Editing Nancy Drew (section)

== Characteristics ==
Nancy Drew is a fictional amateur detective. She is originally depicted as a blonde-haired and blue-eyed 16-year-old high school graduate, but in later editions is rewritten as a [[Titian hair|titian-haired]] and blue-eyed 18-year-old graduate and detective. In the series, she lives in the fictional town of River Heights<ref>Fisher (2004), 71.</ref> with her father, attorney Carson Drew, and their housekeeper, Hannah Gruen.<ref>Macleod (1995), 31.</ref> Carson is very successful in his job, and is often called away on business for days or even weeks at a time, leaving Nancy on her own—and when this happens, he is always shown to have complete faith and trust in Nancy's ability to look after herself, and to solve mysteries. Nancy for her part is very proud of her father and his work, and is unshakable in her respect and admiration for him. She loses her mother at the age of ten in the original versions and at the age of three in the later version. This loss is reflected in her early independence—running a household since the age of ten with Hannah clearly identified as a servant in the earlier series, who is however later referred to as a surrogate parent. As a teenager, she spends her time solving mysteries; some she stumbles upon, and some begin as cases of her father's.

In the opening volumes, Nancy's closest friend is the somewhat flighty but fun-loving Helen Corning, but this character is quickly supplanted by the fifth book by her two long-term closest friends, cousins Elizabeth "Bess" Marvin and [[George Fayne]]. Bess is delicate and feminine, while George is a tomboy. The two are very much opposites, although both are both loyal and devoted friends of Nancy, and usually end up assisting her in the solving of whatever mystery is at hand—Bess much more so than Helen, who is only glimpsed very, very occasionally in later volumes. Nancy is also occasionally joined by her boyfriend [[Ned Nickerson]], a student at [[Emerson College]], who is introduced in the seventh book.

Nancy is often described as a super girl. In the words of [[Bobbie Ann Mason]], she is "as immaculate and self-possessed as a [[Miss America]] on tour. She is as cool as a Rock Star and as sweet as [[Betty Crocker]]."<ref name="mason-50">Mason (1995), 50.</ref> Nancy is well-off, attractive, and amazingly talented:

{{blockquote|At sixteen, she 'had studied psychology after and in school, and was familiar with the power of suggestion and association.' Nancy was a fine painter, spoke French, and had frequently run motorboats. She was a skilled driver who, at sixteen, 'flashed into the garage with a skill born of long practice.' The prodigy was a sure shot, an excellent swimmer, a skillful oarsman, an expert seamstress, a gourmet cook, and a fine bridge player. Nancy brilliantly played tennis and golf and rode like a cowboy. Nancy danced like [[Ginger Rogers]] and could administer first aid like the [[Mayo clinic|Mayo]] brothers.<ref>Jones (1973), 708.</ref>}}

Nancy never lacks money, and in later volumes of the series often travels to faraway locations, such as France in ''[[The Mystery of the 99 Steps]]'' (1966), [[Lima]] in ''[[The Clue in the Crossword Cipher]]'' (1967), [[Nairobi]] in ''[[The Spider Sapphire Mystery]]'' (1968), [[Istanbul]] in "[[The Mysterious Mannequin]]" (1970), Austria in ''[[Captive Witness]]'' (1981), Japan in ''[[The Runaway Bride (Nancy Drew)|The Runaway Bride]]'' (1994), Costa Rica in ''Scarlet Macaw Scandal'' (2004), and [[Alaska]] in ''Curse of The Arctic Star'' (2013). Nancy is also able to travel freely about the United States, thanks in part to her car, which is a blue [[Roadster (automobile)|roadster]] in the original series and a blue [[Convertible (car)|convertible]] in the later books.<ref>Inness (1997), 91.</ref> Despite the trouble and presumed expense to which she goes to solve mysteries, Nancy never accepts monetary compensation; however, by implication, her expenses are often paid by a client of her father's as part of the costs of solving one of his cases.<ref>Keene (1961), 198.</ref>

The character of Nancy Drew has gone through many permutations over the years. The Nancy Drew mystery series was revised beginning in 1959,<ref>Dyer and Romanov (1995), 194.</ref> with commentators agreeing that Nancy's character changed significantly from the original Nancy of the books written in the 1930s and 1940s.<ref>See, for example, Betsy Caprio, Geoffrey Lapin, Karen Plunkett-Powell, and Melanie Rehak.</ref> Observers also often see a difference between the Nancy Drew of the original series, the Nancy of ''The Nancy Drew Files'', and the Nancy of ''[[Girl Detective]]'' series.<ref>See, for example, [[Maureen Corrigan]], Catherine Foster.</ref> Nevertheless, some find no significant difference among the permutations of Nancy Drew, finding Nancy to be simply a good [[role model]] for girls.<ref>See, for example, Gerstel (2007), Kismaric & Heiferman (2007), and Plunkett-Powell (1993).</ref>

Despite revisions, "What hasn't changed, however, are [Nancy's] basic values, her goals, her humility, and her magical gift for having at least nine lives. For more than six decades, her essence has remained intact."<ref>Plunkett-Powell (1993), 55.</ref> Nancy is a "teen detective queen" who "offers girl readers something more than action-packed adventure: she gives them something original. Convention has it that girls are passive, respectful, and emotional, but with the energy of a girl shot out of a cannon, Nancy bends conventions and acts out every girl's fantasies of power."<ref>Kismaric & Heiferman (2007), 8.</ref>

Other commentators see Nancy as "a paradox—which may be why feminists can laud her as a formative 'girl power' icon and conservatives can love her well-scrubbed middle-class values."<ref>O'Rourke (2004).</ref>