Wendelin Van Draanen
2) Flipped
My secret life is filled with psychic vampires, wheelchair zombies, chain-rattlin’ ghosts, and a one-eyed cat. But they’re nothing compared to my real-life stalker: a sixth-grade girl named Kandi Kain. . . .
Lincoln Jones is always...
All of the beloved characters are back in this ninth mystery starring Sammy Keyes. This time the 13-year-old sleuth is up against a cat burglar - literally! Cats are disappearing and Sammy is finding some of them in neighborhood garbage cans - dead! Just as Sammy discovers that her archenemy Heather is her "star" sister and shares her birthday, Sammy's mother arrives to inform her that she isn't really turning 14 - so it-'ís another year of unlucky
...Reviews:
"Sammy is serving detention at St. Mary's church where she finds herself a suspect when Father Mayhew's gold cross is stolen from the safe...Sands' voice personifies the Sammy Keyes character, with all its adolescent love, anger, and humor...Mystery fans will enjoy..." - School Library Journal
Audio Recommended By:
AudioFile, Booklist, School Library Journal
Awards:
Audiofile Earphones Award
Reviews:
"The Edgar-winning seventh-grade sleuth takes on the art world, not to mention affairs of the heart, in the eighth novel in this charming series. Wearing high-top sneakers to a classy art gallery reception, she mortifies the elite guests by asking why an orange splot on a canvas is worth $8,000, and then, when a masked gunman attempts to rob the gallery, Sammy tackles him...Actress
...Reviews:
"Tara Sands brings a lively voice and brisk pace to the story of a determined 13-year-old detective, her three girlfriends, and the slew of quirky characters who populate this mystery...Van Draanen has written a solid mystery with suspense, humor and heart; Tara Sands captures all three in an enjoyable dramatization." - AudioFile Magazine
Audio Recommended By:
AudioFile, Booklist, School Library Journal
...Awards:
AudioFile Earphones Award
Reviews:
"The Sammy Keyes series keeps getting better and better. In the seventh title in the series, a frightened teen at a video arcade asks Samantha to hold a package for her. When the girl disappears, Sammy finds that she's now responsible for a baby!...Despite the light tone of Van Draanen's writing and Tara Sands' cheerfully cherubic performance, the book deals with hard issuees - gangs,
...Reviews:
"Sammy Keyes tries to help out a friend and ends up in a mystery that must be solved or she could lose her home...Sands gives all the characters their own voices, and makes it seem like 13-year-old Sammy is telling the story. A good choice for libraries looking for mysteries for middle school..." - School Library Journal
Audio Recommended By:
AudioFile, Booklist, School Library Journal
Reviews:
"The narrator uses a single voice with some varied inflections to indicate comments made by other characters...Sammy and her friends...find themselves outside the 'bush' house on Halloween. They discover an open door, a fire set on the floor, and elderly Chauncey LeBard tied to a chair inside. Was it a robbery or attempted murder by the intruder dressed in a skeleton costume?" - School Library Journal
Audio Recommended
...Awards:
Edgar Allan Poe Award
Reviews:
"Listeners are immediately swept into the story when Sammy relates that she's observed a crime while looking at the Heavenly Hotel through her grandmother's binoculars...Young listeners are sure to embrace this solid entry in the Live Oak Mysteries series." - starred review, Publishers Weekly
Audio Recommended By:
AudioFile, Booklist, Publishers Weekly*, School
...12) Runaway
Holly's run away before, but this time she actually gets away—and what felt like an escape at first soon becomes a daily struggle for survival. She is smart and resourceful, and she manages to make it across the country on her own. But how long can this go on? It's getting harder to avoid the truth—Holly is now...
The tenth mystery in the popular Sammy Keyes series offers more spirit and adventure than ever! Sammy accidentally makes a deadly mistake, but all clues point to her nemesis Heather, and she gets blamed. As Sammy struggles with her conscience she gets distracted helping an ailing senior citizen in her fight against urban renewal.
Reviews:
"Fans will enjoy Tara Sand's spirited telling of [this] melodramatic tale of mystery and abandonment...offers a satirical look at what it takes for a woman to make it in Hollywood..." - School Library Journal
Audio Recommended By:
AudioFile, Booklist, School Library Journal