Wendelin Van Draanen

Sammy Keyes & the Sisters of Mercy Wendelin Van Draanen Unabridged edition

She is supposed to be in church to get out of trouble...

Sammy is working off some junior high detention time by helping out at St. Mary's, but when Father Mayhew discovers that his ivory cross has been stolen, Sammy becomes the prime suspect. While she's looking for the real culprit, Sammy is amazed to find how much gossip and petty jealousy there is bubbling under the church's serene surface. This is just like junior high!

And school is abubble with intrigue as well. Sammy's in the middle of softball playoffs when her catcher's mitt is stolen. She's sure the hated Heather must have it, but knowing whodunit and getting the mitt back are two different things.

With a cast that includes a trio of singing nuns, a homeless girl in high tops, a former safecracker, and a red-hot shortstop, it's not so easy to tell the saints from the sinners...