Since 1930, Nancy Drew has been a steady character for young mystery readers.
She was first introduced as a counterpart to the popular Hardy Boys series. Thanks to her feisty attitude, independent nature, and insatiable curiosity, Nancy Drew became extremely popular and proved that young girls loved solving mysteries as much as boys.
The History of Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew was created by Edward Stratemeyer in 1930. His initial series, The Hardy Boys, was so successful, he decided to see if there was potential to expand mystery books to young girls.
Though he wasn’t an advocate of women working outside the home, he believed he could create a strong female heroine that would satisfy girl readers without betraying those same values. But not even Stratemeyer knew how popular Nancy Drew would become.
When Nancy Drew first came out, she was an independent sixteen-year-old who had already finished high school. She was first penned as being so lively and spirited, that many of her attributes were toned down to make her softer and more appealing. But readers loved Nancy’s outspoken demeanor. So much, that her books were an immediate success.
In 1933, Macy’s ordered 6,000 copies for the Christmas season and sold out in days. Fortune Magazine singled Nancy out in a 1934 issue as being “the greatest phenomenon”.
From there, she remained one of the most important titles to be released consistently no matter which publishing house held the rights to the property.
The Triple Hoax
After a friend is swindled out of a large sum of money, Aunt Eloise invites Nancy, Bess, and George to New York for help. As they’re settling in, they see magicians perform, and to Nancy’s surprise, watches as they temporarily remove wallets and handbags as part of their sleight-of-hand. Though they give the valuables back, Nancy is suspicious. And when her hunch is right, it sets them off on a whirlwind chase to catch the criminal.
The Twin Dilemma
When a model disappears from a show, Aunt Eloise knows the perfect solution: Nancy can take her place. Nancy isn’t so sure, but she agrees. Only when she arrives at the show, she learns that more than just a model has gone missing. Following the trail of clues, Nancy stumbles on a plot so diabolical, she has to stop it no matter the cost.
Mystery by Moonlight
Nancy and her friends are vacationing in the perfect lakeside cottage. At least, it was perfect. There are strange thumps in the attic that have Bess convinced there’s a ghost. Especially because there isn’t an attic! But even worse are the living neighbors making their lives miserable. It all makes sense when a surprising discovery opens a long-lost mystery, leading Nancy to stumble on a family secret that should have stayed buried.
How Nancy Stayed So Popular
How is it possible for a single author to publish over 175 books spanning almost one hundred years? That’s because Carolyn Keene is a collective pseudonym of ghostwriters who have all written and contributed to the franchise over the years.
It’s thanks to this combined effort that Nancy has been able to evolve with the times and stay relevant to young readers throughout the decades. And it wasn’t just the Nancy Drew series that the pseudonym was used. Keene also published The Dana Girls mystery stories, along with all the Nancy Drew spin-offs.
The original series, Nancy Drew Mystery Series, ran between 1930 to 2003 accumulating almost two hundred titles. But one of the things that kept Nancy relevant across seven decades was her ability to change with the times. And one of the ways publishers were able to really keep Nancy fresh and new was by following her throughout her life in new series focused on Nancy at different ages.
In the most popular spin-off, The Nancy Drew Files, Nancy was finally able to break up with Ned and explore other romantic interests, which eventually led to a more romance focused series. These additional series watch Nancy solve mysteries from a very young age all the way through college.
Till Death Do Us Part
When Nancy’s long-time beau, Ned, proposes, she follows her heart and turns him down. But then he announces the very next day that he has a fiancé. And it isn’t Nancy. There’s something suspicious about this new woman and Nancy is going to find out exactly what this new fiancé is up to.
False Moves
Nancy may no longer be with Ned, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get along. But when some jewels go missing, Ned’s new girlfriend is accused of stealing them. Ned is convinced she isn’t a thief. Which means it’s up to Nancy to find out who really is.
The Stolen Relic
When Nancy and her friends visit the Arches National Park, they know it will be easy to get lost in the endless trails designed for hiking and biking through the red cliff arches. But that’s what the park rangers and guides are for. Until one of their guides leaves them alone to investigate a noise and never comes back. Nancy doesn’t believe that a seasoned guide could get lost so easily. And she’s not going to stop until she finds out what really happened.
What Young Readers Can Get From Nancy Today
With over 175 books and nearly twenty different series to choose from, there is a Nancy Drew for everyone. Starting in 1994, an illustrated series launched aimed at young readers.
The Nancy Drew Notebooks referred to the blue notebook Nancy carried with her as she solved each case. The series published books for over a decade and accumulated nearly seventy titles with eight-year-old Nancy and her friends.
After the Notebooks series ended, a new illustrated series began in 2006. Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew upgraded from the black-and-white drawings in the Notebooks series to full-color illustrations, even expanding into a graphic novel series of the same name. Though the series ended in 2015, there are currently over forty titles to choose from.
Though many of the Nancy Drew books are aimed at high school-aged readers or older, in 2013, the Nancy Drew Diaries introduced a new series to appeal to middle-grade readers.
This is an ongoing series with new titles expected for publication that follows Nancy and her friends going on adventures and solving mysteries. No matter what series you pick up or how old Nancy is, her smart, resourceful, and independent nature continues to shine through.
Curse of the Arctic Star
The first in the Nancy Drew Diaries, Curse of the Arctic Star finds Nancy and her friends aboard a cruise ship touring the dangerous waters near Alaska. But when a body is found in the swimming pool, a passenger is threatened, and things go wrong with the mini-golf course, it’s up to Nancy to find out who is trying to sabotage the maiden voyage and why.
Sleepover Sleuths
An illustrated new series, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, kicks off with an exciting invitation to a sleepover. All the girls are bringing their City Girls dolls. But when the host’s doll goes missing, Nancy and her friends have to follow the clues before the sleepover is ruined.
Bad Day for Ballet
Eight-year-old Nancy Drew keeps a blue notebook so she can keep track of her clues. So, when the special music goes missing two days before their big ballet recital and everyone blames her best friend Bess, Nancy knows she has to solve the case. Nancy has to investigate the clues and find the culprit before the recital is ruined and her friend takes the blame.
Nancy Drew’s Enduring Legacy
Though Nancy was created to fill a niche for young girl readers, she has become a role model and inspiration for women around the world. Successful women ranging from singers and actresses to Senators and Supreme Court Justices have credited Nancy Drew as being an early influence.
While those positions are notable and impressive, Nancy Drew has been helping young girls feel entertained and empowered for decades. In fact, when the first Nancy Drew conference was held in 1993, the organizers received a flood of calls from women expressing exactly how impactful these books had been.
The initial book sales were so successful that publishers began creating other girl detective stories, leading to a strong trend in keeping female detectives in the mystery genre.
Nancy has been ranked in the top twenty heroes of all-time, has had numerous titles land on the New York Times bestselling lists, and has sold more than eighty million copies worldwide. She’s even outsold the Queen of Crime herself, Agatha Christie.
Though her character has been criticized over the years, her ability to adapt to the times through new books and adventures has kept her in the hearts and minds of young girls and older women for nearly one hundred years.
She shows us how to ask questions, never take no for an answer, to be fiercely independent without alienating those around her, and that it’s okay to listen to and follow your instincts. And for young girls growing up into empowered women, perhaps that last one is the most important of all.
Featured photo: Sebastian Garcia / Unsplash
