Review: Girl Sleuth, Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

I don't know that I read every single last Nancy Drew published in my day -- but I know I tried to! The mystery books were available at the Acme store, so family grocery night was an opportune time to spend allowance money on a new Nancy Drew.

Nancy lived a thrilling life and I was one of those girls who wanted what Nancy had: freedom, confidence, intelligence, multiple talents and skills, loyal friends, a nifty blue roadster and a supportive yet never controlling boyfriend.

Nancy's mom died long ago and was out of the picture. Her dad, an attorney, provides her with an endless source of mysteries and with a house-keeper who could whip up a great picnic basket for Nancy and her friends Bess and George. Bess and George are on opposite ends of the femininity index, with Nancy firmly placed in the middle, a self-contained balance of yin and yang qualities.

I found myself reflecting upon Nancy and her influences on my life when I picked up a fairly recent (2005) biography of the women who wrote the Nancy Drew series, developing an idea originated by Edward Stratemeyer, of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, producers of numerous series books for boys and girls. His initial notes state:

"These suggestions are for a new series for girls verging on novels. 224 pages, to retail at fifty cents. I have called this line the "Stella Strong Stories," but they might also be called "Diana Drew Stories," "Diana Dare Stories," "Nan Nelson Stories," "Nan Drew Stories" or "Helen Hale Stories" . . .

Stella Strong, a girl of sixteen, is the daughter of a District Attorney of many years standing. He is a widower and often talks over his affairs with Stella and the girl was present during many interviews her father had with noted detectives and at the solving of many intricate mysteries. Then, quite unexpectedly, Stella plunged into some mysteries of her own and found herself wound up in a series of exciting situations. An up-to-date American girl at her best, bright, clever, resourceful and full of energy."

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (a poet and critic published in The New Yorker, The Nation and more -- interview with the writer here) gives us the two intertwining stories behind the pen-name Carolyn Keene. From the east coast: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams a Wellesley graduate, inherited her father's syndicate when he died at an early age. The syndicate made its money from a stable of ghost writers who worked at piece rates writing to formulas created by Edward Stratemeyer. The Nancy Drew Series was only in its infancy at the time of Stratemeyer's death.

Meanwhile in the Midwest, Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson was busily establishing herself as a writer in Iowa. A graduate of Iowa State University, Mildred was athletic with an independent streak and a love for writing and language expressed at an early age. Longing for her own copy of Peter Rabbit, at age five she hand-copied the story so she could hold it in her hands.

Rehak compares and contrasts the backgrounds of these two fascinating women within the context of the character of Nancy Drew -- what is her appeal and how did these two women further her development? I find it interesting that although both Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Maude Wirt Benson married and raised children of their own, Nancy's own romantic life always steered clear from anything involving commitment, let alone any kissing or other mushy stuff. Nancy Drew's appeal has always been that of the independent female, able to take action without paternal or any other male interference.

Rehak's Girl Sleuth is a gripping tale that not only gives us the inside information on how Nancy's traits and story points were developed over the decades, but also gives us a panoramic view of expanding vistas for young girls growing up in the 20th century. Writing was one career in which women could find both a vehicle for self expression and a means of earning some money. Mildred's writing became her family's sole support after her husband suffered a series of strokes:

"I had to write all the time....I had no choice on writing, it wasn't a leisurely thing at all. It was a hard deadline and I was usually three for four books behind on orders. I put my typewriter up beside my husband's bed and I'd take care of him at night and typewrite right by the bedside...I just wrote as long as I could write each day and night."

Toiling for fees of between $100 - $250 per book, Mildred never shared in any royalties from her work, although upon occasion, a syndicate bonus check might boost her spirits.

One of Mildred's last books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate was The Mystery of the Tolling Bell. By good fortune, I happened upon a copy of this book in an antique stall in Berlin, OH. Having just finished Girl Sleuth, I wanted to revisit the experience of reading a Nancy Drew story. Published in 1946, it features a mysterious cave, an apparent ghostly appearance, secret passages and a gypsy woman selling fake cosmetics. As I galloped through the story (just like in younger days), I thrilled again to Nancy's ability to develop clues and leap into action. Her independence is intoxicating, the mystery is intriguing, and she never backs away from facing danger.

In the introduction to Girl Sleuth, Rehak identifies this book as one of her particular favorites, and includes the final lines of the story as they underscore Nancy's ability to solve mysteries without interference from her boyfriend Ned Nickerson:

"Mysteries!" he exclaimed, turning out the lantern. Haven't you had enough of them?"
Nancy was sure she never would have. Already the girl was longing for another, and it was to come in the form of "The Clue in the Old Album."
"Anyway, " said Ned, "there's one mystery I know never will be solved."
"What is it, Ned?"
"Why you always change the subject when I try to talk to you about something that isn't a bit mysterious!"
Nancy merely smiled sweetly, and walked out into the sunshine.

So both thumbs up for Melanie Rehak's Girl Sleuth. I picked it up in paperback at Borders awhile back, in one of their buy 2 get one free deals. It should be available at your local library.

For some excellent Nancy Drew information online, visit NancyDrewSleuth.com. Here I found handy information as to whether one is reading an original story or a later "revised" edition. Quick hint -- if your Nancy Drew is sporting 25 chapters, it's an original. The revisions are chopped down in page numbers and shortened to 20 chapters.

Review: Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith

The No Child Left Behind act proposes a system of regulations that are supposed to ensure an effective and equitable education for all children. Coming from the top down, it has achieved at least one useful outcome -- it has forced us to look at education in our society. But at the same time it has diminished the joy in learning and teaching for many students and their classroom instructors.

As funding inequities continue, charter schools compete with unfair advantages, state boards of education call for stiffer standards and assessments, and districts turn to pacing guides -- the tangled weave of educational process (student - teacher - parents - administration - politicians) can depress the hell out of me. That's when I reach for a dose of Rafe Esquith, the teacher extraordinaire from one of the poorest public schools in LA, the man who created the Hobart Shakespeareans, and who shows us what it really takes to provide a high quality education for all.

Rafe's classroom operates on two basic principles -- work hard and be nice:

1. "There are no shortcuts." This applies to everything the students do in his classroom and for the rest of their lives. To learn is not to rush through something. It is to be mindful of the work at hand, to focus and to observe one's own progress.

2. "Be kind." Two short words that in conjunction exhort the best from each of us. For many, it is very difficult to carry this out consistently. It is a command for teachers as well as for students. Our emotions often take control of our rational minds and we find ourselves shouting from frustration or losing patience. We fling unkind words at our students, and yet expect them to act civilly at all times. Our growing cynicism may be revealed in the tone of our voices or the sharp glance from our eyes.

Some students' home lives consist of nothing but chaos and screaming. The classroom may be the only safe haven in their lives. Rafe has taken the concept of haven and turned it into an eclectic laboratory for the advancement of student learning through Shakespeare, rock and roll and a whole lot of innovative teaching.

If you've never come across Rafe and his work, the first thing to look at is the PBS Point of View documentary, The Hobart Shakespeareans. Once you see the children in action, and are thrilled and amazed by their accomplishments, you will want to know more about Rafe's teaching theories and techniques.

Rafe's first book was called There Are No Shortcuts. It's a gripping tale of an extraordinary teacher and the students who have flourished in his classroom. It is still available and highly recommended.

The title of his latest book, Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire, is a metaphor that sprang from an unforgettable science lesson. The book focuses on the work and travel of his class (Room 56) in far more detail than his first book. It provides tried and tested creative ideas for teaching reading, writing, science, social studies, math and the arts. Although Rafe teaches a self-contained 5th grade class (all are students who speak English as a second language, which makes their work on Shakespeare even more staggeringly amazing), the ideas and concepts presented in this book can be adapted for middle school and high school and even college.

Rafe gives us a clearer picture of how he approaches his unabridged Shakespeare play productions and lists the rock songs the students learn to play and sing to underscore and highlight their live production. Naturally I was thrilled to see a number of Kinks songs used, including:

The Taming of the Shrew:
"I'm Not Like Everybody Else" performed during the first meeting of Kate and Petruchio. "Tired of Waiting for You" when Kate is left standing at the altar

Love's Labour's Lost:
"The Village Green Preservation Society" as the Queen of France and her court arrive in Navarre to encounter the new rules. The students present the lyrics in sign language. Wow -- I'd love to see that!
"Days" -- a perfect wrap up and curtain call tune.

The productions are three hours long and are performed for two weeks at the end of the school year. Half of the classroom becomes a stage. They have professional stage lights mounted and great sound equipment. Rafe's hard work for the past 24 years has paid off. There are many sponsors of Room 56, which has become a non-profit corporation. Noted thespians such as Ian McKellan, Michael York, Hal Holbrook, Patrick Stewart, and Peter Hall visit and support his program. Ian McKellan comments that unlike many performers, the Holbart Shakespeareans always understand exactly what they are saying when they perform their parts. The documentary includes much great footage of a terrific young Hamlet and an utterly moving Ophelia.

Rafe's use of rock and roll is not limited to the classroom (which is equipped with electric and acoustic guitars as well as drum sets and microphone), it also can be found in chapter titles to Teach Like Your Hair is On Fire, including these Kinksian chapter headings:

"Celluloid Heroes" (how to inspire through use of classic films)
"Art Lover" (infusing arts into the curriculum)
"Add It Up" (learning math without tedium)

Rafe Esquith works his wonders from the ground up -- despite the never-ending dictates from politicians and boards of education. He succeeds because he has dedicated his life to his work and because he has learned that in order to teach well, he must model the kind of human being he wants his students to be. No matter what you teach, you will leave Rafe's books and video with a new hunger to do better and teach harder than ever before.

The hard truth of the matter is that the government can pass as many NCLB bills and amendments as it likes, but the real break-throughs in teaching take a great deal of time and commitment at the classroom level. Rafe is at school teaching from 6:30 AM until 6 PM and often longer than that. He holds Saturday sessions for his former students who are working toward success in middle school, high school and college. Every year he takes his former students on a college tour around the country. These kids who began as immigrant children, living in a crime-infested and destitute area of urban decay, are graduating from the best colleges into a wide variety of successful careers that all got their beginning in room 56.

I watch the Hobart Shakespearean video every year before school starts as a rev up exercise, and for a buck up whenever I feel myself getting frustrated and my patience evaporating. I think of Rafe and his students and their commitment to learning and realize I have a long way to go, but at least there is a light ahead of me revealing many wonderful possibilities if I just continue to work hard and be nice. As Rafe puts it in the introduction to his new book:

"There are so many charlatans in the world of education. They teach for a couple of years, come up with a few clever slogans, build their Web sites and hit the lecture circuit. In this fast-food society, simple solutions to complex problems are embraced far too often. We can do better. I hope that people who read this book realize that true excellence takes sacrifice, mistakes, and enormous amounts of effort. After all there are no shortcuts."

Thanks Rafe!

The Omnivore's Dilemma, Part 3 (the meme)

I've been tagged by Pho, tagged as in "for a meme" a term I had to look up and found that it is something like a chain letter only not linked to any threats of dire fortune if one doesn't keep it going. It's more of a controlled random way of forging blog links, so I don't mind participating one bit -- especially since it turns out to be total serendipity here at the Village Green.

The meme's instructions are:

1. Grab the book closest to you.
   
2. Open to page 123, go down to the 4th sentence.
   
3. Post the text of the following 3 sentences on your blog.
   
4. Name of the book and the author.
   
5. Tag three people of your own.

I'm glad to do this because the book right in front of me is -- as you might expect -- The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It is at hand because I'm about to post my third comment in a row, takin g a look at the Pastoral Grass food chain. Page 123 turns out to be the first page of that section in a chapter called All Flesh is Grass. Here are the three sentences:

"I was tired. I'd spent the afternoon making hay, really just lending a hand to a farmer making hay, and after a few hours in the midday sun hoisting and throwing fifty-pound bales onto a hay wagon, I hurt. We think of grass as soft and hospitable stuff, but once it's been dried in the sun and shredded by machines--once it's become hay--grass is sharp enough to draw blood and dusty enough to thicken lungs." (Omnivore's Dilemma, p 123)

This was my favorite section of the book -- the chapter on Polyface Farm in Virginia. The farm raises chicken, beef, turkey, eggs, rabbits, and pigs, as well as tomatoes, sweet corn, and berries in a unique configuration of animal and crop rotations. This all happens on one hundred acres of pasture plus 450 acres of forest. The guy who runs it calls himself a "grass farmer" and his name is Joe Salatin. A fascinating fellow! But even more so is his way of farming which he deiscribes as a place where animals do most of the work.

Grass farming recognizes that energy comes from the sun and is stored in plant leaves, such as grass, which is consumed by animals who are then consumed by humans. Salatin has observed nature and his farming techniques are like an "intensive rotational dance on the theme of symbiosis. Salatin is the choreographer and the grasses are his verdurous stage."

Basically, he grazes his cows on pasture land then moves them before the cows over graze the grass. Grass will recover its vitality after one clip of cow teeth, but not as well after two or more bites down to the ground. So the cows are constantly moved with portable fencing. After the cows leave one section, a mobile chicken coop is brought in, affectionately known as the "Eggmobile!" Chickens in pens go straight to the cow pies (!) and peck out the grubs and other nasties growing in them. The chicken coops stay for one day and are moved the length of the coop to new ground so that the entire pasture benefits from the chicken manure which supplies the grasses with copious amounts of nitrogen.

The beauty and intricacy of this operation is that it is highly productive without the added costs from antibiotics, wormers, paraciticides, and fertilizers. There is a lot more to it than my brief summation above -- Pollan delves into the nature of grass plants and soil, doing a magnificent job of taking us on a grand tour of the the chain of food and life itself. Pollan spent a week working on the farm, and even participates in the weekly slaughter of chickens for sale. I admire him for his willingness to experience and record things that I could probably never bring myself to do. I know I couldn't kill an animal to eat it, but after reading this chapter -- I began to understand my heritage as a human onmnivore. If I were to become a meat eater once more, I would want link to the chain that had animals who lived their lives on a farm like Polyface.

Oh and tagging this meme far out of the park and on to: Microdot, Nerve Doc, and Kevin.

Remembering Margo

The loss of Margo Prade stunned Akron citizens. This young, beautiful and talented physician was murdered by her police captain husband , Douglas Prade, on Nov. 26, 1997. It left two young girls without parents, as their father was sentened to a life in state prison.

As fate would have it, I had some dealings with both Margo and Douglas through one of their daughters. I had always thought of Margo as a strong woman in control of her life and at the top of her game. As is so often the case, I had no idea there was ongoing marital trouble. Both parents seemed dedicated to their children.

As the investigation disclosed the controlling and abusive relationship that Douglas Prade brought upon his marriage, I felt an even greater connection. I had been in similar circumstances and in fact, fled the west coast to get away from a potentially violent situation.

Now one of Margo's best friends has written a book about the short and inspiring life of Margo Prade. In Remembering Margo, Donzella Malone gives us an intimate portrait of a young African-American determined to make something of herself and in doing so give back to her community.

Donzella first met Margo many years ago when they were on a soft ball team competing for the same left field position. Margo was working her way through school and dating a police officer who was ten years older than she was. In one of life's weird coincidences, Donzella had had an encounter with Douglas Prade when she was still a youngster. Finding herself in a speeding car driven by some wild youths, she was relieved when the car was stopped by a police officer. Leaping out and grateful for rescue, she was stunned by the officer's screaming attack directed toward her. He used vile language, berating this twelve year old girl for something she had not initiated. It was an incident she never forgot, that was instantly recalled the first time she met Douglas as an adult.

Donzella's first hand account takes us through Margo's life, detailing her incredible fortitude in finishing her medical degree and residency, while marrying and giving birth to two girls. She eventually opened her own medical building on Romig Road, which was to become the site of her murder. We are given warm accounts of Margo's positive effects upon those who knew her. Donzella fleshes out and makes human the tragic figure that was soon put on tabloid television display via Hard Copy and other shows of that ilk.

Remembering Margo is published by Vantage Press and is the author's first book. Anyone who remembers the case ought to read it. In one way, it is very inspiring, as we follow along Margo's path to self-determination and career successes. On the other hand, it provides yet another horrifying account of male on female abuse. Douglas Prade was a user and a controller who had to have everything go his way.

I remember after the murder thinking so many if-onlys -- if only Margo had left earlier for her Thanksgiving vacation. If only Margo had moved far from Akron upon divorcing Douglas. If only she had resisted marrying him in the first place.

I found my copy at Barnes and Noble. You can order it online.