Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her - Tapa dura

Aplucky "titian-haired" sleuth solved her first mystery in 1930. Eighty million books later, Nancy Drew has survived the Depression, World War II, and the sixties (when she was taken up with a vengeance by women's libbers) to enter the pantheon of American girlhood. As beloved by girls today as she was by their grandmothers, Nancy Drew has both inspired and reflected the changes in her readers' lives. Now, in a narrative with all the vivid energy and page-turning pace of Nancy's adventures, Melanie Rehak solves an enduring literary mystery:
Who created Nancy Drew? And how did she go from pulp heroine to icon?

The brainchild of children's book mogul Edward Stratemeyer, Nancy was brought to life by two women: Mildred Wirt Benson, a pioneering journalist from Iowa, and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, a well-bred wife and mother who took over as CEO after her father died. In a century-spanning story Rehak traces their roles-and Nancy's-in forging the modern American woman. With ebullience, wit, and a wealth of little-known source material, Rehak celebrates our unstoppable girl detective.

THE FIRST BEHIND-THE-SCENES HISTORY OF THE BELOVED GIRL DETECTIVE

"Through the history of Nancy Drew, Rehak sheds light on perhaps the most successful writing franchise of all time and also the cultural and historic changes through which it passed. Grab your flashlights, girls. The mystery of Carolyn Keene is about to begin." -- Karen Joy Fowler, author of THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB

* The original proposal for Nancy Drew suggested that her name be Stella Strong, Nell Cody, Helen Hale, or Diana Dare.

"GIRL SLEUTH is meticulously researched, elegantly written, and riveting. Melanie Rehak juxtaposes teen sleuth Nancy Drew's omnipotence with the all-too-real struggles of her creators." --Susan Kandel, author of NOT A GIRL DETECTIVE

* When Nancy Drew was introduced she wore cloche hats and gloves whenever she was out in public. In the 50s she changed to sport dresses and rompers and even -- gasp -- pants.

"Witty, fast-paced, and smart, Girl Sleuth makes the story behind Nancy Drew as much fun to read as the mystery novels themselves. It's superb."
--Jean Strouse, author of Morgan, American Financier

* Nancy and her boyfriend Ned Nickerson never once kissed, although in The Secret of the Old Attic she does "faint into his strong arms."

|THE FIRST BEHIND-THE-SCENES HISTORY OF THE BELOVED GIRL DETECTIVE

"Through the history of Nancy Drew, Rehak sheds light on perhaps the most successful writing franchise of all time and also the cultural and historic changes through which it passed. Grab your flashlights, girls. The mystery of Carolyn Keene is about to begin." -- Karen Joy Fowler, author of THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB

* The original proposal for Nancy Drew suggested that her name be Stella Strong, Nell Cody, Helen Hale, or Diana Dare.

"GIRL SLEUTH is meticulously researched, elegantly written, and riveting. Melanie Rehak juxtaposes teen sleuth Nancy Drew's omnipotence with the all-too-real struggles of her creators." --Susan Kandel, author of NOT A GIRL DETECTIVE

* When Nancy Drew was introduced she wore cloche hats and gloves whenever she was out in public. In the 50s she changed to sport dresses and rompers and even -- gasp -- pants.

"Witty, fast-paced, and smart, Girl Sleuth makes the story behind Nancy Drew as much fun to read as the mystery novels themselves. It's superb."
--Jean Strouse, author of Morgan, American Financier

* Nancy and her boyfriend Ned Nickerson never once kissed, although in The Secret of the Old Attic she does "faint into his strong arms."