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Mysteries and London go together like tea and cake or jeans and Converse. Although not all of my favourite English mysteries take place in London, many do. Here are three (okay, maybe a few more than just three) of my top mystery novels set in London.

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Yesterday after lunch, my husband and I took a little trip to 57th Street Antique Row, a cluster of shops in town that sell antiques and/or second hand things. (The latter is what draws us, as we can't afford genuine antiques and would feel like we had to walk on eggs if we had them in our home.) We like old things and the histories they suggest, My husband loves old cameras and I love old books, so we are always on the prowl for those. Yesterday I struck it rich: One of our favorite shops on Antique Row is The Picket Fence, and that's where I came upon a whole set of Nancy Drew mysteries for $5.00 each. Not only that, the store was having a 30%-off sale, so I emerged happily with four books that came to a total of just under $14.00.

These are the original Nancy Drew series, too, the ones I read when eleven, the ones published between 1930 and 1959. You can see in the example above the old blue cloth cover with a silhouette of Nancy and her Sherlockian microscope. It's true what they say in the publishing industry: kids "read up". I checked every adventure I could find from the public library when I was eleven. I wanted to be Nancy Drew--enterprising, clever, fearless, able to handle whatever difficulties emerged from the crises that had a way of finding her. No matter that she took trips to faraway cities with her friends and drove a car--obviously not only a teenager, but in the high teens at that--she inspired me to start my own detective club and search for mysteries everywhere.

Being eleven in the fifties, and white, I was also oblivious to the racism embedded in many of the stories. In the sixties, revisions of the old mysteries and writers of new adventures started to address the racism and have continued to do so ever since. This was a much needed change for a series so popular. Popular literature not only reflects culture; it influences culture as well, giving attitudes the "okay" at a subliminal level where they seep into a reader's unconscious and take up residence. So I applaud the decision.

Sadly, though, in the series since 1959, Nancy's character has been watered down, a change that makes no sense to me. While subbing in a friend's classroom a few years ago, I picked out a fairly current Nancy Drew mystery from the classroom library and thumbed through it over lunch. This was not the Nancy Drew I remembered--spunky, adventurous, fearless, ready to take on what mystery she encountered. Instead I found a sort of "Oh, no!" Nancy, just short of a hand-wringer in the face of trouble. In an era of heightened awareness of social issues, including women's issues, what went wrong when so much was going right?

Here's what I would like to see happen: Keep cleaning up the racism and bring back the spunky Nancy Drew, the girl detective who inspired young girls for decades to believe they were smart enough to handle life.

How about you? Did you have a favorite mystery series when you were growing up? If not a mystery series, did you have a favorite series that had you waiting for the next adventure and the next?

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Welcome to Weekend Links! Is summer whizzing by or what?? Reading is always an important part of our children’s lives no matter what time of year it is and so is helping our young readers learn about other cultures, religions and traditions through the pages of these books. Here are some great booklists and resources based on popular kidlit series that I discovered, or created myself, for your young readers to enjoy.

30 incredible book series for kids ages 8-12 from It’s Always Autumn

The Golden Compass review: Earlier this week I explored and jumped into on of the many books from the wonderful author Philip Pullman. Read more about it HERE.

 

#DrewToYou -A Fun and Bookish Way to Honor Nancy Drew. Back in May I celebrated the 80th birthday of literary icon Nancy Drew. Though May has long since passed, it’s always a good time to celebrate the Nancy drew series! Show me YOUR “Drew!”

Great “Series” Booklist for Independent or Middle Readers from Jump Into a Book.

10 Favorite First Chapter Books for Girls from The Sunny Patch

What series is YOUR family’s favorite??

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Follow Valarie Budayr @Jump into a Book’s board Jump Into a Book Kidlit Booklists on Pinterest. Follow Valarie Budayr @Jump into a Book’s board A Year In The Secret Garden on Pinterest.

Foxes
Do your young readers love nature and all of nature’s critters? Experience the magical story of a family of foxes that took up residence right in the front yard of the author and publisher, Valarie Budayr. The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden offers an enthusiastically educational opportunity to observe this fox family grow and learn together.

From digging and hunting to playing and resting, this diary shares a rare glimpse into the private lives of Momma Rennie and her babies. Come watch as they navigate this wildly dangerous but still wonderful world. Great to share with your children or students, The Fox Diaries speaks to the importance of growing and learning both individually and as a family unit. It is a perfect book for story time or family sharing. Not only can you read about the daily rituals of this marvelous fox family, there is an information-packed resource section at the end of the book that includes lots of facts and even a few “fox movies” that you can enjoy with your family. Grab your copy of this beautiful and inspiring book HERE.

The post Weekend Links: Exploring & Sharing Incredible Book Series for Kids appeared first on Jump Into A Book.

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In real life the phrase, “get a clue” wouldn’t necessarily be a complimentary one. But in the life of fictional super-sleuth Nancy Drew, it’s a staple in everyday life.

May begins the celebration of icon Nancy Drew’s 80th birthday. This fictional teenager was hip, fun-loving, popular, responsible and also an amateur sleuth. If she were a real person, she would be 98 years old! This wildly popular series was created in the 1930’s and supposedly written by author Carolyn Keene. The series was incredibly popular and to date there have been more than 500 books written involving teenage sleuth, Nancy Drew. This character remains a generational favorite with today’s readers.

But who is Carolyn Keene, author of the Nancy Drew mystery stories? And how did it all begin? I remember many rumors as a child that Carolyn Keene was not a real person and the series was actually ghostwritten. Lo and behold, I’ve now discovered that was true!

It all began with Edward Stratemeyer, a writer and publisher of books for kids. He had so many exciting ideas he didn’t have enough time to write them all. So he hired writers called ghosts to bring his stories to life. So truth-be-told, the Nancy Drew books were written by ghost writers and Stratemeyer gave all of them the name Carolyn Keene. The main creative force behind this prolific series was a young woman named Mildred Wirt Benson. She was born in 1905 and grew up in a small town in Iowa. A tomboy, Mildred craved adventure and often joined the boys playing sports. One of her favorite things to do was read. She read everything she could get her hands on from classic books to kids’ books like Peter Rabbit and Little Women. (source-LA Times)

In summary, Stratemeyer asked Mildred to write “The Secret of the Old Clock” -the first Nancy Drew book. Bensons did so and began to form the mystery “formula” that is so prevalent in the series. Benson then wrote the second and third books in the series; “The Hidden Staircase” and “The Bungalow Mystery,” which were published 1930 when Benson was only 24. She would go on to write 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books (volumes 1-7, 11-25 and 30).
Nancy Drew became a hit and by 1934 was outselling boys’ series like the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift. Now, 80 years later, there have been more than 500 Nancy Drew mysteries written and no end in sight for America’s favorite teenage sleuth.

Over the last few weeks, not only have I read quite a bit of wonderful information about this delightful series, I’ve noticed many, many adult readers piping up with a mention of their favorite Nancy Drew books along with just as many comments about, “I still have my series from childhood!” Many of us who were Nancy Drew fans in our younger years still have our collections and have saved them for the sole purpose of passing them on to our own kids. I just love the fact that this iconic series is not only quality reading for young minds, but also have become “keepsakes” for generations of families to enjoy.

So with that in mind I wish to rally all Nancy Drew readers young and old! I would love to see YOUR Nancy Drew books/collections, learn which ones were your favorites and hear how they have become a valued asset in your life. For the rest of May, I invite readers to share photos of their favorite Nancy Drew books along with the hashtag #DrewToYou on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  What a fun way to share a piece of your life and your love of books with thousands of like-minded readers!

I am very excited to not only see your favorite Nancy drew picks, but I have planned to highlight some of the best ones in my weekly Jump Into a Book series Weekend Links.

So get ready to, “show us your Drew!” #DrewToYou

More Nancy Drew resources and articles can be found HERE

Sale!!

Let’s celebrate the wonderful upturn in the weather with a Super Spring Sale! I have two of my most popular books on a super special sale until May18th!

The Waldorf Homeschool Handbook: The Simple Step-by-Step guide to creating a Waldorf-inspired #homeschool. And for a limited time, this best-selling book by Donna Ashton, The Waldorf #Homeschool Handbook is now only $17.95 until May18, 2015 ! http://amzn.to/1OhTfoT

Enjoy more month-by-month activities based on the classic children’s tale, The Secret Garden! A Year in the Secret Garden is a delightful children’s book with over 120 pages, with 150 original color illustrations and 48 activities for your family and friends to enjoy, learn, discover and play with together. AND, it’s on sale for a limited time! Grab your copy ASAP and “meet me in the garden!” http://amzn.to/1DTVnuX

Your choice, $17.95 each!

 

The post #DrewToYou -A Fun and Bookish Way to Honor Nancy Drew appeared first on Jump Into A Book.

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A teacher wrote to me, asking for books about Taos Pueblo. I know about Clark's Little Boy With Three Names but haven't read it yet, so went looking to see what is out there.

No surprise that I found a lot of older books with hostile and savage Indians, but I also found Camp Creepy in the Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series. As of this writing (Feb 23 2015) there are 41 books in this series of books for children in elementary grades.

Here's the synopsis from the Simon and Schuster website:

In Camp Creepy, the girls take a school trip to Taos, New Mexico! A classmate’s uncle has opened a new camp and the kids of River Heights Elementary are invited to come test it out. But when a series of mysterious incidents ruin Nancy’s art project, Nancy thinks something eerie is at work. Could she have upset the Taos Indian spirits? 

At that website, you can read chapter one. It opens with this:

"And the team with the winning Native American model gets to spend the weeklong break at a camp in northern New Mexico!" Mrs. Ramirez announced. "In keeping with the spirit of the Native Americans, whatever you use must come from items around your house. This is a green competition."

Though the idea that Native peoples waste(d) nothing is what we might call a positive value attributed to Native peoples, it is also part of the romantic stereotyping that is all too common. On the next page, I like the first part of this excerpt:

"If we want to win this competition, we'll obviously have to focus on just one group of Native Americans," George said with a grin. "The Taos Indians. I saw a documentary about them last night on TV. I know all about their culture."

Focusing on just one group is a plus, but...

The back cover of the book says that the crew builds a model of Taos Pueblo, but before they can enter it in the contest, it is destroyed. The text there asks:

Have the girls angered the Taos Indian spirits by building the model, or is the thread something closer to home?

It isn't enough to name one group (in this case Taos) but then attribute stereotypical attributes (waste nothing) and "Indian spirits" to that group. Maybe a parallel will help make this clear. Most people know that the "ditzy blonde" is a stereotype. If an author gave that blonde a name but still used ditzy and similar attributes to describe her, that would not be ok. Where that parallel doesn't work is that most people have blonde friends or colleagues, whose very presence in their lives shows them the fallacy of the dumb blonde stereotype. In contrast, most people don't have Native friends and colleagues who would be able to counter Native stereotyping.

The local library has a copy of this book. I'll try to get over there, read it, and update this post. But--based on what I've seen so far, I can't recommend it.

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If, like me, you enjoyed reading mystery stories such as Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven and the Nancy Drew series you'll be pleased to hear that, according to a newspaper article I've just read, the trend apparently is going back towards traditional storytelling and the sort of books we liked to read as children are back in vogue.






This does seem to be the case, several of the books nominated for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize are mystery-based stories such as Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens (5-12 age group) and Smart by Kim Slater in the Teen group. Of course, the theme's been given a fresh angle and modern mystery stories deal with topical issues. Smart for example investigates the death of a homeless man  and  although Murder Most Unladylike is set in a traditional boarding school and investigates the murder of a teacher it explores topics such as racism and same-sex relationships. All very modern.

Nostalgia has been popular for some time now. Items that my children played with such as Furbies, Pokemon cards and Tamagotchis are fetching incredible prices. Many toys such as Furbies, and even traditional toys from my childhood, have made a come back - modernised, of course.



I think the reason for this is because in our fast-paced, twenty four hour, high pressure society many people long for the simplicity of the past when children played in the streets with hooplas, footballs and skipping ropes or wandered the fields looking for adventures.  Nowadays most parents don't think it's safe to let their children out of their sight so most children are cooped up indoors playing on Ipads and computers. Small wonder that many people feel quite nostalgic about the past.

Mystery stories have always been popular, of course. A few years ago I wrote a detective series called The Amy Carter Mysteries for Top That Publishing.

They're quite popular with children in schools I visit and it's tempting to jump on the nostalgia bandwagon and write another detective series reminiscent of Enid Blyton's popular tales. With my luck though by the time I'd finished it the trend would have moved on and something else would be 'in vogue'. And guessing what the next Big Thing will be is pretty impossible.

What do you think? Is Nostalgia here to stay?



Karen King writes all sorts of books. Check out her website at www.karenking.net

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Headlines from Nancy Drew #12:

Girl enters radio contest on whim, wins tract of land! IN CANADA!

Intrepid young sleuth helps old lady cross street; carries her suitcase!

River Heights overrun by Canadians, some of them crooks!

Girl detective receives answer to message... BEFORE EVEN SENDING IT!

In a sudden burst of activity after eleven books of avoiding physical exertion, Bess Marvin CLIMBS A TREE!

Continuing the trend of Bizarro Sidekick Behavior, George Fayne shrieks in fear!

Posse rides in; posse rides out!

Carson Drew dispatches word... telepathically? Via carrier pigeon? THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW!

Teenage girl blows up power-generating dam and floods entire valley, no one takes issue with her!

Opening scene:

• As you may have gathered from the headlines, Nancy enters a radio contest (for the first time ever) and wins. A tract of land. In Canada. That might be full of gold. Because Nancy.
• Even though Canada is the SECOND LARGEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, said piece of land JUST SO HAPPENS to be located right next to some land related to her father's current case. Because Carson.
• Of course, Nancy wants to go and check out her land, but needs an "older person" (<--Carson's words) to go with her. LUCKILY, Carson's client ALSO coincidentally has a friend coming in to town who ALSO has a place in the vicinity of her land and so CAN DO THAT VERY THING.

In River Heights:

• Five minutes later, Nancy's on her way to see Bess and George to invite them along. Seeing an older lady struggling to haul a heavy suitcase across the road, Nancy does what Nancy does best and TAKES ACTION. She not only carries the suitcase across the street, but offers to wait with it outside the bank while the lady goes in to "get change for a twenty". Because Olden Days.
• A "dapper man in his late thirties" drives up, claims to be the lady's grandson, takes the suitcase, and drives off!
• The lady, of course, doesn't have a grandson. Nancy waves down a nearby police officer, and at first he and the old lady seem to suspect HER. Of course, once she pulls the DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM routine, they back off.
• A FULL TEN MINUTES LATER, NANCY DECIDES WAITING FOR BACK-UP WILL JUST TAKE TOO LONG, SO SHE ENGAGES IN A HIGH SPEED CAR CHASE TO RETRIEVE THE STOLEN SUITCASE. And yes, OF COURSE she succeeds in A) CATCHING UP WITH HIM, and B) getting him to pull over, and yes, OF COURSE the crowd believes her when she makes her case!

A brief moment of non-snark:

Yes, Nancy is ridiculously lucky, beautiful, wealthy, has a hard-to-conceive-of number of skills, and her detecting skills probably wouldn't carry over very well into the real world. But that's not why we love her: We love her because she never gives up, never gives in, never says die. She always puts others before her, and while she has a tendency to judge by appearances, to be fair, she IS almost always right.

Okay, back to River Heights!

• The old lady recognizes the suitcase thief as Tom Stripe, a "mean and low-down" man who has caused problems for her in the past! Also, she is from Canada! And is now Nancy's friend for life! AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT SHE'S CARSON'S CLIENT'S FRIEND AND ABOUT TO BECOME NANCY'S CHAPERONE! (I bet you TOTALLY didn't see that coming!)
• It should be noted that Bess has to be talked out of bringing all of her best dresses along on a multi-week camping trip.
• While Nancy and Carson are having dinner at his client's house, NANCY GETS A PHONE CALL FROM SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO BUY HER LAND. Because that's how business is done: By calling people while they are ATTENDING DINNER PARTIES AT OTHER PEOPLES' HOUSES.

The next day:

• Nancy is accosted by a young man with a "sophisticated smile" wearing clothes that "cut far too elegant an appearance for River Heights". DANGER ZONE! Surprise, surprise, Raymond Niles wants to buy her land. ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS THIS: WHERE'S NED? HE DOESN'T GET A SINGLE MENTION IN THIS BOOK. Poor old Ned. It can't be easy being that boring.
• Nancy tells Carson about this Niles character—who, by the way, OUT-AND-OUT THREATENED HER—and this is his response: "It seems to me we ought to let the matter rest for a while. In any event, you will be rid of this fellow in a few days, for soon you'll be on your way to Canada." YES, CARSON. BRILLIANT LOGIC. DUDE THREATENS YOUR DAUGHTER, SO IT'S A GOOD THING THAT SHE'S HEADED OFF TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE... BECAUSE IT'S NOT AT ALL LIKELY THAT THE GUY KNOWS WHERE THE LAND HE WANTS TO BUY WOULD BE LOCATED, RIGHT?
• Meanwhile, Hannah Gruen doesn't like the idea of the girls gallivanting off to "foreign places". Because Canada.

Two days later:

• Hannah, who is only suspicious when it suits the plot, lets Raymond Niles into the house and he ALMOST SUCCEEDS in stealing Nancy's property deed.
• At this point, you'd think that Carson would, like, register the deed or make a copy of it or do whatever lawyer-y thing you do with these things, but no. Because the Drews have a lot of great qualities, but logic isn't one of them.
• Tom Stripe is out of prison, and it was Raymond Niles who posted his bail! They are, as Nancy puts it, "friends and crooks"!

On the train to Wellington Lake:

• Remember the radio contest that started this adventure? Well. To win it, Nancy had to name a mystery serial... and on the train, Nancy runs into Ann Chapelle, the author of said mystery serial! 
• Miss Chapelle has a Secret Sorrow, though for someone with a Secret Sorrow, she's quite open about it. In fact, she was about to spill the beans to Nancy WHEN THE TRAIN CRASHED AT THAT EXACT MOMENT.
• YES, THE TRAIN CRASHED. LIKE, ALL OF THE CARS, OFF OF THE TRACK.
• Nancy bumps her elbow! George is buried under a pile of chairs! Bess goes pale! Random passenger breaks his leg! Tom Stripe and Raymond Niles were spotted shortly before the crash! The train catches on fire! Miss Chapelle and the chaperone are missing!

At a hotel:

• The girls hole up and wait for news. In the middle of the night, Nancy wakes up and discovers Bess sleepwalking. On the window ledge. So Nancy, being the quick-thinker that she is, GRABS A COIL OF ROPE (because they're generally lying around in hotel hallways), and, just as BESS FALLS OFF OF THE LEDGE, LASSOS HER BEFORE SHE HITS THE GROUND. (Yes, she credits her Shadow Ranch adventure for the ability.)
• As if that wasn't ENOUGH ACTION FOR THE NIGHT, it turns out that Bess, while sleepwalking, took the deed to Nancy's land and dropped it outside.
• Sure enough, George pops her head out the window and sees a dude walking off with it. But they don't pursue him because... THAT WOULD MAKE TOO MUCH SENSE?

The next day:

• They receive word that both the author and the chaperone are at the hospital.
• Nancy stops by the newspaper to place an ad about her lost deed... and discovers that someone has already left her a letter, instructing her to call at Ranny farm, six miles away.
• The girls check in with the ladies at the hospital, and Ann Chapelle is A) convinced she's going to die and B) manages to say, "The message—in the hollow oak—" before passing out. So that's helpful.
• Our Girl Wonders rent a jalopy—it's so decrepit that even Our Nancy needs a lesson in starting the engine—and they head out to the farm, promptly get a flat tire, and then they get lost because they don't know how far they've gone because "the speedometer was broken" even though HELLO, unless Nancy's got Bess and George doing constant Distance = Rate x Time math problems, it's the odometer that matters. 
• ANYWAY, for whatever reason, they decide to leave the car and hike across a pasture to a nearby farm, but Bess is wearing a red sweater, which enrages the bull (*coughbullsarecolorblindcough*), and it charges them and they almost die but then the farmer opens the fence for them and it turns out he's Farmer Ranny himself. HOW SURPRISING.

I'm going to fast-forward here, because good lord, I'm only up to page, like, 60.

• SO. Farmer Ranny's wife has a long-standing feud with the chaperone. Because gold. Or land. Or something.
• The Rannys are ALSO the parents of Norman Ranny, Ann Chapelle's long-lost love, who she used to pass messages with via the Hollow Oak and who she ran away from home to elope with except he never showed up, the jerk.
• Thinking she's about to die, Ann Chapelle gets Nancy to make a promise to A) find her Grandfather Chap and apologize for running away and B) find Norman Ranny and tell him that she loves him. Or something.

Canada, FINALLY:

• There's a story in the local paper about A STRANGER almost getting creamed by a falling branch from the OAK tree he was sitting under, because THAT'S NEWSWORTHY IN CANADA. (<--I'm from Maine. That would totally make the paper in my town. Anyway.) 
• The girls get outfitted in "riding breeches and knee-high shoes" (known as BOOTS in more succinct circles) and HEAD OFF INTO THE WILDERNESS WITH PETE ATKINS, GUIDE EXTRAORDINAIRE.

Fast-forwarding again, because their adventures in the wilderness are ENDLESS:

• Almost immediately, they run into Tom and Ray, who are terrible at canoeing.
• Tom and Ray try to strand the girls in the wilderness (...with the best guide in the area, that'll show 'em!), but, after a brief struggle, end up neck-deep in the lake while Nancy & Co. paddle away. Tom Stripe, logical as ever, vows revenge on them even though he was the one who started it.
• Ray, not unlike that jewel thief in The Facts of Life Down Under, has developed QUITE THE CRUSH ON NANCY.
• The crooks, miserable and soaking wet and in the middle of nowhere, run into NORMAN RANNY, because of course they do. 
• Norman, it turns out, thinks that Ann is dead. Because these are the things you should assume to be true without proof.
• Tom and Ray tie Norman up and throw him into Grandfather Chap's fruit cellar. No, not root cellar, FRUIT CELLAR. Because that's what they call it.
• Nancy, while exploring a nearby abandoned mill, is "...impelled by some impulse which she could not explain..." to look through a crack in the wall, sees Tom Stripe in the house. Seriously, I don't know how she'd solve mysteries if she was slightly less lucky.
• Once our heroines take over the house, Bess and George become convinced that it's haunted due to the moans coming from the FRUIT CELLAR.
• Nancy, brave girl that she is, heads down there and returns... WITH A CAT.
• THEY ALL LAUGH MERRILY ABOUT THAT.
• The moans continue, causing Bess to FAINT, AND PETE HAS DISAPPEARED, so it's up to Nancy to head down there again... which she does, AND FINDS ANOTHER CAT BUT ALSO, THANKFULLY, NORMAN.
• Nancy jumps to the conclusion that Pete abandoned them, which seems like a REALLY LOGICAL ASSUMPTION, considering how there are bad guys around who have it in for him.
• The girls—who have now adopted Norman as the requisite adult male in their party—stay the night with a trapper and his wife, enjoy some banjo music (yes, really), tell said trapper and his wife about the big city (yes, really), and then Pete shows up all beat up because, duh, of course Tom jumped him.
• I told you it was endless. I'm going to have to read the '70s revision to see if they tightened it up.
• ANYWAY, panning for gold on Nancy's land, they all get a nugget (except Bess, but Nancy gives her one so she doesn't whine), and Norman strikes a vein in the very first spot that he swings his pickaxe. Because that's how things roll around Nancy Drew.

ENTER THE EVIL MINING COMPANY:

• A plane lands, and a bunch of evil miners arrive. Nancy realizes she and her crew are outnumbered, so she PAYS THE PILOT TO TAKE HER AND HER FRIENDS BACK TO CIVILIZATION, LEAVING THE MINERS SEMI-STRANDED. Which, you've got to admit, is both hilarious and badass.
• In a considerably less badass move, she wires Carson for help. 
• Buck Sawtice, the owner of the EVIL MINING COMPANY—when they find out it's named Yellow Dawn, George asked, "Is that a company or a disease?" which made me laugh out loud—ALSO cost the Mr. & Mrs. Ranny their life-savings. So, you know: Good to know that he's an equal-opportunity swindler, and not ageist or anything.

SUPER FAST-FORWARD:

• Carson rounds up some local law enforcement, and they put together a POSSE and go in there ON HORSEBACK:

"Now, Father, don't tell us we can't go," she forestalled him. "With all these men along to protect us, you surely can't say it won't be safe."

"That's just what I did intend to say, you young tease!"

NO COMMENT.

• Pete gets attacked AGAIN. Poor guy, for a minor character and a good guy, he really takes a beating in this book.
• Turns out Grandfather Chap buried a treasure under the Hollow Oak and left a message for Ann there, including a confession about switching out the message she left for Norman way back when, which is why he never showed up to marry her. Nancy and Norman dig it up and then BURY IT ELSEWHERE, because they're tricky like that. 
• But Nancy loses an engraved bracelet, so they have to go back for it, and then they catch Tom (since Norman's there, he does the lassoing this time, presumably because he's got manparts), tie him to a tree, AND THEN THREATEN TO SET HIM ON FIRE UNLESS HE TELLS THEM WHERE GRANDFATHER CHAP IS, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT "THE INDIANS" WOULD DO. I don't even.
• They bring their info back to the posse, the posse acts on it... but no Grandfather Chap, so they disperse, leaving Nancy, Carson, the girls, and Norman with the Yellow Dawn guys.

I swear we're almost at the end:

• Nancy offers to sell her land to Buck if Grandfather Chap is returned unharmed, so Buck sends the airplane off for some money.
• Of course, Buck plans to double-cross her, but she HAPPENS TO BE AT JUST THE RIGHT PLACE AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME TO OVERHEARD ALL OF THE EXPOSITION (IN FRENCH), so she's able to make a counter-plan.
• Which involves stealing a key right out of Ray's hand WHILE HE'S AWAKE AND AWARE AND EVERYTHING, CLEARLY SHE'S MAGIC, swiping all of the gold out of the cabin the bad guys have been squirreling it away in, getting all of her loved ones (and Norman and Grandfather Camp, who's been being tortured this whole time, YES, TORTURED) out of the way, and then BLOWING UP THE DAM. BECAUSE NANCY DREW, AS I'VE MENTIONED, IS KIND OF BADASS, AND ALSO HAS AN UTTER DISREGARD FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES.
• Ann and Norman are reunited, Ann and her Grandfather make up, Nancy gets all of her gold melted down into gold coins, and everyone in River Heights is at the train station to meet them when they get home.

And just because it wouldn't be a real Nancy Drew book without one more semi-creepy moment with Carson:

After discussing the events Nancy seated herself upon the arm of her father's chair, and playfully tweaked his ear.

[I'm sparing you the twinkling eyes and smoke rings, ag.]

"Father, if anyone should ever offer me another deed, I'd run a mile!" she said. "After having so many adventures up North, I think I'll agree to your holding title to all the property that comes into the Drew family!"

THE END.

New skills: 

• When it comes to chocolate cake, Hannah Gruen believes that "the pupil has gone beyond the master".
• Nancy knows French.
• And also all about dynamite.

_________________________________________

Previously.

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by

E.C. Myers

—

When I discovered that two of my favorite childhood authors, Franklin W. Dixon (The Hardy Boys) and Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew), didn’t actually exist, my world turned upside down.

If this is a shocking revelation for you, I’ll give you a moment to take it all in.

Okay, still breathing? Good. Granted, the news may not be all that surprising considering that Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books are still being published today, around ninety years after the series first appeared in print. Not impossible, perhaps, but highly improbable that “Dixon” and “Keene” are still with us and churning out these adolescent adventures, though Frank, Joe, and Nancy haven’t aged much.

It turns out that the true creator of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and a host of other classic characters from Tom Swift to the Bobbsey Twins, were dreamed up by a man named Edward Stratemeyer. He pioneered the concept of “book packaging,” hiring freelance writers to pen books under pseudonyms, according to his plot outlines. The first to write books as Dixon and Keene was a man named Leslie McFarlane.

A writer “ghostwriting” as another author is one of many ways a novel can be written as a “work for hire.” Sweet Valley High fans, I have more bad news for you: Francine Pascal did not write all those books herself! If you’re skeptical whenever a celebrity “writes” a book, you have good reason to be.

But there are many other kinds of projects that are considered “work for hire,” some of which even allow the author to claim what glory they may, including your favorite media-tie-in novels. The authors behind those Star Trek novels are real people! In fact, some of them are friends of mine, and I vouch for their authenticity.

It gets a little trickier to know who the creator is when a publishing company develops a series in house and hires a freelance author to write the books, either under their own name or a new pseudonym. You might be surprised when you check the copyright page of a book you love: If the copyright is given to the publisher instead of the author, chances are it was a work-for-hire novel, and the author doesn’t own the rights to the plot or characters.

You might experience a moment of disillusion, but does it really matter? Probably not. The author did write the book after all, and hopefully well, and most writing is a collaborative process between authors and publishers, as well as with other writers, editors, and agents. The important thing is whether the book is any good — as with any book.

In some cases the freelance author might have been given a very detailed outline and set of characters and been tasked with connecting the dots; in other cases, she might get minimum direction and have to come up with a story and characters to fit the premise on her own. There are projects that fall somewhere in between. Moreover, most writers pay the bills by writing lots of things other than their own books — that’s simply called getting “work.” Blog posts, speeches, thank you letters, greeting cards, instruction manuals… Credit can’t always be given where it’s due, and sometimes the only place a writer needs his name to appear is on the “Pay to the Order of” line on a check.

If you’re a writer, you might be interested in getting a work for hire assignment of your own. So how does that happen? Typically a publisher will reach out to an author directly or through an agent, or you might get the opportunity through your network of contacts. If you are invited to audition for the project, you would need to submit a sample chapter or two, following guidelines from the publisher (which were developed internally by one or more people). This gives the publisher a sense of whether your approach and writing style are a good fit for their vision, and to compare what you can bring to the project versus other authors vying for the job. I’ve auditioned for a few of these, and I like to write a chapter from very early in the book and one from the middle, which is a chance to show some growth in the protagonist and introduce a variety of settings, characters, and relationships.

If you’re given some freedom regarding the plotting of the book, you may also have to draft an outline on your own — not unlike what you would submit in a book proposal when writing on spec. This outline might include a high-level Synopsis of the whole story, descriptions of the Style and Theme you imagine for the book, a list of Characters, and finally a Detailed Outline telling the story. Later, you may need to develop a chapter-by-chapter outline as well.

Work-for-hire books generally have a tight turnaround time from first draft to publication — we’re talking months instead of years — which can be very appealing in terms of getting your books on shelves and money in your bank account. But it also means you have to write both quickly and well, so it might not be for everyone. On the other hand, for some it could be a dream come true. Once I found out that Franklin W. Dixon was actually a bunch of different authors, I wanted to be one of them. And hey, I’m pretty sure I have at least one great Star Trek novel in me…

What are your favorite work-for-hire books or authors? Have you written a work for hire, or would you like to?

—

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. He is the author of the Andre Norton Award–winning young adult novel FAIR COIN and its sequel, QUANTUM COIN; his next YA novel, THE SILENCE OF SIX, will be published by Adaptive in November 2014. You can find traces of him all over the internet, but especially at his blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

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From Tablet Magazine:

If Harry Potter was The Boy Who Lived, Nancy was The Girl Who Dared. She was brave, rash, fierce. She had a snazzy car. She solved crimes that flummoxed the cops, snuck around in old abandoned houses, got locked in closets by bad guys … and she always kept her cool. Her mom had died when she was little, but her dad adored and trusted her and gave her free rein to save others. She was in charge, not her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson. She was beautiful, but she wasn’t an object. She was a doer.

Little did I know Nancy Drew had such a troubled past.

And now I want to get back to my sadly neglected Nancy Drew Re-Reading Project.

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From Holly Andres' Sparrow Lane:

Drawing on the formal and thematic conventions of Nancy Drew books, 1970s horror films and Alfred Hitchcock, the series depicts girls in search of forbidden knowledge.

I especially like this one (maybe because the staircase gives it a Twin Peaks vibe?):

Loads more at the artist's website, and WELL worth a spin through, if ONLY for the killer clothes!

(via Beautiful/Decay)

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I tried very hard not to buy this book at the most recent book sale.

"Leave it for some young Nancy Drew enthusiast," I told myself.



But then I realised that such creatures may no longer exist and that I probably was the target demographic for this book, having spent one lost summer of my childhood devouring Nancy Drew books at such a prodigious rate that my mother would buy them and hide them from me to dispense as needed.

Nancy Drew saved my life by taking me somewhere else entirely during a time when that was required.  And beyond that, she made me think that girls could be clever enough to sort things out for themselves.

Anyway, I turned to the back of this book and saw this postcard collection and knew it was coming home with me.  Leave a comment if you'd like me to send you a card!

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Papercutz will release a new Nancy Drew graphic novel series about the famous detective’s early years. Since 2005, the publisher has released 23 Nancy Drew comic titles. Volume No. 1 of Nancy Drew and The Clue Crew is titled “Small Volcanoes.”

Husband-and-wife writing duo Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney will write the stories; both have worked with Papercutz on the Nancy Drew comics. Artist Stan Goldberg will illustrate.

Here’s more from the release: ”Drew family’s top-secret case files once again to reveal the mysteries that abounded in River Heights when Nancy was only eight-years-old. Her best friends George, Bess, and Ned are still helping her out, and their friendship is almost as important to solving these middle-grade crimes as their unparalleled smarts.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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To all intents and purposes I never belonged where I began. Not as a full-time adult, I mean. I learned more than I can remember about too many things to count while growing up. I’ve used that learning numerous times as well. I enjoyed the wave-like movement of all that education and wish that I could recall it all clearly.

But, I never really fit that mold. I was the one who loved classical music and opera. Somehow, I was the one who introduced me to it. I was the one who taught myself about ballet and other dance forms and watched it whenever I could. I also read Shakespeare and Tennyson in upper elementary and middle school when others my age were devouring Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I never heard of those books until I was an adult.

I didn’t see anything by C.S. Lewis until in my late 30’s. All I had was adult reading material, and I learned to suck it in like a vacuum.

My family listened to early Country music much of the time that I didn’t tolerate very well. None of them could tolerate my preferences either. We accommodated the differences.

We attended great auctions back then. They were better and cheaper than going to the Drive-In theatre. Dad didn’t have to spend more than a few bucks for a hot dog and drink for each of us, and we could spend an entire evening watching people go frantic with bidding paddles and someone else’s junk. Learning how the operation worked was an education in itself. I especially learned to watch the auctioneers.

We all loved going to them.

Yet, when I was in eighth grade, my dad went to an auction without the rest of us. He returned with many things, plus a box specifically for me.

Inside it were books. The box was filled with books. The pièce de résistance nearly floored me. Nestled among the novels by Faulkner and Updike and English books, to the side of those volumes on history, was a complete set of Shakespeare bound in moss green fabric and gilt lettering (pub. England, 1863), including his sonnets and other poetry.

I knew I’d died and ascended to Heaven without realizing it. That’s when I saw the tiny tomes. Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Thoreau, etc. (pub. NY 1909 approx.,) each bound in exquisite jacquard fabric, small enough to fit inside a pocket, huddled behind Shakespeare like so many children behind their mother’s apron.

That one act of consideration on Dad’s part sealed my fate. I was a classicist and would never truly fit into my birth family completely. I would always love them and honor them, but never be one of them. I’d been set free with that box of books and the knowledge that my father had unwittingly given me the ticket on the train to a literary career somewhere in my future.

Looking back on that moment, I can relax now. I understand that the family that I love don’t have to understand why I do what I do, or even how I do it. It’s enough to know that they acknowledge that that’s who I am and that they accept the fact that I can’t be

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• I hope you all took the time to notice the magnificent One Shot World Tour: City Living conducted by any number of our best bloggers in the biz.  I had every intention of participating and then lost my head.  Fortunately there are folks out there far more reliable than myself for this kind of thing.  From historical London to alternate London, from trees in Brooklyn to blackouts there, this thing was awesome.  Chasing Ray has the round-up.  Enjoy.

• Well sir, the National Book Award was announced two days ago.  Once again a children’s book rather than a teen novel won.  Interestingly, that book was not Gary Schmidt’s fabulous Okay for Now but the rather awesome in its own right Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai(a title that to my mind win’s The 2011 When You Reach Me Award for Most Difficult Title to Remember).  Of course, Leila Roy called what would happen when someone won.  Doggone it.

• Ah, Nancy Drew.  Folks just can’t stop talking about you, can they?  If they’re not speculating about what might be playing on your iPod then they’re sending you back in time to the Salem Witch Trials.  Buck up, kid.  It could be worse.  You could be Cherry Ames.

• Re: Racism and colonialism in Pippi Longstocking, what she said.

• Fun Fact: The American Folklore Society has an award.  It’s called The Aesop Prize and it’s awarded by the Children’s Folklore Section of the society.  This year the award went to Trickster: Native American Tales – A Graphic Collection, which I agree was extraordinary.  So naturally I was curious about what the previous winners had been.  Amusingly in 2010 the award went to Joha Makes a Wish by Eric A. Kimmel.  In 2009 it went to Dance, Nana, Dance (Baila, Nana, Baila) by Joe Hayes, and in 2008 it was Ain’t Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson.  You can see the full list, and the many honorable mentions, here if you’re curious.  For that matter, if you’ve a children’s work of folklore published in 2011 or 2012 and you want it to be considered for this prize, check out the Prize Review Criteria.
0 Comments on Fusenews: “Don’t Let the Pigeon Die Alone” as of 1/1/1900
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Headlines from Nancy Drew #11:

Ghostly Party Boat Scares Off Candy/Bait Salesman!
Too Many Girls Cause Bridge To Collapse!
Mysterious Redhead Mysteriously Makes Many Mysterious Appearances!
Girl Detective Is Locked On Roof! Door Is Later Found To Be Unlocked!
Girl's Earring Falls Off: Later Provides Crucial Plot Point!
Short Rolling Log Almost Grazes Our Heroine!
Canoe Sinks: Paddler Forced To Swim To Land!
Girl Detective Carries Handbag While Sleuthing; Is Still Unable To Produce Pencil And/Or Paper!
Small Children Forced To Practice Gymnastics!
Lost Civil War-Era Family Treasure!
Pop Idol Suffers Unfairly Small Royalty Checks!
Girl Trips And Rolls Downhill: Lands In Brambles!
Rock Thrown Through Window: Two People Left Unconscious!
Cops Outside of River Heights: Also Incompetent!
Car Is Forced Into Ditch: Survivors Push It Back Out Again!

Sadly, those headlines make The Clue of the Broken Locket sound MUCH more exciting than it actually was: Nancy and Co. spend the majority of this installment wandering around and making insanely uneducated guesses—A bright light shining intermittently out of a window? Clearly a kidnapping victim! (Granted, pretty much all of the wild guesses turn out to be right.)—rather than actually doing much adventuring.

The story:

• Carson Drew gets a cryptic letter from the caretaker of a client's cottage:

Hire someone else. I'm scared.

Acting on his usual craptastic paternal instincts, he sends his teenaged daughter to investigate this completely unknown—and possibly dangerous—situation, as well as prep the cottage for incoming tenant Cecily Curtis. True to form, the second that the mystery kicks in, Carson goes gallivanting off on a so-called "business trip" and is unavailable for the duration.

• Except for her first appearance, in which she's "swinging her suitcase", George Fayne doesn't get stuck carrying everyone elses' luggage this time. Instead, she offers herself up as a bodyguard, does research at the Courthouse, and falls down a hill. At one point, she giggles. Which, I believe, is a first: She's usually a chuckler.
  
  
• Bess Marvin, of course, eats a lot. And when she isn't eating, she's cooking. Or talking about eating. Or talking about buying food. (Except for the time that the happy thought of hot water makes her go all Yoda: "Me for a relaxing bath.") Think I'm exaggerating?:

"We don't know a thing about how good the food is in Misty Lake. Why don't we stop for an early supper?" (6)
"This is charming," said Bess. "And look! The sign says fresh broiled lobster! Mmm!" (6)
The dinner was delicious. Bess could not resist topping hers off with pecan pie. (8)
"I know we'll all be starving before we get to bed. Remember we had a very early dinner." (15)
When Bess returned from the shop, she was carrying a large bag which she said contained milk, cocoa, cookies, and ham sandwiches. (15)
"You and Nancy sleep. When you wake up, I'll have breakfast all ready." (35)
"In that case, I can't resist a double helping," Bess said with a giggle. (<--If you were wondering: Vanilla ice cream, with hot fudge sauce.) (49)
"Then I'll walk back to the cottage and start supper." (66

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...at Hark, A Vagrant.

Relatedly, I finally dug out Nancy Drew #11.

So I'm looking forward to that.

_________________________

Previously.

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Hours Spent Reading: 25.5
Books Read: 7
Pages Read: 2086
Money Raised: $707
What I'm listening to: Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)

Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.

The Clue in the Diary Carolyn Keene

Oh Nancy, you're so funny. There are two mysteries-- a poor (but clean!) mother and daughter that Nancy and her friends meet at a carnival. The father is off looking for work and supposed to send money, but they haven't heard from him.

On the way home, they see a house burn down. The house belongs to a very rich, but not well-liked character. OF COURSE THE MYSTERIES ARE RELATED!

But! This is the book where Nancy meets Ned! And how! He's moving her car away from the spreading house fire and she thinks he's trying to steal it.

I listened to the first part of this and that was awesome, because all the over-drama was underscored with crazy sound effects and lots of dramatic music. I think I'm going to have to listen to more Nancy Drews for the Nancy Drew challenge. Also, it was narrated by Laura Linney and how can you NOT love Laura Linney?!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

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Toyota on MySpace (supporting musicians to land record deals. Also Mediapost reviews "Haute & Bothered," Alloy's LG-sponsored web series as a rare instance where branded entertainment has to undersell its product) (MediaPost, reg. required) -... Read the rest of this post

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy ©2010 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.. Share and Enjoy:

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Yep.  I've decided to go for it -- I'm joining The Nancy Drew Challenge.  So hopefully, by the end of the year, I'll have read all 56 books in the original series.  Thankfully, Deborah at Books, Movies and Chinese Food is allowing challenge participants to skip the books they've already read.  So I'm down ten already.  (I know I've read more than that, but for the purposes of the challenge I'm only counting the ones I've written about.)

1 The Secret of the Old Clock 1930, 1959 √
2 The Hidden Staircase 1930, 1959 √
3 The Bungalow Mystery 1930, 1960 √
4 The Mystery at Lilac Inn 1930, 1961 √
5 The Secret at Shadow Ranch 1931, 1965 √
6 The Secret of Red Gate Farm 1931, 1961 √
7 The Clue in the Diary 1932, 1962 √
8 Nancy's Mysterious Letter 1932, 1968 √
9 The Sign of the Twisted Candles 1933, 1968 √
10 The Password to Larkspur Lane 1933, 1966 √
11 The Clue of the Broken Locket 1934, 1965
12 The Message in the Hollow Oak 1935, 1972
13 The Mystery of the Ivory Charm 1936, 1974
14 The Whispering Statue 1937, 1970
15 The Haunted Bridge 1937, 1972
16 The Clue of the Tapping Heels 1939, 1969
17 The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk 1940, 1976
18 The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion 1941, 1971
19 The Quest of the Missing Map 1942, 1969
20 The Clue in the Jewel Box 1943, 1972
21 The Secret in the Old Attic 1944, 1970
22 The Clue in the Crumbling Wall 1945, 1973
23 The Mystery of the Tolling Bell 1946, 1973
24 The Clue in the Old Album 1947, 1977
25 The Ghost of Blackwood Hall 1948, 1967
26 The Clue of the Leaning Chimney 1949, 1967
27 The Secret of the Wooden Lady 1950, 1967
28 The Clue of the Black Keys 1951, 1968
29 The Mystery at the Ski Jump 1952, 1968
30 The Clue of the Velvet Mask 1953, 1969
31 The Ringmaster's Secret 1953, 1974
32 The Scarlet Slipper Mystery 1954, 1974
33 The Witch Tree Symbol 1955, 1974
34 The Hidden Window Mystery 1956, 1975
35 The Haunted Showboat 1957
36 The Secret of the Golden Pavilion 1959
37 The Clue in the Old Stagecoach 1960
38 The Mystery of the Fire Dragon 1961
39 The Clue of the Dancing Puppet 1962
40 The Moonstone Castle Mystery 1963
41 The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes 1964
42 The Phantom of Pine Hill 1965
43 The Mystery of the 99 Steps 1966
44 The Clue in the Crossword Cipher 1967
45 The Spider Sapphire Mystery 1968
46 The

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I loved, loved, loved Trixie Belden mysteries when I was in elementary/middle school in the late 1970s/early 1980s. I wanted to solve the mysteries right along with Trixie, and I wanted to have brothers and a best friend, Honey. The reviews on Amazon are written by people around my age, who loved Trixie Belden as a child and are giving these books to their own children.

Random Books for Young Readers republished Trixie Belden books in 2003 (with new covers, of course). If your child likes mysteries or your students enjoy following clues and trying to figure out whodunnit, then why not try giving Trixie Belden a read? She would be great for a whole class read-aloud, a literature circle group, or even a bedtime story for a few weeks.

Who do you like better–Trixie Belden or Nancy Drew?

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So many great links this week – enjoy!

Twilight at Comic-Con: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Chris Weitz and more introduce New Moon
Twilight fans were in for a treat at last weekend’s Comic-Con in San Diego, as New Moon director Chris Weitz and stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Ashley Greene participated in a live Q&A. Read part of the conversation using the link above.

Nancy Drew’s Granddaughters
After Nancy Drew was highlighted during Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Senate confirmation hearings, The New York Times asks the question “Who was your Nancy Drew?”

Sendak & Jonze Talk Wild Things
A featurette starring Maurice Sendak and Spike Jonze, talking about the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are movie.

Audience Picks: 100 Best Beach Books Ever
Just in time for the lazy, hazy August days, NPR announces the results of its 100 Best Beach Books Ever poll, which received 136,000 votes from 16,000 listeners. How many on this list have you read?

Eric Carle, Eric Carle and
Book Trailers
Two great posts this week from Elizabeth at PW’s ShelfTalker blog. She shares a great post about “book trailers,” videos that promote books as well as her memories of her encounter with the author in a private tour of his studio and video interview featuring Eric Carle.

The magical, mystical path linking book and reader
The Chicago Tribune’s Julia Keller writes on the paths books take to find their readers.

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Demi Lovato: 'alt-Disney' poster girl (The New York Times, reg. required, profiles the rising Disney star and her slightly offbeat path towards tween stardom. Plus the Disney crossover special "Wizards on Deck With Hannah Montana" scores as the... Read the rest of this post

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I've been sewing like a champ -- and I'm all about Nancy Drew bags at the moment. 

Just added two to my Etsy shop that feature illustrations I rescued from a falling-apart copy of The Mystery at Lilac Inn:

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Nancy Drew and the Secret of the 3 Black Robes

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