Wendelin Van Draanen Blog Tour

We are excited to be apart of Wendelin van Draanen's blog tour for Sammy Keyes. Enjoy our Q&A with Sammy Keyes!

In all her years solving crimes and stirring up trouble, Sammy Keyes has only been pinned down twice for an interview. This is her third (and she says final) Q&A:

You seem to try to keep a low profile. Why is that?

Why? Because it’s pretty much life-and-death, that’s why. Like I need people recognizing me and snooping into my personal life? That would be disastrous. The good thing is, why would anyone want to? Okay, maybe Heather Acosta would love to know more about me so she could sabotage me, but anyone else? Why would they care? I’m your basic thirteen year old, just trying to survive middle school. There’s no story there. No reality show. So yeah, low profile is good. I don’t want fame, or random recognition. All I need are a few good friends.

What’s the attraction to skateboarding. Why not just ride a bike?

Would you want to carry a bike up and down five flights of stairs every day? Can you hide quick behind a Dumpster with a bike? Or hop onto a bus with one? More importantly, can you use a bike to whack a guy who’s trying to kill you?

Well, okay maybe you could just hop on a bike and pedal away in that situation, but you get my point. A skateboard is portable and, uh, versatile. It’s like the cross between a bike and a baseball bat. And it hides away nicely under my grandmother’s couch.

Rumor is you killed a man. Is that true?

Oh, maaaaaan. I wish you wouldn’t put it like that. It was an accident, all right? He happened to be someplace he shouldn’t have been, and I happened to be someplace I shouldn’t have been, and that someplace happened to be the same place. And yeah, I scared him, but he scared me, too. He just didn’t happen to scare me to death, like I did him.

I understand you’re going to be in Officer Borsch’s wedding. How did that happen?

Unbelievable, isn’t it? The guy’s gone from wanting to throw me in juvenile hall to asking me to be in his wedding. I don’t know what he’s thinking, either. I mean, first off, me in a dress and high heels? Please. Plus his bride-to-be is going for that whole storybook thing, with the bridesmaids’ dresses having lots of pouffiness and lace, and they’re lavender. Lavender. But I’m also worried because it seems that whenever Officer Borsch and I are within a block of each other something goes wrong. Like, seriously wrong. And I really don’t want to be the one messing up his wedding. So I’m going to do my best to walk down the aisle without, you know,tripping. Still, something tells me that this wedding is not going to go off without a hitch. Or just a trip. I mean, the odds are way against it.

Do you think the mayor of Santa Martina will ever give you a key to the city?

He’s more likely to toss me in a cell and throw away the key. Good thing I’m not eighteen yet. Look, it’s been nice talking to you, but I’ve got to get going. I feel like we’re being, you know, watched, and that’s not good for my low profile. See ya!

Wendelin will be back tomorrow at Library Lounge Lizard (http://www.libraryloungelizard.com/)

Be sure to visit other stops along Wendelin's blog tour here:

May 31^st: Where the Books Are – http://wherethebestbooksare.blogspot.com

June 1^st: Steph Su Reads - http://stephsureads.blogspot.com

June 2^nd: Through A Glass, Darkly – www.throughaglass.net

June 3^rd: Mrs. Magoo Reads – www.mrsmagooreads.com

June 4^th: The Children’s Book Review – www.thechildrensbookreview.com

June 5^th: Write for a Reader – http://www.writeforareader.blogspot.com

June 6^th: Mundie Moms - http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/

Wendelin’s Blog: http://etrtr.blogspot.com/

Wendelin Van Draanen’s website: http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/

(go to Sammy Keyes to be able to participate in Crack the Code with Sammy Keyes)

Enter to win a copy of Sammy Keyes!!

Thank you to RandomHouse and Wendelin Van Draanen.