Nancy Drew in The Secret of the Old Clock

This week's challenge of classic children's mysteries was so much fun!  To be honest, as a child/teen I never read Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys (although between my mom, aunts, and uncles they had the entire original series for both - unfortunately they were destroyed in a basement flood 😓).  I do remember reading & loving Encyclopedia Brown as a kid, but never read Trixie Belden and until I began homeschooling, I had never even heard of, let alone read, The Boxcar Children.  Thankfully my mom was a teacher and had a set of the first ten for her classroom that she owned - she gifted them to my girls when my oldest was around ten.  We happily read through those one summer and then proceeded to buy more.  

My girls have gone through several Nancy Drew phases and one book has been their standout favorite - The Secret of the Old Lace.  I still remember the summer my oldest read this, handed it over, and said - 'Mom, you just have to read this.'  

And I did, and realized just what I had missed as a kid/teen by not reading Nancy Drew.

I also remember the summer we discovered the 70's tv show about Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys - with Sean Cassidy, Parker Stevenson, and Pamela Sue Martin.  We got it on DVD (the first two season) and absolutely love it.  We also enjoy watching the really old Nany Drew movies where Nancy is played by Bonita Granville.

So this week, my first book choice was to borrow the very first Nancy Drew from my middle daughter and read it.  The Secret of the Old Clock was everything I hoped it would be.  Nancy is such a classy girl, now that I have seen Pamela Sue Martin play her, she is exactly how I imagine Nancy: classy, smart, beautiful, and so incredibly kind and polite.  So of course as I read this, I imagined Pamela  as Nancy and William Schallert as the dad.  

This is the very first book in the Nancy series and it is written to introduce the Drew family and to solve the mystery of old Josiah Crowley's missing final will.  I loved getting to meet Hannah Gruen and detested the Topham sisters (as well as the parents).  Although this week has been full of appointments, hard days, and lots of driving back and forth on the highway to doctor appointments...I am so glad I made time to squirrel away five minutes here and five minutes there to read this.  

I cannot recommend this series enough.  And when you are done reading, treat yourself to the 70's tv show and a few of the older Bonita Granville movies!  Now, I am hoping to finish Trixie Belden #1  before Saturday...we will see.  (I did it!  I actually finished it tonight (Friday)!)