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Sammy Keyes #7
Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes
"The most winning junior detective ever in teen lit. (Take that, Nancy Drew!)" —Midwest Children's Book Revie w
Sammy's softball team is in contention for the Junior Slugger's Cup, and all she wants to do is hunker down behind the home plate and catch strikes. But Heather Acosta brings new meaning to the term "foul ball" as she schemes to get Sammy kicked off the team.
Then Sammy is thrown a wild pitch by a frantic girl at the mall. The girl asks Sammy to watch her bag and dashes off before Sammy discovers that the bag she's left holding contains a baby! When the girl doesn't return, Sammy decides to go find her. A heart-pounding search ensues, and leads to some situations that are definitely not covered in the softball playbook.
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's softball team is in contention for the Junior Slugger's Cup, and all she wants to do is hunker down behind the home plate and catch strikes. But Heather Acosta brings new meaning to the term "foul ball" as she schemes to get Sammy kicked off the team.
Then Sammy is thrown a wild pitch by a frantic girl at the mall. The girl asks Sammy to watch her bag and dashes off before Sammy discovers that the bag she's left holding contains a baby! When the girl doesn't return, Sammy decides to go find her. A heart-pounding search ensues, and leads to some situations that are definitely not covered in the softball playbook.
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.
277 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
29 people are currently reading
424 people want to read
About the author
Wendelin Van Draanen
52 books2,169 followersWendelin Van Draanen has written more than thirty novels for young readers and teens. She is the author of the 18-book Edgar-winning Sammy Keyes series, and wrote Flipped which was named a Top 100 Children’s Novel for the 21st Century by SLJ, and became a Warner Brothers feature film with Rob Reiner directing. Her novel The Running Dream was awarded ALA’s Schneider Family Award for its portrayal of the disability experience.
Van Draanen's latest book, Hope in the Mail, is part memoir, part writing guided, designed to encourage aspiring writers to pursue their dream.
Van Draanen is also the author of two short chapter-book series. The Gecko & Sticky books, are fun read-alouds, perfect for reluctant readers, and the Shredderman books—featuring a boy who deals with a bully—received the Christopher Award for “affirming the highest values of the human spirit” and became a Nickelodeon made-for-TV movie.
Van Draanen was a classroom teacher for fifteen years. She and her husband reside in California and have two sons.
Van Draanen's latest book, Hope in the Mail, is part memoir, part writing guided, designed to encourage aspiring writers to pursue their dream.
Van Draanen is also the author of two short chapter-book series. The Gecko & Sticky books, are fun read-alouds, perfect for reluctant readers, and the Shredderman books—featuring a boy who deals with a bully—received the Christopher Award for “affirming the highest values of the human spirit” and became a Nickelodeon made-for-TV movie.
Van Draanen was a classroom teacher for fifteen years. She and her husband reside in California and have two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
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October 13, 2023sammy is just a freaking friend. retrospectively i’m a little alarmed at how casually I approached her taking down a gang lord as a middle schooler buuuuuut here for it all the same.
December 11, 2017
Omg, this was a fav series of mine back in my 3rd-4th grade years!!!!
November 12, 2019
Sammy Keyes is still holding true to one of my favorites! Definitely looking forward to sharing this series with my children in the future
September 22, 2020
3-1/2 stars
Sammy continues to be a winsome, charming middle-grade detective with unusual smarts. I always love her character. This particular mystery had great drama on two fronts: the baseball game scandal and the baby scandal, propelling Sammy into the life of gang members.
Sometimes as you go along in a series, some of the characters can either imbed themselves more into your heart or you want to flick them off like a scab! A couple I'd like to flick off are Marissa, Sammy's good friend) who is a perpetual whiner always questioning Sammy's actions (in all fairness some of them need questioning!) and Grams who makes some of the absolute dumbest decisions ever (e.g. ingratiating herself to the nosy new neighbor and putting Sammy at risk).
But, despite the teeth grating as these two characters come on the scene sometimes, the overall joy of Sammy's escapades keeps this series in my top 5 middle-grade books.
Sammy continues to be a winsome, charming middle-grade detective with unusual smarts. I always love her character. This particular mystery had great drama on two fronts: the baseball game scandal and the baby scandal, propelling Sammy into the life of gang members.
Sometimes as you go along in a series, some of the characters can either imbed themselves more into your heart or you want to flick them off like a scab! A couple I'd like to flick off are Marissa, Sammy's good friend) who is a perpetual whiner always questioning Sammy's actions (in all fairness some of them need questioning!) and Grams who makes some of the absolute dumbest decisions ever (e.g. ingratiating herself to the nosy new neighbor and putting Sammy at risk).
But, despite the teeth grating as these two characters come on the scene sometimes, the overall joy of Sammy's escapades keeps this series in my top 5 middle-grade books.
March 4, 2016
When I reviewed book number 6 in this series (S.K. & the Hollywood Mummy) I liked it just fine, but found Hollywood a little bit too glitzy and "unreal" to feel like natural, good old Sammyland. Maybe the author had the same thought and decided to go more gritty this time, and oh boy... Talk about overcompensating!
Teenage pregnancy, child neglect, gang violence, murder, sadistic kidnapping.... The fun and lightheartedness of these books are hard to mix in between things like that. No wonder then that the story bogs down with the dark and depressing, and when it finally perks up towards the end, you're having a hard time enjoying it, because by then it doesn't seem fitting some how, even though you've longed for it.
No... Call me a crybaby... But this was to serious and "unsammy" for my sensitive and pleasure seeking palate.
Teenage pregnancy, child neglect, gang violence, murder, sadistic kidnapping.... The fun and lightheartedness of these books are hard to mix in between things like that. No wonder then that the story bogs down with the dark and depressing, and when it finally perks up towards the end, you're having a hard time enjoying it, because by then it doesn't seem fitting some how, even though you've longed for it.
No... Call me a crybaby... But this was to serious and "unsammy" for my sensitive and pleasure seeking palate.
April 23, 2024
This book is...a lot. I kind of hate Marissa for the first half, but fortunately she pulls through. Both Sammy and Marissa have to confront their some of their privilege, and while they both definitely learn and grow, I would have liked to see a bit finer point put on the disparity between some of their preconceptions and assumptions, and reality. However, I think this book handles some MAJORLY serious and heavy topics really nicely. It's possible that some could view Sammy as a "white savior" trope here, but I actually don't. I kept thinking about that as I was reading, but ultimately I think she fills less of a "white savior" role, and more of a demonstration of what it could look like for someone with the privileges of relative safety, food security, education, a childhood, etc, to take an emotional and material stake in the wellbeing of someone without all those privileges.
I don't understand WHAT is going on at Sammy's school, though! A teacher sabotaging his colleague AND students, with concomitant aggressive misogyny, AND ACTUAL PHYSICAL ABUSE OF A STUDENT - Mr Vince should absolutely be fired! Wtf! The corruption at the administrative level of this school, Mr Vince's seeming impunity, and what definitely quacks like misogyny in his behavior, combined with the general extreme surveillance and hostility of junior high, create such an oppressive, hostile, and totalitarian environment. Also, Heather really seems, at this point, to be an actual sociopath.
I don't understand WHAT is going on at Sammy's school, though! A teacher sabotaging his colleague AND students, with concomitant aggressive misogyny, AND ACTUAL PHYSICAL ABUSE OF A STUDENT - Mr Vince should absolutely be fired! Wtf! The corruption at the administrative level of this school, Mr Vince's seeming impunity, and what definitely quacks like misogyny in his behavior, combined with the general extreme surveillance and hostility of junior high, create such an oppressive, hostile, and totalitarian environment. Also, Heather really seems, at this point, to be an actual sociopath.
February 19, 2024
So there I am, holding a baby for the first time in my entire life, and what’s it do?
Screams even louder.
Marissa says, “You can’t hold it out like that, Sammy! You’ve got to hold it close to you. On your shoulder!”
I put it on my shoulder and look at Marissa like, Well?
“It’s not a sack of potatoes! Hold it.”
24.02.18
easily one of my favorite of Sammy Keyes. because of the baby.
LMAO PLEASE GUYS. SAMMY WITH A BABY IS LITERALLY PEAK COMEDY. please read this one.
April 9, 2023
Sammy Keyes does it all. Humor. Mystery. Drama. Spunk. Touching family and friends moments. You can’t go wrong.
May 12, 2020
I think this one is my least favorite in the series. I felt Sammy was reckless and not a good role model for kids who follow Sammy Keyes books. It was actually very dangerous what Sammy did. I know I wouldn't have done it even as an adult. It also made me really angry that I wanted to throw the book across the room when Sammy & Marissa were trying to tell everyone they were innocent of the crime and yet, once again, no one would listen to them. Yeah I know this is only a made up story, but honestly what grown up would really believe that if kids were going to spray paint on the walls, would kids seriously write their names/initials? Also I didn't like that when Sammy bought home the baby, what grandmother would just let a 13 year old deal with the baby for the whole night by herself. Gram went to bed, seriously? Sammy had school in the morning, poor girl. I'm finding Gram quite heartless these days. Sammy seems to have a whole lot of freedom that isn't the norm for a 13 year old. Her grandmother seems to be worried a whole lot these days, but still gives Sammy a ton of freedom. A 3 rating book.
September 6, 2015
My least favorite Sammy Keyes so far. It's more mature and dangerous rather than inspiring and clever. Teen pregnancy, gangs, set-ups, graffiti, violent kidnappings, and murders are not dealt with in a fairly bleak picture.
A gang-banger girl running from a guy shoves a bag in Sammy's hands at the mall which turns out to have a baby in it. Sammy's challenges with the baby and trying to survive at school are enjoyable.
However, Sammy is stupidly brave in this one, snooping on a gang leader who eventually locks her in a basement w/ her friend and the teen mother. He then brings a 10-year-old with a gun, so he can kill them and initiate himself into the gang. Sammy devises a clever offense to save themselves, but it's a little too serious for the whimsical 12-yr-old hero to have really pulled it off.
I can't help loving Sammy though, even in this weakest episode of her adventures. The softball and developing boy interest side plots are fun.
A gang-banger girl running from a guy shoves a bag in Sammy's hands at the mall which turns out to have a baby in it. Sammy's challenges with the baby and trying to survive at school are enjoyable.
However, Sammy is stupidly brave in this one, snooping on a gang leader who eventually locks her in a basement w/ her friend and the teen mother. He then brings a 10-year-old with a gun, so he can kill them and initiate himself into the gang. Sammy devises a clever offense to save themselves, but it's a little too serious for the whimsical 12-yr-old hero to have really pulled it off.
I can't help loving Sammy though, even in this weakest episode of her adventures. The softball and developing boy interest side plots are fun.
January 25, 2011
Sammy and her friend Marissa were in the arcade room of the mall. All of a sudden, a girl a few years older than Sammy gives her a Sears bag and begs Sammy to keep the bag and return it to her later in the day at 7 p.m. The stranger was in a hurry and in all the confusion of the arcade noise, Sammy agrees. After the stranger leaves, Sammy looks in the Sears bag and sees something very unexpected, a baby. Sammy just got herself into big trouble. She came back to the mall at 7p.m. and waited for hours. The stranger didn't come back like she promised. Sammy didn't know what to do. She was stuck with a stranger's baby. This book was full of action and danger. I really enjoyed reading it.
June 30, 2012
The thing that first drew me to Sammy was her intelligence and spunky personality. She gets herself into terrible situations, then uses her brains to work it out. I was a little disappointed in this book when she seemed to get into bad situations not by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but by making bad decisions.
In spite of that, I still enjoy the books and will keep reading them.
In spite of that, I still enjoy the books and will keep reading them.
January 3, 2023
“‘I’m sorry,’ I told her. ‘It’s not your fault,’ she said, but there were tears welling in her eyes. And when she added ‘I mean it, it’s not,’ well, suddenly there were tears stinging mine, too.
Marissa McKenze is my idea of a real friend.”
🥹🥹🫶
Marissa McKenze is my idea of a real friend.”
🥹🥹🫶
September 1, 2020
This was actually more creepy than some of the Sammy Keyes books. Listened to it as an audio book.
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July 25, 2021Yikes some very tough real content in this one.
Gangs and murder - too much for a kid and edging too far into the unbelievable.
Gangs and murder - too much for a kid and edging too far into the unbelievable.
August 27, 2017
this is a pretty scary book compared to the others. like the other ones were pretty scary like curse of mustache mary but this one was... whew. I was getting really anxious because really the whole time i was like, SAMMY:
C'mon sammy... like you know its a bad decision and yet still you go forward with it. honestly,i just wanted to shake sammy so hard throughout the entire book. i felt very bad for marissa who kept being thrown into dangerous situations just because she was trying to be a good friend. sammy really needs to start being more careful or being fully honest with marissa about how bad and dangerous the situation can get.
btw, heather... she's way over the top. but i want to say, its getting kinda annoying how whenever something bad happens in sammy's personal life, the person to blame is heather. i just feel that heather should not have that much time to ruin sammy's life. it kinda reminds me of that episode of veronica mars where logan was like:
except in this case, somehow heather is responsible for everything even though it feels totally unrealistic to me. yes, she can be responsible for most of the things, but for every single thing?? idk. don't get me wrong, i still dislike heather but like its getting annoying how its always her and her brainless clique.
all in all,the more of these books i read, the more annoyed i get that sammy throws herself and others in harms way constantly. please grow up a little and at least take back-up like a cellphone or the borsch man with you instead of just you and marissa...
p.s. i was glad to see billy in this one!
C'mon sammy... like you know its a bad decision and yet still you go forward with it. honestly,i just wanted to shake sammy so hard throughout the entire book. i felt very bad for marissa who kept being thrown into dangerous situations just because she was trying to be a good friend. sammy really needs to start being more careful or being fully honest with marissa about how bad and dangerous the situation can get.
btw, heather... she's way over the top. but i want to say, its getting kinda annoying how whenever something bad happens in sammy's personal life, the person to blame is heather. i just feel that heather should not have that much time to ruin sammy's life. it kinda reminds me of that episode of veronica mars where logan was like:
except in this case, somehow heather is responsible for everything even though it feels totally unrealistic to me. yes, she can be responsible for most of the things, but for every single thing?? idk. don't get me wrong, i still dislike heather but like its getting annoying how its always her and her brainless clique.
all in all,the more of these books i read, the more annoyed i get that sammy throws herself and others in harms way constantly. please grow up a little and at least take back-up like a cellphone or the borsch man with you instead of just you and marissa...
p.s. i was glad to see billy in this one!
February 20, 2023
I have mixed feelings about this one. It feels a pretty White Savior-y and the undercurrent of “cops help everyone” looks different here than it does in the other titles. I don’t know how to judge a middle grade book on this front, though, because my experience of books written for younger audiences is that they seem a lot more didactic and instructive than books written for adults. Like Sammy being confronted with her own privilege is something that young readers could benefit from, although it’s certainly better if young readers could read a book by a LatinX author. But when I was reading these books 20-odd years ago, the publishing landscape seemed a lot whiter. Overall, I think the series does a pretty good job of teaching Sammy not to judge people but I think the plot revolving around “gangs are bad mmmkay” lands more on the side of tone-deaf or outdated.
April 12, 2022
This was one of the 1st Sammy keyes books i had read, and I really liked how it departed from the clean-younger-girl appropriate mysteries, and dealt with more real stuff- teen pregnancies, gangs and their induction, set-ups, graffiti, violent kidnappings, and murders
It's more mature and dangerous rather than funny or witty and clever. It was interesting to read about a plot that wouldn't have fit in with such a clean series, and at times got a bit unbelievable and ridiculous because Sammy is still JUST 12, like Sammy snooping on a gang leader, who eventually locks her up and with the teen mom they were trying to find. And then the 10 year old baby would had to shoot them to get initiated. But still a great book, all in all.
It's more mature and dangerous rather than funny or witty and clever. It was interesting to read about a plot that wouldn't have fit in with such a clean series, and at times got a bit unbelievable and ridiculous because Sammy is still JUST 12, like Sammy snooping on a gang leader, who eventually locks her up and with the teen mom they were trying to find. And then the 10 year old baby would had to shoot them to get initiated. But still a great book, all in all.
October 9, 2022
I should know better than to doubt Wendelin Van Draanen by now. When Officer Borsch started explaining all the gang stuff to the Sammy and Marissa, I was ready to be annoyed that the book would talk about how bad gangs are without going into anything about why they exist in the first place. Very glad I was wrong! She showed how the head of the gang is only nineteen and that a lot of the kids involved either don’t know any better or truly don’t think they have other options. Even the teen mom was viewed with sympathy when that would have been a very easy character to vilify, especially in the year 2000. Impressed as always.
December 25, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up. I really did enjoy this one, but Sammy got in way over her head, getting involved in gang warfare, and I believe it would’ve been better if she’d let the police handle it (except could the police have rescued Lena? Not sure, but getting a 13 year old involved in a kidnapping related to gang warfare seemed a little too much). So I can’t really condone some of her actions because she was being VERY reckless and occasionally stupid (and she put her best friend and even someone she didn’t like in very dangerous situations because of it), but I’m very glad about the way things ended.
December 17, 2021
I think I vaguely remember this being one of the first Sammy Keyes books I ever read, and man are some of these a lot heavier than I remember! Gangs, teen pregnancy, self-harm...somehow Van Draanen manages to keep the material kid-friendly by dealing with these subjects using humor, tact, and straightforward explanations. I'm really happy to be re-reading this series! Might try to convince our library to re-purchase their set!
February 9, 2023
This was one my favorite in the series so far! I really loved watching Sammy with the baby, it was fun and so relatable. I also love the way she and Officer Borsch are becoming better friends. My favorite part of these books (besides Sammy's character, because I love her so much) is the way there are a million different plot points going on at the same time and Sammy has to try to navigate them all. It's super fun to read and satisfying when it all wraps up in the end.
October 1, 2018
This mystery explores the intense world of gangs. What I think it does really well is show how easily kids get swept into gangs and why that seems like a good option to them looking from the outside. Sammy Keyes has a great voice and I love her character and all the people who support her in the story.
October 11, 2023
I'm reading through this whole series and the other reviews on this book are right: it's the weakest in the series. The adults are borderline negligent and terrible. Sammy is in WAY over her head for a 13 year old and no one is helping. The terminology used to describe other people in this book would not be appropriate in 2023.
Still gonna keep reading the series though cause Sammy is the best
Still gonna keep reading the series though cause Sammy is the best
March 18, 2025
This has the same formula as all the other Sammy Keyes books, but at the same time I feel like there isn't really a mystery to solve - Sammy has to hunt down the woman who left her baby, who she finds out is . The specifics of how they track down her location aren't honestly all that interesting.
December 7, 2019
this book was spectacular. i love how she meets this girl and i just love the story line and all the drama in the book and i love how this book didn't make me feel dead or not productive. over all this book was just the best
January 29, 2023
This was one of my favorites out of the series when first reading in middle school/high school. Again Van Draanen does an excellent job of talking about serious/ scary topics (in this case gangs, poverty, and how to trust ppl) in a relatable and age appropriate way
March 30, 2024
This is definitely one of the best I've read of the series so far. Fast-paced would be an understatement in describing it. I still find the mean girls side story more than a bit annoying, but I'm getting used to enduring it.
March 7, 2018
Another excellent Sammy adventure. The gang aspect was quite scary.
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