Nancy Drew Mystery Stories facts for kids
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories is a very popular series of mystery books about a clever young detective named Nancy Drew. These books were published under the pen name Carolyn Keene. There are 175 books in the main series, plus 34 updated versions of earlier stories. They were published between 1930 and 2003. The first 56 books and the updated stories were published by Grosset & Dunlap. Later, Simon & Schuster took over, starting with book number 57.
A related series called The Nancy Drew Files was also published from 1986 to 1997. In 2003, Simon & Schuster decided to end the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. They replaced it with a new, more modern series called Nancy Drew: Girl Detective. This new series started in 2004 but wasn't as popular as the original and ended in 2012. After that, The Nancy Drew Diaries series began in 2013.
Contents
The Nancy Drew Books: A Publishing Journey
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories have been published by different companies over the years. Each publisher brought new changes to the books, from how they looked to who wrote them.
Early Books by Grosset & Dunlap
The first Nancy Drew Mystery Stories were published in the United States in 1930 by Grosset & Dunlap. These were hardcover books. Many of the first 34 books were rewritten and updated starting in 1959.
The stories were created by Edward Stratemeyer, who also started the idea for the series. Many of the early books were written by Mildred Wirt, who was a very important writer for the series. Later, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams took over much of the writing and editing.
Simon & Schuster Takes Over
In 1979, the Nancy Drew books started being published by Wanderer Books, a part of Simon & Schuster. These new books were softcover (paperback) and looked different from the earlier hardcover books. Even though they looked different, they were still part of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series.
These books often had more modern cover pictures. Collectors sometimes call these books "Digests" because they were smaller, like digest-sized paperbacks.
In 2005, the first eight books published by Wanderer (#57-64) were re-released by Grosset & Dunlap. This was a special event to celebrate Nancy Drew's 75th birthday. However, these special editions stopped being printed in 2013.
Wanderer Editions: New Writers Join In
When Simon & Schuster started publishing the books, the main stories and characters stayed similar to the original books. Harriet Adams was still involved for a while. After she passed away in 1982, new, younger writers were hired to continue the series. Some of these writers included Sharon Wagner, Richard Ballad, and James Duncan Lawrence. Interestingly, some books, like Captive Witness and The Sinister Omen, were first written for The Hardy Boys series but were changed to be Nancy Drew mysteries.
The last two books in this period (#77 and #78) were like test stories for a new spin-off series called The Nancy Drew Files. Because of this, and some changes with the publishing company, the main series took a break for two years.
Minstrel Editions: Modern Changes
After book #78, the series paused for about two and a half years. During this time, a company called Mega-Books took over writing the books. They hired many different writers, and some of them are still unknown! Anne Greenberg became the new editor for the series. She worked on the books for 16 years and helped keep Nancy Drew popular into the 21st century.
When The Nancy Drew Files series ended in 1997, Simon & Schuster used some stories that hadn't been published yet and turned them into books for the original series. Examples include The Wild Cat Crime (#141) and The E-mail Mystery (#144).
The writing style of these books changed. Modern technology started appearing in the stories, which sometimes made the books feel a bit old-fashioned later on. Also, the books became shorter. Nancy often solved mysteries with just one or two of her friends, like George, Bess, or Ned, instead of everyone always joining her. This made the stories feel a bit more realistic.
Aladdin Editions: The Series Ends
As the new millennium began, the series moved to Aladdin, another part of Simon & Schuster. Sales were slowing down, and the longtime editor, Anne Greenberg, left. Because of this, the original series officially ended in November 2003.
The last books published in 2003 sometimes had lower quality. The new editors were busy getting ready for the new Nancy Drew, Girl Detective series. In these final books, there were often mistakes in the story or printing. For example, Nancy and her friends might be 17 in one book, but then it's hinted Nancy is in college in another.
Nancy Drew Around the World
United Kingdom Publications
The Nancy Drew Mystery Series also became popular in the UK. They were published there as hardcovers and paperbacks starting in the early 1970s. The British publisher was Collins Publishing and its paperback brand, Armada Books.
When the books were published in England, the order of the stories was changed quite a bit from the American order. For example, the first 56 American books became the first 50 UK titles. Then, books #57-78 from the US became #51-72 in the UK. This meant that sometimes newer Simon & Schuster books were published in the UK before some of the older Grosset & Dunlap ones.
After 1985, the main Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series took a short break. Simon & Schuster then started publishing the The Nancy Drew Files for older teenagers. In 1987, the main series was relaunched under a new name in the US, called "Minstrel." In the UK, Simon & Schuster itself started publishing these newer books under their Pocket Books UK brand, starting with book #79.
Other Special Editions
Over the years, Nancy Drew books have been released in many special ways for fans and collectors.
Special Book Club Editions
From 1959 to 1961, Nancy Drew books were part of a special book club called the Nancy Drew Reader's Club. Twelve books were released with new pictures by artist Polly Bolian. These books were special because they had unique artwork and were harder to find, especially with their original paper covers.
In 1962, another book club offered Nancy Drew books with yellow spines. These books didn't have volume numbers on the spine, and the words "Book Club Edition" were printed inside. Only the first 32 books were released this way.
Two-in-One Books
In the 1970s, some Nancy Drew books were published as "Twin Thriller" editions. These books combined two stories into one volume. For example, books 1 and 2 would be together, then 3 and 4, and so on.
Classic Reprints
Applewood Books started reprinting copies of the early Nancy Drew books in 1991. These reprints looked just like the original books, with the same dust jacket art and illustrations. They even had the original stories. Many of these reprints included introductions written by adult authors who were fans of the series.
Later, in 2006, another company called Literarture also released prints of the classic Nancy Drew dust jacket artwork. These were high-quality prints that fans could frame or put on their books.
In 2007, Grosset and Dunlap also began selling special Nancy Drew mysteries with original artwork but updated stories.
