Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy - Hardcover

Van Draanen, Wendelin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375802665 ISBN 13: 9780375802669

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2001

Synopsis

The elusive Lady Lana (a.k.a. Sammy’s mom) ran off to Hollywood nearly a year ago to get “discovered.” But when Sammy discovers that her mom has changed her name, dyed her hair, and told everyone she’s only 25, she decides Lana needs a little reality check. I mean, it’s one thing to have her mom ditch her. But it’s another to find out she’s created a life for herself where Sammy can’t possibly exist.

But Hollywood is a shock. Everyone is pretending here. No one is who or what they seem in this starlet-eat-starlet world. So when a woman is killed in the room next door, Sammy’s hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t have a motive . . . including her own mom.

About this title

Review

The sixth Sammy Keyes book is one of the most exciting yet, as Sammy and her friend Marissa decide to blow town and take a bus to the seedy, insane town of Hollywood to surprise (and shake some sense into) Sammy's mother, the elusive Lady Lana. When they arrive, they discover that she's transformed herself into the glamorous, platinum-blonde, "25-year-old" actress Dominique Windsor, who certainly could never have spawned a 12-year-old--let alone a scruffy, no-nonsense girl like Sammy. The plot thickens, however, as Lady Lana's masquerade backfires in the most dreadful of ways and Sammy is left to save the day and solve the biggest mystery of her life. (Ages 10 and older)

About the Author

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0375802665
• ISBN 13: 9780375802669
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256