When I was in elementary school, I read Nancy Drew mysteries like there was no tomorrow. I knew their exact location at my local library simply from checking them out so many times. I would even read them at night, which sometimes scared me enough to keep me awake. I wanted to be Nancy Drew, the talented detective. Now, even as a “grown-up” teenager, I still can’t leave those books behind–I have a somewhat vintage-style pea coat that I call my “Nancy Drew coat.”
Not only did this series, which totaled 175 original books, provide enough suspense and intrigue to satisfy my little bookworm brain, but it also offered a large selection to choose from. The books are at a level suitable for late elementary school readers, so they do not need deep focus, but they are still super fun to read. A bonus: you can try to solve the mystery before it is revealed (I never had much luck, but I blame my young mind).
Nancy Drew herself is a plain, but likeable character. She loves her father dearly, and her mother died when she was three. She has two best friends, a maid who acts like a mother, and a confident attitude. She’s a middle-class, good-looking high school graduate with little time for romance (other than her acquaintance with Ned Nickerson, a college student). She is especially skilled at driving in car chases with bad guys, playing golf and tennis, dancing, swimming, and playing cards, and still cooks and sews. She is a do-it-all childhood heroine.
The mysteries always follow the same pattern. Each book likely has a best-friend sidekick, a threat from a criminal that warns Nancy to stay off a case, a car/boat chase, a valuable lost treasure, a grand old mansion, and a dangerousencounter with the criminal. All in all, the mysteries are repetitive, which made them easy to fall into time and again. For new or young English readers, especially, the repetition helps build familiarity and comfort. They may keep frightened young ones awake at night, but they can lull a learning “grown-up” to sleep.
Discussion Questions:
- How do book series help young readers and language learners to gain reading skills?
- What kind of character is best for children to read about?
- Should students focus more on one series, or a variety of books, and why?
- Does a similar structure in books make reading more comfortable or more boring?
