Sammy Keyes and the runaway elf
Readers rate it 4.5 (4 on Hardcover)
186 pages · Released 2000 · Alfred Knopf
Content report card
Sammy Keyes and the runaway elf parent’s guide: what’s inside
Sexual content
LGBTQ+ themes
Substance use
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is the second book in the popular Sammy Keyes mystery series, featuring a resourceful middle-grade protagonist investigating a dognapping during Christmas. The story emphasizes problem-solving, justice, and standing up for what's right, with age-appropriate mystery elements and humor. Violence is minimal and non-graphic, language is mild, and there are no sexual or substance-use concerns; the scariness is limited to mild tension typical of the mystery genre.
Analyzed by AI · 1 month ago
Read it with your kids?
Rate it and suggest an age to help other parents.
From the publisher
And this new adventure is Wendelin Van Draanen's most complex and compelling yet! It's Christmastime in Sammy's hometown of Santa Martina, but some people are being very, very naughty. Pranksters dressed as wise men sabotage the Christmas Parade. In the ensuing chaos, some thugs dognap a prize Pomeranian. Then the Pom'... And this new adventure is Wendelin Van Draanen's most complex and compelling yet! It's Christmastime in Sammy's hometown of Santa Martina, but some people are being very, very naughty. Pranksters dressed as wise men sabotage the Christmas Parade. In the ensuing chaos, some thugs dognap a prize Pomeranian. Then the Pom's owner blackmails Sammy into finding the dog so she won't have to pay the ransom. Sammy doesn't have to check her list twice to know that these people belong in the naughty column! But in the course of her search for the doggone dog, Sammy also comes across some characters who are harder to figure: a runaway elf, an embittered old biddy, a puffed-up policeman, and a sneaky Secret Santa. Still, someone's got that dog and whoever it is had better watch out--'cause Sammy Keyes is nosing around...and she's willing to be pretty naughty herself to make sure the bad guys pay.From the Hardcover edition.
Shelved under
- Fiction
- Dogs
- Mystery and detective stories
- Juvenile Fiction
- Mystery
- Detective and mystery stories
- Mystery fiction
- Children's fiction
- Dogs, fiction
- General
- Young Adult
- Adventure
Books in the Sammy Keyes series
Full series in order →
Share this guide
ISBN 9780375802553 · Alfred Knopf