April Fool's Day

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #19

by Carolyn Keene

Nancy, George, and Bess have been invited to an April Fool's Day party at their new schoolmate's house. It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun -- each guest is bringing a gag to the party, and the best prank will win a special prize.

When two of the guests' fancy new electronics go missing, Nancy knows something's up. Is this someone's idea of a joke? The Clue Crew certainly isn't laughing, and they're on the case to find the missing gadgets.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

AUTHOR Keene, Carolyn
TITLE Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew April Fool's Day #19
DATE READ 04/04/21
RATING 4/B
FIRST SENTENCE "You got a letter, Nancy, " Hannah Gruen said.
GENRE/ PUB DATE/FORMAT/LENGTH YA Mystery/2009/pb/86 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE #19
CHALLENGE Good Reads 2020 Reading Goal 35/120
GROUP READ ND
TIME/PLACE 2008/Ohio
CHARACTERS Nancy and her friends Bess & George
COMMENTS Another very cute story, good secondary characters and mystery. Nancy, Bess & George are invited to an April Fool's Party. While there, two of the girls discover an expensive game and cell phone are missing from their backpacks -- the clue crew is on assignment.

[Dow Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is about a group of children invited to an April Fool's Day party at their new classmate's house. Everyone was supposed to bring a gag to the party, and the best prank will win a prize. During the party two of the children’s new electronics go missing, so Nancy and The Clue Crew hop on the case to figure out what could've happened to the missing electronics. I also enjoy the little illustrations throughout the book which sort of helps you think of what may have happened at the end. This book really caught my eye because I am in to mystery’s and I love trying to predict ahead of time what may have happened and see if I was right by the end of the story or movie.

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

This was not my favorite book in the series, but I also hate April fools day so its not surprising that this one felt a little rude to me. The girls go to an April Fools Day Party. 2 of the girls there have super boujie new tech items and then they go missing. The Clue Crew tries to figure out whodunnit. People were intentionally acting super stuck up and rude, people were stealing for no reason, and everyone was trying to trick everyone. Call me humorless; I just didn't love it.

[Caity · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty cute introduction to Nancy Drew for younger readers. The story had some good foreshadowing and twists for how short it is. The gags that girls set up for the April Fools party are pretty funny too.

[Katrina Escoto Ilano · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have the book and its cool! I got mine in 2015!

[Aaliyah Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too predictable

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know why I liked this one so much more than usual, but this was definitely my favorite in the series so far!

[Kelly Choy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book in this series!

[Hikari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy April fools day!

[Sakura · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was my first book of Nancy Drew series. It's so cool! I love it and wanna read more!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. It was fun and adventurous. Great mystery! Didn’t enjoy the illustrations; just not my style.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl named April Funk is going to hold an April's Fool party with pranks and the kids to bring pranks with them. The one with the best prank will win a prize.

Bess is shown to be centered on fashion and George on computers, although sometimes it's Bess who is good on computers.

Sydney is very smart but also very nasty. She was April's best friend but is no longer. She crashes the party anyhow. Two other girls are Miranda and Heidi who are both ultra-snobbish.
The mystery happens when Miranda's cell phone goes missing and a gamer console goes missing. Both items belong to the two girls. April's younger brothers are also there and they are long on mischief so they become suspects. The trophy is stolen, also

However, of the three items missing, not all are necessarily stolen. There's a very cute ending to the story.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another fun mystery in the Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series. We've been slowly working our way through the series and we like the characters. The mysteries are not scary and they aren't too difficult to solve; they often have a twist or two in the plot to keep us guessing, so I am actually somewhat impressed with the writing (especially for a short chapter book for young readers.) The illustrations are entertaining and help depict the action of the story.

This story has to do with April Fool's Day pranks and a party that has a lot of thefts. The story was fun and our girls loved the idea of a party with so many gags and pranks. We enjoyed reading this story together.

[Raja99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why I Read This Book: It looked interesting on the library shelf.

Here's an entry in Yet Another Nancy Drew Series. This series consists of chapter books; that is, the books are mostly text, with some pretty good grayscale illustrations, and not too long—the last numbered page here is 86, though it's followed by a three-page recipe for a fun-looking dessert, "dirt cake".

I quite enjoyed this one; it had some clever twists.

(Finished 2009-12-10 0:49EST)

[Kelsey]

i think that this book is very relatable in that many children will have experienced or will experience ones similar to those that Nancy goes through. Carolyn Keene does a great job of keeping the book interesting and the reader on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen. The only downside is that Nancy is in 3rd grade which does limit the relatability in my opinion.

[Nirupama Shenoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was great. A great mystery book that makes you interested. Nancy Drew and her two best friends, Georgia Fayne and Bess Marvin go to a sleepover at their friend's house for April Fools day. But suddenly things start to go missing like their sleeping bags and water bottles . The detectives are on the case. Who stole it? You'll have to read it.

[Kya]

It was my favorite book out of all the Nancy Drew series. I absolutely loved it and you won't believe who is behind this mystery i won't tell you that would be spoiling the book find out and read the book.

[Nichole Ostrander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy drew for the a younger age group with just as much fun and mystery. This one is great for a seasonal/ monthly theme book. If you have a second grader who likes a good mystery then this book is for you.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like April's idea to make an April Fool's Party invitation by making it look like it's a report card. Maybe I'll do that this year.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great if you like short mysteries!

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book

[Haim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book. Similar to Cam Jensen in Nancy's solving ability.

[2Marianna]

this was really good mystery book

[Liesel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was really interesting because it actually took place on April fools day. There are some April fools day jokes, but the mystery was not a joke.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned not to do mean things on April Fools Day
Auryn 12 years old, 2015

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one good book! One of the best Nancy Drew's.

[Lauryn Lever · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a real funny book