"The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)" —Midwest Children's Book Review What Sammy should have done was put the binoculars down and call 911. What she does instead is tighten up the focus on her right eye to get a better look. There's something very familiar about this thief. But when Sammy eventually spills her story to Officer Borsch, he doesn't believe her. He treats her like some snot-nosed little kid. Well, Sammy's not going to stand for that. She's a snot-nosed seventh grader now, and she knows what she saw. And somehow she's going to prove it. The Sammy Keyes mysteries are fast-paced, funny, thoroughly modern, and true whodunits. Each mystery is exciting and dramatic, but it's the drama in Sammy's personal life that keeps readers coming back to see what happens next with her love interest Casey, her soap-star mother, and her mysterious father.

In her newest adventure, junior high detective Sammy Keyes and her friends take a detour through a graveyard on Halloween night and find themselves in the middle of a mystery involving three missing people, two human skulls and one ghoulish embalmer.

“The hottest sleuth to appear in children’s books since Nancy Drew” (The Boston Globe) is back! Don’t miss the eighth book in the series that’s been described as “a combination of Carl Hiaasen’s Flush and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books” (School Library Journal) and hailed as “nonstop whodunits” (Kirkus Reviews)! The artsy crowd thinks Sammy Keyes has a lot of nerve showing up at a fancy reception in high-tops. But when she tackles a robber who’s brandishing a gun with one hand and pulling paintings from the wall with the other, they’re glad she has nerve. Or are they? Sammy may have stopped one criminal, but the real crime at this show has yet to be discovered. The real crime is more subtle, more artful, than anything Sammy’s ever seen. Who knew art could be so dangerous? Praise for the Sammy Keyes series: “If Kinsey Millhone ever hires a junior partner, Sammy Keyes will be the first candidate on the list. She’s 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 “The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)” —Midwest Children’s Book Review

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

"The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)" —Midwest Children's Book Review In this pivotal book in the Sammy Keyes series, Sammy tackles the persistent mysteries of her own life. Mysteries like: Who is her father? And why has her mother kept it such a secret? How long can she manage to hide out in Grams' seniors-only building before someone catches on? Is her mother really planning to marry her boyfriend's father? (Ew.) And why, why is Heather Acosta so nasty? During one crazy weekend in Las Vegas, with the help of an entire army of Elvis impersonators, Sammy finally gets some answers. But of course knowledge comes at a price—and solving the mysteries of her own life will cost Sammy more than she ever meant to pay. . . . The Sammy Keyes mysteries are fast-paced, funny, thoroughly modern, and true whodunits. Each mystery is exciting and dramatic, but it's the drama in Sammy's personal life that keeps readers coming back to see what happens next with her love interest Casey, her soap-star mother, and her mysterious father.

Sammy Keyes is usually pretty cool but currently she's reeling at the teen scene at a New Year's Eve party. She has to find out who burned down Moustache Mary's pioneer-era cabin and a series of puzzles before she can regain her self-confidence.

A classic he-said-she-said romantic comedy! This updated anniversary edition offers story-behind-the-story revelations from author Wendelin Van Draanen. The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. Juli says: “My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss.” He says: “It’s been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.” But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down: just as Bryce is thinking that there’s maybe more to Juli than meets the eye, she’s thinking that he’s not quite all he seemed. This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny voices. The updated anniversary edition contains 32 pages of extra backmatter: essays from Wendelin Van Draanen on her sources of inspiration, on the making of the movie of Flipped, on why she’ll never write a sequel, and a selection of the amazing fan mail she’s received. Awards and accolades for Flipped: SLJ Top 100 Children’s Novels of all time IRA-CBC Children’s Choice IRA Teacher’s Choice Honor winner, Judy Lopez Memorial Award/WNBA Winner of the California Young Reader Medal “We flipped over this fantastic book, its gutsy girl Juli and its wise, wonderful ending.” — The Chicago Tribune “Van Draanen has another winner in this eighth-grade ‘he-said, she-said’ romance. A fast, funny, egg-cellent winner.” — SLJ, Starred review “With a charismatic leading lady kids will flip over, a compelling dynamic between the two narrators and a resonant ending, this novel is a great deal larger than the sum of its parts.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred review

The final mystery starring Sammy Keyes: “the most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)” —Midwest Children’s Book Review Sammy doesn’t go looking for trouble, but she seems to find it everywhere. She’s forever sniffing out clues and chasing down bad guys—and driving her friends a little nuts. She’s gone up against thieves and counterfeiters and gangsters and blackmailers and murderers, and always stayed one step ahead. Until now. Last night, one of the bad guys caught up. Last night, someone followed Sammy up the fire escape and pushed her from the third story. Now she’s in the hospital, out cold. And her friends are left with the questions Sammy’s always been so good at answering: Why? How? But most of all . . . WHO? In this emotional conclusion to her beloved long-running series, Wendelin Van Draanen shows just how many lives one nosy girl can touch and pays tribute to a life well sleuthed. Praise for Sammy Keyes: “If Kinsey Millhone ever hires a junior partner, Sammy Keyes will be the first candidate on the list. She’s feisty, fearless, and funny. A top-notch investigator!” —Sue Grafton “Sammy’s brave, resourceful, observant and a loyal friend, but this girl sleuth is no well-mannered Nancy Drew. She’s endearingly hot-tempered, nosy, and not always obedient—in short, she’s someone I want to read about again.” —Margaret Maron

This diary of a runaway girl and her search for a home celebrates hope, resilience, and happy endings as only Wendelin Van Draanen, the author of Flipped and other acclaimed novels, can. Holly has run away before, but this time she actually gets away—and what at first felt like an escape 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 homeless. Runaway is a remarkably uplifting portrait of a girl still young and stubborn and naive enough to believe there’s a better place for her in the world. “Will grab readers from the first entry.” —Kirkus Reviews “Holly’s lively self lingers in the way the best characters do. Runaway is certainly one of the best young adult books of the year.” —The Sacramento Bee

Fifth-grader Nolan Byrd, tired of being called names by the class bully, has a secret identity--Shredderman!