Easy Marks

Nancy Drew Files #62

by Carolyn Keene

Undercover at Brewster Academy to investigate a grade-changing scheme, Nancy must find out who has penetrated the school's computer and is extorting money from students in exchange for upgrading their records.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Ebooks, Juvenile, Adventure

155 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

Carolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator.

Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.

Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in 1991...

• E-mail was new.

• Floppy disks and tape drives were used for computer data storage.

• Offices going "paperless" was the wave of the future.

So, reading this in 2019, when everybody and their mother has an e-mail address, floppy drives and cassette tapes of any kind have gone the way of the dinosaur, and "paperwork" is now often done on tablets and cell phones, served as a window into days gone by.

Despite the quaint technology, it was still an engaging mystery, and I had a blast with it. I'm glad I have more of these books on hand.

[Prerna · Rating 3 out of 5]

KINDA BORING!

[V. Arrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring mystery, but I LOVE LEARNING ABOUT USENET so that totally saved it. Also, Victor has more charm and charisma in one book than this whole iteration of ND has given poor Ned.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this one as a pre-teen! It introduced me to Electronic mail, or "E-mail," if you will, and "hackers." Just amazes me how quickly computer technology has taken off, even if it took another seven years after publication for this Midwestern girl to get her first email account!

[Eric Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book! I was immediately interested in the story from the first page, and from that page on, I was engrossed and enjoyed the story all the way through, even though there is little action and the computer talk was a bit much at times. Victor Paredes, one of the students that keeps flirting with Nancy, was pretty annoying and immature, I did not very much like him. But the culprit wasn't obvious here and the story keeps you guessing as to who it could be. The mystery was also different and interesting. Bess, George, or Ned don't appear in this book(well Nancy does go shopping with Bess and George, but they don't have any dialogue and it's only a mention.) so it was nice seeing Nancy sleuth just on her own. Nancy also uses her head and thinks of every possibility of who it could be. Overall, an entertaining, interesting book that will keep you guessing to who the culprit could be. 4 stars.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. What a time capsule omg! The mystery itself wasn't in the least bit interesting but all of the early 90s computer and e-mail talk made this so fun and charming. It's dated in the best way possible.

[annalisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another classic nancy drew mystery!!

[Hillary Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was total crap, but it was about old school email from the 90s which I thought was entertaining to read

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot more than recent ones.

[Rachma Aprilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy diminta untuk menyelidiki kasus grade changer di Brewster Academy. Ia menyamar menjadi tutor di sana. Salah seorang yang dicurigainya ternyata menjadi murid tutoringnya dan ... he is attractive.
Ini adalah kali pertama membaca seri nancy drew files yang merupakan versi lebih dewasa dari versi awal. Ada romansa yang mewarnai kisah penyelidikan Nancy. Cukup seru sebagai bacaan ringan di saat saya tak punya banyak waktu membaca.

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy goes undercover as a tutor (really!!!!!) to discover what computer genius has been grade fixing. She also flirts inappropriately with one of the students