Revisiting Old Friends

By Lida Sideris

I first met Nancy in my Aunty Flora’s bedroom. While my aunt was away at school, I’d tiptoe inside and marvel at her treasures, from pearly hair ornaments to grown-up looking books. What really caught my eight-year-old-eyes was a collection of books with dark blue covers featuring an orange silhouette of a girl holding a magnifying glass—my introduction to the one and only girl detective, Nancy Drew.

I lost myself in each Nancy Drew mystery. I wasn’t interested in what Nancy looked like or what she drove. What mattered were her spunk, courage and ingenuity and what she did. She was a woman of action and I never forgot that.

As I grew older, I moved on to mysteries with more intricate plots. Nancy was mostly forgotten.

Fast forward a few decades. I wrote a mystery series starring a female protagonist who had skills and smarts. A tip of my hat to Nancy? Maybe. At a book signing, a reader stirred up memories of Nancy Drew by asking if I’d read any. That question prompted me to hunt down vintage copies and re-read them. I rediscovered what I’d found so endearing about Nancy.

Nancy’s birth in 1930 introduced a new type of female protagonist in the mystery genre. Independent, intelligent, and brave. She scaled walls, fixed boat engines, and sabotaged getaway planes. Never a timid girl or a damsel in distress, Nancy accomplished things, which my younger (and slightly older) self found highly appealing. She didn’t just go to summer camp with her friends to hike or picnic. She went because a piece of a puzzle she sought could be hidden in a nearby cabin. 

Persistence was her middle name. Nothing fazed her. Oh sure, she shed a few tears when the bad guys locked her in the closet of the abandoned cabin, but she quickly quit crying and assessed the situation. Not one to waste time, she took control by fashioning a tool to escape. Nothing and no one could hold Nancy down.

She was the original calm, cool and collected heroine. In fact, her renowned lawyer father often turned to her for help instead of the reverse. She showed all of us readers, young and old, what we were capable of accomplishing.

In children’s (and most adult) books pre-Nancy Drew, males led the way, while the females swooned and fretted in the background. Nancy defied the female stereotype of her time, turning the old model on its head and creating a new version. She accomplished all this while acting courteously, thoughtfully, and valiantly. For me, now and then, she was the ultimate role model.

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