Hannah's Secret

Nancy Drew: Notebooks #20

by Carolyn Keene

Hannah's more than a housekeeper. She's almost part of Nancy's family. But Hannah has a secret, and Nancy thinks she knows what it is.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction

73 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Seema M. Fazil · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read a Nancy Drew book.
I really liked this ND Notebook, but there was one thing that was uncharacteristic about Nancy at the beginning of the book that I didn't like.
When Hannah asked Nancy to clean after herself when she was done eating, it mentioned that Nancy didn't like chores. The Nancy I know loves to help.
Other than that, it was a great read, and I was relieved to hear that Hannah was not going away.
I would recommend it to Nancy Drew fans.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another of the Nancy Drew Notebook series with her and the others still in elementary school. In this case all the evidence seems to indicate that Hannah is planning to leave the Drew family in order to go to work for someone else. Nancy and the girls try a lot of things to get Hannah to stay, but everything they do seems to backfire. Finally they uncover what is really happening and realize that just having clues does not automatically lead to the correct solution.

[Eulene]

Been intrigued with the cover ever since i saw it around 15 years ago. Hannah's secret is meh but I mean it's a middle school book so I knew what I was getting into

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Nancy is so cute.

[Allison Kidd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to my residents at work today lol they loved it

[emma grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in 2005-6.