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jamiehatch4488's review against another edition
3.0
I was interesting to find out how Nancy Drew came about
emily_baldwin's review against another edition
4.0
4.5* - lots of great historical information along with the surprisingly complex story surrounding the creation and guardianship of Nancy Drew and other titles such as The Hardy Boys.
robnobody's review against another edition
This of course goes along with my whole love of "esoteric history" books. I found the whole process behind which the Nancy Drew books -- and the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, etc. -- were created and published fascinating. We tend to think about books and their characters being the result of a single author's work, maybe later to be expanded upon by other authors in what are often considered "not the REAL" stories. But that's not how these books worked at all, which were really created by committee in a lot of ways, and have been handed off from hand to hand while maintaining a consistent authorial "face." This of course necessitates those who DID work on those stories to have a different sort of relationship with them than authors who more fully "own" their creations. It's also an interesting look into a genre that is too often sidelined or snubbed as not "real" literature, but can be much more influential than people often think: the juvenile series. These can often be kids' first introduction to "real" reading beyond, say, picture books, and due to their open-ended, ongoing natures (unlike planned finite series like Harry Potter) kids can grow up reading them and still have new ones to share with THEIR kids.
Also, Nancy kicks ass.
Also, Nancy kicks ass.
misajane79's review against another edition
4.0
Such a great read! Tells the story of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which created all kinds of books that kids in the 20th century grew up with. But the star of the story is Nancy and the two women behind her: Mildred Wirt Benson and Harriet Statemeyer Adams.
Rehak does a wonderful job of setting the stage. Nancy entered our world at exactly the right time--and even though there have been many variations of her over the years (I was totally a fan of the Case Files in the 1980s), her core character remained the same. It's also a great piece of women's history--both from the perspective of the working women who created her and the girls who loved her.
Highly recommended to all fans of children's literature and/or women's history.
Rehak does a wonderful job of setting the stage. Nancy entered our world at exactly the right time--and even though there have been many variations of her over the years (I was totally a fan of the Case Files in the 1980s), her core character remained the same. It's also a great piece of women's history--both from the perspective of the working women who created her and the girls who loved her.
Highly recommended to all fans of children's literature and/or women's history.
kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Engaging and entertaining... as one who loved Nancy Drew books in the fourth grade, I was thrilled to learn more about the "young sleuth." Learning about the Syndicate, the ghost writers, and the fifty-cent series books that became popular in the first half of the twentieth century was both a literary and historical education. Also: one of the ghost writers was writing Nancy Drew books in Cleveland, Ohio!
abeth_parker's review against another edition
3.0
The character of Nancy Drew is approaching her 100th birthday. Fictional characters have a way of taking in a life of their own, and Nancy Drew is nothing if not determined. She persevered through the Great Depression, WW 2, sales slumps, revisions, three ghost writers, etc. I remember going to a bookstore as a little girl, and being enchanted by the shelves of hardback Nancy Drew books with yellow spines and blue covers.
Whatever the future holds for Nancy Drew, she has certainly been a hallmark for young readers around the world.
Whatever the future holds for Nancy Drew, she has certainly been a hallmark for young readers around the world.
skysbooknook's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Death
alexblackreads's review against another edition
5.0
I adored this. I was a Nancy Drew fan as a kid, but truthfully the Hardy Boys were always my first love.
I think this book is kind of mis-marketed. I picked it up initially based on the description describing the "vivid energy" and telling you to "grab your flashlights and join the gang" on the adventure. That's not really the vibe of this book, and I expected (as I assume a lot of people would) that it was going to be much more lighthearted and fun. It's a pretty dense, slow read with a lot of historical context about feminism of the early 20th century and behind the scenes of publishing legalities. I have zero issues with that as I obviously rated this book 5 stars, but it took a bit of adjustment once I realized I was reading something entirely different than I expected. I figure a lot of people didn't get what they wanted from this and that's why the low rating.
But once I got beyond all that, I loved the book. Just everything about it. I loved learning about the creation of the Syndicate (so ominous lol) and Edward Stratemeyer, who created Nancy Drew along with many other series books. I loved learning how the company was structured and how ghostwriters worked. I loved the backstories of Harriet Stratemeyer, daughter of Edward and eventual CEO of the company/writer of Nancy, and Mildred Wirt Benson, writer of many of the early Nancy books. I loved the historical context of how Nancy came to be specifically relating to the early 20th century and how series books became such a big deal, and then how feminism transformed that into books for girls as well. It was all fascinating information.
Rehak spends a lot of time discussing how feminism changed throughout the years, from the very early 1900s when Harriet and Mildred were children up through the 70s and present day, especially as it relates directly to how Nancy was perceived and how she achieved such longevity when many series books were quickly forgotten. She also discusses in depth the various edits that went into Nancy, both at the time when the Syndicate disagreed with their writers and changed Nancy into a more ladylike character and in the 50s when all the books were rewritten to be less racist and easier reads.
Everything about this was so interesting and well researched. I loved every minute. I'd highly recommend this, just keep in mind it's a denser book that focuses a lot on the behind the scenes of the publishing industry. This was honestly so much better than I was expecting and it's definitely one of my favorites this year.
I think this book is kind of mis-marketed. I picked it up initially based on the description describing the "vivid energy" and telling you to "grab your flashlights and join the gang" on the adventure. That's not really the vibe of this book, and I expected (as I assume a lot of people would) that it was going to be much more lighthearted and fun. It's a pretty dense, slow read with a lot of historical context about feminism of the early 20th century and behind the scenes of publishing legalities. I have zero issues with that as I obviously rated this book 5 stars, but it took a bit of adjustment once I realized I was reading something entirely different than I expected. I figure a lot of people didn't get what they wanted from this and that's why the low rating.
But once I got beyond all that, I loved the book. Just everything about it. I loved learning about the creation of the Syndicate (so ominous lol) and Edward Stratemeyer, who created Nancy Drew along with many other series books. I loved learning how the company was structured and how ghostwriters worked. I loved the backstories of Harriet Stratemeyer, daughter of Edward and eventual CEO of the company/writer of Nancy, and Mildred Wirt Benson, writer of many of the early Nancy books. I loved the historical context of how Nancy came to be specifically relating to the early 20th century and how series books became such a big deal, and then how feminism transformed that into books for girls as well. It was all fascinating information.
Rehak spends a lot of time discussing how feminism changed throughout the years, from the very early 1900s when Harriet and Mildred were children up through the 70s and present day, especially as it relates directly to how Nancy was perceived and how she achieved such longevity when many series books were quickly forgotten. She also discusses in depth the various edits that went into Nancy, both at the time when the Syndicate disagreed with their writers and changed Nancy into a more ladylike character and in the 50s when all the books were rewritten to be less racist and easier reads.
Everything about this was so interesting and well researched. I loved every minute. I'd highly recommend this, just keep in mind it's a denser book that focuses a lot on the behind the scenes of the publishing industry. This was honestly so much better than I was expecting and it's definitely one of my favorites this year.