I borrowed my first Nancy Drew mystery from the small library we belonged to in western New York the summer I was 7.

Nancy Drew was the first character who inspired me to think about the full life she led both on and off the page.  

I believed in Nancy Drew: her ingenuity and her hunches, her disappointments and her triumphs.

Turns out you did too!

I received more than 100 guesses via email for June's mystery character literary challenge. I thought I’d share a few with you.

Eighty-eight year old Nancy wrote to say:  

“I remember it as if it was yesterday. Summers in the early 40’s as World War 2 was going on. And even the children felt the seriousness of it with brothers going off to war. My best friend and I would devour the books with a plucky and cool heroine ready to make us feel better.”

Sue remembers burrowing away enough change to purchase Nancy Drew books:  

“I saved up my money to buy a new Nancy Drew mystery from my local five and dime store. They were $2.50.”

Krista wrote in to say that she has some of the original Nancy Drews from when her grandmother and great aunt were teens.   

“I loved those books,” she added.

I heard from plenty of men too, including Troy, who read the Hardy Boys books.  

That series was created by the same man, Edward Stratemeyer, who came up with the idea for Nancy Drew.  He employed a stable of ghostwriters for the books and grew very rich from it.

Robert wrote to say that while all the boys he knew loved the Hardy Boys, plenty of them also read Nancy Drew too.

I’m grateful to all of you for sharing your love and appreciation for the one and only Nancy Drew!

— Kerri Miller | MPR News