My goodreads friends and I continue our monthly Nancy Drew reads. I noticed that I am now up to ten for the yearand I’ve noticed that no matter what age Nancy is featured in these cases, the books are addictive, to the point of impeding my other reading. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It has to be the food and football and long weekend off of work. Yes, I know the meaning of the holiday but if food and football are involved, then I’m sold. I suggested for November to find a Nancy Drew case or cases featuring thanksgiving. I always read a lot of kids books around holidays to get me in the mood. The traditional Nancy Drew series did not feature holidays nor do the diaries. The clue crew which features an eight year old Nancy and friends, has two books centered around the Thanksgiving holiday. It was enough to pique my interest.
Nancy, Bess, and George, otherwise known as the clue crew, are entered in the Turkey trot. Entrants have to dress up as turkeys and the winning team receives a chocolate Turkey from a new chocolate shop that just opened in River Heights. Of course, the chocolate Turkey has gone missing, and the clue crew is on it. At only eighty pages, the clue crew books are designed for younger readers and just long enough for them to hold an interest. All the characters are kids who work together as a team to solve mysteries. While the diaries series is the same length as the traditional Nancy Drew series, the clue crew is half the length and is a stretch to appeal to the purist Nancy Drew fan in me. Then again, Nancy had to have gotten her start somewhere, and that somewhere is a positive upbringing from her father and housekeeper/mother figure. They encouraged her to think and work independently and follow rules and that lead to Nancy solving mysteries at a young age. This series is designed to introduce young readers to the timeless sleuth. They are charming but I think I’ll be sticking, for the most part, to her full length cases.
3.5 stars