Judge Sonia Sotomayor meets Nancy Drew
The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court has triggered a flood of heart-warming, American Dream images, including that of a young Puerto Rican immigrant instilled with a love of reading and learning. An excerpt from the official White House briefing paper: "After her father’s death, Sotomayor turned to books for solace, and it was her new found love of Nancy Drew that inspired a love of reading and learning, a path that ultimately led her to the law." Quite a leap from The Secret of the Old Clock to the Supreme Court, but apparently she was also influenced by Perry Mason shows.
As a child in the Baby Boom generation, I never read the Nancy Drew series -- I had my own version of adventure in the Hardy Boys series. I owned a bunch of the blue-spined books, including The Tower Treasure and The House on the Cliff. (I thought I might get some insight into the other series from my Read Street partner, Nancy, but she said she was tagged with the nickname "Nancy Drew" as a kid and refused to read any of the books.)
In truth, there probably isn't a dime's worth of difference between the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series. Both were developed by Edward Stratemeyer and his syndicate, which included a stable of writers. Both featured similar plots with similar titles: "The Secret of ... " and "The Mystery of ..." Still, they were very empowering books for kids, and it's no suprise that little Sonia Sotomayor drew small pleasures -- and big dreams -- from the tales.
Comments
I read all the Nancy Drew books as a kid. The mysteries never impressed me that much, but I loved the fact that she had her own car, a boyfriend, and very little parental supervision (since her father was a widower).
I recently bought the DVDs of the four Nancy Drew movies (starring Bonita Granville) made in 1938 and 1939. Granville, who was only 15, then 16, when she made these movies, makes an excellent Nancy. The movies are fun but very silly. Boyfriend "Ted" (renamed from the "Ned" of the books) just follows Nancy around and pretty much does her bidding. In the movies, Nancy is one tough boss!
Posted by: Gail Farrelly | May 27, 2009 3:32 PM
I read Nancy Drews, both my aunt's hardcovers with the yellow spines, and also the softcover "updated" ones that came out when I was a kid.
When I was about 10, I discovered Cherry Ames. Published at around the same time as Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames was a nurse in the Midwest, and each book had her doing a different kind of nursing.
It makes me mad that they're out of print, while Nancy Drew lives on with her silly roadster and unstructured career life.
Since then, I've been scouring yard sales, secondhand bookstores, and eBay for Cherry Ames books in good condition. My collection is close to complete. The only one I'd pay more than about $25 for would be "Cherry Ames, Jungle Nurse" which I can't find anywhere.
Posted by: Elizabeth W. | May 28, 2009 10:14 AM
Elizabeth, Gail: I know the excitement of finding and rereading a book you liked as a kid. I have a tattered copy of "The Kid Who Batted 1.000," a silly tale about a boy whose only talent is fouling off balls until he gets a walk. I played a lot of baseball (and never was much of a hitter), so story really appealled to me.
Posted by: Dave | May 28, 2009 10:33 AM