Chapter Books A to Z: N is for Nancy Drew

The Nancy Drew series was the female counterpart of the Hardy Boys series. It was actually created on purpose, to be a choice for girls. I loved these mystery books and read many more of them than the boys' series. I would check them out of the library and read them again and again. I only owned two, and probably had those two memorized when I was in elementary school.

Nancy Drew was the daughter an attorney and was also raised by their housekeeper. Her mother died when she was young. Nancy often gets involved in her father's cases and helps him solve associated mysteries. She is assisted by her two best friends, Bess and George, and her boyfriend Ned. They often manage to get themselves into trouble, too, but everything always works out in the end.


Mysteries always intrigued me. They still do. I remember being excited when the spin-off series The Nancy Drew Files was started. It was a more modern Nancy Drew, but I didn't care for them as much. I have this thing about not changing the original too much. Her updated character for these books was too different from the classic version.

My other fascination with the Nancy Drew books was simply the author. Several people wrote the series under the pen name Carolyn Keene. Many of the earlier books were written by Millie Benson. She was also a regular columnist for the Toledo Blade, so I had a hometown connection.

These books are classics and well worth revisiting even as an adult. Pass them on to the kids in your life.