inadvertently gets herself into trouble. The book is full of strong characters, including Samantha's friend and fellow sleuth Marissa; Madame "Gina" Narisha, astrologist and robbery victim; Officer Borsch and Tall 'n' Skinny, the investigators assigned to the crime; and Rockin' Rick, the town's favorite DJ. There are plenty of suspects and even Sammy is not immune to being accused. Pair this book with Bruce Coville's The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed (Bantam, 1991) or other titles in which the female protagonist must prove to the adults that she saw what she saw.Linda L. Plevak, Alamo Area Library System, San Antonio, TXCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
In this first in Wendelin Van Draanen's series, Sammy inadvertently witnesses a burglary when she's spying out her Grams's window with binoculars, panics and waves at the burglar (oops), then sets out to figure out what's really going on. Preteens will identify with sassy sleuth Sammy as the next-generation Nancy Drew gets into (and out of) one scrape after another. Tara Sands clearly has fun with the outrageous details and characterizations, some of which are curiously dated and sound as if they belong in a 1930s gumshoe flick. Sands makes Sammy easy to get hooked on--which is good news, since there are many more volumes in the series and many more mysteries for Sammy to solve. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Kirkus Reviews
PLB 0-679-98839-4 Van Draanen (How I Survived Being a Girl, 1997) debuts a live-wire young sleuth in this nonstop whodunit. The day before starting seventh grade, Samantha peers through her grandmother's binoculars and spots the latest in a rash of burglaries. The burglar spots her right back, setting in motion a headlong chain of events that, over the next few days, takes Sammy and her rich but loyal friend Marissa from back alleys to the roof of the local mall in an effort to finger the crook while escaping his clutches. Meanwhile, Sammy also has to cope with a hostile police officer, a new school, malicious classmate Heather, andin the seniors-only highrise where she lives with Grams while her own mother pursues a Hollywood careera suspicious neighbor. Heather's villainy and subsequent public humiliation may be overdone, but Van Draanen expertly keeps all the subplots at a rolling boil while strewing the tale with red herrings, suspects, and clever clues. Children will admire Sammy's inadvertent genius for ruffling feathers as much as they'll like her sharp powers of observation and deduction; she is a tough new gumshoe with another caper scheduled for fall. (Fiction. 10-13) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Sammy Keyes is perusing the neighborhood through binoculars when she spots

something fishy at the Heavenly Hotel. She's sure she's just seen a robbery,

now she just has to prove it. Now in Knopf Paperback, is the first book in the

exciting new series of middle-grade mysteries starring the smart and spunky

seventh-grade ace detective. "This girl sleuth is no well-mannered Nancy Drew.

She's hot-tempered, nosy and not always obedient. In short, she's someone I

want to read about again. A winning debut!" (Margaret Maron, author of The

Bootlegger's Daughter and One Coffee With).







Card catalog description
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.


From the Inside Flap
Sammy Keyes is perusing the neighborhood through binoculars when she spots something fishy at the Heavenly Hotel. She's sure she's just seen a robbery, now she just has to prove it. Now in Knopf Paperback, is the first book in the exciting new series of middle-grade mysteries starring the smart and spunky seventh-grade ace detective. "This girl sleuth is no well-mannered Nancy Drew. She's hot-tempered, nosy and not always obedient. In short, she's someone I want to read about again. A winning debut!" (Margaret Maron, author of The Bootlegger's Daughter and One Coffee With).  


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.

ANNOTATION

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.

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

Publishers Weekly

Sammy, an intrepid girl detective, discovers a number of secrets about the hotel across the street from her home. "The solution will likely come as a surprise, and the sleuth delights from start to finish," said PW. Ages 10-13. (Aug.)

Children's Literature

Sammy lives with her grandmother in a seniors only building. That means she sleeps on the couch and all her things must stay tucked away in one bottom drawer. It also means she has to sneak in and out of the building to avoid a nosy neighbor. Sammy doesn't let these inconveniences stop her. Nothing stops Sammy Keyes. She lives an action-packed life of excitement she either finds or creates. In this mystery series debut, Sammy witnesses a robbery while spying with binoculars. Realizing that the thief looks oddly familiar, she waves, and the chase begins. The fast-paced mystery and its resolution are peppered with funny interactions with friends, suspects, and an ongoing conflict with a girl named Heather. Sammy's snappy voice is distinctive throughout. This quick-witted girl has an assertive personality kids will love but teachers may question. Sammy is so feisty, she thinks hitting another girl in the nose is a stupid reason to be suspended. At the end of the book, she engineers a public humiliation of her enemy and the vice-principal that is so complete, other students congratulate her for punching Heather out. A fun book for individual pleasure but not a classroom reader.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-In this recording of the first Sammy Keyes mystery by Wendelin Van Draanen (Knopf, 1998), actress Tara Sands brings the irrepressible Sammy to life. She gets the phrasing and timing just right, and manages to sound like a 13-year-old girl without overdoing it. She conveys the other characters' voices well, too, especially the flamboyant Gina, a.k.a. "Madame Nashira," victim of the hotel burglary Sammy witnesses in the first chapter. Sammy careens from one adventure to another--getting suspended from school on the first day of seventh grade, nearly getting her grandmother kicked out of a seniors-only apartment building, and sneaking onto the roof of the mall--all the while pursuing clues to the identity of the hotel thief. Fans of the series will enjoy this recording, and it is likely to create new fans as well.-Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, Morgan Hill, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Horn Book Magazine

Samantha Keyes is one tough, smart, resourceful seventh grader-capable of holding her own against Mrs. Graybill, her nosy, suspicious neighbor (Sammy lives, surreptitiously, with her grandmother in a seniors-only complex); her nasty nemesis-classmate, Heather Acosta; the condescending policeman who heads the investigation into the theft Sammy witnesses; and, of course, the thief himself. Sammy is also pretty impetuous (there's a lot of "what I should have done was...but..."), which Van Draanen makes clear from the opening scene: as Sammy trains her Gram's binoculars on the burglary-in-progress at the hotel across the street, the thief looks up and sees her through the window; rather than call the police, Sammy waves. Events snowball from there as Sammy bests horrible Heather by uncovering the scam she is trying to pull at Sammy's expense, and deduces (through Van Draanen's clever and uncondescending clues) the surprising identity of the thief -- all while trying to avoid getting caught by Mrs. Graybill, suspended from school, or yelled at by Gram. Sammy, with her self-reliant personality and breezy first-person narration, is clearly the literary by-product of the better sort of fast-food adult mysteries such as Sue Grafton's . . .series, and Van Draanen has captured the adult-mystery knack of making the investigator's character and private life at least as interesting and complex as the plot. This may be light fare, but it's the kind you want to gobble up quickly-and in quantities.

Kirkus Reviews

Van Draanen (How I Survived Being a Girl, 1997) debuts a live-wire young sleuth in this nonstop whodunit. The day before starting seventh grade, Samantha peers through her grandmother's binoculars and spots the latest in a rash of burglaries. The burglar spots her right back, setting in motion a headlong chain of events that, over the next few days, takes Sammy and her rich but loyal friend Marissa from back alleys to the roof of the local mall in an effort to finger the crook while escaping his clutches. Meanwhile, Sammy also has to cope with a hostile police officer, a new school, malicious classmate Heather, and in the seniors-only high-rise where she lives with Grams while her own mother pursues a Hollywood career, a suspicious neighbor. Heather's villainy and subsequent public humiliation may be overdone, but Van Draanen expertly keeps all the subplots at a rolling boil while strewing the tale with red herrings, suspects, and clever clues. Children will admire Sammy's inadvertent genius for ruffling feathers as much as they'll like her sharp powers of observation and deduction; she is a tough new gumshoe with another caper scheduled for fall.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

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

A winning debut! 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