Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy — Wendelin Van Draanen

I was supposed to be in church to get out of trouble...

Sammy Keyes is working off some junior high detention time by helping out at St. Mary's. Then Father Mayhew's ivory cross disappears -- and Sammy becomes the prime suspect. While she's looking for the real culprit, Sammy is amazed to find gossip and petty jealousy bubbling beneath the church's serene surface. This is just like junior high!

Caught in the middle of the mystery are a homeless girl in high-tops, a trio of singing nuns, two angry Sisters, and one bumbling Brother. With a crazy cast like this, it's not so easy to tell the saints from the sinners...