From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-Wendelin Van Draanen has perfectly captured the tone, outlook, and attitude of a typical 13-year-old girl in her series of books about the mysteries Sammy Keyes inadvertently finds herself solving. Actress/singer Tara Sands gives perfect voice to Sammy's character in this reading of the 1999 Edgar Award for Best Children's Mystery (Knopf, 1998). The entire novel is told in the first person voice of Sammy Keyes, so it is appropriate that the narrator uses a single voice with some varied inflections to indicate comments made by other characters. Her timbre and pitch sound like a 13-year-old. Each of the 18 chapters is introduced by number as it begins. No special sound effects are used. Sammy and her friends, Dot and Marissa, find themselves outside the "bush" house on Halloween. They discover an open door, a fire set on the floor, and elderly Chauncey LeBard tied to a chair inside. Was it a robbery or attempted murder by the intruder dressed in a skeleton costume? Sammy is also struggling with Heather Acosta's nasty attitude toward her, and Heather's attempts to embarrass her in front of a classmate. Her description of Heather as "welcome as onion slices on a peanut butter sandwich" is comically perfect, as is the revenge she exacts on Heather in front of the entire school. Sammy also tangles once again with oafish Officer Borsch as she sets about solving this crime. Sammy's unconventional living arrangement at her grandmother's seniors-only apartment complex where she has to pretend to be just visiting is typical of the author's zany mix of humor and adventure in this series.
Diane Balodis, Alden Intermediate School, NY Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Sammy doesn't look for trouble, but it usually finds her. In this case, it's on Halloween, when she gets run over by a skeleton with a bag of stolen goodies, who sets a fire in a spooky house. And that's just the beginning. With just the right early-adolescent exaggerated voice, Tara Sands builds suspense as Sammy pries deeper and deeper into facts that just don't add up. Sands moves the story along well, and her Sammy is right-on, as are her friends, Marissa and Dot. But she doesn't sound nearly as convincing with her adult voices, especially Grams, who sounds like she's 30, rather than 55-plus. Overall, a good mystery, in a great series. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio Cassette
edition.
