A dive into the hiveminds behind Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. We raise questions like: what do The Hardy Boys eat? Does Nancy = feminism? And what counts as a clue? 

Resources:

• Nancy Drew’s Father, The New Yorker, Meghan O’Rourke
• Rewriting the Past in Children's Literature: The Hardy Boys an Other Series, Robert L. Crawford (academic article)

Books mentioned: Franklin W. Dixon, While the Clock Ticked; Carolyn Keene, Mystery of Crocodile Island; Bobbie Ann Mason, The Girl Sleuth; Melanie Rehak, Girl Sleuth.

Series mentioned: The Rover Boys, Tom Swift, Outdoor Girls, The Bobbsey Twins, The Boxcar Children, The Baby-Sitter’s Club, The Bailey School Kids, Choose Your Own Adventure, Animorphs, Sweet Valley High, Trixie Belden, as well as non-collective fiction series Goosebumps, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games & Twilight.