The Secret of the Forgotten Cave

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #134

by Carolyn Keene

Nancy has come to Connecticut to visit George's aunt Elizabeth, and lands right in the middle of a controversy. George's aunt, among others, proposes a bicycle path instead of widening a dangerously winding country road, in order to save a rare speicies of bat. But a threatening phone call, a sinister warning hanging in the doorway, and a sabotaged car convince Nancy that much more than the bats are at stake.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Mystery Thriller, Middle Grade, Classics

151 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Adeena Syed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my type of writing. Too obvious and sometimes too childish. the writing style was nit impressive and same for the story.
Good for light reads.

[Izzy]

If Nancy Drew was in an episode of Gilmore Girls

[N.K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think the paperbacks are as good as the hardbacks but this book is better because Nancy isn’t dead

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book--the characters, the action, the mystery, the setting. The subject matter is about an ethical problem facing a small town--widen a road to where a bicyclist was killed or preserve a grove of trees where an endangered species of bats roosts. I thought there were some interesting twists in this one--and no sabotage this time.

[Melmo2610 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot. The mystery surrounding some road work and potential harm of a bat population if the road work is done made for a good mystery and the conclusion was done well. Solid Nancy Drew detective work!

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Laura Merrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I just like to read a little Nancy Drew. Good short reads that harken back to my childhood.

[Jessica Kingwill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I READ THIS BOOK FOR 4TH QUARTER!!!!

I liked this book. When I was younger, I was reading the Nancy Drew mystery series, but I stopped. I'm glad that I started reading the series again.

The book is about Nancy and her friends George (who is a girl) and Bess. Nancy, George and Bess go to see george's Aunt in Connecticut. When they get there, the group learnes that George's aunt (Aunt E) is recieving death threats ebcause Aunt E spoke her opinion at a community meeting about widening the road. The problem with widening the road is that is would kill off an endangered species of bats. Nancy, george and Bess start to look for clues to seewho is sending Aunt E death threats. Along their journey, they discover that there is a cave where all the bats live, but no one can loate it. When nancy finds more clues she makes a few predictions. Nancy, George and Bess find the cave and look threw it. They find over 100 bats on the floor, dead. They were killedwith a shovel found in the cave. after more researching, nancy finds the suspect's helper. She acts the helper what he knows. The helper tells nancy everything about the mystery. All of the information given to nancy leads her to find the culprit. The culprit ends up in jail and aunt e doesn't recieve any moe death threats.

I can connect this book to the sci fi movie my brother was watching, whcih was about bats. Except the bats were killer bats and were eating people. I woudl recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good myster novel.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting story since it deals with the conservation movement. A town is thinking about widening a road that a teenager had died on, basically due to how narrow the road is. A move is on to stop the widening, though, because some rarish bats are in a cave and would lose their home if the road is widened.

The group is visit George's aunt in the town. Her aunt is the main one behind the effort to stop the road being widened. There's actual full-scale hatred against her due to her position on the road. A young girl named Sarah really hates her. Sarah's brother was the one killed on the road.

There's the always-present threatening phone calls and letters, of course. As usual, there's danger with a car that Nancy is in when the car is pushed off the road into a stream.

Nancy and the group find the cave, but there are many dead bats in one part, bats that were killed by someone on purpose. One suspect is shown to be a guy that just wants to be along. The most obvious suspect from early on has a somewhat unexpected reason for doing what he does.
There is a problem, though, in the bats. Although the benefits of the bats, such as eating mosquitos, is discussed, nothing is noted about the fact that bats can carry rabies.
It's a good and very timely story.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

My love of reading started when i was young, and it gives me immense pleasure to provide books to Spread the Word Nevada, an organization that passes them on to children in the community. They are a terrific organization supporting an important cause. If your local I encourage you to check them out. For those living further a field, look in your own community, their may already be a similar program in place. And if not, you can always help start one.

http://spreadthewordnevada.org/

Myself, I go out on the weekends and
shop thrift store and bulk book lots to rescue books and donate them. Sometimes I'll find a book I remember reading when I was young and will read it again before passing it on.

I don't rate these books using my normal scale, instead I give most of them three stars. This isn't a Criticism of the book, simply my way of rating them as good for children.

[Suzan Amin Khoja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am tired of appreciating Carolyn Keene's work and Nancy Drew stories. Every story is better than the other and this one is one of the best. I love how all the characters are beautifully described and they develop so efficiently throughout the story. The new characters are so interesting and the storyline is so unique and different that I loved this novel. The kid in me that yearned for Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew is not satisfied yet and wanted more of the novels . I still want to read more Nancy Drew, this book is that amazing. A must try for everyone.

[Dhanashri Matondkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd read this book ages ago. Picked it up again this week to read just for old times sake. The story is a typical Nancy Drew plot with all the clues coming together towards the end, some convenient coincidences and Nancy being the star of the show . It was fun re-reading though!

[Damaris · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was really good:)

[Dv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Focusing more to the environmental side, but an enjoyable book!

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery book especially for little nature lovers and archaeologists! Do read it!

[Prami{reader and dreamer} · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 19684 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: MG - BL: 4.3 - AR Pts: 4.0
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP

[Crosby Gustafson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book!!

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023

2015

[Chaitra Nair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carolyn Keene doesn't disappoint me... The mysteries are so interesting I love it....😍

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it Nancy Drew books are the best