A review by kpeeps111
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak

4.0

I'm pretty sure I was given this book as kind of a joke because my friends and I have a bit of an obsession with the Nancy Drew computer games (which are fabulous, fyi). Sadly, this history of Nancy Drew and her creators does not mention her computer game legacy, but it does give a pretty good discussion of Nancy's cultural impact and importance, and why so many girls love her so very much. After all, not every books series lasts 50+ years. It was really interesting to learn about the women (and men!) behind Nancy's creation and evolution, and how and why. The story of the women in question is also quite compelling, as they are interesting characters indeed. Different aspects of Nancy's personality as evident in each of them, and they are pretty cool old ladies. One of them was a diver for Iowa State in the 1920s, a investigatory journalist, and a pilot in her 70s. The other took over her father's company in 1930 and continued to run it well into her 80s. It's interesting to look back from the end in the mid 1990s and remember that we started out at the turn of the century dime novels. Crazy! Anyway, this was an oddly engrossing read, and I really enjoyed it. Hooray women!