Samantha Spinner and the Perplexing Pants

Author: Russell Ginns
Illustrator: Barbara Fisinger

© Date: 2021
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 303
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, many page layouts do not have an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age: 8-12
Bonus Activities at End of Book: Yes, fun facts on the value of several items mentioned in the book, more puzzles to solve with websites that have more puzzles (yes, answers to the book puzzles are given at the back of the book), and a map

Summary from Book: Samantha Spinner’s Uncle Paul has gone missing again. And this time, he left behind a yellow mitten and a note: Watch out for the SNOW!

That’s weird, especially because they’re in Seattle…and it’s the middle of summer!

Samantha has defeated ninjas, battled clowns, and faced down daredevils. But with the sinister SNOW, she may have met her math!*

A puzzling uncle, a mission to Michigan, and a mysterious mitten Let’s hope Smantha’s super-annoying brother can lend her a hand with…the PERPLEXING PANTS!

*That’s a super-secret clue.

Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this a short bit ago.

Page Pig Thoughts: Following Samantha and Nipper’s adventures is always a bit of a memory game as I am trying to follow the clues for the current mystery while keeping track of clues that seem to lead toward a new mystery. The mysteries are always fun to follow as they unfold and see how and which pieces fit together. This one left me a little sad though, not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because there are no more Samantha Spinner books available. Since it ends on a cliff hanger of the HEAT kidnapping Mrs. Spinner, not having another is particularly tough.

This one got a Page Pup thumbs up despite the cliff hangar ending with no more books. We have hopes that another Samantha Spinner will be released, but until then, we will enjoy the laughs and clues from the ones that we could read.

Family Unit: The Spinner family: Samantha (11, I think), Nipper (8), Buffy (teenage), Mother, Father, Dennis (pug), and Uncle Paul (lived in an apartment above the garage, but seems to be consistently needing to be found). Aunt Penny had been in New York City with Buffy, not sure where she is now.

Conflict/Social Issues:

1. Samantha is trying to find clues for what happened to Uncle Paul. Nipper helps for a bit, then her father goes with her.
2. Absolute, the head SNOW agent, threatens Samantha and her father. He also is responsible for an Uncle Paul kidnapping.
3. The Spinners at home do not seem excited to answer Buffy’s phone calls. Buffy believes that her family is boring and her siblings are babies.
4. Missy Snoddgrass continues to steal Nipper’s things.
5. Samantha is challenged by Buffy’s new boyfriend being Seydou, the boy that rescued her and Nipper in Mali. It is not clear if Samantha has a crush of sorts on him or just isn’t sure who Seydou really is.

Positive Items:

1. Samantha and Nipper get along well for the most part, no serious sibling quarrels.
2. Historical facts are given in the story. They are short, add interest to the story, and don’t feel like boring, teaching moments.
3. Each family member, including Dennis the pug, has their special skills that they use at various points to help other family members out. Except maybe Buffy, she is really only into herself, so any assistance that she provides is accidental.
4. There are so many pieces of the puzzle in action that you can’t be too sure how the book will end, but I appreciate that Uncle Paul keeps being found.
5. Samantha is resourceful and continues to find ways to the answers that she needs.
6. Nipper goes on his own adventure, but does a good job planning items that will be useful and not losing all of them.

Items of Interest:

1. Nipper is a nickname, Jeremy Bernard Spinner used to bite people when he was younger.
2. Nipper is super concerned that his Yankees are going to be dismantled when they lose 144 games in a row thanks to the curse that came over them from the ring that he gave Missy Snoddgrass after she stole the team from him. Their bats would be chopped into firewood and their uniforms donated for musical theater use.
3. Samantha strikes a deal with Nipper to let him talk about his Yankees for awhile so that he will do something for her.
4. Samantha had been resting in bed to recover from her blackout incident at the end of the previous book. She finds her purpose when she burns her hand using the mitten clue that Uncle Paul had left as a potholder for hot waffles.
5. Samantha and Nipper track Uncle Paul to Detroit where they are attacked by people with math equations on their jackets (the math police or SNOW, depending on if you ask Nipper or Samantha). The SNOW throws a weaponized protractor and compass at Samantha and Nipper.
6. Samantha and Nipper cannot follow the SNOW into their headquarters because a big wall of numbers needs a code entered before it opens.
7. Buffy has been in Hollywood trying to create a super fabulous animal documentary, but the stars (aka animals) won’t learn their lines, practice their choreography, or wear their costumes. She inadvertently helps Samantha find clues on her quest to decode the number wall when she mentions the fabulous unicorn information book that she has been writing. I was slightly confused how her book got to her nightstand in the Spinner house because she has not seemed to be at home since Uncle Paul gave her a fortune, but maybe it came home with Mrs. Spinner and all of her other possessions.
8. Samantha gets some help from her kinda, sorta friends Fiona and Lainey while she is trying to learn the secret code hidden in the plaid pattern of Uncle Paul’s pajama pants. In the end, Nipper helps her when he discovers that he has a picture of Uncle Paul’s butt while he is wearing the pajama pants.
9. Nipper strikes a deal with Samantha to get help recovering the cursed ring from Missy Snoddgrass’s house in exchange for telling her about his discovery of the pattern in the plaid.
10. Samantha and Nipper wind up in Missy Snoddgrass’s house where they find that it is mysteriously empty and seemingly new parents of Missy appeared. There is also a picture of a pirate ship with Nipper walking the plank.
11. After Samantha and Nipper leave with the cursed ring, the reader learns that Nathaniel the pirate was disguised as a grandmother at Missy’s house. They are members of the WIND, which is some sort of thieving pirate group.
12. Mr. Spinner teaches Samantha about the Fibonacci sequence which happens to be the code on the number wall. Samantha and Mr. Nipper leave to go rescue Uncle Paul.
13. Fake weather alerts keep getting sent out, which makes adults do weird things like crank up the heater really high on a warm, sunny day. The villains in the story, the SNOW, use fake weather alerts to keep people away from specific locations. The SNOW then goes into museums or other places to swap valuable art or treasures for fake, salt based products that people don’t notice. The SNOW headquarters are in a salt mine underneath Detroit.
14. Nipper decides to secretly go on his own mission. He distracts his mother with a quiz, then leaves with Dennis the pug. He goes to Egypt to throw the cursed ring back into the pit where it came from. He thinks this will save his Yankees. In the end, the Yankees lose their 144th game because the ring falls through the hole and Samantha picks it up, or maybe there is another reason why they still lose.
15. While Nipper is on his secret mission, he is yet again attacked by the evil ninja monkey that steals the ring from him.
16. Samantha and Mr. Spinner get into the SNOW headquarters. Turns out the SNOW agents are having as much luck getting useful information out of Uncle Paul as Samantha was. Samantha winds up challenging the head SNOW agent to a math duel. She wins, but I was slightly disappointed that she didn’t exactly use a math problem to win.
17. The head SNOW agent decides not to hold up his end of the math duel bargain. Samantha uses a Fibonacci sequence of punches from the head SUN clown’s hat to deter the head SNOW agent from his plan of stealing her umbrella. He then threatens Mr. Spinner with a plasma carving tool. Nipper and Dennis quickly come rolling through the dome in a mine cart (turns out the Egypt hole and the dome are connected). Nipper’s cart runs into the head SNOW agent and knocks him down. The plasma carving tool that the head SNOW agent had been holding falls to the floor with him and creates the means for the whole underground headquarter dome to start crumbling.
18. Nathaniel the pirate leaps out from his hiding place and takes away Uncle Paul.
19. Samantha, Nipper, Dennis, and Mr. Spinner narrowly escape the crumbling dome. They arrive at home to discover that the whole garage and apartment were gone, along with Mrs. Spinner. She left a warning to “watch out for the HEAT.”

Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):

• Book 1 – Samantha Spinner and the Super-Secret Plans (review)
• Book 2 – Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs (review)
• Book 3 – Samantha Spinner and the Boy in the Ball (review)

      

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