Why Nancy Drew Rocks!

Today, please welcome Tamara from Traveling with T. Tamar's here to talk about Nancy Drew, the original mystery gal.

Holy throwback post, Batman! Nancy Drew- is there a gal on Earth who does not know who Nancy Drew is? (I sincerely hope not!) Here’s the thing about good ole Nancy- mystery solver extraordinaire- she spoke to girls. She was a role model. And considering that Nancy has been around since the 30’s- well, that speaks volumes right there. Girls need books where a gal uses her smarts to solve a mystery- where she follows the clues and makes sense of them.

How did I begin reading Nancy Drew? Well, readers sit back and let’s talk: It was the summer of 1988 and my mom went to the library in search of some books for me (I had not met the BabySitters Club books yet!) Seeing a Nancy Drew book, she picked it up for me- remembering how much she dearly loved Nancy back in the day. A week later, when she told me she was going to library to return her books and needed my Nancy Drew back- I threw myself down on the bed and hollered ‘How am I going to solve the mystery now?” Luckily for me, my mom simply re-checked the book out and all was good again.

My real love affair with Nancy Drew came in the winter of 1989. Santa dropped off a set of Nancy Drew Case Files (1-5) and boy, was I hooked. This Nancy was more modern (my momma hadn’t read those stories so I felt infinitely cooler!) The Nancy in the Case Files drove a Mustang, had fashion sense out the wazoo, and just screamed sophistication to my 9 year old mind. The mysteries were edgier, there was romance (might we trace my love for a good ole romantic suspense storyline back to Nancy Drew Case Files?) Basically, this was a Nancy for my generation.

Why did I love Nancy so much? Part of it was the fact that she was smart AND had a boyfriend. I was getting to that tender age where I was beginning to see that boys didn’t like smart girls- and Nancy was proof that they did. She was pretty. She had unmistakable hair- her hair in the Case Files was always a mention. But mainly I loved her for the sense of adventure I felt when reading. For sharpening my case-solving skills.

For me, October is the perfect time to read a mystery. The spooky-atmosphere makes sitting down with a mystery very appealing. Might I suggest sitting down with some classic Nancy Drew and doing some nostalgia reading? Or perhaps introducing another generation to the fabulousness that is Nancy Drew- the original mystery gal?