who loves/hates nancy drew?

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Add the Hardy Boys in as well.I LOVED these books as a kid, and sometimes wonder what message I was getting. This thread could go far - is George a dyke? Is Beth really meant to bake bundt cakes for the rest of her life? Will Ned finally step up and buy a car, or graduate from college?

― aimurchie (aimurchie), Saturday, 10 April 2004 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I loved Nancy Drew (I read mostly the old "classic" ones, but some of the new ones too), but I haven't read any in so long that I have no idea what I could read into one now, although I am sure there is a lot.

― Sara L (Tara Too), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

For me, reading Nancy was an escape. She was smart, she could solve mysteries and I wanted to be like that... I loved those books!

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Thursday, 15 April 2004 13:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Thank you for responding. The Mystery of Moonstone Castle? The Mystery of the Upsidedown Staircase? My feminist instincts were honed on that sleuth!

― aimurchie (aimurchie), Friday, 16 April 2004 03:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked Nancy Drew as a pre-teen, but I could never figure out, why (on the spine of those old yellow hardbacks) Nancy was always gazing herself in a spoon.

― SJ Lefty, Friday, 16 April 2004 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Nancy Drew was my idol back in the day. I saved up my money to get the next one on the list. As I look at her now, wasn't she an early feminist? Smart, singleminded, cruising in that roadster, although sometimes with Ned, I admit.

― Becky Willis, Monday, 19 April 2004 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)

You should read "The Girl Detectives" by Bobbi Ann Mason. A well-done slice of research on how Nancy and her ilk drove, empowered and flatout entertained so many of us as teens.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Saturday, 24 April 2004 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Its probably why the many books featuring female detectives/ psychologists/ forensic pathologists etc are so popular with the female audience, as well as TV like prime suspect/ silent witness etc...it all started with Nancy!

― kath (kath), Saturday, 24 April 2004 22:01 (twenty-one years ago)

or miss marple

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 24 April 2004 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

The character in the TV show silent witness is much more annoying than Ms. Marple could ever be. She is so pious. I would like to forensic pathologist HER.

― kath (kath), Saturday, 24 April 2004 22:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Tomorrow is the "March for Women's Lives" in D.C.. I wish I could go dressed as Nancy and solve the mystery of the current administration. Thanks for the Bobbi Ann Mason tip - I shall order it at the library on Monday.

― aimurchie (aimurchie), Saturday, 24 April 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

SJ Lefty: I think she was gazing into the spoon to view the scene behind her, in the form of a surreptitious manner...

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Sunday, 25 April 2004 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Were the Friends of Nancy familiar with this apparell? http://store4.yimg.com/I/nancydrewgirldetective_1784_447321

http://store4.yimg.com/I/nancydrewgirldetective_1784_447321

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Sunday, 25 April 2004 14:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Where the hell did you find that, jtn? And where can I get three?

― aimurchie, Sunday, 25 April 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I vote jtn coolest post of the day! where on earth can I get one?!

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Sunday, 25 April 2004 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Whoops! I posted the wrong URL. You can find all your Drew accessorizing dreams catered to here: http://www.nancydrewgirldetective.com/

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Sunday, 25 April 2004 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)

(I think everyone on ILB should buy the bookbag as a kind of international badge of fellowship so we can recognise one another on our cross-continental bookshop binges.)

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Sunday, 25 April 2004 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree,JtN. However, you will easily spot me sauntering down the avenue in my Nancy PJ's, carrying both the Beth and George bags. Thank you so much!

― aimurchie, Sunday, 25 April 2004 23:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I am a Nancy Drew charlatan! It's Bess, not Beth! Oh, the shame is too much to bear.

― aimurchie, Monday, 26 April 2004 00:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Thanks for the link, JtN! When I was younger I read all of the old Nancy Drew books, as well as other mystery series clearly inspired by Nancy such as Trixie Belden, etc.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Monday, 26 April 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I have never read a Nancy Drew book... but I have recently fallen a over t in love with 'Harriet the Spy'.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Monday, 26 April 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Different feel entirely- we know far more about Harriet's inner life than we do of Nancy's. But a thoroughly respectable book crush- I loved Sport when I was a medium girl. Be sure you read the sequels, The Long Secret and Sport. (There's a Helen Ericson companion book using the Harriet characters that I've not read.)

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Monday, 26 April 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

but I have recently fallen a over t in love with 'Harriet the Spy'.

Harriet the Spy is the best, my love for Nancy Drew notwithstanding.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Monday, 26 April 2004 20:30 (twenty-one years ago)

What are the names of the Enid Blyton books? I loved them as a child.

― aimurchie, Thursday, 29 April 2004 03:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"Famous Five" and "Secret Seven" series were what leapt immediately to mind. Here's a nice bibliography, which reminds me, an acquaintance recommended the "Mallory Towers" books to me after I told her of my passion for Lenora Mattingly Weber and the Beany Malone series.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Thursday, 29 April 2004 06:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I am going to thouroughly annoy my (American) librarian and make her find "Famous Five" for me. Here's a nice story - I LOVED Nancy Drew as a child. A coworker of my moms came into my room in the middle of the night and left all of her Nancy Drew books! I woke up - age nine - to the entire collection sitting by my head! It was like Christmas and a birthday all at once. I was stunned. I think I wept from the sheer joy of it.

― aimurchie, Thursday, 29 April 2004 13:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm an American librarian- it would thrill me to have a patron ask for Blyton. No annoyance at all. My previous post would have been far more useful had I actually included the link with the bibliography... here 'tis: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Enid_Blyton.htm

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Friday, 30 April 2004 01:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Ye gods! I get to have Nancy Drew couture and Enid Blyton all at once! What did I do to become the luckiest girl in the world? I must have returned all my library books on time.( Not. I think i am basically funding the local library because my fines are generally in the 7 -10 dollar range. I Love Books. I don't love returning them.)
Re: Famous Five - was there a boyish girl called George in those books?

― aimurchie, Friday, 30 April 2004 02:05 (twenty-one years ago)

From the biblio site: "The very first Famous Five adventure, featuring Julian, Dick, Anne, not forgetting tomboy George and her beloved dog, Timmy! There's a shipwreck off Kirrin Island! But where is the treasure? The Famous Five are on the trail - looking for clues - but they're not alone! Someone else has got the same idea. Time is running out for the Famous Five, who will follow the clues and get to the treasure first?"

I just this second made the connection that Nancy had a boyish chum named George also!

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Friday, 30 April 2004 03:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Did anyone ever read Judy Bolton Mysteries? I remember liking them a bit better than Nancy Drew, feeling that the character had a more realistic emotional arc, but my library didn't have very many of them. No one I've talked seems to have even heard of her.

― SJ Lefty, Friday, 30 April 2004 17:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I did. And so did Bobbie Ann Mason. She agrees with you. You should read "The Girl Detectives" by Bobbi Ann Mason. My fave girl decetive was Trixie Belden.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Friday, 30 April 2004 17:42 (twenty-one years ago)

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