What in the Sam Hill?

Sam Hill is an average 12-year-old girl in a not-so average family. Her dad is a detective and her parents teach martial arts! Using her martial arts skills, Sam decides to follow in her dad's footsteps and becomes a neighborhood crime fighter. The opportunity to prove herself comes when Mrs. Marlin's diamond ring is stolen. Will she be able to solve the crime before the thief strikes again? Using safe and easy-to-learn techniques, Sam transforms from a regular kid into the hero of her own story.

In a humorous detective story, Sam Hill is an average 12-year-old girl in a not-so average family. Her dad is a detective and her mom is a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her and her sister and brother. Her parents also teach martial arts and Sam has recently found some uses for the techniques that she has been learning in class. Using her martial arts skills and natural curiosity Sam decides to follow in her dad's footsteps and become a detective and crime fighter. She recently solved a local dog-napping crime and has another opportunity to use her detective skills when her neighbor's diamond ring is stolen. While solving the crime, the chance to use her martial arts skills presents itself and she envisions herself as a ninja to help execute the technique perfectly! Using safe and easy-to-learn techniques, Sam transforms from a regular kid into the hero of her own story. Sam also keeps a notebook at the back of the book where she explains as well as illustrates each technique that she utilizes to solve the crime. This notebook serves as a kind of how-to martial arts manual for the reader so that they too can become the hero of their own story.

Karen Barbaro Potochick is the author of What in the Sam Hill? What began as a middle school hobby, became a lifelong pursuit of training and teaching martial arts and self-defense. After accumulating several black belts, Karen realized her passion was in teaching and empowering young people to become the hero of their own story.