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	<author id="12950">
  <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
  <fans-count type="integer">37</fans-count>
  <followers-count type="integer">20</followers-count>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1231349268p5/12950.jpg</image_url>
  <about><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen (born January 6, 1965, Chicago, Illinois) is an American author of children's books. She lives in California with her husband Mark Parsons and two sons, Colton and Connor. The daughter of chemists who emigrated to the U.S. from Holland, she worked as a math teacher and then as a high school computer science teacher before becoming a full-time writer. Her books feature spunky lead characters and very real classroom dialogue. Van Draanen is probably best-known for her Sammy Keyes series of novels, featuring a teenage detective named Samantha (&quot;Sammy&quot;) Keyes. Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief won the 1999 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. 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. These two series manage to be character driven and very funny while featuring fast-paced plots. Van Draanen 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. Her  book, Runaway, is about a girl named Holly who tries to escape from her latest foster home. He latest book that was released December 2008, is Sammy Keyes and the Hard Cash.
Van Draanen, is working on the 13th book currently. 

]]></about>    <gender>female</gender>  <hometown>Chicago, Illinois</hometown>  <born_at>01/06/1965</born_at>    
  
  
  <books>
        <book id="331920">
  <title><![CDATA[Flipped]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.84</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>4098</ratings_count>
  <published>2003</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="361587">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>557</ratings_count>
  <published>1999</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="332624">
  <title><![CDATA[Runaway]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.13</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>355</ratings_count>
  <published>2006</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="1421759">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.03</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>356</ratings_count>
  <published>1999</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="693447">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.07</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>351</ratings_count>
  <published>2001</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="1421769">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.25</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>318</ratings_count>
  <published>2003</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="693455">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.19</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>316</ratings_count>
  <published>2002</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="1033227">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.13</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>313</ratings_count>
  <published>2000</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="297514">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.97</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>323</ratings_count>
  <published>1998</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="790291">
  <title><![CDATA[Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Wendelin Van Draanen]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12950.Wendelin_Van_Draanen]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>304</ratings_count>
  <published>1999</published>  
  
</book>
      </books>
</author>
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