Beyond Nancy Drew: U.S. Girls’ Series Fiction in the Twentieth Century (Children and Youth in Popular Culture)

Beyond Nancy Drew:U.S. Girls’ Series Fiction in the Twentieth Century (Children and Youth in Popular Culture)

by: LuElla D'Amico (Editor, Contributor), Emily Hamilton-Honey(Editor, Contributor),Jill Hobgood(Contributor),Erika Johansson Lunding(Contributor),Todd Latoski(Contributor), Susan Ingalls Lewis(Contributor), Gregory Eiselein (Contributor), Robin Cadwallader (Contributor), Liz W. Faber Dean College (Contributor), Melanie J. Fishbane (Contributor), Karen Keely (Contributor), Michael Coelius Michael Coelius (Contributor),Jill E. Anderson (Contributor)&11more

Publisher: Lexington Books

Publication Date: 2024/6/15

Language: English

Print Length: 284 pages

ISBN-10: 1666946672

ISBN-13: 9781666946673

Book Description

This book examines the narratives of series heroines that preceded and followed Nancy Drew, each in relation to their social, historical, and economic environments. Covering heroines including Miss Pickerell, Madge Sterling, and Polly the Powers Model, among others, this book illustrates that the recovery of stolen inheritances during the Great Depression serves different social ends than, for example, fighting Germans on an inteational stage. This book expands scholarship that tends to focus on Nancy Drew by drawing attention to the stories of some other “lost” heroines of twentieth century U.S. series fiction. Organized by time period, the chapters give insight into the cultural landscape that perpetuated the popularity of these heroines in their respective eras, how these series reflected the experiences of readers across the decades, and their continued impact well into the twenty-first century.

About the Author

This book examines the narratives of series heroines that preceded and followed Nancy Drew, each in relation to their social, historical, and economic environments. Covering heroines including Miss Pickerell, Madge Sterling, and Polly the Powers Model, among others, this book illustrates that the recovery of stolen inheritances during the Great Depression serves different social ends than, for example, fighting Germans on an inteational stage. This book expands scholarship that tends to focus on Nancy Drew by drawing attention to the stories of some other “lost” heroines of twentieth century U.S. series fiction. Organized by time period, the chapters give insight into the cultural landscape that perpetuated the popularity of these heroines in their respective eras, how these series reflected the experiences of readers across the decades, and their continued impact well into the twenty-first century.