Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak is a history of Nancy Drew and the real people behind the name Carolyn Keene. Nancy Drew and Carolyn Keene were products of Edward Stratemeyer, as were the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and the Hardy Boys, among others. The series books were produced by ghostwriters from precise outlines created by Stratemeyer. Nancy Drew's first ghostwriter was Mildred Wirt Benson, a midwestern journalist. After Stratemeyer's death, his work, and eventually the writing of the Nancy Drew books, was taken over by his daughter Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. This summary grossly oversimplifies the fascinating tale explicated by Rehak.
Nancy Drew became an icon of the feminist movement, and her two primary creators are shown to be Drew-like in their own ways.
I found a stash of Nancy Drew's at my aunt and uncle's house on an extended visit, and plowed through the pile. She probably started me on the track that led to the Hardys, the Three Investigators, Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, and on and on. Anyone who ever enjoyed a Nancy Drew might enjoy this well-written book. ***
Click on the post title to read an interview with Rehak at her publisher's page, or here to go to an unofficial Nancy Drew page.