Teen sleuth Nancy Drew changes with time

Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For years, the strong and courageous teenage detective Nancy Drew has stolen the hearts of teenage readers, inspiring generation after generation of young girls around the world since her first adventure was published in 1930.

Reading Nancy Drew thrills teenagers -- including me some 20 years back -- since the novels take readers into the fictitious world they want to be in and gives them a glimpse of their better selves, as well as a chance to conquer their worst fears.

For teenage girls, Nancy Drew is their brave, smart, successful, independent and adventurous heroine, who has freedom from strict parental supervision.

As her lawyer father Carson Drew is rarely at home while her mother died when she was three, Nancy Drew is very much on her own. At anytime, even in the middle of the night, she can hop into her blue roadster or Mustang convertible to investigate a case without fear of being grounded.

Another appealing aspect is that she has positive traits and interests that turn her into a superwoman -- she can cook, dance and sew while at the same time, she is also caring, polite and sensitive.

The teenage detective was the brainchild of Edward Stratemeyer -- owner of the Stratemeyer Syndicate who had already created popular series like the Bobbsey Twins and the Hardy Boys.

Realizing the need for a girl's mystery-adventure series, he then hired a young journalist to write the stories based on plot outlines he provided to her.

According to nancy-drew.mysterynet.com, the Nancy Drew story begins 74 years ago with the publication of the first book by Grosset & Dunlap. The Secret of the Old Clock was published under the pen name of Carolyn Keene. In the same year, Edward Stratemeyer died and his daughter, Harriet Adams, carried on the work of supervising the series. Later, she wrote many of the books herself until she died in 1982.

In 1984, Simon & Schuster purchased the syndicate, thus making them both owner and publisher of Nancy Drew.

Over the years, many writers have penned Nancy Drew adventures, and Nancy Drew has matured from a 16 to 18 years old girl, who has solved over 350 mysteries and being translated into some 14 languages.

Nancy Drew novels have come out regularly in different series -- the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, the Nancy Drew Files, the Nancy Drew on Campus, the Nancy Drew Notebooks, and she even teamed up with Frank and Joe Hardy in a special series called the Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys Super Mysteries. In 1991, Applewood Books Press even started publishing Nancy Drew Facsimile Editions of the original Nancy Drew novels from the 1930s.

The whole series also reflects the transformation of Nancy Drew novels and the characters.

The Nancy Drew Files, for instance, was published to appeal to older readers. Published in the adult-size paperback format, the series features cunningly crafted, fast-paced mysteries tinged with romance.

The Nancy Drew on Campus series sent Nancy and her best friends -- the more cautious Bess Marvin and the athletic George Fayne -- to Wilder University in a more sophisticated and romantic series, while the Nancy Drew Notebooks were created to allow young readers meet the budding detective at the age of eight.

Changes have been made to looks, styles and social customs to mirror the lives and interests of Nancy Drew's most recent generation of readers.

In her latest cases, for instance, Nancy goes clubbing or solves mysteries in settings like backstage at a rock concert, or a teen magazine.

Some things -- like her strong character, her favorite color (blue) and best friends -- remain, although her loyal and supportive boyfriend Ned Nickerson is no longer with her in the Campus series.

Still, even after more than 70 years, the teenage detective is relevant to the present and offers an enjoyable read for teenagers.

Just like novelist Bobbie Ann Mason said in her book The Girl Sleuth: On the Trail of Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton and Cherry Ames, as quoted by nancy-drew.mysterynet.com: "Nancy manages the almost impossible feat of being wholesomely 'feminine' -- glamorous, gracious, stylish, tactful -- while also proving herself strong, resourceful, and bold, the most independent of the girl sleuths. Nancy is a paradox, and she is also the most popular girl detective in the world".