Sammy Keyes is perusing the neighborhood through binoculars when she spots something fishy at the Heavenly Hotel. She's sure she's just seen a robbery, now she just has to prove it. Now in Knopf Paperback, is the first book in the exciting new series of middle-grade mysteries starring the smart and spunky seventh-grade ace detective. "This girl sleuth is no well-mannered Nancy Drew. She's hot-tempered, nosy and not always obedient. In short, she's someone I want to read about again. A winning debut!" (Margaret Maron, author of The Bootlegger's Daughter and One Coffee With).

Sammy Keyes is perusing the neighborhood through binoculars when she spots something fishy at the Heavenly Hotel. She's sure she's just seen a robbery, now she just has to prove it. Now in Knopf Paperback, is the first book in the exciting new series of middle-grade mysteries starring the smart and spunky seventh-grade ace detective. "This girl sleuth is no well-mannered Nancy Drew. She's hot-tempered, nosy and not always obedient. In short, she's someone I want to read about again. A winning debut!" (Margaret Maron, author of The Bootlegger's Daughter and One Coffee With). Books have always been a part of Wendelin Van Draanen’s life. Her mother taught her to read at an early age, and she has fond memories of story time with her father, when she and her brothers would cuddle up around him and listen to him read stories. Growing up, Van Draanen was a tomboy who loved to be outside chasing down adventure. She did not decide that she wanted to be an author until she was an adult. When she tried her hand at writing a screenplay about a family tragedy, she found the process quite cathartic and from that experience, turned to writing novels for adults. She soon stumbled upon the joys of writing for children. Feedback from her readers is Van Draanen’s greatest reward for writing. “One girl came up to me and told me I changed her life. It doesn’t get any better than that,” she said. Van Draanen hopes to leave her readers with a sense that they have the ability to steer their own destiny—that individuality is a strength, and that where there’s a will, there’s most certainly a way. Wendelin Van Draanen is the winner of the 1999 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Children’s Mystery Book for Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief and lives with her husband and two sons in California.From the Hardcover edition.