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91-473: This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate in collaboration by John Button and Leslie McFarlane in 1938. Between 1959 and 1973 the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter. The original version of this book was rewritten in 1966 by James D. Lawrence resulting in two different stories with

182-569: A Ted Scott Flying Stories book, published in Germany in 1930 as Ted Scott Der Ozeanflieger. The artwork was generally changed when reprinted in other countries, and sometimes character names and other details were as well. For example, in Norway, translations of the Nancy Drew books were first published in 1941, the first European market to introduce the girl detective. “The translators changed

273-517: 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

364-464: 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

455-697: A publisher, writing that "[a] book brought out under another name would, I feel satisfied, do better than another Stratemeyer book. If this was brought out under my own name, the trade on new Stratemeyer books would simply be cut into four parts instead of three." Some time in the first decade of the twentieth century Stratemeyer realized that he could no longer juggle multiple volumes of multiple series, and he began hiring ghostwriters , such as Mildred Benson , Josephine Lawrence , Howard R. Garis and Leslie McFarlane . Stratemeyer continued to write some books, while writing plot outlines for others. While mystery elements were occasionally present in these early series,

546-500: 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

637-538: 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

728-402: 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 ,

819-413: 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

910-565: Is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, video games, and TV shows as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene . Created by the publisher Edward Stratemeyer as the female counterpart to his Hardy Boys series, the character first appeared in 1930 in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series, which lasted until 2003 and consisted of 175 novels. Over

1001-513: Is a mythic heroine, an expression of wish fulfillment , or an embodiment of contradictory ideas about femininity. Nancy Drew 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

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1092-557: 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

1183-403: 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

1274-433: Is as cool as 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

1365-406: 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

1456-429: 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

1547-423: 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

1638-461: Is very successful in his job, and 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

1729-602: 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;

1820-475: 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,

1911-437: 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

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2002-529: 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

2093-551: The Rover Boys , and others. It published and contracted the many pseudonymous authors who wrote the series from 1899 to 1987, when it was sold to Simon & Schuster . Created by Edward Stratemeyer , the Stratemeyer Syndicate was the first book packager to have its books aimed at children, rather than adults. The Syndicate was wildly successful; at one time it was believed that the overwhelming majority of

2184-457: The Rover Boys . For decades, libraries refused to carry any Syndicate books, considering them to be unworthy trash. Series books were considered to "cause 'mental laziness,' induce a 'fatal sluggishness,' and 'intellectual torpor. ' " Series books were considered to ruin a child's chances for gaining an appreciation of good literature (which was subsequently shown by one study not to be the case), and to undermine respect for authority: "Much of

2275-613: The 1930s and the second, with different cover art, in the 1950s. Victor Appleton ; Richard Barnum ; Gerald Breckenridge ; Nicholas Carter ; Lester Chadwick ; Allen Chapman ; Alice B. Emerson ; Howard Roger Garis ; Mabel C. Hawley ; Laura Lee Hope ; Gertrude W. Morrison ; Margaret Penrose ; Homer Randall ; Roy Rockwood ; Frank V. Webster ; Arthur M. Winfield ; Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) ; Clarence Young Not found 2023 as Gutenberg authors: Franklin W. Dixon; Carolyn Keene; Eugene Martin Nancy Drew Nancy Drew

2366-421: 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

2457-965: 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

2548-522: The Moss-Covered Mansion ) entire plots were cast off and replaced with new ones. In part, these changes were motivated by a desire to make the books more up-to-date. Grosset & Dunlap , the primary publisher of Stratemeyer Syndicate books, requested that the books' racism be excised, a project that Adams felt was unnecessary. Grosset & Dunlap held firm; it had received an increasing number of letters from parents who were offended by

2639-437: 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

2730-473: 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

2821-553: The Syndicate existed; the Syndicate had always gone to great lengths to hide its existence from the public, and ghostwriters were contractually obliged never to reveal their authorship. Grosset & Dunlap was awarded the rights to The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew volumes that it had published, but the Syndicate was judged free to take subsequent volumes elsewhere. Subsequent volumes were published by Simon & Schuster . Adams died in 1982. In 1984, Simon & Schuster purchased

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2912-427: 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

3003-716: The Syndicate later specialized in children's mystery series. This trend began in 1911, when Stratemeyer wrote and published The Mansion of Mystery , under the pseudonym Chester K. Steele . Five more books were published in that mystery series, the last in 1928. These books were aimed at a somewhat older audience than his previous series. After that, the Syndicate focused on mystery series aimed at its younger base: The Hardy Boys , which first appeared in 1927, ghostwritten by Leslie McFarlane and others; and Nancy Drew , which first appeared in 1930, ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt Benson , Walter Karig , and others. Both series were immediate financial successes. In 1930, Stratemeyer died, and

3094-413: 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,

3185-703: The Syndicate was inherited by his two daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier. Stratemeyer Squier sold her share to her sister Harriet within a few years. Harriet Stratemeyer introduced such series as The Dana Girls (1934), Tom Swift Jr. , The Happy Hollisters , and many others. In the 1950s, Harriet began substantially revising old volumes in The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, updating them by removing references to outdated cultural elements, such as "roadster". Racial slurs and stereotypes were also removed, and in some cases (such as The Secret at Shadow Ranch and The Mystery at

3276-563: The UK). These other series first appeared around the 1950s outside the United States. The second Stratemeyer Syndicate series to be reprinted outside the United States appears to have been the first two books in the Don Sturdy series, although exact dates of printing are unknown. Those were The Desert of Mystery and The Big Snake Hunters . There are two British versions known of the latter book; both were printed by The Children's Press, one in

3367-422: The age of ten in the original versions and at 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

3458-413: The books children read in the United States were Stratemeyer Syndicate books, based on a 1922 study of over 36,000 American children. Stratemeyer's business acumen was in realizing that there was a huge, untapped market for children's books. The Stratemeyer Syndicate specialized in producing books that were meant primarily to be entertaining. In Stratemeyer's view, it was the thrill of feeling grown-up and

3549-449: The books have been sold, and the books have been translated into over 45 languages. A cultural icon , Nancy Drew 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

3640-432: The character has been adapted into six feature films, three television series, four television pilots, 33 video games produced by 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

3731-455: 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

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3822-410: 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

3913-609: The color of Nancy's car, shortened the text, and made the language easier to read; but they made no substantive changes” to the stories. By the 1970s, Nancy Drew stories had “been translated into Spanish, Swedish, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Icelandic. Other series reprinted outside the States include The Dana Girls , The Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins (in Australia, France, Sweden, and

4004-636: The contempt for social conventions ... is due to the reading of this poisonous sort of fiction." Franklin K. Mathiews, chief librarian for the Boy Scouts of America , wrote that series books were a method, according to the title of one of his articles, for "Blowing Out the Boys' Brains", and psychologist G. Stanley Hall articulated one of the most common concerns by asserting that series books would ruin girls in particular by giving them "false views of [life] ... which will cloud her life with discontent in

4095-520: The decades, the character has evolved in response to changes in American culture and tastes. Beginning in 1959, 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

4186-553: The desire for a series of stories that made such reading attractive to children. Stratemeyer believed that this desire could be harnessed for profit. He founded the Stratemeyer Syndicate to produce books in an efficient, assembly-line fashion and to write them in such a way as to maximize their popularity. The first series that Stratemeyer created was The Rover Boys , published under the pseudonym Arthur M. Winfield in 30 volumes between 1899 and 1926, which sold over five million copies. The Bobbsey Twins first appeared in 1904 under

4277-457: 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

4368-401: 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

4459-424: 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

4550-853: 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

4641-427: 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

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4732-583: The future". None of this hurt sales and Stratemeyer was unperturbed, even when his books were banned from the Newark Public Library as early as 1901, writing to a publisher: "Personally it does not matter much to me. ... Taking them out of the Library has more than tripled the sales in Newark." Some syndicate series were also reprinted in foreign countries. An early foreign version was

4823-465: The gold and diamonds for themselves. The Hardys are beset by dangers above and below the surface of the sea as they attempt to secure the Katawa' s fantastic treasure. Stratemeyer Syndicate The Stratemeyer Syndicate was a publishing company that produced a number of mystery book series for children, including Nancy Drew , The Hardy Boys , the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins ,

4914-456: The head which was supposedly sunk. In the end, while the bad guys nearly capture them, the rival divers come to their rescue, having earlier revealed that they were searching for a U-boat sunk by Captain Early during World War II. As a result of an earlier rescue the boys performed, the divers were going to give them a share of the treasure and had come to do so when they found them in trouble. While

5005-464: The insurance company has received a tip that the head was not on the ship when it sank and Mr. Zufar is trying to defraud them. The Hardy boys end up on the salvage ship that is sent to search the Katawa , which happens to be sunk very close to Whalebone Island. While they are on board, they notice another salvage ship in the area as well. Once the diver is lowered to the sunken ship, he finds that someone else has already been there and stolen some of

5096-461: The island. As they approach, they see the abandoned lighthouse flashing a warning to them in Morse code . On the island, they find their father who tells them about a solid gold bust of an Egyptian Pharaoh which was owned by Mr. Zufar. While it was being shipped to America aboard a freighter named Katawa , the ship sank and Mr. Zufar is making an insurance claim for one million dollars. However,

5187-421: 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

5278-427: 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

5369-825: 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

5460-457: 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,

5551-462: 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

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5642-473: The mystery is solved, the boys discover that the money the other divers were after is actually counterfeit. The Hardy Boys meet up with a professional diver by the name of Roland Perry, who is employed by the Crux Brothers diving company. After the boys rescue Perry from a mishap on the water, they lend him one of their father's suits, and Perry heads off to his next job at nearby Bailey's Landing. But

5733-511: 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

5824-462: 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

5915-431: The opening volumes, Nancy's closest friend 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

6006-455: 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

6097-445: 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

6188-468: 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

6279-527: 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

6370-493: 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

6461-405: 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

6552-430: The pseudonym Laura Lee Hope , and Tom Swift in 1910 under the pseudonym Victor Appleton . Stratemeyer published a number of books under his own name, but the books published under pseudonyms sold better. Stratemeyer realized that "he could offer more books each year if he dealt with several publishers and had the books published under a number of pseudonyms which he controlled." Stratemeyer explained his strategy to

6643-464: The same title. On a stormy night, the Hardy boys receive a visit from Captain Early who tells them the story of Red Rogers, the ‘ Jolly Roger ’, and Whalebone Island, where the ghost is said to haunt. The next day, the boys receive a map in the mail showing a red 'X' on Whalebone Island. They assume this is a treasure map so they, along with their friend Chet Morton , go to meet their father and explore

6734-431: 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

6825-442: 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

6916-419: 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

7007-449: 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

7098-400: The ship’s equipment. On a later dive, the diver is nearly killed when a squid triggers a booby trap that was intended for him. The boys leave the salvage ship when they receive notice that their father has gone missing. They return to shore and locate their father and the missing Pharaoh’s head and put a stop to a plan by Mr. Zufar to sell the real head while also collecting the insurance for

7189-545: 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

7280-524: The sleuth. Launched in 2004, the Nancy Drew: Girl Detective series features Nancy driving 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,

7371-428: The solving of whatever mystery 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

7462-456: The stereotypes present in the books, particularly in The Hardy Boys publications. In the late 1970s, Adams decided it was time for Nancy and the Hardys to go into paperback, as the hardcover market was no longer what it had been. Grosset & Dunlap sued, citing "breach of contract, copyright infringement, and unfair competition". The ensuing case let the world know, for the first time, that

7553-455: The suit happened to contain important notes for the case that the elder Hardy was working on, so he sends the boys to retrieve them. Along the way, they run afoul of two thugs, Bock and Simon. After retrieving the notes, the boys stick around to help Perry raise a yacht belonging to a wealthy businessman. In the process, they become entangled in Perry's bitter feud with another diver, Gus Kuntz,

7644-457: The sunken ocean liner Katawa off of Reed's Point. They enlist the aid of eager photographer and inventor Earl Chipsley and his remarkable underwater X-ray motion picture camera. But the second mate of the Katawa , Clark Hornblow, institutionalized after having gone mad at the time of the wreck, insists the riches are elsewhere, having been stolen by other officers using a lifeboat. What's more, Kuntz and his henchmen will stop at nothing to claim

7735-505: The syndicate from its partners — Edward Stratemeyer Adams, Camilla Adams McClave, Patricia Adams Harr, Nancy Axelrod and Lilo Wuenn — and turned to Mega-Books, a book packager, to handle the writing process for new volumes. "They don't have hippies in them," [Adams] said ... "And none of the characters have love affairs or get pregnant or take dope." All Stratemeyer Syndicate books were written under certain guidelines, based on practices Stratemeyer began with his first series,

7826-426: The unscrupulous owner of a rival diving company. Kuntz employs the thugs Bock and Simon, and repeatedly tries to sabotage Perry's diving operations, putting Perry's and the boys' lives at risk. Mysterious notes left at the Hardys' hotel serve as the eponymous secret warnings, foretelling misfortune, but the boys are undaunted. At length the yacht is raised, and Perry moves on to his next job: searching for treasure in

7917-492: 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,

8008-437: 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

8099-519: 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

8190-546: 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

8281-399: 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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