I (Emma) am back in Pennsylvania, the new bookcases are built and stained, and our journey two doors down to the new and spacious shop is imminent! Our grand opening will take place some time mid-July: details are coming.
Right now I'm busy buying new children's books for the expansion and have been thinking a lot about what I used to read as a kid. My sister and I loved dramatic "issue" books for young adults like Cut (about girls who cut themselves) and Devil in the Details (about girls with OCD), and I was into the mouse warriors of Redwall for an embarrassingly long time, but what i want to talk about here is Nancy Drew.
As an experiment, I am going to write my description of Nancy Drew and her memorable adventures without any Wikipedia research (or any kind of research) and then we'll see if she left any worthwhile impression on this former reader.
Nancy Drew was a polite young lady with no mother and an inspiringly brave father (what did he do? Was he a fireman? A gentleman lawyer?). She also had a maternal housekeeper whom she called by her first name. Nancy's first detective mission began when she found some clock in a crumbling old house in the woods that held a mystery. She solved it, and went on to solve many more, often helping the local police department.
Nancy's most boring adventure was probably the one called something like The Mystery at Larkspur Lane. It took place at a retirement home that trapped its residents and took their money somehow.
Most of Nancy's stories involve a dramatic rescue by Ned Nickerson. Ned saves her when she's tied up on the floor of an abandoned cabin near the ski lodge where they were vacationing; and again when she is tied up on the floor of an attic, left alone with an approaching venomous spider sent by a nearby silk-making plant that she's been investigating! Nancy also faints often, and usually near the end of chapters. She should get that checked out.
What I remember most clearly about Nancy are the pictures of her on the covers of the books passed down to me from my mother. She always looks poised, with her wrists held up very elegantly. Her hair looks great. She is often in some attitude of spying or seems to be thinking hard about how to solve her mystery, but my favorite cover is the one that shows her in Scotland, standing on a green hill and playing the bagpipes. I think there's some suspicious character lurking in the background, but what stands out in my memory is Nancy's expression of diligent concentration. I admire Nancy, but I don't think she would be much fun to hang out with, even though everyone in her books seems to adore her. If I had to have lunch with someone from Nancy's fictional town (Pleasantwood? Littleton? Riverdale? Cutieville? Eagleview?), I would go with George, her tomboy best friend.
As far as I can recall, I learned one word from the Nancy Drew books: eavesdropping. I also learned what carrier pigeons are (or were). Useful information!
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