Nancy Drew: Teen Sleuth

By today’s standards, Nancy Drew may not seem all that amazing.

But for several generations of young girls, this teen sleuth, who fearlessly solved every mystery that came her way (quite a few!)  was a feminist role model.

The Nancy Drew series of books, written under the name “Carolyn Keene,” was started in the 1930’s.  The author was Harriet Adams, who collaborated with Andrew Svenson and several ghostwriters on the series.

Nancy was a bit spoiled, it’s true (she belonged to the country club set and had her own spiffy car), but she was also quite the heroine who excelled in almost every field you can think of.

She was an expert swimmer, dancer, mechanic, artist, and marksman.

Moreover, she had the intelligence to crack every case from the “The Secret of the Old Clock” to “The Spider Sapphire Mystery.”

Competent, active, and courageous, Nancy was (and is) an inspiration to her young female readers.

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