Review: Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls by Wendelin Van Draanen

Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls by Wendelin Van Draanen. A Sammy Keyes Novel.

Schwartz & Wade Books
Publication Date: October 2011
List Price: $15.99
ISBN-13: 9780375861086

Review: Being in a graveyard on Halloween night is bad-for some people! Sammy Keyes and The Night of Skulls is yet another great Sammy Keyes mystery written by Wendelin Van Draanen. This book grabs you instantly, especially if you read it in October! The main characters are Sammy Keyes, and some of her friends. These children are young sleuths who go on adventure after adventure. Nobody can guess what the kids will do next in this anticipation builder!

Due to past experiences, Sammy is sure this Halloween will be joyful, and not at all wicked in any way. However, the gang makes the blunder of cutting through the graveyard while disguised as zombies. They go through the older part of the grave yard (AKA the scarier part where it is very dark and harder to find your way). Despite Billy and Casey's humor, the discussion they are having about death only leads up to the scariest encounter of the night. They come to a halt when they spot a creature scampering through the tombstones. It turns to approach them. The kids want to exit the graveyard and find the nearest gate. The creature's face seemed vicious and the children can't even imagine what could happen next. What have they gotten themselves into?!

There are some positive and negative things about this book that I would like to share. The book is a mystery, and contains a lot of suspense and surprises. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and you cannot guess what will happen next. Plus, the characters in this book are a very unique group of kids. They are interested in being detectives and are actually really good at it. One negative part of the book is that it may be challenging for some kids to read. Although it is intended for kids, with the whole graveyard mystery storyline, the plot is actually quite complicated. It may be difficult and confusing for some younger readers to comprehend. This book is a mix of horror, realistic fiction, and mystery! Wendelin Van Draanen has outdone herself with this one. Each of her books is better than the last one. Overall, I feel Sammy Keyes and the Night of the Skulls is a very suspenseful book that everyone should read for fun -- especially people between the ages of 9-13. It is full of mystery and surprising twists. I rate this book an eight out of ten.

Review written by Sahil (7th grade student).

We would like to thank Random House for providing a copy of Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls for this review.

Have you read Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls? How would you rate it?