The Nancy Drew Scrapbook: 60 Years of America's Favorite Teenage Sleuth [Paperback]

Karen Plunkett-Powell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1993

A celebration of the Nancy Drew series discusses the real authors behind the name Carolyn Keene, the changes in Nancy's dress, behavior, and hair color, Nancy's family, friends, and love interests, and screen adaptations of the series.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Great fun for nostalgic sleuths as well as for today's readers of Nancy Drew. Plunkett-Powell has done her homework on the early publishing history of this internationally known mystery series for children. She writes about the impact of the books as well as their contents. Chapters depicting Nancy's cohorts, her car, and her town demonstrate just how universal Nancy Drew lore is to her fans. A great resource for collectors and fun reading for old or new fans. Denise Perry Donavin

Product Details

• Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312098812
• ISBN-13: 978-0312098810
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nancy Drew collectors MUST HAVE this book!, November 26, 2001

By 

Andrea Egger, author of Grave Accusations (Gallup, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nancy Drew Scrapbook: 60 Years of America's Favorite Teenage Sleuth (Paperback)

This was the best and most well-researched book I've ever read about Nancy Drew. Not only does Ms. Plunkett-Powell "introduce" us to the REAL Carolyn Keene -- Mildred Wirt Benson -- but she gives us a history of how the idea for Nancy Drew was born and some of the politics involved in it for Wirt when Stratmeyer died and his daughter, Harriet, took over everything and tried to control too much of the writing. We learn which NDs weren't written by Wirt, and how much of the writing was changed as well as the covers.

She tells collectors how to know the worth of their stash. She goes through each of the characters and their start with the series. She even talks about the TV show and MOVIES in the 1930s that were made -- more for the fun of it than to truly showcase the books. Info about Russell Tandy, the illustrator of the early books and the first to design covers, also is described.

She hasn't forgotten anything. It's truly a work of genius for the Nancy Drew collector, a "must have" for all of us!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just as much fun as a Nancy Drew mystery!, October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Nancy Drew Scrapbook: 60 Years of America's Favorite Teenage Sleuth (Paperback)

What a fun read! I loved seeing all the old pictures, and was amazed by the "behind the scenes" intrigue of the Nancy Drew publishing syndicate. Plunkett-Powell really tracked down the many Carolyn Keenes, in true "sleuth style." Anyone who ever stayed up late reading their Nancy Drews with a flashlight under the covers will absolutely love this book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mystery of Nancy Drew's Ghostwriter...solved!, June 17, 2001

By 

thecastlebookroom "thecastlebookroom" (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nancy Drew Scrapbook: 60 Years of America's Favorite Teenage Sleuth (Paperback)

...and other fascinating background trivia for the queen-of-teen-sleuth buffs! I'm not a true Nancy Drew fan, I'm a bookseller with a mercenary interest in the vintage teenage sleuth, but this book almost made me a believer! The author approaches her subject matter with the infectious enthusiasm of the true fan, and delves into carefully guarded mysteries of secret ghostwriter identities, Riverview's true location, and other gems of trivia too numerous to cite, with a determination and verve Nancy herself would be proud of! Fun to read, captivating, and informative to the collector and bookseller alike! (and by the way, the writing is adult-level, not 4-8 yrs., as the description implies!)