Sunday, March 13, 2011

Boys and Terrorism: Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher

Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher by Wendelin Van DraanenEighth grade starts out predictably bumpy for Wendelin Van Drannen's Sammy Keyes, since her best friends are in none of her classes and her worst enemies are. Also, the friendly principal has moved to another school, and the replacement is deeply suspicious of Sammy and her outspoken ways. When a teacher starts receiving death threats, he's all too willing to believe that Sammy and her friend are responsible. Meanwhile her friend Casey has dropped out her life with a thud. Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher brings another complicated mess to a climax that had me chuckling out loud.

The plot gets nicely convoluted, with people from Sammy's life mixed in with new characters and situations. I really like reading these books in order so I can watch the changes in these relationships, although by now (this is the thirteenth book) the cast has gotten rather large. But I love Sammy's precocious independence and resourcefulness, and the zany concatenation of all the pieces of her life. I would like to say that I really hate the hardback covers, though.  B

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