Thursday, November 6, 2014

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?

5 comments :

  1. I loved Nancy Drew, one of the few series I enjoyed reading as a kid (a shame I know). I keep trying to get my boys into the Hardy boys but they aren't into mysteries (*gasp).

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  2. So many great memories of Nancy Drew! I can't wait to introduce her to my daughter in a couple of years!

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  3. You know, I know I've read Nancy Drew but I couldn't tell you if I read more than a couple. Sad. I should do that.

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  4. I liked that they were complex enough to be a bit challenging. I was also a fan of Trixie Belden and Donna Parker 'girl detective' books. But Nancy was serious, all about solving the mystery. We also had the multigenerational thing going--my mom, me, and my daughter. Outside of Austen and Bronte heroines, which come in for older readers, how many other characters are shared with one's daughters this way?

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