Female Sleuth

We all have a story and memories regarding the most famous teenage female sleuth. You know who she is, either you love her or hate her but chances are you have read at least one of her stories. And your mother, and perhaps even your grandmother and if you have one, your daughter. Since the 1930s, timeless Nancy Drew has been thrilling young readers. Women of consequence like Sotomayor, read them as a child and is apparently re-reading them as we speak.
Nancy Drew's Granddaughters was sent to me at work. It's an article from the New York Times, that discusses the influence that Nancy Drew had/has on so many girls lives.
Many felt that in the constricted, protected & traditional environments Nancy gave them the strength to test boundaries. That there was another world out there and that they could have it.
Whenever I pass by the the row of bright yellow covers in the library, memories stir inside me. My first exposure to Nancy Drew was in maybe the 2nd grade. We were allowed to check out one book at school from a very small library and I latched onto a Nancy Drew book. I chose the Secret of the Wooden Lady, I took it home and much to my disappointment my mom pronounced it too difficult for a six year old to read. I declared right back that it wasn't and set about doggedly reading the book. I quickly realized it was indeed too difficult but I was exerting my rights to disagree with a parent so I persevered.
In the 4th grade, my family moved into town. Joy of joys the library was just down the street. With my fresh new library card, I would bee line to long yellow row of perfectly bound books. I love the way that they have substance and are so uniform. Spellbound, I would browse the titles in search of ones that I hadn't read. From the 4th to the 7th grade, I found comfort as I was growing and my world was changing, my place in the library did not shift. Beacons, the yellow covers called me and I yearned to own my own row of mystery. I felt an undying envy for Karen Wessels who owned the entire set when the most I possessed was 4 that I received as birthday and/or Christmas gifts.
Perhaps Nancy and her cohorts did illuminate my way out of Idabel and into the wide world, I am not sure. But my thirst for adventure was definitely stoked if not born with Nancy. By the 7th grade, I had exhausted the library's choices, there were still two mysteries that I hadn't read but they were unavailable. For months, I would comb the collection hoping that they would miraculously appear. With a degree of sadness, I moved from Carolyn Keene's Nancy to Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne and his other Cold War intrigues. Nancy will always be a friend and have a warm place in my heart.