Beyond Nancy Drew: U.S. Girls’ Series Fiction in the Twentieth Century(Children and Youth in Popular Culture)

This book examines the narratives of series heroines that preceded and followed Nancy Drew, each in relation to their social, historical, and economic environments. Covering heroines including Miss Pickerell, Madge Sterling, and Polly the Powers Model, among others, this book illustrates that the recovery of stolen inheritances during the Great Depression serves different social ends than, for example, fighting Germans on an international stage. This book expands scholarship that tends to focus on Nancy Drew by drawing attention to the stories of some other “lost” heroines of twentieth century U.S. series fiction. Organized by time period, the chapters give insight into the cultural landscape that perpetuated the popularity of these heroines in their respective eras, how these series reflected the experiences of readers across the decades, and their continued impact well into the twenty-first century.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Imperfect Adventures: ‘Relatable’ Heroines in Twentieth-Century Girls’ Series Fiction LuElla D’Amico and Emily Hamilton-Honey Chapter 1: Betty Wales: From Series Book Heroine to Lifestyle Brand Jill Hobgood Chapter 2: Adventure, Mystery, and Fashion: On Fashion and the Modelling Profession in Polly the Powers Model: The Puzzle of the Haunted Camera Erika Johansson Lunding Chapter 3: Finding the Right Formula, or How The Madge Sterling Series Provided Mildred Wirt (Benson) with the Perfect Formula for Writing Children’s Mystery Series Todd Latoski Chapter 4: Before Nancy Drew: American Girls' Series Fiction of the 1920s Susan Ingalls Lewis Chapter 5: On Being Glad: Pollyanna and Stoic Thought LuElla D'Amico and Gregory Eiselein Chapter 6: “To See If College Could Make Half the Woman of Me That It Made of My Mother”: The Beverly Gray Series as a Mid-Century Return to Progressive Era Girls’ Series Fiction Emily Hamilton-Honey Chapter 7: Maida Westabrook: Inez Haynes Gillmore Irwin’s Little Lady Bountiful Robin Cadwallader Chapter 8: Miss Pickerell Tackles the Stereotypes: Gender, Science Education, and Mid-century Science Fiction Liz W. Faber Chapter 9: “More like Americans”: Sydney Taylor’s Queering of Historical Fiction Girls’ Series Melanie J. Fishbane Chapter 10: “To prove their worth in a man’s world”: Depicting and Encouraging White Women’s Growing Professional Opportunities in Betty Baxter Anderson’s 1940s Career Novels Karen Keely Chapter 11: Inventing the Career Girl Narrative in Vicki Barr Michael Cornelius Chapter 12: Student Dancer: Education, Community, and Love in Regina J. Woody’s Dance-Career Novels Jill E. Anderson

About the Author :
LuElla D'Amico is associate professor of English and coordinator of the women’s and gender studies program at the University of the Incarnate Word. Emily Hamilton-Honey is associate professor of English and humanities at SUNY Canton.

Review :
"Beyond Nancy Drew takes its cue from the titular heroine by opening doors that have long been left closed. D'Amico and Hamilton-Honey gather an engaging set of essays that work together to provide a necessary insight into girls' series that have historically been overshadowed by the plucky detective. A valuable asset to scholars and classrooms alike." As both a scholar and a Nancy Drew fan, I had high expectations for this collection and it far exceeded them. The compiled essays provide an incredibly useful mix of new scholarship on acknowledged classics, recovery projects of female-centered series, and emerging avenues for new research within this rich body of texts. Crossing between girls' fiction studies, series fiction studies, gender studies, book/publishing history and material culture, the various essays offered delightful surprises alongside rigorous examination of the primary texts. I walked away from this book with a long list of series to look up and a strong desire to revisit some of my favorite Nancy Drew mysteries!