Dance Off

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #30

by Carolyn Keene, Macky Pamintuan (Illustrator)

Dance fever has hit River Heights! Kids Can Dance, the famous reality tv show, is holding auditions at River Heights Elementary. Nancy and her friends are eager to try out, and meet the famous host, Bryce Brown. But when something goes wrong with every dancer's equipment, music, or routine, could someone be trying to ruin the River Heights try-outs? Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew are on the case!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Detective, Chapter Books, Middle Grade

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2011

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Nehal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading it multiple times and loving it 😀

[Ashlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up on Nancy Drew books, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that since I read them as a younger kid, they have come out with a whole new generation of books. They now have a series called "Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew" which is for basically little elementary kids, and they have Nancy Drew books for teens, and even ND books for college kids. I love it! My inner child is coming out and I kind of want to track down some of the books in the college series, seeing as how I'm in college and I used to read ND books all the time.

This book in particular I got for $3 through my daughters Scholastic Book magazine from her school. I got it on a weekend, which is when she goes to see her other parent, so I read it during that weekend. I am going to try my best to read all the books my kids do so I know what they are reading. This was a really cute book and I enjoyed it. I love how Nancy, Bess, and George all have the same attitudes even as 9 year old girls. This book was about Nancy and her friends trying out to be on a show called "Kids can dance!" but all the auditions are being sabotaged. So the mini sleuths find out who is trying to ruin all the auditions. Again, adorable read. I can't wait to read through it again with my daughter this second time around.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are going downhill and I don't know if its because we've read 30 of them or because the whodunnits are just getting a little lackluster. In this one, theres a competition in town called "Kids can dance!" A lot of the kids are trying out for various reasons. There is prize money as well as the chance to meet a famous tween star, Bryce Brown. However, someone is sabotaging the acts. In the end we find out it was Bryce doing it because his stage mom was making him do more than he wanted and he was tired of traveling around the country doing this competition. Poor kid.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew Dance Off there is a dance off in River Heights for kids. (River Heights is where Nancy, Bess, and George live.) Bryce, the star of a show called Middle School Meltdown ruins all the kids acts! At first I thought that Cookie, Bryce's mom was responsible for the kids messing up. But when we got deeper into the book and there were more clues I realized it was Bryce how had ruined all of the kids acts!

[Nehal Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read it multiple times and each time I discover something new. It is really mysterious and nice.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another cute book in this adorable series.

[Noelani · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars rated by 9-year old

[Eliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book, it is so good! You should read it :)

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Clue Crew is super excited; a Dance Off program is heading to River Heights. The girls are competing and have enjoyed watching the other performers, but Nancy immediately recognizes that something isn't quite right. The contestants encounter trickery that ruins their performances. The Clue Crew jumps to action; not only do they want to solve the mystery, but they also want Dance Off to complete its airing at River Heights. There are several suspects and a few red herrings, with the latter not intimidating the young detectives. Fortunately, the clues lead the Crew to the actual saboteur, but as with all the Clue Crew books, it's not an act of cruelty but a cry for help, which I love about these stories.
I recommend Dance Off to Nancy Drew fans of all ages.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 2 out of 5]

In so many ways this book was disappointing. An infantilized, dumbed down version of Nancy Drew for small children now with boy-singer craziness, "normalizing" of childhood and cliquey bullying behavior. The only bright spark in it for me was George the tomboy who added a much needed dislike of pink raincoats to the mix (but failed to be heard)

Not quite offensive enough to get one star. One and three quarters

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book was very misterous but very good and very funny. I think that people that like serouis mysterys will like this book. After when Nancy find out who it was they get to do their dance but they dont win. I think they should win because they are the ones who find out who it is.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this story even as an adult. I loved the mystery and was really surprised by the ending!