The MYSTERIOUS CASE OF NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The authors of Growing Up with Dick and Jane do themselves one better in this beautifully packaged and exhaustively researched volume. While Dick and Jane is loads of fun, it is a bit light on text; this book tells you everything you wanted to know about your favorite white-bread detectives. The story of their creation in the mind of Edward Stratemeyer, the way they were fleshed out by his stable of writers, and their transformation in the light of a changing America are all told, with tons of asides on their influences, effects, and environment. Kismaric and Heiferman use the teen detectives as a lens through which to view the invention of adolescence in the 20th century, but they never become dry or pedantic. The lushly illustrated, large-format book is as beautiful to hold and look at as it is engaging to read. --James DiGiovanna
Book Description
You're hot on the trail of the world's most beloved teen detectives when you crack open The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, so grab your magnifying glass and curl up on the couch for some action-packed sleuthing. Discover how and why the plucky blonde Nancy Drew and the fearless, energetic Frank and Joe Hardy have entertained and influenced American teenagers for seventy years and solved hundreds of page-turning mysteries along the way.
When the sunny, tree-lined streets of River Heights and Bayport are threatened by an endless lineup of colorful thugs, smugglers, thieves, and villainous rogues, these crime-busting teens make sure that justice prevails and good always wins out over evil. Nancy, Frank, and Joe were breakthrough characters, the first teenage detectives to star in their own book series and personalities who were tough enough to face dozens of literary competitors.
Kids stumbling through the obstacle course of adolescence couldn't get enough of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. The young sleuths survived countless revolutions in teenage taste, jumped from books to movies to television, and found themselves employed by merchandisers to sell a range of products, from jigsaw puzzles to Halloween costumes. This book tracks the growth of teen power, too -- from screaming bobby-soxers to antiwar protesters -- and shows how the rise of a youth culture redefined values and transformed American life.
For anyone who grew up reading the classic mysteries, which have been published since 1972, The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys offers an absorbing way to connect once again with the hyperactive teen sleuths who taught young readers that being a teenager could be a thrill-a-minute adventure. The whole gang's back: handsome dads Carson Drew and Fenton Hardy; college-boy heartthrob Ned Nickerson; Nancy's best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne; and chubby Chet Morton and the Hardy Boys' gang.
Independent and driven Nancy Drew continues to be a role model for new generations of girls, showing them the thrill of taking risks and taking charge. The heart-pounding excitement of Frank and Joe's heroics still enthralls boys, tapping into their fantasies of omnipotence and reinforcing the ideals of masculinity that have defined American manhood. Two hundred million copies later, Nancy, Frank, and Joe's stories remain bestsellers, passed from one friend to another, from father to son, mother to daughter, and from one generation to the next.
The MYSTERIOUS CASE OF NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS,Carole Kismaric,Marvin Heiferman,Fireside,0684846896,20th century,Adolescence - General,Children's Literature - General,Detective and mystery stories, American,History,History and criticism,Life Stages - Adolescence,Literature publishing,Pop Arts / Pop Culture,Popular Culture - General,Social Science,Sociology,United States,Young adult fiction, American,Characters,Hardy Boys,McFarlane, Leslie,Nancy Drew,Social Science / Popular Culture,Stratemeyer, Edward,Wirt, Mildred A
The MYSTERIOUS CASE OF NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS
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