First guest during the celebration for the release of The Wind & the Sun—  Nancy contacted me way back to tell me she'd enjoyed the wolfies. I think she was one of the first readers to insist that TJ needed his own story. You can find her at her blog: My Odd Little World

Nancy writes:

My First Series

I discovered reading at an early age, I’d say maybe eight or nine years old. But I didn’t become an avid, I-must-read-them reader until I discovered Nancy Drew. I was hooked from the very first book, The Secret of the Old Clock. Every visit my mom and I made to the library, I immediately headed to the “K” shelf, and looked for the newest Nancy mystery by Carolyn Keene. If there wasn’t a new Nancy mystery, I would head for second best-the Hardy Boys. But Nancy was my favorite.

I identified with her: first of all, we shared the same first name, so I was able to imagine myself in her place easily. Second, she was a girl who had all these fantastic and dangerous adventures, and solved all kinds of crimes, with the help of a few friends. Yes, she faced dangerous criminals, but compared to life now, her adventures were pretty tame. But not to nine year old me. I thought Carolyn Keene must be the smartest woman to ever put pen to paper, and I was always ready for the next long before it was available. (I’m still that way to this day).

But things change. People grow up. I started noticing that Nancy never had to face things like her first period, pimples, awkward dating; things I was starting to deal with. I started to realize she lead a perfect life, and nobody is that perfect. I read the books for at least five or six years, and in that time, while I went from chubby nine year old to awkward, taller than everyone fourteen year old, she stayed the perfect sixteen year old. I started wondering why Miss Keene didn’t always write the same way in the stories, leaving things out and changing facts and history seemingly at a whim.

And then, when I was about fifteen, I discovered romance books, some cheesy, some well written, and Nancy fell to the wayside. I learned in later years that there was no Carolyn Keene. The books were written by a succession of writers, and thus the inconsistencies. That was so disillusioning, I could never get interested in Nancy Drew after that. But by then, it was time to move on to more advanced books, with more romance and fun and BOYS. And I have never looked back!

***

Viv:

Thank you, Nancy, for bringing back some awesome memories! I got such a kick out of the picture.

How about you? Did you have a favourite series when you were young? All the comments today will be added as entries for the prize awarded on Saturday.

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