Mystery Week: Nancy Drew Mysteries….my gateway drug.
Submitted by Doll Desi on March 18, 2011 – 3:48 amOne Comment
Hello. My name is Desi and I’m a bookaholic.
Ok… so the title may seem a little harsh or whatever, but in a way the Nancy Drew mysteries are responsible for my book addiction.
Much to my mother’s chagrin (I love that word) I wasn’t really into reading until around fourth grade. I went to a private school pre-K-2nd grade and their reading curriculum was really hard for me to grasp and I struggled. One of my mom’s friends offered to tutor me at the public library and through my sessions with her (I love you Ms. Kelley) and being at the library itself I slowly began to fall in love with reading.
I always loved having books, but reading was a different story…ha…get it…story…anyway, when I transferred to a public school and we started having big book fairs I remember realizing that my parents didn’t mind buying me books. That realization was like a light bulb moment. I figured out that I could shop for books but because I didn’t really read much for recreation I had no idea what books to put on my tab…and since my parents were willing to shell out $$$$ for books I wasn’t about to let the opportunity go to waste! I watched what the other more popular kids were reading (remember I am a new kid and low man on the social totem pole at that time) and they were getting lots of Nancy Drew books, American girls, and Harry Potter.
Harry Potter looked rather ambitious for my first time out and the American Girl books I already owned, though I hadn’t read them yet. So, I got a bunch of Nancy Drew books and a couple others that I thought had cool covers like “Wolf Brother” by Michelle Paver, “Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snikett and “Princess Academy” by Shannon Hale. I even squeezed in some non-book items like smelly pens, stickers, a poster and a webkinz puppy (don’t judge).
Remember when I said I was the new kid…well because of my newbie status I wanted desperately to get in good with the cool girl table and they were all reading and talking about the Nancy Drew mystery so I decided I’d read it too…that way we’d have something real to talk about. Pretty clever, huh? That day, I came home from school and was determined to read some of the book so I could say something to the girls the next day. I remember it so well…I came home and fixed myself a cup of noodles (ramen) and sat at the kitchen table ready to get the reading over with…but the unexpected happened.
I actually got into the story. I sat at the table and read until it started getting dark. My mother thought I was sick or something because I was so absorbed by the story and the characters! Books were fun! Who knew?!?
I will be honest and tell you that I’m not sure which book out of the series it was…I read them all back to back in one week and they kind of slur together. But what I am positive about was that after that week, I read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events and like the Nancy Drew stories, that led to bigger and better things like Harry Potter. And, here is the kicker…I wasn’t reading to get in good with a group of girls or anything else, I was reading for me because I LOVED it. I loved the cliffhangers (though they made me crazy) I loved trying to speculate on the “whodunnit” and why’s behind everything. In fact, at the heart of nearly every story I adore lies a good mystery.
The moral of this story folks, it only takes one good story to make a bookaholic out of anyone. I read so much now. Sometimes as many as 6 books a week (my benders) but almost always at least 1 (I’m a functioning bookaholic with school , theatre, and track competing for my time). But, I have The Nancy Drew books to thank for sparking that reading passion, and the other books I’ve read after that for fanning the flame.
I can’t imagine how boring life would be without a little mystery and a lot of books to keep things interesting!
Desilula is our resident "Tween" who helps give us insight to all the Young adult and children's books from the perspective of....well...a young adult. She loves to read and write and absolutely hates math! Her favorite books include classics like "Little Women" and "Alice in Wonderland", but she is hip with all the latest young adult books including her favorite, "Hunger Games"! She enjoys hanging out with friends and doing activities like swimming, skate boarding, climbing trees, and performing in plays or musicals. She plays a little piano, and a little guitar (mostly power chords;)) and has played in a band. She loves animals and plans to travel the world someday!
Yes, there were reasons why Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were so popular. I spent my allowance at used book stores buying those things.