The Secret of Mirror Bay (Nancy Drew)

Having just read the article about graphic novel versions of Nancy Drew, I was curious to reread one of the original versions. In some ways, it reads rather dated. Some of the prose is pretty stilted. For example, when the girls' boyfriends arrive with a man in tow for Aunt Eloise, he is introduced

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as "Miss Drew, I'd like to present my uncle, Professor Matthew Bronson, B.S., M.A., PhD. He's going to be teaching chemistry at Emerson this fall" (p.99). In addition, there is a lot of detail regarding making meals and what they eat. The characters also face real dangers---more than one is hit on the head and knocked out. One is bitten by a poisonous bug; another comes across a burglary in progress; another fights off a captor. However, the prose keeps the storyline from being too scary; I kept thinking that a current version of the story would not have people walking into the woods at night over and over to find criminals. It just seems way too dangerous for the audience to be believable.

A library could do a display of Nancy Drew books and the graphic novel versions. Perhaps it could be part of a larger display celebrating mysteries and include mystery books for various age levels. The library could even host a mystery interactive theater presentation or hide clues in the library and let patrons do a search as part of a youth activity.

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