I’m going to start this off with a question for everyone reading this. What’s a cool fact about the Amazing Spider-Man aka Peter Parker, the Incredible Hulk aka Bruce Banner, Stan Lee aka Stanley Martin Lieber, the Fantastic Four aka Reed and Sue Richards, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm, Kathy the Teenage Tornado, Millie the Model, X-Men, more Marvel characters, Nancy Drew, Ned Nickerson, George Fayne, Bess Marvin, Carson Drew, Hannah Gruen, Jughead, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, and The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, and Curly) that they all have in common? Answer: they all have a mutual friend – the super-nice, talented artist Stan Goldberg!  

When Papercutz’s the Amazing-Marketing-Director-Man (that’s his superhero name – I just came up with it ), Jesse, first said that I could interview Stan Goldberg, I ran and told everyone at home (at the time) right away. I was super-excited!! And I’m still super-excited!! In case you couldn’t tell!

I’m having so much fun interviewing Stan and finding out so many cool things! It’s great to hear about someone loving what they do – and not only does he enjoy his work, he has so many fans who appreciate and love his illustrations.

Writer: Gerry Conway
Colorist: Stan Goldberg

Hardy Boys graphic novel trivia alert! Gerry Conway, who wrote the first ever graphic novel teaming of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, along with two more Hardy Boys graphic novels for Papercutz, also wrote for Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man comics for some of the same issues when Stan Goldberg was the colorist for the Spidey comics!

And now here are my first three questions and Stan’s answers:

1. What is your all-time favorite character to draw?

Stan – Hi Ann.. When I worked for Archie comics, I enjoyed drawing all the characters. M, but, when I drew the Jughead book for a number of years, he became my all time favorite.  When they took surveys, he was more popular than Archie.

Ann – Jughead is so endearing and likeable, it’s no surprise at all to me that he’s the favorite of so many. From your drawings of him, he’s someone a reader wants to follow his adventures and root for him because he’s so amiable.

2. What is the first character you ever drew?

Stan – In 1958, way before your time, I created a character called KATHY THE TEENAGE TORNADO for Marvel comics.  That was the start of my career in comics.  The book was published for many years.  Then I started drawing MILLIE THE MODEL for almost 20 years.

Ann – Kathy the Teenage Tornado sounds like great reads and Millie the Model! (Note to readers – I did an online search and these cool comics, including the Jughead series, can be found on Amazon, eBay, and comic sites to buy! Check ‘em out! )

3. What do you like best about having one of the most fun jobs ever in the world – drawing comics?

Stan – I enjoy drawing today, maybe more than when I started my career.  I keep my work very up to date and exciting and  I love doing continuity.

Ann – That’s really cool that your love of drawing’s maybe even more now. Your good work is loved worldwide.  

Thank you again, Stan, for sharing your time out of your busy schedule and your cool talent with everyone!

TO BE CONTINUED….

BOLO for the next exciting issue in this four-part series: Stan Goldberg – The Interview!

~ Ann (a Stan fan )

As far as ratings go, anyone who reads the books and can handle the danger in them, should be able to read my stories.

#3 The Bungalow Mystery

This is the last of the Nancy Drew books that I’ve read in recent years, so I was eager to get through the story and move on to the others I haven’t read (either yet or in a long time).  A seasoned sleuth by this time, Nancy stumbles upon her third mystery when she and the still-engaged Helen Corning meet the orphaned Laura Pendleton.

Knowing that the series was penned by different authors, I was curious about continuity and was relieved to learn that Helen and Jim are still an item, but, as expected, we still don’t get any juicy details about their relationship.

As I read The Bungalow Mystery, I couldn’t help but think that Nancy spent a good deal of time asking for it culminating in her being tied up in the dark dank basement of a shack.  It truly felt like even though Nancy was working on solving the mystery of what was going on with Laura Pendleton’s shady guardians, people sure spent a lot of time looking after Nancy.

Laura herself met Nancy and Helen when their boat capsized in a storm, and Carson Drew saves the day several times as well.  I legitimately found myself questioning her ability in this installment.  As I read, I couldn’t help but feel that this story was different from the previous two.  Perhaps that’s because the mystery presented itself to Nancy in a series of larger clues she would need to piece together rather than as a trail of information to follow and arrive at a solution.  Also maybe it’s because I wasn’t sure Nancy knew what she was looking for.  It was more like something was rotten in the state of River Heights, but Nancy’s nose had yet to pick up the scent.

#1 The Secret of the Old Clock

Admittedly I first read The Secret of the Old Clock in early elementary school (maybe second or third grade) and re-read it a few years back, but decided that if I’m truly going to read the entire series, I’d best start at the very beginning and trudge through in order.  I’ve been aware for some time that Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym for a group of authors, but it only recently came to my attention that the original Nancy Drew books were revised beginning in 1959, so I’m a little bummed that the first installment as I know it isn’t even in it’s original form.  What I’m allegedly missing out on is a bunch of racial stereotyping… what I’m concerned about, however, is the alleged transformation of Nancy’s character that took place during the revisions and the condensing of the plot from 25 chapters to 20 –I do have it from a reputable source, however, that the early stories are wordy, so maybe I’m just saving time here.

The Secret of the Old Clock introduces Nancy Drew as a proper, somewhat adventurous young lady with a knack for trusting her intuition and getting herself out of sticky situations.  I chuckled on the first page when I read, “Smiling, Nancy said to herself, ‘Dad depends on my intuition.’”  I don’t know about you, but pretty much the only things my dad depends on me for are sarcasm, mockery, and help getting the garbage and recycling together on Wednesday nights.  However, throughout her adventure, Nancy continually depends on her own intuition to unravel the mystery of Josiah Crowley’s estate and to restore order in her fictional universe of River Heights.

Drew’s intuition extends far beyond her crime solving abilities.  She also moonlights as a talent scout for the local vocal teacher.  During her day job Nancy meets the Hoover sisters, and after hearing Allison Hoover’s singing, “She arranged for a meeting the following afternoon at four o’clock and left Signor Masagni’s house in an excited mood. ‘Maybe I’m going way out on a limb,’ Nancy mused, ‘but this is another of those hunches of mine that dad talks about, and I must carry through’” (p. 50).  Spoiler alert: not only is Miss Drew successful in solving the Crowley mystery, Signor Masagni predicts that Miss Hoover will one day be an operatic star and agrees to be her teacher.  It’s not all just luck and intuition for Nancy Drew though.  She’s a deft crime solver because she insists on getting her questions answered.  Her father, a prominent lawyer, goes so far as to say, “You sound like a trial lawyer, the way you cross-examine me” of course the evident enjoyment on his face only serves to encourage Nancy on her quest (17).

Because I’m encountering this mystery for at least the third time, my reaction to the plot is not as strong as it once was.  I remember staring at the cover with wonder and imagining just what it would take to discover this old clock, and that the timepiece I constructed in my head was much more elaborate and Hogwartsian than the one depicted on the cover.  It seems that as an adult, some of the grandeur has faded from River Heights, but I suspect that I’ll dig backward and project it forward onto future stories as I read those for the first time.

“…somehow, as Nancy gazed at the timepiece, she sensed that exciting days were soon to come” (180).

Onward to The Hidden Staircase (which admittedly scared the crap out of me when I first read it).

Title: The Whispering Statue

Author: Carolyn Keene

Rating: 4 (didn’t want it to end)

Description: When Nancy, Bess and George, help Mrs Owen recover her lost handbag, they never expect to see her again. However, when the three along with Carson Drew, Nancy’s father, go to Sea Cliff, they uncover another exciting new mystery, involving Mrs Owen and the husband she believed disappeared in Borneo. Meanwhile, Joe Mitza is trying to con Miss Morse out of her money. When Nancy tells her this Miss Morse doesn’t take her advice. Nancy soon discovers that there are many mysterious people involved in the mystery, but which parts do the play?

Setting: America, 1960′s

Book type: Mystery

Suitable for age: 9+

Number of pages: 160

ISBN: 0006913040

Title: The Bungalow Mystery

Author: Carolyn Keene

Rating: 4 (didn’t want it to end)

Description: When Laura Pendleton rescues Nancy and Helen from a stormy lake, little does Nancy know that she will soon be solving a puzzling mystery for Laura – The Bungalow Mystery! Laura is an orphan and is soon to meet her new family. However, she soon discovers that they are trying to steal her priceless jewels. It’s up to Nancy Drew to find out whether these strange events are somehow tied up with a recent bank robbery. And are Mr and Mrs Aborn, really who they seem to be?

Setting: 1960′s America

Book type: Mystery

Suitable for age: 8+

Number of pages: 160

ISBN: 0006912168

Cover of The Hidden Staircase

Nancy Drew is an excellent teenage detective from America.  She knows the value of using a good magnifying glass and a strong torch to solve her cases.  In “The Hidden Staircase”, Nancy Drew travels to an old stone mansion and finds a secret hidden passage.  If she did not have her torch with her, she would have been stumped.  So budding detectives, take note from Nancy Drew and always make sure you have your torch whilst out detecting.  Nothing stops Nancy from solving her case, she is fearless and intelligent. In fact, she reminds me of my friend, Athena.

1966 cover of the revised version of The Secret of the Old Clock, the first Nancy Drew mystery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I said, Nancy Drew is American.  She lives in a place called River Heights.  Her father, Carson Drew is a criminal lawyer and Nancy worked on her first case “The Secret of The Old Clock” with him.  We see how clever and brave Nancy is when she actually rescues her father after he has been abducted.  This happens in the case I mentioned earlier – “The Hidden Staircase”.

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Budding detectives often think that there is no point in being a detective because no-one will take child and teenage detectives seriously.  This is not always the case.  In “The Ghost of Blackwood Hall”, Nancy is asked to detect because she is not an adult.  Mrs Putney has had all her jewels stolen and warned she must not go to the police or tell any man or woman what has happened.  If she does, she will invite terrible publicity.  She feels safe telling Nancy Drew, the best sleuth in River Heights, simply because she is a girl.  Mrs Putney, therefore, is not going to the police or telling a man or a woman.  This proves that young detectives are needed.

This is the mysterious parcel. I need to investigate.

A mysterious parcel has arrived with a miniature skull inside it.  Until next time, budding detectives – I need to get my magnifying glass out.

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cover art from Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew #1) by Carolyn Keene

Okay — yes I am about 25 years too old to be reading this book … but I tried to read it when I was the appropriate age and couldn’t get past the gloves and convertible running errands for Daddy.

I finally got past all that and decided, you know, it wasn’t half bad.  I am not a t-shirt wearing convert but at least I successfully read it and may try to read another at some point.

As previously mentioned, Nancy runs errands for her father the handsome widower Carson Drew, attorney at law.  She has a convertible and wears gloves and proper attire.  She is very socially adept and concerned for others.  She is the perfect lady — maybe that is why I didn’t like her when I was a youth!

Nancy meets a series of people who all are somehow connected to a man who recently passed away and there is a question of his will.  The will that has been found is not the will everyone was expecting to see and Nancy needs to find the new will.  She has narrow escapes and lots of adventure and ultimately saves the day.

So yes this is a book for pre-teen and early teen readers and I finally got around to reading it.  Certainly I get kudos for that!

(Excerpt from “The Secret of the Old Clock” by Carolyn Keene)

I love Nancy Drew. I love that she’s young, pretty, rich, smart and brave. I love that she drives a cool car. She doesn’t need to work. She has a nice boyfriend. If I actually met someone like that, I think I’d have to hate her. But Nancy is a great role model for women.

Problem is, how many eighteen-year-olds do you know who are allowed to drive around in a snappy roadster and solve mysteries for fun? Nancy’s father never nagged her about getting a job or studying harder at school. He was an unending source of emotional and financial support. His sternest warning? “Be careful.” Carson is the father every girl wants.

But not the one most of us have. Dad, I love you, but you never bought me a car for my birthday.

Growing up, I never had a Ned Nickerson in my life, either. Wouldn’t it be great to have a guy who was handsome, reliable and gallant, ready to fight off arsonists and kidnappers at a moment’s notice, but also willing to stay in the background if you needed your independence?

Nancy also enjoyed loyal and steadfast friends like Bess and George, who didn’t mind getting knocked down, poisoned, or nearly suffocated in an ice-cream freezer. Being friends with Nancy couldn’t have been easy, but it must have been irresistible.

On the flip side, a Chick Dick heroine’s personal life is usually a mess. They are noted for their disastrous love lives, dead beat–or dead–parents, mind-numbing jobs, and second-hand cars. A far cry from Nancy’s idyllic existence in River Heights, but perhaps a more relatable one for readers.

Nancy’s passion was solving mysteries and helping others. Chick Dicks are amateur sleuths too, but usually out of necessity rather than choice. A Chick Dick heroine gets thrown into the mystery by chance. While she might enjoy the challenge of following clues, the stakes are higher, and much more personal.

Nancy has captured our hearts for more than eighty years. We love her, even though we might be just a tad jealous of her perfect life.

Following in Nancy’s slender, size 5 footsteps, Chick Dicks will beat their bad luck, bad hair and bad relationships. They’ll rise to their challenges and earn their happy ending.

But their path may be a little rockier.

” I know what I’ll do!, I’ll make a trap for that ghost!”

I have this book a long time ago but not too long. My mom gave it to me for a reward of something I did that makes her wanna open her purse and take me to the bookstore. We bought ‘The Secret of The Old Clock‘, ‘The Hidden Staircase’, ‘Password to Larkspur Lane‘ and ‘The Quest of the Missing Map‘. So I started to the secret of the old clock then Password to Larkspur Lane then The missing Map. So It’s kind a funny to forgot about The Hidden Staircase. I really thought I’ve read it already which is not yet!. When in the middle of the story it was really frantic waiting for Nancy to find out who was the ghost.

Especially when Nancy come to stay inside the house of aunt Rose Mary and Miss Flora peering about the scary gesture of the unknown ghost!.The radio just turned on, the chandelier moved left to right, the sofa just moved, a violin just played even if theirs no violin inside the house, the food were gone, a ghost with an ugly face outside the window and a man so weak that can’t hardly stand straight frighten aunt Rosemary that they have to watch her all day long in times of trouble AGAIN. I don’t know If this sounds scary to you but this sounds scary TO ME.

The last mystery ‘The Secret of The Old Clock’ that the young sleuth detective has solved was really dangerous for her than ‘The Hidden Staircase‘. Her father, Carson Drew has been kidnapped. While Nancy Drew were locating her father,she was solving about the ghost bothering ‘aunt Rosemary and Miss Flora’ at their mansion. When reading , we used our imagination to feel the story like we were part of it. So reading this story, I feel like ‘THIS IS IT!’, the ghost really trick me though I’m just a reader of their story. ‘TOUCHE’ is what I can say. My heart was pounding fast that makes me believe that their were really a ghost inside the mansion. But all was a sudden.

My stomach trembling and my thirst dried my mouth that was telling me to ‘GIVE IT A REST’ but I can’t stop, I have no choise. . . but to follow the command of my growling stomach before proceeding to be frighten and feel more “ANXIOUS”.

It was really a nice-try, scary the people involve in the story as well as the readers. Well, enough of this scary thoughts I’ve felt.

In this story, the young sleuth  didn’t get ‘too much danger; except of the CHANDELIER thingy. THough she didn’t have an extremely in danger, she still feels in a terrible danger, because for her father who was kidnapped that makes his father i’ll.

I feel a bit exhausted to this story but not devoiding at all. But I bet in no ‘dilemma’. I totally do understand the story. I don’t know but, reading this book, I feel like I’m into it again. Nancy Drew were really is an old book but it seems so fresh and new to me. Now the mystery is solved!. The point is , no ghost at all. I won’t bother to believe one-only if I see one with my two naked eye, but I’m not wishing to see one. Though I feel scared in dark places, well I guess that’s normal.

I love the mystery!

Nancy Drew Uncivil Acts #10 Carolyn Keene - the idea girl says wordpress linda randall

source – http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48782.Uncivil_Acts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Detective

A Civil War reenactment should be fun, right? Not in our town! It feels like war fever’s taken over. The tension started to build when we all chose sides. Confederate and Union sympathizers never did mix. And if that wasn’t enough to heat things up, someone started to secretly dig large holes in the battlefield. Pretty odd — and very suspicious. Is someone waging a little war of their own, and trying to cheat? And if so, the bigger question is why?

the idea girl says

I really liked this novel because it taught me loads about the wars of the 1800s.  From types of clothing, to war weapons and more.  It was like a drip down history lane.  So if your wondering about civil wars in the united states, this is a good research book to read.  If not and you are a budding writer, this gives you an idea of how to PRESENT the facts mixed with a story of fiction.

Very well written, not sure who the ghost writer was for this novel…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War_reenactment

Battle Of Chancellorsville Reenactment from wikipedia linda randall

its the 10th reprint back in 2005… hmmm not sure how to figure that one out, if you know drop me a line

girl detective nancy drew doll

Here are the Original NANCY DREW movies…

WACOAGENTS

I have played and solved 21 of the HerInteractive PC games and read most of the original yellow bound novels. I even own a Nancy Drew cookbook, a “Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life” book and a large Nancy Drew cut out.

Nancy Drew has played a pivotal role for the past 80 years in literature for young girls, as well as in pop culture.

Everyone knows who she is and is fairly respected as a literary character. However, why is there not a flattering movie adaptation depicting everyone’s this important literary character and symbol for American women?

Eight years after the first Nancy Drew novel, “The Secret of the Old Clock,” was published in 1930, the first Nancy Drew film adaptation was released.

“Nancy Drew…Reporter,” the first film adaptation of the series, was released in 1938, three more movies were released all in 1939. These movies included “Nancy Drew…Trouble Shooter,” “Nancy Drew…Detective” and “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.”

Film series were not rare in the 1930’s and 1940’s. In fact many studios made a great deal of money off of series such as “Andy Hardy,” “Dr. Kildaire,” “Maisie” and “Boston Blackie just to name a few of many.

I imagine that is what Warner Brothers was trying to do with Nancy Drew. But none of the films followed or resembled any of the Nancy Drew books, except for snippets of “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” which I think is modeling itself after the book “The Hidden Staircase.”

In novels Miss Drew is level-headed, fearless and intelligent. She doesn’t goof off and there isn’t much time for romance in her life. Yes there is her boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, but I can count on one hand the amount of times they kissed or flirted in the novels. She was also very talented and fashionable. She could tap dance the Morris code while wearing a freshly pressed tailored suit.

Also in the novels, Ned was concerned about Nancy but never hindered her sleuthing. Carson Drew, Nancy’s father, was a distinguished lawyer. He teased his daughter for her appetite for mysteries and trusted her good sense.

However, the characters in the 1930s Nancy Drew series didn’t resemble Carolyn Keene’s intelligent teens.

Nancy Drew, played by Bonita Granville, was bumbling, scatter-brained and frightened for most of the films. She set out to solve a mystery but would run home before finding any actual clues.

Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew and Frankie Thomas as Ted Nickerson

Ned Nickerson, played by Frankie Thomas, was named TED in the movies for some reason. He was maybe the most tolerable character in the movies, but I wouldn’t run to him to protect me.

John Litel was a very irritating Carson Drew. He forbid Nancy from sleuthing and worried about her constantly. Even Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper, ran away in terror when someone broke into their home. Hannah in the books would have knocked them on their ear.

John Litel as Carson Drew in “Nancy Drew…Reporter” (1938)

The films involve very little mystery solving and an over abundance of silly slap-stick. I’m not asking for a whole detailed novel to be played out in the 68 minute films, but Warner Brothers could have at least been accurate with their character depictions.

Bonita Granville, who was 16 when she played Nancy Drew, was in top-notch films such as “These Three”(1936), which she received her only Oscar nomination, and “Now Voyager” (1941), giving excellent performances in both but clearly Nancy Drew was not the role for her.

I have devised a list of who, with some tweaks to the script, could have been the perfect Nancy Drew casting in the 1930s or 1940s.

Nancy Drew: Deanna Durbin (19 at this time) would be my first pick. She sometimes plays silly characters, but also plays serious roles beautifully. Nancy Drew was also supposed to be very attractive. Miss Granville wasn’t ugly, but Deanna Durbin is decidedly prettier. I’m sure they would have to fit in a song or two for Deanna. She would have been old enough by this time, because “First Love,” the film that she received her first on-screen kiss came out the same year as the series.

Deanna Durbin and Robert Stack in “First Love” (1939)

Carson Drew: John Litel is generally a character actor with small roles. I’m not sure why they chose him to play the distinguished lawyer, Carson Drew. I can’t think of anyone else who could play this role more perfectly than Walter Pidgeon. Mr. Pidgeon is the definition of distinguished and sophistication. With his fatherly and friendly acting style, along with his pipe, I can picture him now giving Nancy advice.

Walter Pidgeon

Ned Nickerson: I would either say a teen-aged Jackie Cooper (17 at the time) or Robert Stack (20 at this time). Both boys were attractive and would have seemed more protective of Nancy Drew than Frankie Thomas. Stack was also in the 1939 film “First Love” with Miss Durbin and would have been of a suitable age.

Jackie Cooper in 1939

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Pretty Front Cover + Mysterious Title = An Interesting Book

Unfortunately my equation is incorrect because this was terrible! I finished this more than a week ago and I wasn’t very eager to talk about this chapter book because I hated it! I’ve only read two classic Nancy Drew books before this (as you can tell) and I thought they were great. So I thought, maybe all the original classics are great. I was wrong.

Before I begin talking about this book, I would like to say, Bess and George will be referred to as Chums. Just Chums. Not Nancy’s chum. Just Chums. This is because the ghost writer used it so many times (never used friends, companions, etc) that’s all I know.

Nancy and chums head to Harrison Park, to attend the formal opening exercises. They are only there for a second before a bull-terrier follows them. The dog doesn’t have a collar but doesn’t look stray. Of course he is only attracted to Nancy because she’s the greatest person in River Heights and follows her wherever she goes. They find two old ladies (one is going to make a speech) talking to each other. They leave and Mrs. Owen (the one to make the important speech) forgets her handbag! Nancy must return it to her but Togo takes it, they chase him, he goes into the lake and drops the bag. Mrs. Owen must have her handbag because that’s where her speech is placed. There’s a lot of commotion about retrieving the bag. Ned Nickerson comes by and helps to tell people to move away from the lake. Guess what, they’re not together. He is just referred to as “true friend”. British Editions boggle my mind. Mrs. Owen finally gets her bag but the notes are wet and smudgy. Nancy notices she has a personal advertisement from the newspaper in her bag that says, “Rexy, come home. All is forgiven, Alice.” As she helps Mrs. Owen with her speech she wonders why she has the advertisement. I honestly didn’t really care. When Mrs. Owen finally gives her speech, Nancy stands close by and whispers her speech if she ever forgets. She knows Mrs. Owen speech better than Mrs. Owen!

Lots of thanks occur. Mrs. Owen tells her that she look strikingly like a marble statue called ‘The Whispering Girl’ in Sea Cliff. That’s exactly where they are heading! Nancy and chums are going with Carson Drew because Carson has business to transact. Togo will not leave them alone and even hops onto the train they take to Sea Cliff. On the train Togo fools around and reveals to Nancy that a lady, Miss Morse, has lots of money in her cape. Mr. Mitza notices it too and becomes friendly with her. Nancy tries to warn Miss Morse about him but she doesn’t listen.

At their hotel, they find Miss Morse’s luggage. “Well of all things!” exclaimed Bess. They find out that nobody knows a wealthy person called Miss Morse in Sea Cliff.

Carson Drew’s client is Charles Owen. He entered into partnership with Frank Wormrath. They didn’t get along. One night the firm’s warehouse was broken into and valueble stock were stolen. No one knew who did it but Wormrath broke up the partnership. The firm did not make much money but Wormrath had lots of money to start a new company. Mr. Drew is trying to prove Wormrath did it. Wormrath is dangerous and will do anything to destroy any evidence. Nancy thinks that Charles Owen and Mrs. Owen are related. Mr. Drew doubts it because it’s a common name. I betted they are related. Mr. Drew tells Mr. Owen to come over because his life is in danger.

While trying to return Miss Morse’s luggage (wrong Miss Morse), Nancy and chums hear Mitza talks to someone about tricking Miss Morse into giving five thousand dollars. Nancy finds a letter that has Miss Morses’s address on it.

Nancy and chums take a break by going to the beach. The waves are too dangerous but they manage to save a young guy called Jack Kingdon from drowning. He takes them to the Whispering Statue. There’s actually three of them. The mansion and its surroundings looks awful because no one has lived there in years. It’s by the water so the waves sweep over the house. It’s about to collapse.

Next Nancy, Jack and chums rescue a pilot and his passenger from a crashing plane. I thought it was Mr. Owen. I was right. The pilot has been drugged and they believe Wormrath did this. Mr. Owen is in really bad condition but Nancy tells him about Mrs. Owen because Mr. Owen had a wife called Alice who he thinks is dead. Turns out Mr. Owen’s nickname is Rexy! They’re husband and wife.

A man named Mr. Albin pretty much went up to them and told them the mansion belonged to his best friend Mr. Conger. He had a daughter, Bernice who eloped with a troubled person and was never seen since. Mr. Conger was going to die and Mr. Albin couldn’t stand to see him so sad that his daughter doesn’t love him, so he wrote letters to Mr. Conger pretending to be Bernice. Mr. Conger left the estate to her but Mr. Albin doesn’t even know if she’s alive or whether she’ll ever come back.

Ending : Miss Morse is not Miss Morse. Her real name is Bernice Conger. She reveals she isn’t afraid of Mitza because she’s his mother and Frank Wormrath is her husband. She gave Mitza up for adoption because she doesn’t want her son to live a life with criminals.

“It’s too bad Nancy can’t think of another mystery to solve,” says Bess. What mystery? Nancy didn’t have a mystery to solve. Everything that opened up in her eyes. Nancy didn’t have to do anything except meddle into people’s business. What mystery did she solve?

This book has put me off Nancy Drew. Thankfully it’s been over a week so maybe I’m ready to read another one.

The thing that made this book so bad was when Nancy had a white cloak around her. She saw Mitza. She had no place to hide. There was only one statue left so she stood on one of the platforms and pretended to be a marble statue! Then it started to rain and she thought that if her cloak gets wet Mitza would find out she wasn’t a statue! Gosh…

This is the first Nancy Drew book I finished that was written so long ago before Simon and Schuster took over. I find these books really hard to get into. It took me forever to finish it until I got through half of the book, which is where things start to get exciting. I have the Great Britain edition and it actually says this is book number thirteen. Why must they change the numbers around for the Great Britain edition? It doesn’t make sense if you read it because somewhere in the book it states Nancy solved two mysteries before hand, and then it goes her next mystery is The Whispering Statue.

 The book starts with Helen and Nancy and her friend Helen Corning stuck in a storm in Twin Lakes. There’s a good possibility they might die from drowning in the lake. This is only book number three, there’s no way in hell Nancy’s going to die. So REST easy. Helen – this is the first I’ve ever heard of her, so if she goes it wont be so bad. A girl named Laura Pendleton saves them just when they lost all hope.

 Laura acts like she knows Nancy and trust her very well just because she read about her in the newspaper. Laura’s mother past away and her new gaurdians will be Mr and Mrs. Aborn. The girls are all wet and they stay in this bungalow near by. No mystery yet.

 Nancy and Helen are supposed to be over for a holiday. When Nancy finds out that Hannah Gruen has had an accident and is in crutches, Nancy promises to return as soon as possible. Laura comes to them because she doesn’t like her gaurdian. She only met them for one night and she’s already turning up at their doorsteps. Nancy and Helen met the Aborns and they both seem very nice. They met Mrs. Aborn previously and she was very unpleasant and find it strange that she could have such a huge personality change. She was all wet when they first met her so they can’t really blame her. It reminds me of the first time the gang of Friends met Emily.

 Nancy says goodbye to Helen and returns to River Heights. Hannah is fine, except she’s upset that she wont be the one cooking for the family. Carson Drew comes home with a mystery for Nancy. Monroe National Bank had many valueable sercurities but are missing from the banks main vault. Securities were bonds so whoever has the bonds can cash them. Many missing securities belong to the residents of the community. This is all very confusing. I don’t know anything about bonds and securities and banks. Mr. Drew hands her a list of people who have missing securities and are suspects of robbing the bank. ???? . So confused.

 Nancy sets off the to meet these people and try to get insights into their character.

Mrs. William Farley – Nancy asks the lady if she is willing to help out recreational youth centre, the organisation she works for. Mrs. Farley hands her a check. Nancy concludes that the women never did a mean thing in her life.

 Two actors, the Dowds aren’t home so she can’t talk to them. They’re going to be in some sort of play. There’s more but I really don’t want to get into that.

 She meets Don Cameron, black-haired boy from River Heights High whom she went to the Spring Dance with, and he invites her to a barbeque.

 Nancy received a mysterious phone call but was cut off. Later on, who to show up at the door but Lauren. These two became friends within a night! Yeesh. Lauren claims that her gaurdians are trying to steal her jewels her mother left her. This time I believe her. Nancy is too busy to attend the barbeque with Don and lets him take Lauren as his date. Somehow I find Don more interesting than Ned. Nancy returns to Melrose Place (where Lauren lives) and investigates. She follows Mr. Aborn who heads into a shack with some things. Nancy gets suspicious and tries to see if she can see anything through the window. Too late. Mr. Aborn caught her and acts all agressive. What a scary man. He explains that he thought Lauren was hiding out in here because she ran away. Whatever Mr. Aborn, we believe you.

 It’s strange how Lauren’s mother would let these two weirdos to look after her own daughter. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Aborn aren’t Mr and Mrs Aborn and that the real ones aren’t here yet. Then at the end of the book, Lauren would have the real Aborns and live happily ever after. Just a hunch.

 Nancy decides to return to the shack after sneeking into the Aborns home. She thought she heard something when she was there before. Her torch is running out of battery but she goes in anyway and finds a long staircase underground. She walks in and sees Mr. Aborn. No, wait a second, that isn’t him, but he looks awfully like him. He screams for help. He hasn’t drinken any water for a day and has been chained to the wall for about two weeks. Poor man. He says he’s Mr. Aborn and the couple pretending to be Mr and Mrs Aborn are the Dowds. Aha! This is either predictable or I should be a detective myself. Nancy puts the pieces together with how the Dowds are suspects of the banks securities. They stole the inheritance money from Lauren’s mother for themselves and told Lauren that she had nothing left.

 Mr Dowd comes behind Nancy and knocks her unconcious. She and Mr Aborn are going to die in the shack. Hannah promised Nancy if she doesn’t come back she’d call the police, which she did.

 The ending is a huge chasing scene. It would be so cool if it was on television, just watching the visual effects, I use to dream of becoming a director. I kind of do but I don’t take it seriously as I use to.

 Anyway, it ends with everyone becoming a happy family and Nancy and Lauren are so greatful for their friendship. Does Lauren ever get another mention in other books? Maybe when they finally introduce George and Bess, Lauren and Helen are forgotten.

 I’m not going to rate this because I’m new to the old series so maybe other books would be better then this one. Very enjoyable.