I love Sammy Keyes
A few days ago this blog link came across my twitter feed.
https://etrtr.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-long-view.html
I desperately wanted to publicly comment but my sleepy wanted other things.
When my kids were young I was one of those involved parents that wanted to know what my kids were reading.
And that was the official reason I gave whenever other grownups saw my library stack of non-adult reading.
Every time.
I gave that reason because adults tend to be snobs and I don’t suffer fools well.
In point of fact, my Goodreads list includes a butt load of adult classics and adult non-fiction as well as the kid stories.
I can read adult.
The problem with adult books is that they tend to be tiresome; sex and intrigue mixed into the story just to add sex and intrigue. Histories where the whole focus is on who did who and in what room. Mysteries that go all the way through the book only to pull the solution out of thin air because they’re too busy selling the sex and the intrigue to plan better. Science fiction that solves all of their story flaws with a time warp because they’re too busy selling sex and intrigue to bother with good writing.
Blech.
One of my favorite authors is Wendelin Van Draanen. And one of my favorite book series is her Sammy Keyes.
I first found out about Sammy when my daughter was in third grade. She attended an inner city school that had a R.I.F. program. Every once in a while she would be given the opportunity to choose a new book to bring home. One day she came home with a paperback copy of Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief. I did my parental duty, squealed and grabbed the new book to check its safety around my child.
It stole my heart.
I don’t remember how long it was before I had to wait for new books to come out but I gobbled them up every time. *
I could say that I fell in love because Sammy reminded me of my daughter whose dad left her before she was born. Or I could say that it was because I had grown up in a difficult family and I got Sammy. It might have been that we had just come out of an eighteen month stint in a windowless room at our cities homeless shelter and I knew Sammy would care. But the reality is that Sammy is a brilliantly thought out character with a journey that represents reality in a way that’s relatable without being heart crushing.
I am so thankful that Sammy’s author didn’t go for Oprah.
Sammy might never have been the same.
And she’s perfect, just as she is.
*At this writing I haven’t actually read the final story. I did purchase it immediately but I’ve never been quite ready to kiss Sammy goodbye. I have been lobbying Audible and Live Oak Media to make all of the series available as audio books and they seem to be progressing in that direction. I do think that if Tara Sands reads it to me, I might be able to let Sammy go. Regardless, my above statements hold as I have complete faith in Sammy’s world and all that moves her
