Wendelin Van Draanen
Encyclopedia
Wendelin Van Draanen is an American author of children's books.
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury was an early influence. According to the author, the book was "about the magic of growing up and [it] reminded me of all the wonderful mischief my brothers and I got into when we were young." Bradbury's work inspired to Van Draanen to write How I Survived Being a Girl, which was published by HarperCollins in 1997.
for Best Juvenile Mystery. Van Draanen's most recent book in the series, Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls, was published in 2011.
Runaway, a companion book to the Sammy Keyes
Series, is about a girl named Holly who tries to escape from her latest foster home.
In 2004-2005 Van Draanen wrote a four-book series for younger readers called Shredderman, about a 5th grade boy who assumes a secret identity to help him win the battle for truth and justice.
She also wrote the standalone teen romance Flipped
in a he-said she-said style with the two protagonists alternately presenting their perspective on a shared set of events.
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Wendelin Van Draanen, OCLC
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 70+ works in 370+ publications in 12 languages and 51,000+ library holdings.
Biography
Van Draanen lives in California with her husband Mark Parsons and two sons, Colton and Connor. She is the daughter of chemists who emigrated to the U.S. from Holland. She worked as a high school math teacher and computer science teacher before writing became her career.Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury was an early influence. According to the author, the book was "about the magic of growing up and [it] reminded me of all the wonderful mischief my brothers and I got into when we were young." Bradbury's work inspired to Van Draanen to write How I Survived Being a Girl, which was published by HarperCollins in 1997.
Selected works
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief won the 1999 Edgar Allan Poe AwardEdgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best Juvenile Mystery. Van Draanen's most recent book in the series, Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls, was published in 2011.
Runaway, a companion book to the Sammy Keyes
Sammy Keyes
Sammy Keyes is a series of mystery novels written by Wendelin Van Draanen for children aged 9–15. The series focuses on Sammy's adventures as an amateur sleuth. The books, which are narrated in the first-person perspective by Sammy, involve detective fiction as well as comedy...
Series, is about a girl named Holly who tries to escape from her latest foster home.
In 2004-2005 Van Draanen wrote a four-book series for younger readers called Shredderman, about a 5th grade boy who assumes a secret identity to help him win the battle for truth and justice.
She also wrote the standalone teen romance Flipped
Flipped
Flipped is a young adult novel by Wendelin Van Draanen set from c.1994-2000. It is a stand-alone teen romance in a he-said she-said style with the two protagonists alternately presenting their perspective on a shared set of events....
in a he-said she-said style with the two protagonists alternately presenting their perspective on a shared set of events.
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Wendelin Van Draanen, OCLC
OCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 70+ works in 370+ publications in 12 languages and 51,000+ library holdings.
Shredderman series
- Shredderman 1: Secret Identity (2004)
- Shredderman 2: Attack of the Tagger (2005)
- Shredderman 3: Meet the Gecko (2005)
- Shredderman 4: Enemy Spy (2004)
Sammy Keyes series
- Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (1998) (1999 Edgar AwardEdgar AwardThe Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
, Best Juvenile) - Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man (1998)
- Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy (1999)
- Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf (1999)
- Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Mustache Mary (2000) (2001 Edgar Award nominee, Best Juvenile)
- Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy (2001)
- Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake-Eyes (2002) (2003 Edgar Award nominee, Best Juvenile)
- Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception (2003) (2004 Edgar Award nominee, Best Juvenile)
- Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen (2004)
- Sammy Keyes and the Dead Giveaway (2005)
- Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things (2007) (2008 Edgar Award nominee, Best Juvenile)
- Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash (December 2008)
- Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher (October 12, 2010)
- Sammy Keyes and the Night of Skulls (2011)
The Gecko & Sticky
- The Gecko & Sticky: Villian's Lair
- The Gecko & Sticky: The Greatest Power
- The Gecko & Sticky: Sinister Substitute (2010)
- The Gecko & Sticky: The Power Potion (2010)
Non-series
- How I Survived Being a Girl (1997)
- FlippedFlippedFlipped is a young adult novel by Wendelin Van Draanen set from c.1994-2000. It is a stand-alone teen romance in a he-said she-said style with the two protagonists alternately presenting their perspective on a shared set of events....
(2001) (major motion picture) - Swear to Howdy (2003)
- Runaway (2006) (Texas Lone Star Book) (Based on part of one of the Sammy Keyes novels)
- Confessions of a Serial Kisser (2008)
- The Running Dream (2011)