Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen -- Wendelin Van Draanen

Sammy Keyes continues to rock.

In Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen, we get:

Sammy's thirteenth birthday

Casey Acosta

an Elvis impersonator

a new place in town that teaches pro-wrestling

a lot of dead cats

an AWESOME fight with Heather Acosta AND Tenille AND Monet

a secret that Sammy's mom has kept for almost ten years

some great moments with Officer Borsch

and yes, a psycho kitty queen:

...something catches my eye. Something pink off to my left. Behind some bushes. Along the far side of Hudson's porch. So instead I whisper, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Hudson whispers back.

I stand up and tiptoe the length of Hudson's porch. And when I sneak a step down the side stairs and peek around the bushes, I choke out, "Aaarrh!" and jump back. Right on the other side of Hudson's bushes is one of the scariest sights I've ever seen.

A super-sized, batty-eyed Barbie.

If you haven't read these books, (adult or otherwise), start! They're so much fun. Sammy is as tough as Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, as well as a million times cooler than Nancy Drew, as well as (gasp!) a REAL character, not a cardboard cutout.