Read more
Zusatztext Praise for the Sammy Keyes series: “Van Draanen offers such an explosive combination of high-stakes sleuthing! hilarity! and breathlessly paced action that it’s impossible to turn the pages fast enough.” — Kirkus Reviews “There’s no stopping Sammy.”— Publishers Weekly “An intelligent! gutsy! flawed! and utterly likable heroine.”— Booklist "Move over! Nancy Drew—a new sleuth is on the scene.”— Girls’ Life "Think a combination of Carl Hiaasen’s Flush and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books and you’ll be right on target.” — School Library Journal “A high-quality! high-amp mystery series.” — The Horn Book “This funny! clever series is NOT for kids only. I challenge the most seasoned mystery reader to guess ‘who done it.’” — Cozies! Capers! and Crimes “Sammy Keyes comes armed with attitude.” — Orlando Sentinel “Sammy doesn’t find mysteries to solve—they find her.” — Arizona Republic “Humor! romance and adventure; this story is an absolute blast.” —Chicago Tribune “If you haven’t met Sammy Keyes yet! now is the time.” — Children’s Literature Informationen zum Autor Wendelin Van Draanen Klappentext Sometimes it's hard to tell the saints from the sinners... Sammy was supposed to be in church to get out of trouble, not into more. But while she's at St. Mary's working off some school detention time, a valuable cross goes missing and Sammy becomes the prime suspect. She knows she's innocent, and also what it feels like to lose something important. Her treasured catcher's mitt has been stolen--heartless Heather must have taken it to throw Sammy off her game in the upcoming softball play-offs. Trouble is, it's working. Sammy needs that glove back. Throw in nuns in feather boas, a homeless girl in high-tops, a carrot-chomping dog, and a safe that needs cracking, and you've got just another week in the life of Sammy Keyes. Praise for the Sammy Keyes series: "Sammy Keyes is feisty, fearless, and funny. A top-notch investigator!" -New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton "The sleuth delights from start to finish. Keep your binoculars trained on Sammy Keyes." -Publishers Weekly "Sammy Keyes is the hottest sleuth to appear in children's books since Nancy Drew."-The Boston Globe Leseprobe She was on her way out of the church before I could get a very good look at her, but what I could see was that she was thin, had a brown ponytail, and was about my age. Now, kids don't usually come to church in the middle of the afternoon on a school day --they're too busy running around town trying to put together enough sins to make going to church on Sunday worthwhile. So her just being there was enough to make me do a double take, but it was her shoes that made me want to go up to her and say, "Hi!" She was wearing high-tops. Like mine, only older. And I was about to chase after her, only just then Father Mayhew comes through the side door and says, "Samantha, I want to see you. Right now! In my office!" and I could tell from the way his voice was booming through the church that something was wrong. Very wrong. *** I followed him, all right. Straight back to his office. And when he sits down behind his desk and stares at me, I stand in front of it and ask, "What happened? What's wrong?" He swivels in his chair for a minute while his fingers push back and forth against each other. Then he takes a deep breath and says, "As I'm sure you know, we religious take a vow of poverty. The Church provides us with food and shelter and a modest living allowance, but by and large, we own very little. Very few things that I have do I consider to be mine . Do you understand this, Samantha?" This priest sitting behind the desk may have looked like ...