Puzzles :)

     Hello everybody! I can't believe it's the last day of November already! I'm on break from school now, so I should be able to post a lot more this next month! For now, here is a puzzle for you all to work on! All you have to do is unscramble the ND titles and guess if it is a game, book, or television episode! Enjoy :)


het ecuraetr fo puka vace (game - The Creature of Kapu Cave)

eht luce fo teh renkob colket (book - The Clue of the Broken Locket)

crestes nca likl (book and game ;) - Secrets Can Kill )

eht sermyty fo teh hewstgritrso riseuc (tv episode - The Mystery of the Ghostwriters Cruise)

eth rife gradno yesmtry (book - The Fire Dragon Mystery)


~Sienna

P.S. Highlight for the answers :)

Classic Reissues & Fansites

     While I was reading through Jennifer Fisher's Nancy Drew Sleuths blog earlier today, I discovered that the first four books in the Classic Nancy Drew series are being reissued! They will get new covers, but the text will remain the same as it has been since 1959. Here are the covers:

     Personally, I think it is a fabulous idea and I love the new covers! They are bright and intriguing. I have yet to discover the artist's name. They will be priced the same as the regular Classics ($7.99) and the internal illustrations will remain the same as before. They will be released in May of 2014.

     Also, I have found some great Nancy Drew fansites recently and wanted to share them with you!

     littlenancydrewthings.tumblr.com

     everythingnancydrew.tumblr.com

     Can You Name the Nancy Drew Characters (for the computer games)

     and I don't think I've ever shown you this ND song by reliant K:

~Sienna

Hints About The Silent Spy!

     Mark your calendars everybody! Yesterday HeR Interactive released all of the dates associated with their latest game, The Silent Spy. Here they are:

     This was the first piece of information released about the game aside from the teaser trailer. Hopefully this means that they will be releasing more soon! Oh and here's a helpful tip. If you read HeR Interactive's Amateur Sleuth blog by Little Jackalope, start highlighting the posts after you read them! Before a game is released LJ usually hides hints between the paragraphs! Yesterday she hid this sentence: "Two more Fridays." (highlight to read). Apparently more information will be released on or after that time!

     Ever since their 22nd game, Trail of the Twister, HeR Interactive has offered a bonus edition of the game to everyone who pre-orders. Twice (with CAP and GTH) they have sold out of the physical bonus edition because so many people (including me) pre-order! Will you be pre-ordering SPY? Let me know what you think about this game in the comments section! Stay tuned for my next post about the Digest series!

~Sienna

P.S. I am needing to find a bunch of great quotes from the Classic Nancy Drew books (original or revised). I already have a lot, but I know there are thousands more! If you know of any let me know in the comments section!

The Classic Series

     Today, I realized that I have never really talked about all of the different Nancy Drew series. I really want to do this, so I have decided to break it up and post about one series at a time. I will do them in the ordered they were published, starting with the Classic series.

     The classic series was written from 1959 to 1979 by 8 different ghostwriters under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. The 56 books in the series were meant for children ages 8-12. Because of this, most of the mysteries in this series were theft, arson, hidden wills and inheritances, or the occasional kidnapping. Nancy never solved a murder case and no one ever used inappropriate language.

     Nancy's friend, Helen Corning, helped her solve the first four mysteries in the series. After that, cousins Bess Marvin and George Fayne became Nancy's best friends and sleuthing companions. Ned Nickerson was Nancy's boyfriend (although he was usually referred to as her "special" friend), and Bess and George dated Dave Evans and Burt Eddleton. Many of the mysteries came to Nancy through her father, who was a criminal lawyer.

     Below is a list of all the books in the series. If you would like to see the illustrations or descriptions, please visit this link. I own all of the books in this series, so if you would like more information, or if you want me to write a review of one of the books, please let me know in the comments section!

~Sienna

1. The Secret of the Old Clock       29. Mystery at the Ski Jump

2. The Hidden Staircase       30. The Clue of the Velvet Mask

3. The Bungalow Mystery       31. The Ringmaster's Secret

4. The Mystery at Lilac Inn       32. The Scarlet Slipper Mystery

5. The Secret of Shadow Ranch       33. The Witch Tree Symbol

6. The Secret of Red Gate Farm       34. The Hidden Window Mystery

7. The Clue in the Diary       35. The Haunted Showboat

8. Nancy's Mysterious Letter       36. The Secret of the Golden Pavilion

9. The Sign of the Twisted Candles       37. The Clue in the Old Stagecoach

10. The Password to Larkspur Lane       38. The Mystery of the Fire Dragon

11. The Clue of the Broken Locket       39. The Clue of the Dancing Puppet

12. The Message in the Hollow Oak      40. The Moonstone Castle Mystery

13. The Mystery of the Ivory Charm      41. The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes

14. The Whispering Statue       42. The Phantom of Pine Hill

15. The Haunted Bridge       43. The Mystery of the 99 Steps

16. The Clue of the Tapping Heels       44. The Clue in the Crossword Cipher

17. The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk    45. The Spider Sapphire Mystery

18. Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion    46. The Invisible Intruder

19. The Quest of the Missing Map       47. The Mysterious Mannequin

20. The Clue in the Jewel Box       48. The Crooked Banister

21. The Secret in the Old Attic       49. The Secret of Mirror Bay

22. The Clue in the Crumbling Wall      50. The Double Jinx Mystery

23. Mystery of the Tolling Bell 51. Mystery of the Glowing Eye

24. The Clue in the Old Album 52. The Secret of the Forgotten City

25. The Ghost of Blackwood Hall        53. The Sky Phantom

26. The Clue of the Leaning Chimney   54. The Strange Message in the Parchment

27. The Secret of the Wooden Lady 55. Mystery of Crocodile Island

28. The Clue of the Black Keys 56. The Thirteenth Pearl

Note: It is believed that the upcoming Nancy Drew computer game, The Silent Spy, is loosely based on the 41st book in this series, The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes!

My Awesome Book & Books For Sale

     Today I bought a really neat Nancy Drew book from my sister. I find this book to be super cool because... *drum roll*

     It is written in braille! My sister received this book as a Christmas present a few years ago because she is very interested in braille, but since she cannot read braille yet, she decided I could have it! I found out that there are at least 20 other Classic and Digest books like this one, but I'm not sure how long they were made, or if they are still making them. This one was published in 2002. Most of the books are in two parts. Unfortunately, I only have the second part. Here is what the book looks like on the inside:

The Table of Contents

The Center Page

     Eventually I would like to get the first part of the book also. I have also discovered braille Hardy Boys books, when looking on Ebay. Speaking of Hardy Boys books, I have a lot (some very old) that I am putting up for sale along with a few Nancy Drew books. I will post pictures and prices very soon in my next post. Let me know in the comments section if you are interested in purchasing any or all of them!

~Sienna

What Does Nancy Drew Look Like?

     For those of you who don't know, HeR Interactive is a game company that has been making Nancy Drew games for 15 years. They have made 28 ND games. Their most recent one, Ghost of Thornton Hall came out the beginning of this month. At the end of every game is a trailer for the next one.

     The trailer for the newest game was very short and only revealed a small amount of information, but it has everyone very curious and excited. These are the things we know about the game:

1. It will be called The Silent Spy
2. It will be set in Glasgow, Scotland
3. It will be about Nancy's MOM!

     You can watch the trailer here:

     There are a lot of people who are excited about this game, but some people are not looking forward to it. Not much is known about Nancy's mother or how she died. And a lot of people want it to stay that way. Here is what we do know:

• Nancy was only three years old when her mother died (ten in the original Classic books)
• Her maiden name was Austin
• Her family to America from Scotland and her grandmother (Nancy's Great-Grandmother) still lives there
• She died of a long, mysterious illness

     The French Nancy Drew books say that her first name was Elise, her maiden name was Beauchamp, and she is from Louisiana. In the 2002 pilot episode of a Nancy Drew show that never took off, Nancy says that her mother died of a heart attack. I have also heard some people say that she died in a car accident, but I am not sure where that came from.

     Some people are very concerned that, because this game is about Nancy's mom, we may finally see her dad, Carson in this game. We have talked to him over the phone a few times, but never actually see him. This may also be our chance to see Hannah, Ned, Nancy's Great-Grandmother, and maybe even Nancy herself. Personally, I will not be bothered by seeing anyone in this game. I actually want to! I have seen so many different interpretations of what people think Nancy and her family and friends look like that seeing one more will not bother me a bit and I am interested in knowing how HeR imagines Nancy to look. Here are a few different versions of what people have thought Nancy to look like over the years:

Graphic Novel 1, Girl Detective 44, Emma Roberts, Tracy Ryan
Classic 44, Classic 1, Girl Detective 41, Several Different Pictures

     What are your thoughts about possibly seeing what Nancy or certain other characters look like in a HeR Interactive game for the first time?

~Sienna


Random Fact of the Week: Nancy has been portrayed by twelve different actresses in movies and on tv shows in the last 83 years!

Foreign Nancy Drew Books

     Recently I visited McKay Used Books with my friend and found seven foreign Nancy Drew books! According to Lea Fox from nancydrewworld.com, Nancy Drew books have been discovered in 33 different countries and translated into "26 languages (27 if you count the Queen's English as a foreign tongue)."

     The books I bought were from the Classic series. They were printed in Great Britain from 1975 to 1982. There were 32 books printed in the same format as mine. The text remained the same, but they were printed in a different order. Most of the covers were drawings that are believed to have been done by artist Peter Archer. However, because these books were printed at the same time the 70's Nancy Drew television show was airing, some of the covers are pictures from the show.

My books (#6, 7, 9, 17, 20, 21, and 21)

     For more information on foreign Nancy Drew books see nancydrewworld.com!

~Sienna

The Nancy Drew Classic Series: Originals vs. Revised

     The classic Nancy Drew series was written from 1930 to 1979. Thirty-four of those books were written over a period of twenty-nine years, then in 1959, those books began to be revised and the next twenty-two books started being written in this new format. The books were revised for several reasons. Mainly to update the books and remove all stereotypes. Here is a list of the changes that were made to the revised books. The (o) stands for original and the (r) for revised.

1. (o) Nancy's mother died when Nancy was ten years old.

    (r) Nancy's mother died when Nancy was three years old.

2.  (o) Nancy's hair was blonde.

     (r) Nancy's hair is strawberry blonde.

3. (o) Nancy was sixteen years old.

    (r) Nancy is eighteen years old.

4. (o) The books had 25 chapters.

    (r) The books have 20 chapters.

5. (o) The books were approximately 200 pages long.

    (r) The books are approximately 180 pages long.

6. (o) The books were illustrated mainly by Russell H. Tandy.

    (r) The books are illustrated mainly by Rudy Nappi.

7. (o) Bess and George were sixteen years old.

    (r) Bess and George are eighteen years old.

8. (o) Hannah Gruen was nothing more than a housekeeper.

    (r) Hannah Gruen was Nancy's dear friend and mother figure.

9. (o) Nancy was fearless.

    (r) Nancy was much more careful.

10. (o) Nancy didn't mind breaking the rules a little bit if it meant she would solve the mystery.

      (r) Nancy would never break the rules.

11. (o) Nancy was described as "pretty".

      (r) Nancy was described as "attractive".

12. Books 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 14, 17, and 18 got brand new stories when they were revised.

13. Several titles were slightly altered. (e.g. The Secret at Shadow Ranch became The Secret of Shadow Ranch)

~Sienna

Random Fact of the Week: When Edward Stratemeyer was creating Nancy Drew, some of the names he considered were Diana Drew, Nell Cody, Stella Strong, Nan Nelson, Diana Dare, Helen Hale, and Nan Drew.

The History of Nancy Drew

     Today I thought I would tell a bit about the history of Nancy Drew and how she was created in 1929. For several years, an author named Edward Stratemeyer had been wanting to create a mystery series of books in which a teenage girl was the hero. Back in those days, books like that were not very common. Sure, you could find plenty of mystery books and stories, but the hero in those books almost always turned out to be a boy. Edward Stratemeyer decided to try something new. In 1929, he created a children's series of books for girls (and boys too). It was a mystery series and the heroine was a sixteen year old girl named Nancy. Nancy Drew.

     Once Mr. Stratemeyer had written several plots and gotten permission from his publisher (Grosset & Dunlap) he hired Mildred A. Wirt to write the books. On April 28, 1930 the first three books were published together, as a breeder set. The series was an immediate success. Sadly, Mr. Stratemeyer never knew what a hit the books were. He was very sick and in bed with pneumonia at the time. He passed away just twelve days later, on May 10.

     When Mr. Stratemeyer died, his daughters Harriet and Edna ran his business. Mildred A. Wirt continued writing the books for a long time. The books she wrote were 1-7, 11-25, and 30. The classic series was written by a total of eight different ghost writers under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. One of these authors was Mr. Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet. She wrote books 31 and 33-56. She also revised the first 34 books starting in 1959 with the help of six other authors. The classic series ran from 1930 to 1979. There have been a total of twelve Nancy Drew series altogether.


     Everything I post on here is my own writing, but much of the information I found by reading dozens of books and websites dedicated to Nancy Drew. One of the best websites I found so far is nancydrewsleuth.com by Jennifer Fisher. This website is amazing and I recommend that anyone interested in Nancy Drew read it! I hope you enjoyed what I wrote today. Next time I will be talking about the revisions of the classic series and the differences between the original and revised books!

~Sienna