Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash
Grade 6–8—Sammy Keyes is back, living her second 13th summer because her mother lied on her birth certificate to get her into school early. After two years of sneaking up and down the fire escape at the seniors-only residence where she lives with her grandmother, one would suppose that Sammy would not meet misadventure on her unique entrance to her home. But that's what happens when she assumes she has scared an elderly man to death after he has her toss three bundles of money into the bushes below. That event provides the mystery, and Sammy is off sleuthing again. The money is both trouble and a temptation as she retrieves it, keeps it secret, and spends it at the mall, buying her friend Marissa a bathing suit and giving some to Gram. Sammy is a whirlwind of activity, and the pacing is uneven as she spies on her friends from previous books, spies on elderly suspects, purchases a camera for sleuthing purposes, and gets a disguise. All of her old friends and enemies are back, and her budding romance with Casey Acosta continues. Van Draanen again deals with social issues with wit as Sammy charges through another mystery and walks a narrow line between opportunism and honesty.—Kathryn Kosiorek, formerly at Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.