WorkingMomof2's Full Review: Carolyn Keene - The Clue of the Broken Locket
Note: This is part of the Children’s Book Write-Off, which includes many of my favorite Epinions authors. Each of us is reviewing a favorite book from our childhood! Reviewers for this write-off include: forkids, Leah, gracef, KristinThomas, caconti, cornelia, conradd, stonehousellc, Grouch, auntnono, halfsweet, taurusmoon, DoubleCoog, caravan70, kcfoxy, mshawpyle, sleestakk, kchowell, emlin, CurtisEdmonds, fdknight, WorkingMomof2, expono, kimmiko, Bonies7, pogomom, Redlass, poseidon, jrk, sweetpaulie, and ErgoPropterHoc. You can see all of the entrants on one page by going to this link:http://www.epinions.com/book-Write_off-forkids. It may take you back to your childhood, or inspire you to write about a forgotten favorite….
When I was young, I was a voracious reader. I had two older sisters (4 and 5 years older) and most of my reading materials came from them. So it is no surprise that my second-grade teacher didn’t initially believe me when she asked what I was reading at home, and I told her Nancy Drew Mysteries. Nonetheless, it was true… and I continued to read (and love) Nancy Drew mysteries for another 8 years.
This review will cover one Nancy Drew Mystery specifically (Book #11, The Clue of the Broken Locket). But in a larger sense, I had no single favorite Nancy Drew book; rather, I was enamored of these as a series. Sure, there were other books for children of this reading level – and I read them all. Remember the Bobbsey twins, and their misadventures? And Trixie Belden and the BobWhites, with their spelunking excursions and little mysteries as well? I even read the Hardy boys, and was over the moon when it eventually became a TV series with the dreamy Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy. Nonetheless, it was Nancy Drew and her cohorts that were the most entertaining to me in my formative years.
The specific book I have (the Clue of the Broken Locket) was published in 1965, and I was reading it fairly shortly thereafter.* It clearly shows it’s age in certain attitudes, and yet it was trend setting for the time. I would like to explore three aspects of this book -- the general storyline of this specific story, the positive aspects of the Nancy Drew books (in general), and some fairly disturbing issues I see now, reading this almost thirty years later.
* Note: This book was actually first published in 1934, and then re-issued in 1965 and 1993. Some of the details of the story, including the fact the girls were driving around in a convertible, plus the inclusion of the rock-star boyfriend with his records being copied, lead me to strongly believe that some editing/updating occurred since the original 1934 edition!
The Clue of the Broken Locket
Nancy Drew is an eighteen year old young woman, with several solved mysteries under her belt and a penchant for finding new mysteries to solve. Her mother is never seen in this book; however, her indulgent father is. He travels frequently on business, and is leaving on a business trip for several weeks when he receives a message from the caretaker of their cabin on Misty Lake, expressing his (the caretaker’s) fear. Nancy’s father sends Nancy out to find out what is going on, and she enlists the assistance of her two best girlfriends to come with her.
Bess and George are Nancy’s best friends, and are cousins. Together, the threesome travels to Misty Lake, where they find a series of unusual circumstances. These include the appearance of a ghostly apparition of a boat that sunk years before, a scared young woman who appears to have a double, and a number of suspicious persons. In addition, in their exploration Nancy, Bess and George all encounter personal danger, being locked out on roofs, hit on the head and knocked unconscious, and being chased through dark woods. There is a mystery to unravel, involving a locket that an ancestor left a friend many years ago, with hints of buried treasure (split into two parts) and clues in an iron bird.
The girls eventually involve their other three friends, who happen to be boys. In typical Nancy Drew style, the three girls are paired with the three guys; however, there is nothing amorous about their relationships. The only one who appears to have any love interest is their newfound friend Cecily, who’s boyfriend Niko is an up and coming rock star. Even Niko and Cecily, who are engaged to be married, have very limited physical contact, with an occasional hug but sleeping in different cabins, etc.
Nancy, Bess and George invite their three male friends (Ned, Burt and Dave) to join them at a concert, and enlist their help in solving the mystery at hand. The youths all work together to find solutions to the riddles they are finding, and discover clues and some surprising answers along the way. Of course there is a happy ending, and the reader is left to say “AHA!” , having been provided with some (but not all) of the necessary information to have solved the mystery yourself.
A Unique Role Model for Her Time
At the time this was published, Nancy Drew was a trendsetter. Almost no books involved female leads, especially those involved in mystery solving or great adventures. Nancy, Bess and George all showed us that women can be adventuresome, and taught me that intuition and problem solving are gender-free skills. In addition, Nancy’s adventuresome spirit and personal courage – even in the face of danger – gave me a newfound respect for women, and a sense of empowerment.
Nancy’s father also had great faith in Nancy, supporting her efforts, and sending her out on new adventures. The relationship with the boys was pure; although there was occasional discussion of who the gals dated, there were no “dating activities” involved. The relationships were based on friendship and mutual respect – an amazing feat for the 60’s!
Finally, Nancy was a free thinker. She challenged convention, and had almost no fear for her own personal safety when she was trying to solve a mystery. That isn’t to say she took unsafe risks – rather, she took some risks but had no concern about wandering out to explore a dark building at night, or wander through a wooded path with only a flashlight for company, etc.
When you are under ten years of age, this kind of bravery and self-confidence is a foreign concept, but something you aspire to.
Lessons from Today’s Perspective
As I re-read this book, for the first time in over 25 years, I was struck by a number of things. Some are due to the age of the book and the era it was written in; others are probably due to me having a slightly different perspective now, than I did in my youth. I saw several things that disturbed me here, and yet my overall impression was still positive.
Some of the things I noticed, from my “advanced age” today, were positive, and many were negative. I’ll go through these, and let you decide for yourself.
On the Positive Side:
• Nancy and her friends were confident and self reliant – they thought through problems and had confidence in themselves and their abilities. They were eager to eat the fresh lobster at the restaurant, able to buy and grill a couple steaks, ready to secure lodging on their own, and responsible enough to notify their parents and hosts when their plans changed. I know very few eighteen-year-olds today that I would expect to be able to responsibly do all of these things – well, except eat the lobster, of course! Certainly Nancy and her friends were portrayed with great responsibility and maturity.
• The three girls were able to take care of themselves, think logically and stand together in a crisis. They were able to deal with issues and complications without turning against each other. They logically thought out many solutions to the mysteries they faced, and looked for many potential answers, turning them this way and that like a jigsaw puzzle piece that wouldn’t quite fit. They did not automatically assume that anyone was guilty, or innocent, but looked at many scenarios and gave people the benefit of the doubt until the evidence was overwhelming one way or another. It was refreshing to see this attitude in a mystery, instead of the presumption of guilt, and a narrow-minded focus.
• Although the three girls each had male friends, they were all portrayed as just “friends” except for George and Burt who were mentioned as “dating”. There was virtually no physical involvement, not even kissing, except a very limited bit between Cecily and Niko, who were engaged. The boys stayed at a different hotel, Niko slept in a different hotel as well (even though there was a sofa, and I had predicted he would crash there, he left once he was sure the girls were safe). Clearly virtue was not a problem for Nancy Drew and her friends, and although I as an adult found it surprising that there wasn’t even kissing between the 18-year-old couples, I don’t recall ever being disappointed as a child. It is a wonderful view (from a child’s perspective) of the friendship that can exist between a boy and a girl, verging on being a man and a woman. It also keeps the relationship between the couples from distracting from the storyline, which was complicated enough as it was, for 189 pages!
• Healthy Appetites: The three girls eat when they are hungry, and eat well. As described above, they grill steaks, cook hamburgers, and eat out often. Nowhere in the book are any of the three requesting “Just a salad, with the dressing on the side…” Rather, they eat when they are hungry, and eat relatively well. I found it refreshing to see a book about teenagers without the girls’ weight being an issue. Had it not been for the focus on Bess (see below) this would have been a wonderful model of healthy eating habits.
On the Negative Side:
• Stereotyping of characters and behaviors: I found it offensive that some of the characters were stereotyped so blatantly. For example, when we are introduced to Bess, she is described as “inclined to be overweight”. Bess then manages to eat her way through the book, and is the one who has to have a double scoop of ice cream, a chocolate sundae, hamburgers, etc. She initiates snacking and her eating habits are notable throughout the book. As a child I never even noticed this, and I expect that this is just part of “keeping Bess in character”; however, since all three girls appear to have healthy appetites I thought it was unnecessary to continue to come back to Bess as the one who initiated and ate so much food. Other stereotypes existed as well (George as the athletic tomboy, etc.) but Bess was the one that really ruffled my feathers.
• The three boys are invited to come and attend a concert with the girls, and yet when they learn about the mystery they seem to take over (or at least try to). There is even a comment about the boys and their superior strength, and about them coming to “save the day” which I found disappointing considering that Nancy and her cohorts had been set up as so self-reliant and competent. This isn’t to say that they didn’t welcome help; rather, it would have been nice if they guys had simply OFFERED to help rather than trying to take over.
• The mystery ending was handled clumsily. Don’t read any further if you want this to be a big surprise! The crew was looking for the iron bird, for clues on where the family’s hidden treasure was. They knew it was split into two parts, and when they found the iron bird it gave them two specific locations. But in the book, they only go and find one half of the treasure (in the cupboards) and never even mention the second half again. I went back and re-read this three times to make sure I wasn’t confused – I wasn’t. Either it was simply an oversight or it was edited out, but the other half of the treasure is not mentioned again or found. I was left hanging a little bit, although I am sure as a child I simply delighted at the thought of all of this treasure, and how happy it would make young Cecily.
• Nancy’s family situation seemed odd to me, by today’s standards. Nancy’s mother apparently died when Nancy was only three, and there is a housekeeper who comes in. Nancy’s father is leaving on a business trip for several weeks (!) and sends Nancy out to try to solve a little mystery. As an adult and a parent reading this, I of course thought, “Why is Nancy’s father, as a single parent, going to be gone for several weeks?” According to the book, it appeared that he traveled for lengthy periods of time fairly often, which was not necessarily a great message to send to young children. On the other hand, as a child my father traveled quite a bit, and I don’t ever recall thinking it was odd that Nancy’s father was gone so much.
Summary
Overall, I was still impressed with these books. I have a series of twelve books that I am saving for my daughter, when she is old enough to enjoy them. I think that they send some very positive messages, in terms of self-reliance, confidence, healthy attitudes toward eating (overall) and responsibility. There are probably many other books today that also extol the self-confident young woman attitude that Nancy has; however, when I was a child, Nancy Drew was a very unusual woman for her time.
I will, however, also bear in mind some of the less positive aspects of these books, from my perspective today. When my daughter reads these someday, we’ll talk about them, and reinforce the positive, and try to address any negative issues that come up. I don’t believe that they are negative enough to overcome the many positive aspects, including the fact that they are just very entertaining reading for a young girl. Nonetheless, it’s a good reminder to me as a parent that children’s entertainment (books, movies, TV, games and online) should be supervised, and that I need to take an active interest in these matters and not just assume they are all positive.
So I’ll set Nancy and her friends back on the shelf for a few more years, with a fond glance and a little shrug of disappointment that I can’t find all of the same joy and escape in these books that I did 25-30 years ago. Nonetheless, there is a lot of positive input there, and for a young girl looking for a strong and responsible role model, you could do a lot worse than my friend Nancy Drew.
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