Nancy Drew & Friends Paper Dolls at The Sleuth Shop

Nancy Drew & Friends Paper Dolls

Now available for Pre-Order at The Sleuth Shop! $12 each, 16 pages featuring Nancy Drew fashions inspired from right off the covers from the 1930s to early 1960s! Even Nancy's Dog Togo is featured on one page. Nancy Drew, Bess, Marvin, George Fayne, and Nancy's "special friend" Ned Nickerson take part in this second Nancy Drew Paper Dolls book. I've also written an essay in this book, like I did in the previous Nancy Drew Paper Doll book, about Nancy Drew and her Chums.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Sale at the Sleuth Shop

Nancy Drew special at The Sleuth Shop!

For a limited time, get silhouette charms for every $40 spent and for every $100 spent get a spiffy Nancy Drew silhouette watch that's new to the line! Click here to shop.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Books: Scary Things Kids (& Adults) Do #16

Master Crafter or Master Destroyer of DJs?

WOW. I saw these books listed at eBay today and about fell over! HA! Can you believe some little crafter decided to not only cut up their dust jackets but paste them on their books!? Super Crazy or Super Genius?! You be the judge! I say--Hypers!

 

 

 

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson Tribute

Happy Birthday to Mildred Wirt Benson

Original Carolyn Keene

Author

Journalist

Adventurer

Born July 10, 1905

Here's a montage of some images of Mildred (courtesy Toledo Blade). She authored over 130 children's books, thousands of newspaper articles and columns, dozens of short stories and lived to be 96, passing away May 28, 2002 in Toledo, OH. Her legacy encompasses many facets of her life but she is most famously known for having been the first Carolyn Keene, pseudonym for the Nancy Drew series. She was just 24 when the first three Nancy Drew books were published on April 28, 1930. No one involved in the making of this series really fathomed that it would still be published today, over 80 years later.

Learn more about her at my website.

I have written a few articles about her and some of her books and series in various series zines and The Sleuth. After she passed away, I wrote an Op-Ed at the request of the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star about her and the LA Times Kids Reading Room published a piece from me during the 80th anniversary of Nancy Drew in 2010. My most lengthy article to date was published in Firsts magazine in the December 2006 issue which can be ordered here at their website. I am currently working on a book about Mildred's life and adventures.

Jenn:)

Vintage Nancy Drew & Other Series Books For Sale

 Vintage Nancy Drew & Boys'/Girls' Series Books For Sale:

I've got over 100 Nancy Drew and various boys' and girls' series books listed in The Sleuth Shop at my website! Here's a sampling of what you can find - from vintage dust jackets to picture covers to paperbacks. Some are upgrades from my own collection and some were used in the filming of the 2007 Warner Brothers Nancy Drew movie! 

I have books by Nancy Drew ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson plus other series like Trixie Belden, Kay Tracey, Dana Girls, Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Three Investigators and much more!

Remember while supplies last through August 15, for every $40 you spend, you get the Old Attic Nancy Drew totebag free!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Shop Sale: Free Nancy Drew Tote Special

Nancy Drew Shop Special!

For every $40 you spend at the Nancy Drew Sleuth Shop, receive the cool Old Attic Nancy Drew Barnes & Noble Totebag free - while supplies last through August 15, 2012.

Here's some of our great new items to the site including new watch styles and the neat money/business/calling card/credit card cases:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Fabric Preview

Nancy Fans: Nancy Drew Fabric Montage

I received some fabric bundles in from Moda to preview the upcoming Nancy Drew fabric and I really like the whole lot of designs and colors. Great stuff for you crafty fans! Check out a video I made above showing off some of the samples on my iPhone. Quality is better viewing in a smaller window.

They tell me these should be in stores by November. We will be selling the fabric too at The Sleuth Shop.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Books: Scary Things Kids (& Adults) Do #15

How much is this book? Anyone!?

SELLER:  "Just in case people are easily confused by price tags or penciled prices inside, we'd better make a bold statement here..."

Jenn:)

Derring-Do & Nancy Drew Us In - A Panel Discussion

If you want to attend a panel on Nancy Drew, there's one in Washington D.C.  in July - here are the details:


Derring-do & Nancy Drew Us In

A panel sponsored by American Women Writers National Museum
11:30-1:30 p.m. at 1275 K St NW @13th St. NW, Suite 102
Washington, D.C. 20005
(13th St. shared space entrance)
FURTHER INFO CONTACT:awwnm1@gmail.com

        Across generations since the 1930's, iconic American "teen detective queen", 16 -year -old Nancy Drew, remains the ageless fictional heroine who inspired and entertained young women, and whose popularity continues unabated.

        An artistic rendering of Drew in her speedy roadster zooms to the AWWNM website.

        Sales of Drew "original version" hardcover books have surpassed sales of Agatha Christie titles, according to Wikipedia.

        Entertainment Weekly calls Nancy "The first female heroine embraced by little girls. Nancy lives in an endless summer of adventure and unlimited potential."

        "A cultural icon, Nancy Drew has been cited as a formative influence by prominent women: Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Sonia Sotomayor, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former First Lady Laura Bush," according to Wikipedia.

        Nancy Drew mysteries were ghost-written by several American women authors under the pen name Carolyn Keene.

        Nancy Drew and other "girl sleuths" is the topic of a Tuesday July 10 panel discussion by D.C. area experts including:

        *Ann Hudak, literature and rare books curator of Special Collections at the University of Maryland Libraries. Hudak curated the "Nancy Drew and Friends: Girls Series Books Rediscovered" exhibition at the University of Maryland-College Park. The expansive exhibit is available on line www.lib.umd.edu.

        *Leona Fisher, associate professor emerita of English at Georgetown University, has published several articles on Nancy Drew, and is at work on a book-in-progress: Was Nancy Drew a Girl Scout? Constructions of American Girlhood in the 20th Century. www.explore.georgetown.edu.

        *Kathy Harig, a former librarian who appears regularly on WCEI radio to review mysteries and other books, is an ardent Nancy Drew fan. A former librarian at Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore, she is now proprietor of the Mystery Loves Company bookstore in Oxford, Maryland.
www.mysterylovescompany.com

        *Elizabeth Foxwell serves as managing editor of Clues: A Journal of Detection, the only U.S. scholarly journal on mystery and detective fiction. A winner of the prestigious Agatha Award for Short Story, she will moderate the July 10 panel. Foxwell, who reviews mysteries for Publishers Weekly, edits the McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction series. The latest book in that series is Andrea Camilleri: A companion to the Mystery Fiction. www.elizabethfoxwell.com

The Sleuth - Specializing in Clues About Nancy Drew

The Sleuth

Have you checked our zine The Sleuth lately? It's published by Nancy Drew Sleuths, shipped out 6 times per year to subscribers. We focus on Nancy Drew and other similar series too. Our latest issue, the May/June 2012 #35 includes some great features on the original Nancy Drew illustrator, Russell H. Tandy.

We have 35 back issues available and you can preview them here at our website. Try out a few back issues and subscribe at the website or print out our handy form and subscribe by mail.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Cafe Press Shop Sale: Save $15 off $60+ Orders

Nancy Drew Shop $15 off orders of $60+ Sale! 

WHEN: Sale Runs Through June 28, 2012

SAVE: $15 off orders of $60+

CODE: INDEPEN60

WHERE: www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Be sure you're ordering from the shop page only--marketplace orders do not count for this promotion, so if you're at the main website and/or using search boxes to add items to your cart, those are considered marketplace items. You must order from the Nancy Drew shop page itself. If you have any trouble with the code--contact Cafe Press customer support (there's a phone number you can call right away) and they can help you with it.

Thanks for your support!

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Party Kit - It's To Die For!

Nancy Drew Party Kit

Perfect for your Nancy Drew parties, birthday celebrations, whodunits, camps and retreats and anytime sleepovers! Our printable DIY Nancy Drew Party Kit is available exclusively at the Nancy Drew Sleuth Shop - click here to purchase. It comes with downloadable files and instructions to create invitations, thank yous, labels, cupcake picks, cupcake sleeves, flags, triangle banners with different slogans and images, purse favor boxes, party hats, straw/pencil toppers, silhouette images to use for posters and decorating, style sheets to use as placemats, scrapbooking and other projects, trivia, scavenger hunt activity, and mystery/clues hunt suggestions. Some of these files are customizable where you can change the text like the invites, labels, and flags



It comes in 4 colors - lemon bar, roadster blue, sleuth pink, and mysterious black/white. The black/white images can also be printed on color paper/cardstock of any color to suit your party needs if you want to feature other colors or just one.

With a little tape, glue, scissors, papers, elbow grease and your imagination, you can use our kit to wow at your parties! Embellish to your hearts desire and as far as your imagination takes you.


Vintage props add flair!



Click on the above collage of file images--it's a snapshot of each file you'll be sent when ordering the set. Once purchased, files are e-mailed to the buyer. Files are for your personal use only. I'm working on specific book themes like The Secret of the Old Clock and The Hidden Staircase too. Many thanks to Sleuth Allison for all her help with the graphic work!

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Diaries Cover Previews

Nancy Drew Diaries - Cover Previews

Here are 2 sample images for the Nancy Drew Diaries series that's coming out next year. Keep in mind, this art is not final and could be subject to change. The above cover is for book 1 in the series, Curse of the Arctic Star. Below is the cover for Stranger on a Train.

We have now gone back to illustrated covers of a scene featuring Nancy Drew instead of the clip art covers or the posed covers with photos of models. This is the type of cover that fans prefer, so I'm very glad to see they went with an illustrator for this series. Nancy appears to be just blond again like she was in the originals in the classic series in the 1930s-1950s.

Here are synopses of these books:

Arctic Star--Nancy, Bess, and George are cruising dangerous waters on a tour of Alaska. Becca Wright, an old friend of Nancy's, is the Assistant Cruise Director of the Arctic Star, a posh new ship. But Becca needs Nancy's help when strange things keep happening aboard the opulent ocean liner: the swimming pool is turned into a floating grave; a famous passenger is threatened; and even the seemingly innocent mini-golf course becomes a perilous playground. With the majestic and mysterious Alaskan scenery as a backdrop, Nancy and company have to find out who's trying to sabotage the maiden voyage and why.

Stranger on a Train--Nancy’s Alaskan adventure continues as she and her friends disembark the mystery-plagued Arctic Star cruise ship and explore the grand sites of the 49th state: Skagway; the Yukon territory and Denali National Park. It's spectacular scenery, but things start to go wrong almost immediately, leading Nancy to believe that whoever is behind the unsolved mayhem aboard the ship has followed them on to dry land. The girl detectives had better watch their steps--they're on uncharted and unknown territory!

What do you think of the art?

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Books From eBay #1

A few months back I received a package from an eBay purchase of a dozen or so Nancy Drew picture covers. When I received the package my first thought was that it was strange the seller used a huge box for just a dozen books and then I wondered what would find inside. Jennifer White has blogged about similar packages and how they've been very strangely and/or poorly packed here. I had to share my experience because it was a bit absurd. Luckily the books arrived OK--but everything was scrambled inside the box with some books stuck inside each other or opened up between others--and that's because there was very little packing material. Even stranger? Was the crinkled paper towel in the bottom of the box. On purpose or somebody's lunch napkin that suddenly disappeared?! You can see it in the last photo below... ;-)

 

Jenn:)

Picnic of Death - Nancy Drew Mystery

Check out this fun mystery video a few Nancy Drew fans created called "Picnic of Death"!

Jenn:)