The Secret of Shadow Ranch (1931)

Book 5 of 56 ( )

A good Nancy Drew book that gave us the masterpiece that is the Secret of Shadow Ranch computer game. I wasnt too happy with the part where Nancy and her friends dress up in culturally appropriative costumes though. ( )

This was one of my very favorites as a kid, and I still enjoyed the mystery and travel narrative very much. However, we need to get real about the Native American cultural appropriation that happens here. Nancy and friends dress up in women's regalia (cringe) and refer to their outfits as costumes (cringe). I realize that the books today would likely treat this scene VERY differently, and that's good. It's still vital to point out what is no longer accepted and how we can do better. ( )

Nancy Drew and her friends George Fayne and Bess Marvin head to Arizona in this fifth installment of the classic mystery series for young readers. As George and Bess' aunt, Mrs. Rawley, works to get Shadow Ranch into better condition in order to sell it, the girls have a series of exciting adventures in the mountains, confronting wild lynx and cougars, and fording raging rivers. Nancy also finds herself getting involved in a local mystery, as she investigates the nasty Martha Frank and her abusive relationship to her ward, the young Lucy Shaw. In true Nancy Drew style, involving lots of coincidence and serendipity, the resolution of this puzzle also solves another mystery, healing an old wound in the family life of Alice Regor, George and Bess' cousin, who accompanied the girls to Arizona...

The Secret at Shadow Ranch is notable in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series, in that it introduces George and Bess, who become Nancy's best friends throughout the rest of the series, replacing the earlier Helen Corning, who seems to just disappear. I read the Applewood Books facsimile reproduction of the original 1931 edition, rather than the revised and condensed edition put out in the 1950s (the one with the yellow cover and spine), and it featured an introduction from Mildred Wirt Benson, the author who wrote the first twenty-three books in the series, under the pseudonym 'Carolyn Keene.' It's interesting to note that she considered this one of her favorites, of the Nancy Drew books she wrote. Given the western setting, and the date of publication, I was expecting some outdated depictions of Native Americans and/or Latinos, but surprisingly, there was none of that here. Ironically, given the fact that the rewrites done in the late 1950s and early 60s were intended to scrub some of the overt racism of the original books, they apparently added in some patronizing content in that regard. I usually find that these earlier, original editions of Nancy Drew have more outdated, and quite uncomfortable social content, but also better writing and more interesting historical details. Reading them is a trade-off. Here however, you apparently have the best of both worlds! Recommended to fans of Nancy Drew, who enjoyed previous installments of the series. ( )

This book is still a fun mystery (even re-reading it all these years later) but some of the stuff in town with the Native Americans is harder to read than I remember it being when I was a kid. It doesn't feel intentionally racist, but it's very patronizing. (And this was the version that was revised in the 60's. I'm not sure I want to ever read the original from 1931.) If you can overlook that part, the mystery itself is enjoyable. Nancy and the other girls do some incredibly stupid and dangerous things, though. There were nods to "we have to be careful" and it is shown that at least they are aware what they are doing is dangerous... but still. It could have easily all gone wrong.

When I was young, this was one of my favorite Nancy Drew books because of the horses and the ill-fated love story that makes up the background of the plot. That part is still fun, at least. ( )