And yet throughout all this I loved how the author showed us that Sammy is a kid too, and like all kids there are new experiences for her to learn and discover. Sammy faces a whole host of problems here, with the tension of being kicked out of her grandmother's apartment because of Lilia Landvogt's threats and of course the eternal battle with Heather Acosta (although I must say, she did a brilliant job getting back at her-it's amazing how smart and creative she is for her age!). The fourth book in the series, Sammy is blackmailed into helping a rich and powerful elderly woman recover her missing dog who was kidnapped at a Christmas parade.Īs always, Wendelin Van Draanen displays a great talent for interweaving various subplots in a way that keeps the reader interested and in such a way that they don't get confused or have a hard time keeping track of what is going on. I started reading this series when I was in middle school and even though I am a junior in college now, making them it a little beneath my age group, I still eagerly devour each book. She and her husband reside in California and have two sons. Van Draanen was a classroom teacher for fifteen years. 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 is also the author of two short chapter-book series. Van Draanen's latest book, Hope in the Mail, is part memoir, part writing guided, designed to encourage aspiring writers to pursue their dream. Her novel The Running Dream was awarded ALA’s Schneider Family Award for its portrayal of the disability experience. 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. Wendelin Van Draanen has written more than thirty novels for young readers and teens.

Runaway book wendelin van draanen