Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary

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Summary: Best book I have ever read
Review: In this story Sammy Keyes has to solve a mystery about a family riot. Sammy has to find out who burnt down her very old friend Lucindia's cabin. The cabin was so special because it was a home to her great aunt. The famalies started fighting when Mary was shot at. One night Sammy and Dot went to a party to find Dot's two older brothers. At the party the girls seen many things that they didn't want to see.They seen things like kids taking drugs and drinking beer. Sammy also seen one of her enemies Heather drinking beer. Sammy and Mirrisa also fell in love with two boys. The next morning Sammy found out that Heather was the twin of the boy she liked. Later on that day sammy found a meth lab in a cellar at Lucindia's house. They then found out that it was Dallas who was the owner of the lab and also the one who burnt down the cabin.Sammy and Dot captured the criminal and then went home

Rating:
Summary: This book is AMAZING!
Review: The fifth book in an entertaining series, The Curse of Mustache Mary is a thrilling teenage mystery. Sammy Keyes, the returning female hero, is spending the New Years at her friend Dot's house along with her friends Marissa and Holly. While helping Dot's dad out with his plant nursery, the four come across a strange woman leading a big, black pig down the road to the "Murdock Party." Turns out that the "party" is a funeral and that Dot's neighborhood is tied up in a lot more than plants and farms. Sammy Keyes leads her friends through an adventure of family rivalry, drug dealers, and hidden treasure, thrilling the reader with her great sense of humor and her gift for disaster.

As always, Van Draanen has managed to come up with another mystery for Sammy to solve. Though the Sammy Keyes series is geared towards a younger crowd, they are easily enjoyed by all and are great quick reads!

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Summary: Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary
Review: The initial entries in the Sammy Keyes series were entertaining, humorous, and written with a deft touch. It's sad, then, that Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary reads like a poor imitation of Van Draanen's better books.

For one thing, Moustache Mary has a lot less *mystery* to it than you'd expect in a mystery novel. It isn't merely that the solution to the mystery is obvious, it's that it seems almost irrelevant for much of the book. Many of the scenes come off like filler; they're unconnected to the mystery, the plot line, or any character development, and so deprive the novel of the tight plot and fast pace of, say, Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief. And nothing appears to fill that space.

Another big hole is left where the characters used to be. Sammy herself is given some opportunities here for change and growth (no matter how handled), but her supporting cast is getting stale. Moustache Mary suffers from the lack of Sammy's grandmother, who makes no appearance at all, and from the reduction of Marissa to little more than the occasional walk-on. The characters just for this book aren't given much chance to develop, either, meaning pretty much every person in the book comes off as cardboard background for Sammy.

And Sammy herself is changing, in rather unwelcome ways; Van Draanen appears to have foundered on the issue of adolescence. Sammy has, in past novels, been portrayed as a streetwise, intelligent girl, but in Moustache Mary, she comes off as wildly naive and a bit immature - she recoils in shock at the very concept of high school kids drinking and smoking, for example, and she's caught firmly in the "boys...eeeewwww" mode more common on elementary school playgrounds than in pubescent girls. Most girls Sammy's age know quite a bit about this stuff, even if they don't approve of using that knowledge. Van Draanen appears to be writing with more wishful thinking than accuracy, here.

This one may appeal to serious Sammy Keyes fans, and to readers considerably younger than Sammy herself is supposed to be. For others, there are more intelligent mysteries out there - check out Ellen Raskin's classic The Westing Game, for example.

Rating:
Summary: Sammy Keyes and the Curse of the Moustache Mary = Great Book
Review: This book has suspense and mystery written all over it. It is definitely a book you cannot put down. It had a little of everything for everybody, humor, mystery, and a bit of romance. Sammy, a 13-year-old girl, has to visit her friend's house. On the way she encounters boys she thinks stole her skateboard. Later down the road, she meets other things too, like a feuding old lady with a pet pig. Then once at her friend's house strange and sad things start to happen. They go to a funeral and it turns out to be much more. Then old lady's ancestor's cabin burns down. It makes you start to think who would and why would someone do that? But all these things fit together in the end. The author, Wendelin Van Draanen, who has won many awards, must have had to put an enormous amount time of to make such a great book.

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Summary: Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary
Review: This book is mystery at a whole other level. It has real life issiues tied in with a great real life mystery. This book was exciting and I couldn't put it down. I would suggest this book to ages 11 and up because it has some material in it that may not be suitable for kids under 11. This book is a great read, it sure was for me!!!

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST SAMMY KEYES YET!
Review: W. V. D. has done it again, this is her best book yet! You won't believe what Sammy Keyes get's into, in, THE CURSE OF THE MAD MOUSTACHE MARY. I'd definitely give this book 5 stars, it's the best book I've ever read!