Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen [Kindle Edition]

Wendelin Van Draanen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Once again Sammy Keyes is up to her ears in mystery. When she discovers a succession of cats killed in bizarre ways and left in dumpsters around town, she tries to figure out who would commit such a crime. Then her mother reappears and confesses that she had changed Sammy's birth certificate to get her into kindergarten so she is actually turning 13 on her birthday–again. Sammy, anxious to move beyond the unlucky number, is beside herself. But she learns to cope with the situations in her life and solves the cat mystery as well. Heather, her archenemy, reappears, yet this time Sammy has more good luck than bad in dealing with her–probably due to the four-leaf clover given to her by Heather's brother, Casey. Throughout the book, details refer back to earlier stories but not so much so that readers new to the series will be lost. And Sammy's anger at her mother for abandoning her, mean girls at school, and her ambivalence about her attraction to Casey will strike a chord with young teens. Another hit in a solid series.–Diana Pierce, Running Brushy Middle School, Cedar Park, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Cats are disappearing in Sammy Keyes' neighborhood, and, worse still, some are turning up dead in garbage cans. The 13-year-old detective won't rest until she and her friend, Holly, track down the perpetrators. A new wrestling school, where Sammy learns a few flashy moves, might just lead them to the villains. Meanwhile, series fans can catch up with the familiar cast of characters as Sammy's unreliable mother visits; her archenemy, Heather, starts a fight; and a hint of romance develops between Sammy and Heather's brother. Sammy continues to be likeable, smart, determined, and sometimes hotheaded as she copes with bad news from her mother and the usual tense routine of living secretly in her grandmother's adults-only apartment building. While readers may need to suspend disbelief as Sammy outwits another crook, they'll recognize the rest of her life as believably complicated and imperfect--like their own. Kathleen Odean
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 796 KB
• Publisher: Yearling (December 24, 2008)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001ODEPU8
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,281 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GreAt BoOk!!!!!!!!!!!, December 2, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen (Paperback)

This book is written very well and the end is, as always pretty surprising. Now to the story...Sammy's life is a disaster: She lives in her Grams' apartment which is only for seniors, so she always has to sneak up the fire escape. Her mom left her for a career in Hollywood and then suddenly she shows up on Sammy's birthday. She came to tell Sammy that she isn't turning fourteen, she's turning 13 because her mom had made a fake birth certificate. Sammy is really upset but then she and her friend Holly find dead cats all over town in garbage cans and they start solving the mystery. At a new wrestling school, Slammin' Dave's,(where Sammy also learns some nice wrestling moves) there's a wrestler, El Gato who looks very scary since he always has a cat mask and costume on and never takes it off, so Sammy and Holly become very suspicious. In the end El Gato turns out to be someone totally different than they would have thougt. How they solve the mystery and find out who the cat killer was, will grab you and make you want to keep reading and reading. I really enjoyed the book and read it in only two days and I recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries. The characters are described good and likable except for Heather and her friends,Sammy enemies. The book is also a real page-turner and i would recommend the other Sammy Keyes books as well. I hope this review helped and that you enjoy the book as much as I did.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best one yet!, October 14, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen (Hardcover)

This book is so amazing. I read it in one day. I am a fan of sammy keyes. This book is not only funny but has an amazing climax and a huge HUGE twist. As always Van Draanan has mad this witty 13 year old (or should i say 14 year) come off the page. You really get into the mind of her and it is very interesenting. Read this book it is amazing and deservres to be read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED THIS BOOK, April 2, 2005

By 

Deanna T. Some (Murfreesboro, Tennesee (originally from California)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen (Hardcover)

I loved this book because it was humorous, only 5 percent romantic(unlike other soppy books), was interesting, and the main character had a cool perspective of looking at things.

If you have not already read this book, DO IT!!!!

NOT KIDDING HERE!!!

Thank you for reading my review of this awesome book.