Note: Kristin reads and reviews both Christian and secular fiction on A Simply Enchanted Life. Out of respect for my readers, I am including a content review. This content review will help you decide whether this book is suitable for you.
Christian or Secular: Secular
ASEL Rating: no profanity, violence, bedroom scenes, or other content that could otherwise be considered disturbing.
Suggested Age: 8+
The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene
Published by Grosset & Dunlap on May 1, 1930
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fiction, General, Girls & Women, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Young Adult
Pages: 180
Nancy Drew solves her first mystery when the accidental rescue of a little girl who lives with her two great-aunts leads on an adventurous search for a missing will.
This series is just absolutely delightful. Compared to the Sweet Valley series that is edgy but filled with terrible role models; Nancy is a strong, capable woman—completely wholesome but able to hold her own. Nancy is a great role model, she can change her car’s tire for herself. She solves mysteries and helps police capture a ring of thieves. Nancy was breaking barriers and portraying young women as capable and I love that!
There was a comment that stuck out to me in this book. When Nancy is locked in a closet, a caretaker of the property assumes the thieves are trying to trick him. As Nancy becomes frantic, she screams and the man makes a remark that a man couldn’t make that much of a racket.
Rather than letting this comment wither her self-confidence, Nancy sets out after the thieves. Not only does she sneak into the thieves’ hideout but she also solves the mystery of the old clock. Folks, this girl solves not just one but two mysteries in this book!
I was torn on what to rate this story. This book is fairly simplistic and easy to figure out. I mean, the title practically gives away the whole plot of the story. But, sometimes a rating should be about how eloquently a book is written. Sometimes a rating is about how the book makes you feel. This one makes me feel young again. Innocent. It takes me back to a time when a legit, good mystery was a missing clock containing the last will of a rich, old man.
Children of today may be surprised that Nancy doesn’t have a cell phone. Also a sign that times have changed? $100,000 is presented as an extraordinary amount of money. In fact, in those days it was enough to support multiple beneficiaries, launch a singing career and obtain the best medical care that exists.
This book is pure and simple innocence. I can’t wait to share these books with my kids!
About Carolyn Keene
Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon are the pseudonyms under which many ghostwriters penned the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, respectively. Both series were created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm, in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Stratemeyer’s daughter, Harriet, and syndicate writer Mildred Wirt Benson were the two people primarily responsible for bringing the iconic character of Nancy Drew to life in the minds and hearts of millions of readers around the world.
Another favourite series. Love these walks down memory lane.
I’m definitely enjoying revisiting my childhood!