A Nancy Drew... Notebook?!

Every year my town holds a 'Whole Earth Festival'. It's kind of like an art festival, as a ton of people come with their merchandise (hand-made pottery and jewelry, organic clothing, ginger lemonade- which by the way isn't as good as it sounds, but at least I tried it). There are usually several spots with a stage and music of some kind, and hippies dancing all over the place. Our quiet college town turns into a sea of dreadlocks and human rights activists; perhaps these three days every year is the closest we'll ever get to looking at all like Berkeley, CA. I guess it's the thought that counts.

Anyhow, my point in writing this post is this:

Is that... it couldn't be. A Nancy Drew notebook?!
My sister pulled me over to this one booth because she thought the pottery looked cool. I had sort of had it with looking at pottery, seeing as we have more than enough at home and could only afford so many 'whole earth'-oriented things anyhow. But I spied a display of book-cover notebooks hanging in the back- Babar books, Dr. Seuss books- and had to take a look. And I pretty much flipped out when I realised there was a Nancy Drew one. Who knew!
The woman at the booth was very nice and revealed to me not just one Nancy Drew notebook, but- a gift from the gods!- an entire box of them.
I ended up buying the one I saw first (see above photo). Looking through it now, it's even cooler than I originally thought...


It's essentially a sketchbook or a journal- but with some pages from the book cut out and put in periodically.
What I think is really cool, however, is the fact that all of the books were headed to a landfill and were salvaged to make these journals. It's really sad to think someone would want to just throw out a book like that (I am a book-lover- even if you don't like it, you can easily give it to someone who would love to read it). But turning that into a creative project is just flipping awesome.
And they have a website:


I love this notebook so much that I'm advertising for you guys. (Not to mention that I bought this journal when I already have enough to last me two lifetimes.)
I recommend checking it out!

Updated List

Just a few small updates to my list. For my birthday, I received three new books (The Bungalow Mystery, The Mystery of the Tolling Bell, and The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes). I also counted a few more that have surfaced since I began this endeavor. I own nearly 100 now!

1. The Secret in the Old Clock *#
2. The Hidden Staircase *#
3. The Bungalow Mystery #
4. The Mystery at Lilac Inn *#
5. The Secret at Shadow Ranch *#
6. The Secret of Red Gate Farm #
7. The Clue in the Diary #
8. Nancy's Mysterious Letter #
9. The Sign of the Twisted Candles #
10. The Password to Larkspur Lane
11. The Clue of the Broken Locket *#
12. The Message in the Hollow Oak *
13. The Mystery of the Ivory Charm *
14. The Whispering Statue
15. The Haunted Bridge
16. The Clue of the Tapping Heels #
17. The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk *
18. The Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion
19. The Quest 0f the Missing Map *
20. The Clue in the Jewel Box *
21. The Secret in the Old Attic *#
22. The Clue in the Crumbling Wall
23. The Mystery of the Tolling Bell #
24. The Clue in the Old Album *
25. The Ghost of Blackwood Hall *
26. The Clue of the Leaning Chimney #
27. The Secret of the Wooden Lady
28. The Clue of the Black Keys
29. The Mystery at the Ski Jump
30. The Clue of the Velvet Mask
31. The Ringmaster's Secret
32. The Scarlet Slipper Mystery #
33. The Witch Tree Symbol
34. The Hidden Window Mystery *
35. The Haunted Showboat
36. The Secret of the Golden Pavilion
37. The Clue in the Old Stagecoach
38. The Mystery of the Fire Dragon
39. The Clue of the Dancing Puppet *#
40. The Moonstone Castle Mystery *
41. The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes #
42. The Phantom of Pine Hill *#
43. The Mystery of the 99 Steps *#
44. The Clue in the Crossword Cipher
45. The Spider Sapphire Mystery
46. The Invisible Intruder
47. The Mysterious Mannequin
48. The Crooked Banister
49. The Secret of Mirror Bay *#
50. The Double Jinx Mystery #
51. Mystery of the Glowing Eye *
52. The Secret of the Forgotten City
53. The Sky Phantom #
54. The Strange Message in the Parchment *#
55. Mystery of Crocodile Island
56. The Thirteenth Pearl #
57. The Triple Hoax #
58. The Flying Saucer Mystery
59. The Secret in the Old Lace
60. The Greek Symbol Mystery
61. The Swami's Ring #
62. The Kachina Doll Mystery
63. The Twin Dilemma *#
64. Captive Witness
65. Mystery of the Winged Lion
66. Race Against Time
67. The Sinister Omen
68. The Elusive Heiress *
69. Clue in the Ancient Disguise
70. The Broken Anchor *
71. The Silver Cobweb
72. The Haunted Carousel
73. Enemy Match
74. The Mysteious Image
75. The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery #
76. The Eskimo's Secret #
77. The Bluebeard Room *#
78. The Phantom of Venice *#
79. The Double Horror of Fenley Place *#
80. The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds
81. The Mardi Gras Mystery *#
82. The Clue in the Camera
83. The Case of the Vanishing Veil *#
84. The Joker's Revenge
85. The Secret of Shady Glen *#
86. The Mystery of Misty Canyon
87. The Case of the Rising Stars
88. The Search for Cindy Austin *#
89. The Case of the Disappearing Deejay
90. The Puzzle at Pineview School
91. The Girl Who Couldn't Remember *
92. The Ghost of Craven Cove *#
93. The Case of the Safecracker's Secret
94. The Picture-Perfect Mystery *
95. The Silent Suspect
96. The Case of the Photo Finish
97. The Mystery of Magnolia Mansion *#
98. The Haunting of Horse Island
99. The Secret at Seven Rocks #
100. A Secret in Time *
101. The Mystery of the Missing Millionairess *#
102. The Secret in the Dark
103. The Stranger in the Shadows *#
104. The Mystery of the Jade Tiger *#
105. The Clue in the Antique Trunk *
106. The Case of the Artful Crime #
107. The Secret of Miner's Creek
108. The Secret of the Tibetan Treasure
109. The Mystery of the Masked Rider *
110. The Nutcracker Ballet Mystery *#
111. The Secret at Solaire
112. Crime in the Queen's Court *#
113. The Secret Lost at Sea *#
114. The Search For the Silver Persian
115. The Suspect in the Smoke *#
116. The Case of the Twin Teddy Bears *#
117. Mystery on the Menu
118. Trouble at Lake Tahoe *#
119. Mystery of the Missing Mascot
120. The Case of the Floating Crime *#
121. The Fortune Teller's Secret *#
122. The Message in the Haunted Mansion *#
123. The Clue on the Silver Screen #
124. The Secret of the Scarlet Hand *
125. The Teen Model Mystery *#
126. The Riddle in the Rare Book *#
127. The Case of the Dangerous Solution *#
128. The Treasure in the Royal Tower *#
129. The Baby-Sitter Burglaries *#
130. The Sign of the Falcon
131. The Hidden Inheritance
132. The Fox Hunt Mystery *#
133. The Mystery at the Crystal Palace *#
134. The Secret of the Forgotten Cave
135. The Riddle of the Ruby Gazelle *#
136. The Wedding Day Mystery *#
137. In Search of the Black Rose *#
138. The Legend of the Lost Gold
139. The Secret of Candlelight Inn *#
140. The Door-to-Door Deception
141. The Wild Cat Crime *
142. The Case of the Capital Intrigue
143. Mystery on Maui *
144. The E-Mail Mystery *#
145. The Missing Horse Mystery *#
146. The Ghost of the Lantern Lady *#
147. The Case of the Captured Queen *#
148. On the Trail of Trouble
149. The Clue of the Gold Doubloons #
150. Mystery at Moorsea Manor *#
151. The Chocolate-Covered Contest *#
152. The Key in the Satin Pocket *#
153. Whispers in the Fog *#
154. The Legend of the Emerald Lady *#
155. The Mystery in Tornado Alley *#
156. The Secret in the Stars *#
157. The Music Festival Mystery #
158. The Curse of the Black Cat *#
159. The Secret of the Fiery Chamber *#
160. The Clue on the Crystal Dove *#
161. Lost in the Everglades *#
162. The Case of the Lost Song *#
163. The Clues Challenge *#
164. The Mystery of the Mother Wolf *#
165. The Crime Lab Case *#
166. The Case of the Creative Crime *#
167. Mystery by Moonlight *#
168. The Bike Tour Mystery *#
169. The Mistletoe Mystery *#
170. No Strings Attached *#
171. Intrigue at the Grand Opera *#
172. The Riding Club Crime *#
173. Danger on the Great Lakes *#
174. A Taste of Danger *#
175. Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland *#

* = Read (93)
# = Owned (96)

#43 - The Mystery of the 99 Steps

This is the first of the original 56 books that I'm covering. I know it sounds pathetic that it's taken me so long to read it, when it's only 30 pages longer than the paperback books. Well, I'll admit this isn't one of the most interesting ones that I've read, in terms of plot. But regarding those many 'Nancy Drew moments'- varying from the obscure motivations for pursuing a mystery to the random cliffhangers at the end of each chapter- I had quite a time reading this book.
The plot itself is a little questionable. In short, the mystery begins when a neighbor of Bess and/or George, Josette Blair, confesses to Nancy that she has been having a strange recurring dream. In said dream, she is a small child in France again, and she is blindfolded, about to fall down a flight of stairs made up of 99 steps. She also receives a message from one 'Monsieur Neuf'' (Mr. Nine in French) warning her not to speak of the 99 steps. So, in Nancy's words, the case can be summed up like this:

'It's our job to find Monsieur Neuf and where the 99 steps are, and- well, solve the mystery so poor Mrs. Blair can sleep again' (4).

Oh, Nancy. You can make a mystery out of anything if it gives you an excuse to go to France on vacay with your two besties. Certainly you'd turn down the case if it meant you were stuck in River Heights... again.
Quick notice by the way: this entire post will pretty much be a medley of quotations from the book that made me laugh. And believe me, there are a lot.
To begin with, as Nancy is telling Bess and George all about their plans and the mystery, they hear a helicopter flying dangerously low above the house....

An instant later a strong downdraft of air burst from the chimney. It sent sparks, soot, and ashes over Nancy and into the room' (5).

Dear Criminal Guy Who's Trying to Throw Nancy Off the Case:
How on Earth did you think this plan would pan out? I have to wonder, first of all, how you knew that Nancy would be in her sitting room and (more specifically) that she would be standing right beside the fireplace with a fire going. And second, if your intention was simply to spread soot and ashes all over the Drew's living room by flying low over their house in a helicopter, how was that supposed to serve as a warning to stay off the case?
For the time being, you're pretty much a failure of a criminal.

So Nancy goes to France, ignoring threats on her life, and meets with danger on her very first day while climbing a flight of stairs in the cathedral of Notre Dame:

Coming down toward her was an enormously fat woman, who blocked the entire width of the staircase. Without regard for those below her, she descended swiftly and thoughtlessly, not moving sideways to give Nancy any room.... 'S'il vous plait-' Nancy began. The fat woman paid no attention. She pushed against Nancy so hard that the girl lost her balance! She fell against Bess, who in turn dropped backward onto George. Unable to keep her balance, George desperately clawed the air! Would they all go tumbling to the bottom? (43)

Gosh, Nancy! Everyone has it out for you! Even obese strangers that have absolutely nothing to do with the case! (I'm not kidding- this woman does not appear again in the book, nor is she even mentioned once after Carson Drew catches George and saves them from falling down the stairs.) Might I also note that this is a rather crude assessment of a person's manners based on their physical appearance. Random and just plain weird.

Later, while buying some souvenirs, Nancy said, 'Look! A musical coffeepot! I'll buy it for Hannah Gruen!' (77)

Because nothing will remind her of France like a musical coffeepot will.
As the case moves on, Nancy and her friends get a nice tour of France and, miraculously, the culprit chooses Versailles as the perfect spot for one of those shady briefcase-exchange tricks with one of Carson Drew's clients, a man he has tricked into a fraud scheme. In other words, Nancy doesn't even have to veer off of her busy sightseeing schedule in order to work on the case! Seems like her suspects really know what matters most to her.
While at Versailles, George decides to take action when they've discovered that Monsieur Neuf is around, and runs to investigate a side door of the palace that was suddenly opened and then shut (I'm still not certain why that was so remarkably suspicious). But it looks like it was the culprit after all...

Just as she reached the door a man's arm shot out. In his hand was a cane with a large curved handle. Suddenly the crook of the cane reached around George's neck and she was yanked inside the building! (96)

So I know George has just been kidnapped and all, but I can't help but think- what a cartoonish way to be kidnapped! I half-expected this guy to jump out and start dancing:


And to be honest, for a Nancy Drew book that wouldn't be so unbelievable.
They do eventually find George in the palace, with the help of some police officers. And of all places, where do they find her but in King Louis' bed? Now isn't that suspicious...

'This is so ridiculous! I can't believe it actually happened!' Between gales of mirth, [George] said, 'Imagine me sleeping in King Louis XIV's bed!' (100)

And that sounded creepier than you know, George.
But speaking of Versailles and King Louis XIV, parts of this book are something of a French history lesson... albeit through awkward, robotic conversations between Nancy, Bess, and George. I have to question if these are real teenaged girls when they sit around chattering excitedly about the entire historical account of Charles VII and Joan of Arc. Most girls their age would be talking about boys- and on that subject, there's some random guy named Henri that keeps randomly popping up to help Nancy with the mystery. Oh man, Ned didn't even get the smallest mention in this book... I think I should start counting the number of times Nancy forgets about him in favor of some random foreign guy.
For much of their stay in France, Nancy and her friends stay with Josette Blair's brother and sister-in-law, the Bardots. After being away for more than a day to go sleuthing/sightseeing, the three girls return to the house to some unsettling news:

[Madame Bardot]'s voice quivered. 'My darling poodle Fifi has disappeared!.... Fifi was locked in our house and could not possibly have left it of her own accord. But somehow she has vanished!' (125)

Take note, criminals everywhere: if you want to warn Nancy Drew off the case, you'd better kidnap her best friend's neighbor's sister-in-law's pet poodle. That's sure to do the trick.

In the end, Nancy figures it all out through a heck of a lot of eavesdropping and hiding behind barrels while dangerous men make creepy remarks about their plans to take over the world. On that note (the final one I will make here) I feel that this book indicates quite a lot about the nature of orientalism in the United States. If that's not a term with which you're familiar, orientalism refers to stereotypes about people from other parts of the world, specifically the false perceptions of Eastern cultures from a Western standpoint. I'm saying this because the culprit in this book, Louis Aubert, oftentimes disguises himself as an Arab man. And the ghostwriter makes no effort to veil his 'evil nature':

Monsieur LeBlanc stepped forward and grabbed the Arab's arm... 'The gold standard of the world will tumble!'
'What does that matter?' the Arab's eyes glittered. 'Gold! Gold! All is to be gold!' he cried out, rubbing his hands gleefully (156).

In this representation, the culprit is portrayed as greedy and sinister... and just to press the point, he's dressed in Arab garb.
I realize that this book was written in 1966, yet somehow, nearly 45 years later, it serves as some indication of how skewed Western views often are in regards to Middle Eastern people. Look at what's going on now: much that region of the world is in political turmoil- but is it fair to associate 'Arab' or 'Muslim' or 'Middle Eastern' with evil plots that will throw the rest of the world into financial ruin? The worst part is that (as I've noted) this was first published over forty years ago, re-published in 1994, and yet it still applies to a force of close-mindedness and stereotypes that much of the Western world doesn't even know it's living under.
I'm getting very political here and I might be pissing people off, so I'll end this post here. But do let me make one distinction: if you thought I was the Nancy Drew everyone knows from after the 1959 revisions (when the original books were edited to turn Nancy into a polite debutante), you weren't quite right. I don't mean to turn people off from reading this blog due to a possibly offensive liberal mindset, but I fully intend to stay true to the gutsy, opinionated girl detective of the original books. If that bothers you, I'm sorry. But unlike Nancy Drew, I'm not going to tone it down when I see such blaring indications of what needs to be changed in our society.

Snippets - #125: The Teen Model Mystery and #151: The Chocolate-Covered Contest

My sister has been prying into my Nancy Drew collection in my absence. I returned home Saturday night to discover stacks of books just lying around on my bed and the floor of my room. And what my sister had to tell me about it all was how many giggles she got out of reading some of them. And so, just for her, here's a post with snippets from those books while I prepare my next post.

#125: The Teen Model Mystery
Nancy goes to Chicago to visit a friend from River Heights by the name of Cindy, who is rising up the ranks in the modeling world. Cindy is about to film a commercial for a major campaign, but she goes missing. When Nancy starts investigating, she gets a ton of death threats and people try to kill her (but that's nothing new- no big deal for our girl sleuth).
Now I have to say, I'm quite a nerd when it comes to many things- and surprisingly (amidst my love for history, literature, Harry Potter, and assorted other geeky things), I really love fashion. For a few years I even had every intent of being the next Valentino Garavani. That dream did not quite carry on because I realised I would be missing out on things that are of more value to me (for most designers it takes 20+ years to get some recognition in the business... if they even last more than a few seasons). Nevertheless, I still consider myself pretty knowledgeable about the fashion industry and I wondered how I would feel about this Nancy Drew book if I read it again.
Thanks to my sister, I didn't have to read it again to understand that it isn't that realistic- not just in regards to the random dangerous circumstances in which Nancy finds herself, but also in terms of the 'fashion'. First of all, I cannot imagine Cindy is such a great model just because she's living in Chicago (a city which is hardly on the map when it comes to fashion). If she's not in New York, Paris, Milan, or London, she is not on any promising path toward top model status. Second, why on earth is a model doing cereal commercials? For an industry that places so much value on super-slim figures (consider that this book was written in 1995, at the height of the 'waif'' craze brought on by Kate Moss) I cannot figure how a model would receive any credibility for doing a cereal commercial. Nancy, wait until she's set to star in a commercial for a Giorgio Armani fragrance- then it will actually matter that she's missing.
Spoiler Alert: As it turns out, Cindy's disappearance is entirely voluntary. She runs away because after eating the cereal she was supposed to be advertising, she breaks out in hives all over her face, ostensibly due to a nut allergy. Except the cereal doesn't contain nuts, meaning that some person was trying to sabotage her. My question is: Why does she have to run away because of this? I think my immediate response would be to GET TO A HOSPITAL. But no. Cindy's a model. It just wouldn't be classy to seek medical attention in the wake of an allergic reaction- instead Cindy has to vanish without a trace and let good old Nancy dodge increasingly creative attempts on her life. Not a bad deal, except that cereal commercial- you know, the one that was going to catapult you to major fame and supermodel ranking? Yeah, that part didn't quite pan out for you in your absence.
But speaking of Nancy and dodging things- best part of the book is when (in one of those end-of-chapter cliffhangers), our heroine walks out of a store with Bess and someone pushes an enormous dumpster toward them in hopes of finishing them off. Unfortunately for the culprit (and just about every suspect in the following books), the dumpster hits a speed bump, veers wildly and hits a parked car instead. What happens next?

'Oh no!' The herbalist came running out of his shop. 'My car! What a bummer!' (80)

Awww, my car just got totaled- bummer. My business is going bankrupt- bummer. My wife just left me- bummer. A tornado destroyed my house and I have no where to live. What a bummer.



#151: The Chocolate-Covered Contest
Nancy and Bess are supervising a field trip to the Royal Chocolates amusement park with some grade-school science nerds. While walking around the park, Bess rips open a chocolate bar to discover that she's won a million-dollar prize- but when she tries to claim her prize money, she and Nancy are told that the ticket has already been found and Bess is promptly accused of forging the winning ticket. Nancy then has to figure out the whole mess since this heinous crime cannot go unsolved.

Although there are some things in this book that I definitely intend to poke fun at (including the plot), I must say it will always hold some small place in my heart for being the first Nancy Drew book I ever read. When I was 8 years old, I unwrapped a package of four Nancy Drew books- including this one- at Christmas from my older cousins (both of whom loved the books when they were younger). Gosh, if only they knew what they were starting...
Anyhow, this book really reminds me of the 'newer' books in the Boxcar Children series- you know, those ones that just sound really stupid, like the publishers were trying to appeal to the new generation of kids whose brains are hammered with television commercials about prizes hidden in candy wrappers and video games that can be played on any Super Nintendo (old-school Super Mario will always be better than the new games on PS26 or whatever number they're on now).
So back to this strange mystery on Nancy's modest, unmanicured hands. Apparently her mere presence is such a threat that the culprit sees fit to try sabotaging her investigation (and when has that ever happened in a Nancy Drew book?). The first incident occurs when Nancy, Bess, and the Science Sleuths are driving through some random jungle area of the theme park. Another car speeds wildly around a corner toward them and Andrea, the science teacher leading the field trip, has to turn sharply in order to avoid it- causing their car to roll down a slope and ram into a wire fence. They land in a swampy sort of area and get trapped in the mud; and just to make matters worse...

Half submerged in the water near their feet was a seven-foot reptile, its muscles tensed as it slid out of the stream (29).

Don't you just hate it when the culprit forces you off the road in an out-of-place mini jungle, knowing that your car will surely tumble down a slope, plow down an apparently insecure fence, and leave you as a lunchtime snack for a theme park's pet crocodile?
What a bummer...

There is also another line, in the penultimate chapter, which I think serves as a flawless testament to the many cheesy lines these ghost writers think up. After Nancy has discovered the culprit and chased them, s/he somehow manages to trap our protagonist in an area of the chocolate factory where a vat of scalding melted chocolate will be poured all over them. So what's the culprit's menacing line to clue Nancy in on her unfortunate fate?

'Do you know what the police are going to find when they get here? A wonderful treat. A new flavour of Royal Chocolate. Chocolate Nancy' (135).

The only way I could possibly respond to this line is with one of Johnny Depp's quotes from the so-so 2005 remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:
'Can you imagine Augustus-flavoured chocolate-coated Gloop? Ew. No one would buy it.'

And that's all I've got this time around. I am hard at work on the next post, so stay tuned for The Mystery of the 99 Steps. And for now, enjoy!

As we wait...

Quarter ends on Saturday. So, while you wait and I drown in a cycle of studying and sleep deprivation, any requests on books I should write about?
No real point to this post, other than to get some feedback and suggestions. If you recall a Nancy Drew book that you loved back in the day, give me the title (or, if you can't remember it, describe it to me and I'll try and find it). Or choose one that sounds weirdly intriguing. I'm open to anything, even if I've read it before.

That's about it- I'll be back soon!

It's MARCH?!

You know what's really sad? The fact that I haven't logged in for such a long time that I had to type in my e-mail and password because blogspot didn't remember it anymore. That's pretty sad.

And my other thought at the moment (foreshadowed in the title of this post) is something like this: how the heck is it March already? Like, what? But February just started. I don't even remember Valentine's Day... oh wait, now it's coming back to me. I spent the morning handing out balloons to random people in my dorm since I stole about thirty of them from a stoplight dance the night before. If you don't know what a stoplight dance is, here's a simple formula as to what the color of your clothing is supposed to mean: green = single, yellow = it's complicated, red = in a relationship. I, of course, wore blue. *high-fives the mirror*
After that, I rushed to finish an essay that was due that very day (yes, on Valentine's Day, and yes, on a Sunday... yeah, I was all WTF too).

But the main point of this post was supposed to be something like...

Dearly beloved readers of my blog (all three of you),
I apologize for the lack of amazing, witty posts. And here's the scenario: two and a half weeks left in the quarter, six essays left to complete, and three finals. The last of which is at 6pm on a Saturday (so cruel). I swear, it's almost over. And believe me when I say I am telling that to myself as much as I am to you. I could desperately use a break and for once I would like to read something out of pure enjoyment... like Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the 99 Steps. This one is so unrealistic that I am relishing the thought of writing that post already. As though any Nancy Drew book is actually realistic, right? But this is one of the worst I've read, so stay tuned- just another two and a half weeks and the wait is over.
(It sort of reminds me of the years when I had to wait two months for the next Nancy Drew book to be published- I'd make my parents drive me to Border's the day it was released, finish it in three days at the very longest, and then the waiting game would resume yet again.)

I'll quit digressing since I have a paper due tomorrow... Wish me luck and I will be back at it soon enough!

Old Favourites

I'm not going to lie here, this post is sort of just here to prove that I haven't forgotten this blog already and I do intend to keep posting. Really, I was planning on writing this post anyhow, albeit later on, but since the opportunity has presented itself so conveniently I might as well go ahead with it.
Now since I'm sure you're itching to hear all about my insipid life, here's my excuse: I am a hard-working individual wrapped up in my studies and, being the devoted college student that I am (hahaha...) I am contributing my time to massive chapters of reading about the American Revolution, British colonialism on a global scale, and the movement of nomadic tribes in ancient India- all of which are so much more interesting than Nancy Drew. (That was a joke, if you're not so adept at catching my pathetic attempts to bring humor to an otherwise monotonous blog.) Although being the nerd that I am, I also refuse to skip a single lecture since I enjoy them so much; maybe this is why every other college student seems to have ample free time in comparison to me. Point is, this is going to be one crazy quarter and consequently Nancy Drew is taking the backseat of her own blue 1960s convertible Mustang (I've always wanted to drive one of those, by the way- and when I say 'by the way' I in no way mean that comment was relevant, because it wasn't). So I'll read and post when I have time, but there's no telling when or how often that will be, since the Aryan migration into the Indus River Valley is consistently calling my name.

For now, here's a half-baked post on my old favourites from the Nancy Drew series...


11. The Clue of the Broken Locket
This was (I think) the second of the original hardcover books that I read (the first being #40, The Moonstone Castle Mystery, of which I remember very little except for a castle named after shiny stones). I really liked the basic storyline in this book- unfortunately, after looking the book up on Wiki, I'm not entirely certain what that storyline was. I recall that half a locket was pretty much all the evidence Nancy had to go on; there was a shipwrecked boat (not a ship, but a boat) or something; there was a red-headed girl named Cecily who needed their help, and another red-headed girl who bore a strikingly similar appearance that sort of popped up every now and then; and I remember something about people illegally reproducing and selling vinyls. Oh, and a treasure randomly appeared in someone's wall at the end. That's about it. You probably can't imagine how this was one of my favourites, considering I don't remember a whole lot about it (and truth be told, I'm not even sure all of that is correct anyhow). Just take my word for it.

13. The Mystery of the Ivory Charm
Here's one that I kind of had to like- after all, the plot revolved around a teenaged boy from India and delved into Indian culture and customs. And how often could I find a good young adult mystery that incorporated that part of my own culture? Straight answer: never, until I read this one. It was magical to me that not everyone in the book was pasty white, and that's saying quite a lot about earlier Nancy Drew books. Of course, the best part was when an elderly Indian man (or woman? Can't remember) had a premonition and told Nancy that in her next life she would become a Maharani (for those of you who aren't desi, a Maharani is the wife of the Maharaja, the Sanskrit term for 'great King'). What this guy/chick didn't know is that Nancy Drew is almost invincible. Don't be expecting a new Maharani for a while.
Off-topic note: As I was researching past Maharajas in India, I discovered that the king in Travancore from 1758-1798 was named (hold on to your hats!) Sri Padmanabha Dasa Vanchi Pala Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma Dharma Raja Kulasekhara Kiritapati Manney Sultan Maharajah Raja Rama Raja Bahadur Shamsher Jang. Imagine naming someone that now [even minus the titles]- poor kid would be taking the SAT and find that by the time he's finished writing his name, the test is over. So much for a perfect score! Now, back to real stuff...

25. The Secret in the Old Attic
This was sort of the perfect Nancy Drew book for me: a creepy attic, a cute little girl, a piano that plays on its own, old sheet music hidden underneath the wallpaper in the mansion, a fake skeleton that falls out of a closet and scares the shejeebus out of a maid... it was thrilling and each chapter made me thirsty for more. I wouldn't be surprised if I spent every recess during school hours crouched on a bench, engulfing one electrifying sentence after another until I'd read every last word in the book. Which sort of sums up my nerdiness pre-Harry Potter (I had not yet gotten into my ridiculously adamant 'Lily Potter is really Nancy Drew' phase.... oh, what painfully awkward memories I have). According to Wiki, the original 1944 version of the book also had a sub-plot in which Ned Nickerson becomes involved with a young woman named Diane and Nancy gets uber-envious. Nice move, Ned- the tables have turned and now you're making Nancy jealous instead of the other way around.

85. The Secret of Shady Glen
I don't have much to say about this one, except that it goes along the same lines as the previous mention- spooky cemetery, a secret hidden in a long-forgotten crypt, an initially perplexing connection to some recent robberies, and a missing treasure of gold. And of course, Nancy gets locked in a stone casket and nearly suffocates- until she finds a false bottom leaving her just enough room to assume a position convenient for lifting the heavy lid of the tomb. Which was naturally expected of the dead person that should have been buried there.

122. The Message in the Haunted Mansion
Like the two above: haunted mansion, gold treasure. But this one was set in San Francisco, which thoroughly excited me since I grew up in the Bay Area. After reading this book I jabbered on about it for a few weeks to anyone who would (pretend to) listen. Best part of the book is when someone cuts Nancy's brakes- a tremendously dangerous thing to do in San Francisco, which is built almost entirely on hills. But the case must go on, so Nancy lives to see another day.

128. The Treasure in the Royal Tower
You guessed it... more treasure! Wow, Nancy would be swimming in riches (and might in fact make up a good 1/3 of the world's wealth) if she weren't so modest as to refuse monetary gifts in every case that ends in the discovery of a long-lost treasure. This one topped my list as a kid- it wasn't just the castle and the ancient secrets that drew me in so much as the historical fiction side of it. It is, of course, laughably implausible that Marie Antoinette hid away a diamond of immeasurable value in a tower which she 'frequently visited' while she lived in France; said tower was later moved to a random castle in Wisconsin of all places. Speaking of, how would one move an entire tower across an ocean? I'll bet they tipped it over into the water, gave it a push, and hoped for the best. But back to the point: once I learned that Marie Antoinette had actually been a queen in France and really did have her head lopped off, I started to quite like the idea of pulling real people from history into the imagination-constructed realms offered in a book. Which further led me to embrace history, a subject which before I tried to avoid. What I'm getting at is another of those cheesy points you saw me make in the Bluebeard Room post- I feel as though I would never have discovered history to be so fascinating if it weren't for Nancy Drew. This book brought to the table more than just a mystery, but it also served up the suggestion that there is a personal side to history, and I can't imagine what I'd be studying every day if I hadn't discovered this enthusiasm in knowing about the past.

154. The Legend of the Emerald Lady
I re-read this one and was shocked at how short it was. As a kid it must have been exciting, but I guess the fact that I read it so slowly made it more of a mystery to me since it took a while to get through all of the incidents and the clues Nancy follows from an ancient letter. Reading it again, it just went by too fast- it felt like the mystery hadn't even started, and all of a sudden here's the culprit and here's the treasure. But I recall loving the setting (a run-down mansion, the site of what had once been a sugar plantation, in the Caribbean) and the very subtle hint of romance between Nancy and Ned- a walk on the beach in the moonlight. Sooo sweet.... And as usual, Bess' love interest turns out to be the culprit. I find it funny that it always turns out like that- Bess seems to attract some really shady guys. I've got a feeling that when she gets married it won't end well- unless the invincible Nancy Drew can show once again that she doesn't miss a trick, and saves her friend seconds before the 'I do's' are said. But at some point Bess is just going to have to tell her bestie to quit throwing her boyfriends in jail.


There are definitely more I could talk about- but considering I have some homework due tomorrow that I haven't started.... well, I've procrastinated enough. But you can rest assured that I thoroughly enjoyed this form of procrastination above any other.
I'll be back eventually with my many random comments on another installment of the Nancy Drew series. Stay tuned!