Sammy Keyes and the Kiss Goodbye

July 15, 2014
Sammy Keyes has helped to put countless bad guys away during her short sleuthing career. Now, one of those bad guys wants revenge in this 18th and final story.When 14-year-old Sammy sneaks into the Senior Highrise in an attempt to catch the long-elusive Nightie-Napper, someone pushes her from the third-floor fire escape. Fortunately, she lands in the bushes; unfortunately, she's unconscious and unable to tell what happened. The author inserts herself as narrator in Sammy's stead, directly addressing readers through a mobile point of view that flows easily from character to character, with bits of back story woven seamlessly throughout. Snappy dialogue, fast-paced narration and glimpses inside the minds of major secondary characters like best friend Marissa McKenze, former nemesis Heather Acosta, and Sammy's melodramatic and self-absorbed mother keep readers glued to the action as friends, family and a mob of high-top-wearing teens band together to solve the biggest mystery of all: Who tried to kill Sammy Keyes? It's bad enough that this is Sammy's last outing; Van Draanen's departure from her proven, winning formula backfires. Without Sammy's endearingly wisecracking personality leading the way, the series' end falls flat.Fans may be better served by stopping with the penultimate installment, Sammy Keyes and the Killer Cruise (2013). (Mystery. 10-14)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 5-8-Sammy Keyes has faced her share of criminals-murderers, thieves, a meth dealer, a gang leader, and so many more-but it's here, in the final book of the series, that she may have met her match. That's right: this one opens with an author's note explaining that something happened to Sammy. Something bad. Kiss Goodbye isn't told from Sammy's perspective, unlike the rest of the series, but Van Draanen's narrative keeps pages turning. Readers soon learn that the middle-schooler is in a coma after being thrown three stories from the fire escape of the seniors-only building that, for the entire series, she illegally lived in with her Grams. Who would have it out for the skateboard-riding sleuth? She's bested many a foe, any one of whom might want revenge, and it's up to the Santa Martina community, from the formerly cantankerous Officer Borsch to her loyal friends old and new, to solve this one. Longtime fans will especially appreciate the references to past books and characters reflecting on their own lives and Sammy's impact. Van Draanen presents a fitting tribute to Sammy, who is as much a heroine for always staying true to herself and striving to do the right thing as she is for any crimes she solved. Series regulars will want to lace up their high-tops and jump right in.-Amanda Mastrull, Library Journal

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