Samantha Keyes is a seventh grade girl whose sharp tongue gets her into a lot of trouble. Her mother ran off
to Hollywood to get famous and left Sammy with her grandmother. Grams lives in an apartment house for seniors in Santa Martina where
kids aren't allowed. Sammy has to sleep on Grams' couch and sneak up and down the fire escape to avoid being seen in a "no
kids zone." She solves a lot of myseries and has two friends, Marissa and Dot. In this particular book, Sammy is working off
some detention time an Saint Mary's church. While she is cleaning the windows, Father Mayhew (the pastor at St. Mary's) calls
her into his office. His ivory cross had been stolen and the only people in the church were him and Sammy. She is his prime
suspect. Sammy knows that she didn't do it, so she sets out to find the real culprit.
- Marissa McKenzie and Dot DeVries
Marissa is a girl who doesn't like to stand up for herself. She doesn't like to bend the rules like Sammy does. Whenever
she does something wrong or she is nervous, she does what Sammy calls the McKenzie dance. She points her toes at each other, squirms
around with her knees together, and bites at a finger nail.
Dot is a tall, skinny girl who lives in a tall, skinny house with her tall, skinny family. Her real name is Margaret,
but Marissa and Sammy call her Dot because of the tiny dot in the middle of her cheek. It isn't hairy or gross, it is
just a perfect circle, like she leaned on the wrong end of a marker.
Heather is Sammy's worst enemy. She calls her names and picks on her and plots ways to make her life miserable. She is
on the opposing team in the school softball league. Sammy is always after revenge.
After Sammy gets accused of taking Father Mayhew's cross, she chases after a homless girl that had just left the church
when Sammy was called into Father Mayhew's office. After finding out that she lives in a cardboard box by the riverbed, Sammy
goes to Holly's "house" and looks for the cross. Just as Sammy was about to admit that Holly didn't have them and go home,
Holly comes up behind her and kicks her out. Holly's house falls apart and Sammy convinces Meg and Vera (the owners of a dog
kennel) to take her in.
- Father Mayhew and Sisters Josephine and Mary Margaret.
Father Mayhew is the preacher at St. Mary's church. He agreed to let Sammy serve her detention time there. He also accused
Sammy of stealing his ivory cross and sent her to work off her detention in the soup kitchen. He eventually realized
that he had wongly accused her.
Sister Josephine is an older nun who always carries a cane. When she is angry, she waves her cane all over and smacks
it on the ground. Mary Margaret is an older nun also, but she is younger than Josephine. She is much nicer than Josephine
also. The two Sisters plan their vacation together and they work in the soup kitchen with Sammy.
When a trio of singing nuns show up in Father Mayhew's office while Sammy is painting it, she doesn't know what to make
of them. The wear huge black habits and are the most original group of people Sammy has ever met. They live in a large motor
home (which Sammy calls the NunMobile) and came to the church to do a concert/fundraiser.
- Mr. Vince's Softball Team
Mr. Vince's team is ranked number one in the school league. The girls on his team are: Heather, Tenille, Monet, Julie,
Gisa, Emiko, Anita, Babs, and Debbie.
- Mrs. Rothhammer's Softball Team
Mrs. Rothhammer's team is ranked second in the league. Her team has never lost and Mr. Vince's team has never lost, but
somehow, Mr. Vince is first and Mrs. Rothhammer is second. The girls on her team are: Dot, Sammy, Xandi, Becky, Marissa, Kris,
Dawn, Cindy, and Jennifer.
