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92-484: The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories is the long-running "main" series of the Nancy Drew franchise, which was published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene . There are 175 novels — plus 34 revised stories — that were published between 1930 and 2003 under the banner; Grosset & Dunlap published the first 56, and 34 revised stories, while Simon & Schuster published the series beginning with volume 57. A spinoff,

184-544: A hybrid electric vehicle and using a cell phone. In 2012, the Girl Detective series ended, and a new series, Nancy Drew Diaries , was launched in 2013. Illustrations of the character evolved over time to reflect contemporary styles. The Nancy Drew franchise has been adapted into other forms of media with varied success. As of April 2020, the character has been adapted into six feature films, three television series, four television pilots, 33 video games produced by

276-410: A 1960 date being much more difficult to find by collectors. Nancy Drew was issued in the yellow-spine picture format, as a book club, in 1962. The back covers were solid yellow, and spines feature no volume numbers. "Book Club Edition" appears on the title page. Only Volumes 1–32 were issued. In the 1970s, a book club offer was available directly from the publisher, but these volumes were exactly

368-419: A Rock Star and as sweet as Betty Crocker ." Nancy is well-off, attractive, and amazingly talented: At sixteen, she 'had studied psychology after and in school, and was familiar with the power of suggestion and association.' Nancy was a fine painter, spoke French, and had frequently run motorboats. She was a skilled driver who, at sixteen, 'flashed into the garage with a skill born of long practice.' The prodigy

460-517: A Trace ) "hold a shallow mirror to a pre-teen's world." Leona Fisher argues that the new series portrays an increasingly white River Heights, partially because "the clumsy first-person narrative voice makes it nearly impossible to interlace external authorial attitudes into the discourse," while it continues and worsens "the implicitly xenophobic cultural representations of racial, ethnic, and linguistic others" by introducing gratuitous speculations on characters' national and ethnic origins. The character

552-507: A ghostwriter for the series. The series also gained Anne Greenberg as the new editor; Greenberg would oversee the series for the next 16 years and become one of the most influential Nancy Drew editors that helped the books continue until the 21st century. Due to the cancellation of The Nancy Drew Files in 1997, Simon & Schuster rewrote several unpublished manuscripts into books for the original series. These include The Wild Cat Crime (#141), The E-mail Mystery (#144), and The Case of

644-543: A habit of rotating between George, Bess, and Ned. This setup creates a more realistic layout, rather than having all six drop everything to join Nancy. In the late 1990s, continuity errors and text errors became more common. With the new millennium, the series changed publishers to the Aladdin subdivision of Simon & Schuster. With declining sales, and the departure of longtime editor Anne Greenberg, Simon & Schuster ended

736-464: A mass cancellation of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys spin-offs, except for younger children. The Files series ran until the end of 1997, while both the Super Mystery and On Campus series ran until the beginning of 1998. In 2003, publishers Simon & Schuster ended the original Nancy Drew series and began featuring Nancy's character in a new mystery series, Girl Detective . The Nancy Drew of

828-469: A more charitable outlook. Helen Corning [who?] appears older, perhaps in preparation for her "write-out" after volume 4 of the revised series (no explanation was made in the original series) and to introduce Bess and her cousin George . Perceived racial stereotypes — and, arguably, characters of color period — were omitted. Action increased significantly and became faster-paced. Greater developmental detail

920-479: A short hiatus. During this time, Simon & Schuster began publishing The Nancy Drew Files series for older teenagers, and subsequently re-aligned the main series, moving it to a new imprint in 1987, with The Double Horror of Fenley Place , the first Nancy Drew title published under the American Minstrel imprint. Accordingly, after publishing twenty-two Wanderer (and seventy-eight overall) titles in

1012-500: A similar format to its predecessor with first person narration and references to modern pop culture and technology. The books, written under the Carolyn Keene pseudonym, are targeted to readers aged 8–12 and primarily follow Nancy, with her friends Bess and George, solving both violent and nonviolent crimes. There are 26 books in the series, including one holiday special published in 2018 that also features The Hardy Boys. Like in

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1104-538: A strong female heroine. Stratemeyer initially pitched the new series to Hardy Boys publishers Grosset & Dunlap as the "Stella Strong Stories," adding that "they might also be called 'Diana Drew Stories,' 'Diana Dare Stories,' 'Nan Nelson Stories,' 'Nan Drew Stories,' or 'Helen Hale Stories.'" Editors at Grosset & Dunlap preferred "Nan Drew" of these options, but decided to lengthen "Nan" to "Nancy". Stratemeyer accordingly began writing plot outlines and hired Mildred Wirt , later Mildred Wirt Benson, to ghostwrite

1196-402: A variety of clothes for all social occasions, and an awareness of good housekeeping, is often praised for her seemingly masculine traits… she operates best independently, has the freedom and money to do as she pleases, and outside of a telephone call or two home, seems to live for solving mysteries rather than participating in family life." At the insistence of publishers Grosset & Dunlap ,

1288-413: Is a blue roadster in the original series and a blue convertible in the later books. Despite the trouble and presumed expense to which she goes to solve mysteries, Nancy never accepts monetary compensation; however, by implication, her expenses are often paid by a client of her father's as part of the costs of solving one of his cases. The character of Nancy Drew has gone through many permutations over

1380-417: Is a fictional amateur detective. She is originally depicted as a blonde-haired and blue-eyed 16-year-old high school graduate, but in later editions is rewritten as a titian-haired and blue-eyed 18-year-old graduate and detective. In the series, she lives in the fictional town of River Heights with her father, attorney Carson Drew, and their housekeeper, Hannah Gruen. Carson is very successful in his job, and

1472-557: Is a successful lawyer), she maintains an active social, volunteer, and sleuthing schedule, as well as participating in athletics and the arts, but is never shown as working for a living or acquiring job skills. Nancy is affected neither by the Great Depression —although many of the characters in her early cases need assistance as they are poverty-stricken—nor World War II . Nancy lives with her lawyer father, Carson Drew, and their housekeeper , Hannah Gruen. Some critics prefer

1564-403: Is also the heroine of a series of graphic novels, begun in 2005 and produced by Papercutz. The graphic novels are written by Stefan Petrucha and illustrated in manga -style artwork by Sho Murase. The character's graphic novel incarnation has been described as "a fun, sassy, modern-day teen who is still hot on the heels of criminals." When the 2007 film was released, a non-canon novelization of

1656-410: Is at hand—Bess much more so than Helen, who is only glimpsed very, very occasionally in later volumes. Nancy is also occasionally joined by her boyfriend Ned Nickerson , a student at Emerson College , who is introduced in the seventh book. Nancy is often described as a super girl. In the words of Bobbie Ann Mason , she is "as immaculate and self-possessed as a Miss America on tour. She is as cool as

1748-462: Is cited as a formative influence by several women, from Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Sonia Sotomayor to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former First Lady Laura Bush . Feminist literary critics have analyzed the character's enduring appeal, arguing variously that Nancy Drew is a mythic heroine, an expression of wish fulfillment , or an embodiment of contradictory ideas about femininity. Nancy Drew

1840-406: Is now a less perfect and therefore more likable being, one whom girls can more easily relate to – a better role model than the old Nancy because she can be emulated, rather than a "prissy automaton of perfection." Some, mostly fans, vociferously lament the changes, seeing Nancy as a silly, air-headed girl whose trivial adventures (such as discovering who squished the zucchini in 2004's Without

1932-421: Is often called away on business for days or even weeks at a time, leaving Nancy on her own—and when this happens, he is always shown to have complete faith and trust in Nancy's ability to look after herself, and to solve mysteries. Nancy for her part is very proud of her father and his work, and is unshakable in her respect and admiration for him. She loses her mother at the age of ten in the original versions and at

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2024-429: Is often dressed provocatively, in short skirts, shirts that reveal her stomach or cleavage, or a bathing suit. She is often pictured with an attentive, handsome boy in the background and frequently appears aware of and interested in that boy. The books emphasize character relationships, with Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson becoming more of an on-off couple and having other love interests that span multiple books. However, at

2116-423: Is the greatest phenomenon among all the fifty-centers. She is a best seller. How she crashed a Valhalla that had been rigidly restricted to the male of her species is a mystery even to her publishers." The earliest Nancy Drew books were published as dark-blue hardcovers with the titles stamped in orange lettering with dark-blue outlines and no other images on the cover. The covers went through several changes in

2208-419: Is the somewhat flighty but fun-loving Helen Corning, but this character is quickly supplanted by the fifth book by her two long-term closest friends, cousins Elizabeth "Bess" Marvin and George Fayne . Bess is delicate and feminine, while George is a tomboy. The two are very much opposites, although both are both loyal and devoted friends of Nancy, and usually end up assisting her in the solving of whatever mystery

2300-482: The Nancy Drew Files , ran concurrently from 1986 to 1997. In 2003, Simon & Schuster announced that Nancy Drew Mystery Stories would end and be replaced by a new, more contemporary series titled Nancy Drew: Girl Detective . Launched in 2004, the series ended in 2012. The Nancy Drew Diaries was launched in its place in 2013. Mildred Wirt Benson is credited with writing 23 of the first 30 novels in

2392-545: The Super Mystery series, began in 1988. These books were in continuity with the similar Hardy Boys spin-off, The Hardy Boys Casefiles . In 1995, Nancy Drew finally goes to college in the Nancy Drew on Campus series. These books read more similar to soap opera books, such as the Sweet Valley High series. The On Campus books focus more on romance plots and also center around other characters;

2484-412: The Girl Detective series drives a hybrid car , uses a mobile phone, and recounts her mysteries in the first person . Since the series is set in the 21st century, several technologies and pop-culture references exist. Many applaud these changes, arguing that Nancy has not changed at all other than learning to use a cell phone. Others praise the series as more realistic; Nancy, these commentators argue,

2576-496: The Girl Detective series, Diaries features themes of environmentalism. This is the first series to be available in three different formats: paperback, hardcover (with dust jacket), and eBooks. Consistent with other Stratemeyer Syndicate properties, the Nancy Drew novels were written by various writers, all under the pen name Carolyn Keene. Following the customs of Stratemeyer Syndicate series production, ghostwriters for

2668-529: The Hardy Boys series (although the first volumes were not published until 1927), which was such a success that he decided on a similar series for girls, featuring an amateur girl detective as the heroine. While Stratemeyer believed that a woman's place was in the home, he was aware that the Hardy Boys books were popular with girl readers and wished to capitalize on girls' interest in mysteries by offering

2760-481: The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories banner. These books feature increasingly contemporary cover illustrations and some books have multiple versions of the cover art. These books are sometimes referred to as "Digests", since Simon & Schuster published them as digest-size paperbacks, as opposed to Grosset & Dunlap's hardcover books. (One of the reasons why Adams switched to Simon & Schuster

2852-707: The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Wagner's Nancy Drew titles are The Kachina Doll Mystery (1981), The Elusive Heiress (1982), The Broken Anchor (1983), The Emerald-Eyed Cat (1984), and The Eskimo's Secret (1985). Wagner was born in Wallace, Idaho , grew up in Cut Bank, Montana and lives in Mesa, Arizona . Wagner began publishing in approximately 1965. After writing scores of magazine short stories, Prairie Wind (1968), illustrated by friend and neighbor Rita Warner ,

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2944-464: The United States in 1930 by Grosset & Dunlap in a series of hardbacks . Revision of all titles through #34 began in 1959. In 1979, the Nancy Drew books began to be published by Wanderer Books Simon & Schuster in paperback format. Though formatted differently from the original 56-volume series which continued under Grosset & Dunlap's control, these new books were published under

3036-539: The Wanderer imprint in a new "checkerboard" design before the series moved, from #79 on, to the new Minstrel imprint, whereupon they received still newer covers in the "checkerboard" design. The series ultimately moved again to Simon & Schuster's Aladdin Paperbacks imprint beginning with #164, undergoing two further cover revamps, "White" and "Paint". The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories were first published in

3128-421: The 1980s and '90s." Stratemeyer edited the first three volumes, and Harriet Adams edited most subsequent volumes until she died in 1982. In 1959, the earlier titles were revised, largely by Adams. From the late 1950s until she died in 1982, Adams herself wrote the manuscripts for most of the books. After Adams' death, series production was overseen by Nancy Axelrad (who also wrote several volumes). The rights to

3220-965: The 99 Steps (1966), Lima in The Clue in the Crossword Cipher (1967), Nairobi in The Spider Sapphire Mystery (1968), Istanbul in " The Mysterious Mannequin " (1970), Austria in Captive Witness (1981), Japan in The Runaway Bride (1994), Costa Rica in Scarlet Macaw Scandal (2004), and Alaska in Curse of The Arctic Star (2013). Nancy is also able to travel freely about the United States, thanks in part to her car, which

3312-507: The American standard, as Armada was "obliged to publish No. 51 onwards before publishing Nos. 41-50". Thus, the original fifty-six American Grosset & Dunlap -published titles become the first fifty UK titles, with #57-78 being published as #51-72. Collins, therefore, had a deal in place with both American publishers and, indeed, were obliged "for contractual reasons" to publish some of the later Simon & Schuster titles before some of

3404-607: The Captured Queen (#148). The writing style of these books took a different direction than the books of the Syndicate; modern technology is mentioned (making the books seem somewhat dated very quickly), continuity errors are common, and the books become shorter (reducing the books from a 20-chapter/180-page format to a 16-chapter/150-page format). Characters Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans are eliminated entirely ( because of this, some fans were disappointed) and Nancy mostly has

3496-523: The Grosset & Dunlap ones. Collins/Armada published the twenty-two Simon & Schuster/Wanderer titles in sequence, albeit off by six, and then finished publishing the six "missing" Grosset & Dunlap titles (including the first, The Secret of the Old Clock ). The twenty-two (US) Wanderer imprint titles were produced between 1979 and 1985, after which the main Nancy Drew Mystery Stories went on

3588-454: The Hardy Boys' 50th anniversary in 1977. Grosset & Dunlap filed suit against the Syndicate and the new publishers, Simon & Schuster, citing "breach of contract, copyright infringement, and unfair competition." Sharon Wagner Sharon Blythe Wagner (born 1936) is an American author of more than 60 mystery, Gothic romance, and young adult fiction titles. She wrote five titles in

3680-437: The Nancy Drew books were revised in 1959 to make them more modern and eliminate racist stereotypes . Although Harriet Adams felt that these changes were unnecessary, she oversaw a complete overhaul of the series, as well as writing new volumes in keeping with the new guidelines laid down by Grosset & Dunlap. The series did not so much eliminate racial stereotypes, however, as eliminate non-white characters. For example, in

3772-473: The Nancy of these volumes, largely written by Mildred Benson. Benson is credited with "[breathing]… a feisty spirit into Nancy's character." The original Nancy Drew is sometimes claimed: "to be a lot like [Benson] herself – confident, competent, and totally independent, quite unlike the cardboard character that [Edward] Stratemeyer had outlined." This original Nancy is frequently outspoken and authoritative, so much so that Edward Stratemeyer told Benson that

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3864-807: The Old Attic . Although Volumes 22 and 23, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall and The Mystery of the Tolling Bell, respectively, were featured in the 2006–2007 catalogue, these additional titles were not ultimately published as company representatives stated that sales of later volumes had tapered and plans to extend the line were discontinued in 2007. In late 2006, Literarture, licensed by Simon & Schuster, began releasing prints of classic Nancy Drew dust jacket artwork by Russell Tandy, Bill Gillies and Rudy Nappi derived from pristine vintage art elements and, in some cases, following extensive research,

3956-453: The Syndicate began to hire new, younger writers, including Sharon Wagner , Richard Ballad, and James Duncan Lawrence . Ballad's two books, Captive Witness and The Sinister Omen , as well as The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery , were originally written for The Hardy Boys , but were rewritten for unknown reasons. The final two books (#77 and #78) were " backdoor pilots " for the spin-off The Nancy Drew Files , which began in 1986. Due to this, and

4048-427: The Syndicate in 1931: "Can you let us have the manuscript as soon as possible, and no later than July 10? There will only be three or four titles brought out then, and Nancy Drew is one of the most important." The 6,000 copies that Macy's ordered for the 1933 Christmas season sold out within days. In 1934, Fortune featured the Syndicate in a cover story and singled Nancy Drew out for particular attention: "Nancy

4140-413: The Syndicate signed contracts that have sometimes been interpreted as requiring authors to sign away all rights to authorship or future royalties. Contracts stated that authors could not use their Stratemeyer Syndicate pseudonyms independently of the Syndicate. In the early days of the Syndicate, ghostwriters were paid a fee of $ 125, "roughly equivalent to two months' wages for a typical newspaper reporter,

4232-419: The age of three in the later version. This loss is reflected in her early independence—running a household since the age of ten with Hannah clearly identified as a servant in the earlier series, who is however later referred to as a surrogate parent. As a teenager, she spends her time solving mysteries; some she stumbles upon, and some begin as cases of her father's. In the opening volumes, Nancy's closest friend

4324-614: The books remained similar to the original Grosset & Dunlap books still being published at the time. Harriet Adams was still involved in the Syndicate, even after she stopped writing the books in 1980. Simon & Schuster rejected her original manuscript for The Secret in the Old Lace , with the story being rewritten by Nancy Axelrad. After she died in 1982, the Syndicate continued with five of its partners (Adams' remaining three children, plus authors Axelrad and Lilo Wuenn), until its sale to Simon & Schuster in 1987. During this period,

4416-525: The books were extensively revised and shortened, partly to lower the printing costs, with arguable success. In the revision process, the heroine's original character was changed to be less unruly and violent. In the 1980s, an older and more professional Nancy emerged in a new series, The Nancy Drew Files , that included romantic subplots for the sleuth. Launched in 2004, the Nancy Drew: Girl Detective series features Nancy driving

4508-419: The brand HeR Interactive , and two different comic book series. Film and television adaptations of the character have been met with mixed reviews, while the video games by HeR Interactive have often been lauded. The character proves continuously popular worldwide; at least 80 million copies of the books have been sold, and the books have been translated into over 45 languages. A cultural icon , Nancy Drew

4600-455: The character was "much too flip, and would never be well received." The editors at Grosset & Dunlap disagreed, but Benson also faced criticism from her next Stratemeyer Syndicate editor, Harriet Adams , who felt that Benson should make Nancy's character more "sympathetic, kind-hearted and lovable." In Benson's words, Adams repeatedly asked Benson to "make the sleuth less bold… 'Nancy said' became 'Nancy said sweetly,' 'she said kindly,' and

4692-483: The character were sold in 1984, along with the Stratemeyer Syndicate itself, to Simon & Schuster . Book packager Mega-Books subsequently hired authors to write the main Nancy Drew series and a new series, The Nancy Drew Files . In 1980, Harriet Adams switched publishers to Simon & Schuster, dissatisfied with the lack of creative control at Grosset & Dunlap and the lack of publicity for

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4784-457: The early years: leaving the orange lettering with no outline and adding an orange silhouette of Nancy peering through a magnifying glass; then changing to a lighter blue board with dark blue lettering and silhouette; then changing the position of the title and silhouette on the front with black lettering and a more "modern" silhouette. Nancy Drew is depicted as an independent-minded 16-year-old who has already completed her high school education (16

4876-509: The end of The Thirteenth Pearl . Grosset & Dunlap continued to list this until they lost a court case against the Syndicate and Simon & Schuster in May 1980. The book was later revised to eliminate The Triple Hoax . However, they later published this book — and the seven after that — in 2005, with the permission and collaboration of Simon & Schuster, in celebration of Nancy Drew's 75th anniversary. The main plot, formula, and continuity of

4968-401: The end of the last book in the series, statements imply that Nancy keeps dating Ned. The end of the book Murder on Ice strongly implies that Nancy and Ned engage in sexual intercourse (at the very least, they go into a Jacuzzi together). Nancy also becomes more vulnerable, being often chloroformed into unconsciousness, or defenseless against chokeholds . Furthermore, the minor thefts of

5060-496: The energy of a girl shot out of a cannon, Nancy bends conventions and acts out every girl's fantasies of power." Other commentators see Nancy as "a paradox—which may be why feminists can laud her as a formative 'girl power' icon and conservatives can love her well-scrubbed middle-class values." The character was conceived by Edward Stratemeyer , founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate . In 1926, Stratemeyer created

5152-853: The first Nancy Drew spin-off, titled The Nancy Drew Files . However, after the above-mentioned two Mystery Stories books, as implied in The Double Horror of Fenley Place , Nancy appears to be dating Ned again and the series continues without any reference to Nancy dating other guys in The Bluebeard Room or in The Phantom of Venice . The Nancy Drew character in the Files series has earned mixed reviews among fans. Some, including sex-positive feminists , contend that Nancy's character becomes "more like Mildred Wirt Benson's original heroine than any [version] since 1956." Others criticize

5244-427: The first volumes in the series under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene . Subsequent titles have been written by several ghostwriters under the same pseudonym . The first four titles were published in 1930 and were an immediate success. Exact sales figures are not available for the years before 1979. Still, an indication of the books' popularity can be seen in a letter that Laura Harris, a Grosset and Dunlap editor, wrote to

5336-421: The kitchen in early stories, became less a servant and more a mother surrogate. Critics saw this Nancy of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s as an improvement in some ways, a step back in others: "In these new editions, an array of elements had been modified… and most of the more overt elements of racism had been excised. In an often overlooked alteration, however, the tomboyish nature ature of the text's title character

5428-427: The like, all designed to produce a less abrasive, more caring character." Many readers and commentators, however, admire Nancy's original outspoken character. A prominent critic of the Nancy Drew character, at least the Nancy of these early Nancy Drew stories, is mystery writer Bobbie Ann Mason . Mason contends that Nancy owes her popularity largely to "the appeal of her high-class advantages." Mason also criticizes

5520-889: The main Nancy Drew series, the Collins/Armada licence terminated in June 1992. The following month, Simon & Schuster itself began publishing the more recent Minstrel imprint titles under their Pocket Books UK imprint, starting with the now numerically-aligned #79. Nancy Drew was issued as a book club feature, the Nancy Drew Reader's Club, from 1959 to early 1961. In all, twelve volumes were issued, six in 1959 and six in 1960. These volumes were issued with new illustrations by artist Polly Bolian. The volumes matched Grosset & Dunlap 's other Doubleday Book Club publication, Young Library. A full color jacket illustration

5612-825: The manuscript. Edward Stratemeyer and his daughters Harriet Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier wrote most of the outlines for the original Nancy Drew series until 1979. Volume 30, The Clue of the Velvet Mask (1953), was outlined by Andrew Svenson . Usually, other writers wrote the manuscripts. Most of the early volumes were written by Mildred Wirt Benson . Other volumes were written by Walter Karig , George Waller, Jr. , Margaret Scherf , Wilhelmina Rankin , Alma Sasse , Charles S. Strong , Iris Vinton , and Patricia Doll . Later titles were penned by Nancy Axelrad , Sharon Wagner , and James Duncan Lawrence , and according to Book Riot , Carol Gorman , Ellen Steiber , and Alison Hart Edward "each wrote several Nancy Drews in

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5704-478: The mid-1970s. Applewood Books began reprinting facsimile editions of the early Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys in 1991. The books feature the original dust jacket art, original illustrations (although not scattered through the text), original texts, and duplication binding of the early Nancy Drew format. Many of the volumes contain forewords from adult author fans of the series, such as Sara Paretsky . Applewood issued original series titles up to #21, The Secret in

5796-457: The movie was written to look like the older books. A new book was written for each of the Girl Detective and Clue Crew series, which deal with a mystery on a movie set. In 2008, the Girl Detective series was re-branded into trilogies with a model on the cover. These mysteries became deeper, with the mystery often spread across three books and multiple culprits. These trilogies also met with negative fan reception due to Nancy's constant mistakes,

5888-462: The mysteries are merely used as subplots. By reader request, Nancy broke off her long-term relationship with boyfriend Ned Nickerson in the second volume of the series, On Her Own (1995). Similar to the Files series, reception for the On Campus series was also mixed, with some critics viewing the inclusion of adult themes such as date rape as "unsuccessful". Carolyn Carpan commented that

5980-511: The new series. The books read are drastically different from the preceding novels of the past 55 years. For example, The Phantom of Venice (1985) opens with Nancy wondering in italics, " Am I or am I not in love with Ned Nickerson? " Nancy begins dating other young men and acknowledges sexual desires: "'I saw [you kissing him]… You don't have to apologize to me if some guy turns you on.' 'Gianni doesn't turn me on!… Won't you please let me explain.'" The next year, Simon & Schuster launched

6072-462: The old-fashioned way. I must confess, though, that I love it." In the revised 1975 version, Beulah is changed to Anna, a "plump, smiling housekeeper". Many other changes were relatively minor. The new books were bound in yellow with color illustrations on the front covers. Nancy's age was raised from 16 to 18, her mother was said to have died when Nancy was three, rather than ten, and other small changes were made. Housekeeper Hannah Gruen, sent off to

6164-510: The original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories , tried to claim rights with the Library of Congress in 1933, the Syndicate instructed the Library of Congress not to reveal the names of any Nancy Drew authors, a move with which the Library of Congress complied. The Syndicate's process for creating the Nancy Drew books consisted of creating a detailed plot outline, drafting a manuscript, and editing

6256-445: The original books are replaced by murders and murder attempts, and Nancy is frequently in mortal danger. In an extreme example, in the book Deadly Doubles , the fate of an entire nation and millions of lives are at stake, a character is tortured and strangled off-screen, and Nancy and her allies are nearly killed on five separate occasions. The Files also launched its spin-off. A crossover spin-off series with The Hardy Boys , titled

6348-424: The original paintings themselves. The jackets were issued as limited-edition offset lithographs . In early 2007, Grosset and Dunlap began retailing special volumes of Nancy Drew mysteries with original artwork but revised content in different product assortments and packaging. Nancy Drew Over the decades, the character has evolved in response to changes in American culture and tastes. Beginning in 1959,

6440-764: The original series in November 2003. Continuity errors are common throughout these books: in No Strings Attached and Danger on the Great Lakes (both written by George Edward Stanley ), Nancy and her friends are 17 rather than 18; Ned works at a company; and George has chestnut hair (rather than brown). In Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland , Ned is blond, and it is suggested that Nancy might be in college. Numerous typographic errors and mistakes are also found throughout these books. Nancy Drew Diaries (Feb. 2013 to Present) The Nancy Drew Mystery Series

6532-468: The original version of The Hidden Window Mystery (1956), Nancy visits friends in the South whose African-American servant, "lovable old Beulah… serves squabs, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, piping hot biscuits, and strawberry shortcake." The house mistress waits until Beulah has left the room and then says to Nancy, "I try to make things easier for Beulah, but she insists on cooking and serving everything

6624-527: The permutations of Nancy Drew, finding Nancy to be simply a good role model for girls. Despite revisions, "What hasn't changed, however, are [Nancy's] basic values, her goals, her humility, and her magical gift for having at least nine lives. For more than six decades, her essence has remained intact." Nancy is a "teen detective queen" who "offers girl readers something more than action-packed adventure: she gives them something original. Convention has it that girls are passive, respectful, and emotional, but with

6716-493: The present day while still containing the same basic formula and style of the books during the Syndicate. In 1985, as the sale of the Stratemeyer Syndicate to Simon & Schuster was finalized, Simon & Schuster wanted to launch a spin-off series that focused on more mature mysteries and incorporated romance into the stories. To test whether this would work, the final two novels before the sale, The Bluebeard Room and The Phantom of Venice , were used as backdoor pilots for

6808-405: The primary day job of the syndicate ghosts." During the Great Depression , this fee was lowered to $ 100 and eventually $ 75. All royalties went to the Syndicate, and all correspondence with the publisher was handled through a Syndicate office. The Syndicate was able to enlist the cooperation of libraries in hiding the ghostwriters' names; when Walter Karig , who wrote volumes eight through ten of

6900-493: The regular mass market paperback format, which was also the format of choice for some foreign editions, such as the British releases by Armada ). Limited numbers of hardback editions are also known to have been produced, mostly for libraries. Beginning in 1979, the titles were presented in set cover format referred to as the "Arch" design, with sixteen covers drawn by Ruth Sanderson . Twenty-two titles were also reprinted under

6992-631: The sale of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the series went on a two-year hiatus to retool the series. After volume 78, the series took a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -year hiatus due to the sale of the Stratemeyer Syndicate to Simon & Schuster, and to begin The Nancy Drew Files spin-off. At this point, book packager Mega-Books took over the series, and hired different ghostwriters for the job (many of whom are still unknown). The ghostwriters who are known are ones who have either been discovered through other resources or have publicly revealed themselves as

7084-467: The same as regularly purchased volumes; they were simply mailed on schedule to the subscriber. Several Nancy Drew books were published as two-volumes-in-one in the 1970s. Covers featured geometric clover designs on lilac grey, with a vignette from one of the two volumes' original cover art. All of the volumes are sequential, i.e., 1–2, 3–4, except for the final two issued. Volumes 17 and 24 appear together as one, as they were not revised until

7176-431: The series for its increasing incorporation of romance and "[dilution] of pre-feminist moxie ." One reviewer noticed, "Millie [Mildred Wirt Benson] purists tend to look askance upon the Files series, in which fleeting pecks bestowed on Nancy by her longtime steady, Ned Nickerson, give way to lingering embraces in a Jacuzzi." Cover art for Files titles, such as Hit and Run Holiday (1986), reflects these changes; Nancy

7268-442: The series for its racism and classism, arguing that Nancy is the upper-class WASP defender of a "fading aristocracy, threatened by the restless lower classes." Mason further contends that the "most appealing elements of these daredevil girl sleuth adventure books are (secretly) of this kind: tea and fancy cakes, romantic settings, food eaten in quaint places (never a Ho-Jo's ), delicious pauses that refresh, old-fashioned picnics in

7360-419: The series until she died in 1982. After her death, Adams' protégés, Nancy Axelrad and Lilo Wuenn, and her three children oversaw the Nancy Drew books and other Stratemeyer Syndicate series production. In 1985, the five sold the Syndicate and all rights to Simon & Schuster . Simon & Schuster turned to book packager Mega-Books for new writers. These books continued to have the characters solve mysteries in

7452-449: The series was "more soap opera romance than mystery" and that Nancy "comes across as dumb, missing easy clues she wouldn't have missed in previous series". The series was also criticized for focusing more on romance than on grades or studying, with one critic stating that the series resembled collegiate academic studying in the 1950s, where "women were more interested in pursuing… the 'MRS' degree ." In 1997, Simon & Schuster announced

7544-529: The series. Other authors contributed as well, but in 1959, Edward Stratemeyer 's daughter, Harriet Adams , began rewriting the earlier books in the series, sometimes substituting entirely new plots while retaining the same title. In the Harriet Adams revisions, Nancy is depicted as a less impulsive, less headstrong girl of Stratemeyer and Mildred's vision, to a milder, more sedate and refined girl— "more sugar and less spice", with an extensive wardrobe and

7636-545: The shortness of the books, and the lack of action. With the new trilogy format, sales began slipping. In 2010, Simon & Schuster cut back from six to four Nancy Drew books per year. In December 2011, they announced that the series was canceled along with the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers . With the cancellation of the Girl Detective series, the Diaries series began in 2013, following

7728-492: The woods, precious jewels, and heirlooms… The word dainty is a subversive affirmation of a feminized universe." At the bottom, says Mason, the character of Nancy Drew is that of a girl who can be "perfect" because she is "free, white, and sixteen" and whose "stories seem to satisfy two standards – adventure and domesticity. But adventure is the superstructure, domesticity the bedrock." Others argue that "Nancy, despite her traditionally feminine attributes, such as good looks,

7820-437: The years. The Nancy Drew mystery series was revised beginning in 1959, with commentators agreeing that Nancy's character changed significantly from the original Nancy of the books written in the 1930s and 1940s. Observers also often see a difference between the Nancy Drew of the original series, the Nancy of The Nancy Drew Files , and the Nancy of Girl Detective series. Nevertheless, some find no significant difference among

7912-519: Was a sure shot, an excellent swimmer, a skillful oarsman, an expert seamstress, a gourmet cook, and a fine bridge player. Nancy brilliantly played tennis and golf and rode like a cowboy. Nancy danced like Ginger Rogers and could administer first aid like the Mayo brothers. Nancy never lacks money, and in later volumes of the series often travels to faraway locations, such as France in The Mystery of

8004-546: Was also tamed." Nancy becomes much more respectful of male authority figures in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, leading some to claim that the revised Nancy becomes too agreeable and less distinctive, writing of her, "In the revised books, Nancy is relentlessly upbeat, puts up with her father's increasingly protective tendencies, and, when asked if she goes to church in the 1969 The Clue of the Tapping Heels , replies, 'As often as I can." Harriet Adams continued to oversee

8096-544: Was given to Nancy and her home. In 1979, after a court battle between the Stratemeyer Syndicate and Grosset & Dunlap , the original publishers (in hardback) of the first 56 Nancy Drew titles, publication rights to new stories were granted to Simon & Schuster . Titles from #57, The Triple Hoax (1979), were thereafter published primarily in paperback . Books #57–78 were initially printed under Simon & Schuster's children's imprint Wanderer as digest sized paperbacks (although some were also later published in

8188-522: Was published in a series of hardbacks and paperbacks in the United Kingdom , starting in 1971 and 1973. The British publisher was Collins , and its paperback imprint Armada Books (which also published the Hardy Boys and Three Investigators , among other series). When the Nancy Drew series was published in England, the order was changed significantly and the titles' numbering was revised from

8280-601: Was repeated as the frontispiece , and double-page pen and ink drawings highlighted the texts. References or notices for other volumes, and volume numbering, was removed from the text and the jackets. Plans for additional titles were abandoned after two years and the series ceased publication in early 1961. The volumes are highly desired by today's collectors due to their original artwork and the scarcity of their dust jackets , made on inferior, lightweight matte paper instead of heavier-gauge glossy paper used on other editions. The books with jackets are considered scarce, those with

8372-456: Was that Grosset & Dunlap was opposed to such a change, while Simon & Schuster agreed to it.) In 2005, the first eight volumes from the Wanderer section (#57-64) were republished by Grosset & Dunlap, as a special promotion for the celebration of Nancy Drew's 75th anniversary. These republications went out of print in 2013. The Triple Hoax was originally listed as the next book at

8464-399: Was the minimum age for graduation at the time). While the first four books of the series are noted for their strong continuity and sense of passing seasons and time, it is lost throughout the series with changes like Nancy's hair color being changed to titian . Her age is changed from 16 to 18 in book 31, The Ringmaster's Secret (1953), with no in-universe explanation. Affluent (her father

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