The Secret in the Old Attic (Nancy Drew, Book 21) [Hardcover]

Carolyn Keene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1955 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Nancy Drew #21

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carolyn Keene is the author of the ever-popular Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective and Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 177 pages
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap; Revised edition (January 1, 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0448095211
• ISBN-13: 978-0448095219
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Best Of The Series, January 29, 2003

By 

J. Thiel "jtthiel" (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret in the Old Attic (Nancy Drew, Book 21) (Hardcover)

This review concerns the original 1944 edition and the revised 1970 edition which closely follows the plot of the original, with a few small changes. Elderly Mr. March approachs Nancy seeking her help to find his deceased son's unpublished sheet music. Mr. March desperately needs the money to care for his granddaughter, Susan. Unfortunately, a thief has been secretly entering the March house and stealing whatever songs that he can find and publishing them himself. I really enjoyed this book. In my opinion, it is the second or third best of the series (I can't decide between it and The Bungalow Mystery; The Hidden Staircase is my #1). I found it to be well-written, highly descriptive, and had quite a bit of action. The climax of the book, when Nancy finally finds the music and is confronted by the thief, is perhaps the best scene of the series for its originality, excitement and suspense. The only thing that I did not like about this book, was how the thief was caught because Nancy had pretty much nothing to do with actually capturing him.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an EXELLENT book. 10 stars!!!!!!!!!!, July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Secret in the Old Attic (Nancy Drew, Book 21) (Hardcover)

Nancy Drew books are very good. I have read a lot of them andthis is one of my favorites I've read it twice and I know I'll read itagain. My mom read these books as a child and now I'm reading them! This book will keep you wondering into the last pages. You must read this book!! It's a mind challenger and a thriller. There are times when you will feel baffled and times when you will feel scared. Nancy will stop at nothing to help a person in need, and in this case to find Phillip March's unpublished music which is hidden somewhere in his fathers home Pleasant Hedges. Nancy must find the music and stop the man who is stealing from getting any more. At the same time, figure out the intruder's secret means of getting in the mansion! I think this is one of the best books I've ever read. And I read A LOT!!!!!!!!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All-time favorite of the Nancy Drews, July 21, 2002

By 

George M. Peters - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret in the Old Attic (Nancy Drew, Book 21) (Hardcover)

The Secret in the Old Attic is my hands-down favorite. Its subject matter, popular music, is close to my heart, in that I collect records, work for a record distributor, and am a musician myself, having played the clarinet in bands through public secondary school and college. Indeed, the missing music, composed by Philip March Jr. (aka Fipp), a casualty in WWII as Philip March Sr. had been a WWI vet, was the kind I most often played in college band. I could see the logical sequence, with
Nancy and friends Bess and George finding various keepsakes, selling them to enable Grandfather March to pay bills, and Nancy's lending Mr. March and Susan her radio, on which she heard songs of Fipp's that had been burglarized by Riggin "Bushy" Trott
and sold to textile executive Lawrence Dight's brother-in-law Ben
Lally, who published the stolen songs first under the alias Ben Banks, then used a NEW alias-- Harry Hall. Hearing THAT enraged Mr. March, as the song that he heard was his deceased son's, NOT composed by any Harry Hall! It was interesting that Riggin Trott
was the chemist who had stolen a synthetic silk-making process consisting of chemically treating spider thread, a WW II expedient, as was Nancy's train ride with Bess and George to distant town to question that crooked music publisher Milton Jenner (A-card limited her driving). The ending was delightful,
with Riggin (Bushy) arrested, and the stolen music recovered
(though the story did not explicitly mention that). At all events, Old Attic is my favorite. Like all the original Nancy
Drews, this one represents an earlier era, when, for instance, there were no televisions, not even Muntz TV's!