As a girl, I read every Nancy Drew mystery written. A few years later, I graduated to Agatha Christie. Recently I ran across the book Nancy Drew and Clue Crew #1: Sleepover Sleuths (Simon and Schuster, 2006). I was surprised to see the author as Carolyn Keene since the original Carolyn Keene (a pseudonym for Mildred Wert Benson) died in 2002.
A google search led me to this Fantastic Fiction link by a UK bookstore that shows just how many Nancy Drew spin-offs there are. I don’t know if their list is exhaustive, but it blew me away. Graphic novels, early chapter books, teen romances, Nancy teaming up with the Hardy Boys–Nancy really gets around.
According to the BBC, “When [the author] attended the first Nancy Drew convention in 1993, she was reported to have told a friend: ‘I’m so sick of Nancy Drew I could vomit.’” After seeing all the Nancy books on the Fantastic Fiction website, I can see why.
Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew is a series for the same set that reads the A to Z Mystery or Magic Tree House series. In Book #1, Sleepover Sleuths, eight-year old Nancy and her two chums solve the mystery of “Who took Deirdre’s City Girl doll at the sleepover?” The story is a modern day setting with computers, blogs, and American Girl doll knockoffs.
Needless to say, these books are nothing like the original Nancy Drew. Nevertheless, the story is one that elementary school girls can relate to and enjoy. And who knows? It just might lead them to snoop out the real Nancy Drew when they get a bit older. . .
