# Nancy Drew (and Hardy Boys): Kids today.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326 "2009-06-19T19:37:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/1 "2009-06-19T19:37:36Z")
I’m currently reading _[Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her](http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Sleuth-Nancy-Women-Created/dp/015603056X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245439589&sr=8-1)_, which is pretty good – lots of social context (kid lit, late Victorian to present; role of women, ditto) without being too footnotey or jargony. Picked it up, of course, because I grew up on Nancy Drew – and I’m wondering, do girls today still read these books? Do boys read Hardy Boys? And if not – when did that fall off the cultural radar? I grew up in the '60s (I’m 54 now), and Nancy Drew was still incredibly popular then. If you read them, approximately when was that? And if you didn’t, during what period were you, say, 8-12 years old, and what were you reading instead? Plus, of course, if anyone is the parent of kids currently in that age range – are they reading them? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/2 "2009-06-19T19:41:00Z")
Well, my kids still read/perform the [Christopher Durang](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TdHsJI7daA&feature=related) version. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/3 "2009-06-19T20:11:15Z")
I read about 35 of the '50s - '60s versions to my daughter, as well as a dozen of the Hardy Boys / Nancy crossover books (for a slightly older age range - people actually get murdered in them) and one or two of the facsimiles of the original ones. We never read the dumbed down versions they have today. They still seem to be selling - at least there are tons of them in the bookstores. BTW, she really likes the Nancy computer games, and has done at least half a dozen of them, maybe more. I did take some liberties. She once read a book we were in the middle of herself, and only then realized that the housekeeper’s name wasn’t Hannah Gruesome. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/4 "2009-06-19T20:13:46Z")
When I was a kid (in the early 90s) I was really in to mysteries. I ate up _Encyclopedia Brown_ and this huge book of short Hitchcock mysteries. I also liked _The Boxcar Children_. I read a _Nancy Drew_ book one year and did a book report on it. I remember being really bored by the book. I never read one again - nor did I read _The Hardy Boys_ or _The Bobbsey Twins_ (I tried the Twins - didn’t like them). After I got out of my mystery phase, I moved right on to _The Babysitter’s Club_, which was the hot series at the time. Loved 'em! ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/5 "2009-06-19T20:25:39Z")
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are still being published today under the famous pseudonyms of Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon. There are actually manga now. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/6 "2009-06-19T20:34:44Z")
I read everything I could get my hands on as a child…including Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, and Nancy Drew. Had some of the first edition Hardy Boys…passed down from my dad. I was born in '65, and probably started reading that kind of stuff around age 7-8 until I was 11ish or so. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/7 "2009-06-19T20:47:17Z")
I read both Drew and the Boys as a kid (born in '76, quick reader, so it would have been 82 - 86 or so). My mom was a big Nancy Drew fan, but I sort of found her… prissy? Anyway, I liked the Trixie Belden books better. And then I discovered Madeleine L’Engle, and teen detectives fell off my radar screen. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/8 "2009-06-19T20:49:01Z")
I read both when I was younger (maybe, what, five to ten years ago?). I liked Hardy Boys better, because they were more rough-and-tumble than Nancy. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/9 "2009-06-19T23:16:19Z")
I was born in 1978 and read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on when I was 9-10 or so – I think there were about 80 books in the series at that time (though maybe I’m thinking of the Sweet Valley High books, which _cough_ I also read). George was my favorite character. I also read the Trixie Belden and Encyclopedia Brown books, but not the Hardy Boys. I only read books with female protagonists (Encyclopedia had tomboy Sally for me to identify with). ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/10 "2009-06-19T23:21:40Z")
Bah. None of those guys can hold a candle to Pete, Bob, and Jupe. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/11 "2009-06-19T23:30:03Z")
I never read the Hardy Boys. I read Tom Swift, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/12 "2009-06-19T23:31:34Z")
I read the Hardy Boys as a boy in the 70s. Though I’ve gotta agree with **JThunder**. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/13 "2009-06-20T00:11:11Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I never read the Hardy Boys. I read Tom Swift, Jr. Another fan! I wanted one of his Fat Man class exoskeleton diving suits. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/14 "2009-06-20T00:39:52Z")
When I was a kid in the 80’s/90’s, I read mostly Encyclopedia Brown, Boxcar Children, and Trixie Belden mysteries. I tried a few Nancy Drew stories, but I just couldn’t relate to her. She had a CAR, she was so OLD! I did end up reading the Hardy Boys as an adult with a dyslexic 14-year-old I was tutoring. To our modern, cynical eyes, the books were laughably unsophisticated. About the fifth time that the author knocked the boys unconscious to transition a scene, my student exclaimed, “They’re going to wake up with brain damage!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/15 "2009-06-20T00:54:46Z")
Not only did I read Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown, I was a devotee of Danny Dunn, though the proto-computer in one novel and its “fifty thousand switches” is gradually becoming less awesome. And were there only two “Mad Scientists’ Club” books? I still have my _Hardy Boys Detective Handbook_ around here somewhere, thirty years later. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/16 "2009-06-20T00:57:29Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > When I was a kid (in the early 90s) I was really in to mysteries. I ate up _Encyclopedia Brown_ and this huge book of short Hitchcock mysteries. I also liked _The Boxcar Children_. > > I read a _Nancy Drew_ book one year and did a book report on it. I remember being really bored by the book. I never read one again - nor did I read _The Hardy Boys_ or _The Bobbsey Twins_ (I tried the Twins - didn’t like them). > > After I got out of my mystery phase, I moved right on to _The Babysitter’s Club_, which was the hot series at the time. Loved 'em! **ZipperJJ’s** experience mirrors my own almost exactly. Born in '81 and first got heavy into reading in the in '89, or '90. All the boys were reading _The Boxcar Children_ and the girls were reading _The Babysitter’s Club_. Everyone read _Encyclopedia Brown_, oddly enough. I don’t think there was a gender split on that one. We were aware of _The Hardy Boys_ and _Nancy Drew_, but I don’t think I ever saw anyone actually reading them. They were seen as being old fashioned I guess. I haven’t thought about any of these books in years. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/17 "2009-06-20T01:18:58Z")
There’s a Tom Swift movie coming out… and the Nancy Drew movie wasn’t half bad, I hear. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/18 "2009-06-20T01:29:18Z")
I was born in the mid 60s and read a whole bunch of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, but my favorites were always The Three Investigators and Trixie Belden–the former because their mysteries were more interesting to me and I would have killed to have their Headquarters, the latter because they seemed more like “real” kids and as an only child I kind of pined for having a close-knit group of friends like that who had adventures together. Nancy and the Hardys, though their stories were interesting, didn’t really click with me. Also loved Encyclopedia Brown (and the somewhat older version, Two-Minute Mysteries, by the same guy) and Danny Dunn. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/19 "2009-06-20T01:34:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Not only did I read Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown, I was a devotee of Danny Dunn, though the proto-computer in one novel and its “fifty thousand switches” is gradually becoming less awesome. And were there only two “Mad Scientists’ Club” books? Wow, I was just thinking about those books! I couldn’t remember the boy’s name and I thought I’d never be able to identify them. Thank you! (My favorite was the one where they go exploring the ocean.) Did any of you read the McGurk mysteries? They were for a younger audience than the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books, probably 2nd or 3rd graders. Amazon tells me there are 25 books in that series and…oh, God, I’m 31 and I want to read them all. :o ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326/20 "2009-06-20T01:35:22Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > There’s a Tom Swift movie coming out… I’ll take a wild guess and assume it’ll be all ironic and post-modern. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nancy-drew-and-hardy-boys-kids-today/500326.md?page=2)