Book Review: Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene (Reviewed by Olivia)

My daughter Olivia (age 7) continues to love Nancy Drew books. And after reading her most recent book, Olivia asked me if she could write her own review for the blog. She wrote it out by hand (including the synopsis) and I'm just typing it. So here she goes, all in her own words...

Nancy's Mysterious Letter

Written by Carolyn Keene
Juvenile Fiction; Ages 8 and up

The book starts when Nancy mistakenly gets a letter of inheritance for a Nancy Smith Drew. The book is all about the things she has to do to find this Nancy Smith Drew. Will she ever find her? You will find out if you read the book.
I really liked this book. I was interested by the idea that someone out in the world had nearly the same name as Nancy. I liked the way she decided to search for this other Nancy. I liked that it took her a while to find her, and I didn't think she'd ever find her. How she went about her search was interesting to me.

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories

Olivia -my seven year old daughter- has recently gotten into Nancy Drew mysteries in a big way. It started with her asking if there were any books she could read that were a little "spooky". "You know... something kind of mysterious that will scare me a little, but not give me nightmares." Nancy Drew was the best I could come up with at the time. She's read five books in a week and a half, and has two more to go from our current library stack. I asked her the other day what she would tell other people who were thinking about reading the books. Olivia said (Mom typing furiously while she talked):

"It's fun to read about what happens to Nancy and her friends. You don't know what's going to happen, and that makes it feel spooky and exciting. You start getting interested in the story right away, and I like how unexpected things happen. I have read four [now five] Nancy Drew books already, and am I'm excited to read the others. My favorites so far are The Clue in the Jewel Box, The Secret in the Old Attic, and The Clue in the Broken Locket. It is a good series to read if you like mysterious and exciting stories."

  There you have it.
  I remember loving the Nancy Drew books, when I read them as a pre-teen. And they are clean reading, which is why I've allowed Olivia to read them. I think they've held up fairly well over the years, because they are fast paced with interesting (for kids) plots.
  Reading them as an adult...mmmm, not so much. Highly improbable situations, slightly absurd scenes, irritating characters, and -dare I say it- cheesy writing. These books do not cross the boundry into good adult reading, BUT, I don't think it's necessary that they do. While I think a great book remains a great book no matter the age of the person reading it, I also think it's okay that there are books that only the young can appreciate.
Some interesting sites where you can read up on the history of Nancy Drew:
http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Drew