Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief [Hardcover]

Wendelin Van Draanen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 1998 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Sammy Keyes

With this debut book of a new mystery series, Wendelin Van Draanen establishes Samantha Keyes as a crime fighter to watch. Though, actually, the book opens with Sammy watching...a crime in progress. And when the man with the wad of cash in one hand and the open purse in the other catches Sammy watching him, the chase is on--but is Sammy on the trail of the thief, or is he on hers? If the police don't believe Sammy's story about a thief with black gloves, black glasses, and a black beard, she isn't too surprised. Vice principal Caan didn't exactly believe her either when she explained that she couldn't possibly have broken Heather's nose. Well, Sammy's not putting up with this. Does she look like a liar? She knows what she saw and how hard she can hit. And somehow she's going to prove it.  

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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 Keyes has no keys, nor does she need them. Living illegally with her grandmother in a senior citizens' residence, she enters and exits through a jiggered fire door and finds her way into a number of other restricted areas with equal ease. Although she's a girl detective starring in a new series (her second adventure, Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man, is planned for a fall release), Sammy is no Nancy Drew. She's smart-mouthed and hard-hitting, unpopular at school and on the outs with the law. Readers follow the sleuth through her saucy first-person narrative as she tries to find a burglar who's made a number of hits in her neighborhoodAone of which she witnessed while spying on her neighbors with binoculars. The solution will likely come as a surprise, and the sleuth delights from start to finish. Van Draanen's novel exhibits all the zesty charm of her previous How I Survived Being a Girl. For example, Sammy's vice principal "looks like he could be a professional wrestler if he'd let his hair grow out and get a suntan." Although this young gumshoe is not yet a professional herself, she's well on her wayAand certainly worth watching. Keep your binoculars trained on Sammy Keyes. Ages 10-13.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 14, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067988839X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679888390
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,449,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Through writing, I open up my heart and soul in ways I never could in everyday life. The joy, the pain, the wonder and loneliness I felt in growing up, meld into stories which I hope will help kids believe in themselves and have compassion for those around them."--Wendelin Van Draanen

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. Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes is a 2003 Edgar Award nominee.


Visit Wendelin Van Draanen's Web site at www.wendelinvandraanen.com for the lastest on The Gecko and Sticky, Sammy Keyes, Shredderman, and more!

How in the world did I wind up writing a book about a kleptomaniacal, talking gecko lizard? I'm the first to admit-talking animals are not my thing. First person, realistic fiction-that's what I like. And yet, after Sticky appeared as a sidekick television character in my Shredderman series and uttered his first "Holy guaco-tacarole!" I was hooked. He's so funny. And so full of mischief.
I always develop a backstory for my characters to get to know them. Even if they're secondary characters, I have to understand their background and motivations before I let them into the story. The premise of the third Shredderman book (Meet the Gecko) is that a television crew comes to town to shoot an episode, and Shredderman helps out the star of the show. Not wanting to deal with the legal complications of using a real television show, I made up my own: The Gecko and Sticky. In the process, I came up with the hero (Dave Sanchez-a boy who has the "superpower" of being able to walk up walls, and is known as the Gecko), the sidekick (Sticky who is, as you already know, a talking gecko with . . . h'hem, sticky fingers), the villain (the deadly, diabolical, and definitely demented Damien Black), and Damien's sidekicks (the Bandito Brothers, who are, in fact, not brothers, but a thieving mariachi band).
It was definitely wilder than anything I'd come up with before, but hey-it was just a made-up TV show, right?
Ah, how diabolically infectious made-up TV shows can be!
Sticky, you see, got under my skin. His "Ay-ay-ay"s and his "What the jalapeno was that?" and his "You cut me to the quick, senor" enchanted me, and I was sorry when his role in the Shredderman books was over.
After the Shredderman quartet was complete, I began getting lots of fan mail from kids (and teachers) asking me to please write more Shredderman books. It was tempting, because I love Nolan and the gang. But I'd completed my mission with the quartet; so instead, I started writing The Gecko and Sticky.
My first attempt resulted in an over 200-page manuscript. That was closer to a Sammy Keyes novel than a Shredderman book. So I hacked it up, threw it out, and started all over.
My next try had me at 150 pages-still too long, and something about it wasn't quite right. So I chucked it and asked myself what in the world I was thinking, writing in the voice of a lizard.
But then on a flight from New York to California, I started hearing a voice. It wasn't my voice. Or the guy snoring in the seat beside me. It was, you know, a voice. One in my head.
Yeah, we writers hear them, and although we will almost certainly deny it if you press us about it, we also listen. It's how I wrote Swear to Howdy; how Bryce appeared in Flipped; where Holly's poems came from in Runaway . . . and it's how the narrator took over the storytelling for The Gecko and Sticky.
It's a man's voice in my head. (Okay, I concede that I might need some help.) But he's funny as all get-out, and I like to listen to him. He's the voice of someone who loves the art of storytelling; of someone who will hold a child's wide-eyed attention as he shares the wild antics of a boy and his mischievous gecko; of someone I'd plead, "Just one more chapter, please?"
So I hope that explains it, because I really must go. He's talking to me again and I've got to get back to Dave and Sticky. They are, after all, in the midst of some deep, diabolical doo-doo . . .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sammy Keyes is a winner!, May 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (Paperback)

I teach fourth grade and after I read Sammy Keyes and the hotel thief I asked one of my students to read it to see if she liked the book as much as I did. From Cecelia-10 years old: Cecelia was drawn in to the character of Sammy because she felt sympathy for her and she enjoyed the mystery. Wendlelin Van Draanen pulls Cecelia into the mystery by creating a web of obstacles for Sammy to contend with before she can solve the mystery. Cecelia believes that anyone her age would enjoy reading about Sammy Keyes and her mysteries. The action, danger, and the mystery keep her reading 160 pages in 3 quick days. Any book that is 160 pages long that can keep a ten year old interested enough to read is a great book. Cecelia and I would recommend this book to anyone ages 9 to 90.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Father-Daughter Fun!, October 30, 2000

By 

Jon Williams (Santa Barbara, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (Paperback)

I've read the first four Sammy Keyes mysteries with my seven-year old daughter--chapter length is perfect for bedtime reading--and we've both thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The books are "grown up" enough to keep me interested and, because they deal with issues of childhood and adolescence in the voice of a seventh grade girl, they're fascinating for my daughter as well. Sammy gets into all kinds of "situations"--she's definitely no angel--but so far in her jaunts around the neighborhood she hasn't stumbled across sex, drugs, or rock and roll (and you really don't miss them). Sammy's friends, young and old, are well drawn, the kind of people you'd like to have in your own daughter's life, and even the not-so-nice people are, I've felt, simply "misguided" to one degree or another. Sammy learns something in each book about being a better human being and there's really no greater reason to read than that. If you aren't able to read the Sammy Keyes mysteries with your daughter, at least buy one for her. I'll bet she'll want another..and another...and another!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, exciting mystery story, December 25, 1999

By 

Lois (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (Hardcover)

Sammy Keyes is awesome. She's not at all another Nancy Drew copy; she's so much more believable and likable. Feisty, curious, and not always obedient or well-behaved. (I don't recall Nancy having a habit of punching other girls!)

I loved how this book was more than 'just' a mystery. It brings us through scenes and introduces us to characters that don't have anything to do with the actual mystery, but serve to make the whole story more believable.

But the mystery itself is great, too! The clues are subtle enough to make it interesting, and not too far out or complicated to be make it unbelievable.

The narrative is fun and casual, making this a good book for reluctant readers, but also enjoyable for the avid readers (like me). I reccommend this book--trust me, once you pick it up, you won't be able to get enough of Sammy!