Nancy Drew and The Secret of the Old Clock - Abby Seeger

During my entire childhood, I was surrounded by books. Weekly trips to the library were exciting adventures, and books could always be expected as gifts during birthdays and holidays. My personal collection continued to expand as I grew older, but it was nothing compared to the immense amount of books that my parents had collected over the years; construction manuals, coffee table books, novels, and reference books littered almost every room of the house. Among the numerous volumes that consisted of my home library were fascinating books from my mom’s childhood, books with yellowing pages and weak spines that I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to finally read. Inhabiting a bookshelf in the basement, these books were full promise to me. The prospect of unread adventures and mysteries within my own house made me look forward to the day when I was old enough to be able to read them.

When I was in the second grade, my mom decided that I was a good enough reader to begin the Nancy Drew series, and she handed me The Secret of the Old Clock, written by Carolyn Keene. The cover illustration portraying a girl and a clock in an eerie and shadowed forest, and the back cover which promised of “thrilling” and “spine tingling” adventures introduced to me a whole new love of reading. This was the book that signified the transition from picture books and meaningless stories to novels full of danger and adventure and mystery, books that had a deeper meaning and signified something greater than itself  beyond its pages. My love of Nancy Drew continued beyond The Secret of the Old Clock; once I had finished reading it, I immediately moved on to the next book in the series, and soon I had completed all of the Nancy Drew books in my mom’s collection. My mom and I began a crusade at bookstores to complete the series, which we soon learned to be extensive and seemingly never ending.

This book had a strong and profound influence on me, and helped shape me into the person that I am today. The character of Nancy in the novel was the person that I wanted to become when I was older; successful, helpful, loving, and adventurous. Her dedication and devotion towards her father and the close friendships that she so easily made were admirable to me, but her independence even more so. Despite the close ties that she had with her family and her friends, she was never afraid to go off on her own. Illustrations found sporadically in the book always portray her as self assured and confident, even though in most cases she was by herself, without the help of others. Throughout the book, Nancy often acted independently to solve her problems and the problems of others instead of relying on outside help - which would traditionally appear from other male characters. This concept was huge to me. The idea that an amateur detective who happened to be a girl could solve problems just as adeptly as males, if not more, elevated Nancy from an admirable detective to an inspirational role model, and someone that I aspired to be.

Carolyn Keene’s novel introduced to me new literary concepts that allowed for me to grow as a reader. The relationships between the characters were a new phenomenon that I had never been exposed to before. The fact that Nancy was acquainted with so many seemingly insignificant people introduced me to different types of interactions between characters, and eventually caused me to read closer as I realized that everyone that she met was a possible suspect. Also, The Secret of the Old Clock exposed me to a descriptive writing style that I had never experienced before. Adjectives such as animated and chic and verbs such as murmured and mused were completely new to me and allowed for me to visualize what was occurring in the book in ways previously unknown to me.

The Secret of the Old Clock, written by Carolyn Keene was the most influential book of my life. It introduced to me new literary concepts, including vivid descriptions and intricate and complicated relationships that allowed for me to grow as a reader. Additionally, it provided me with a positive role model in the character of Nancy, whose independence, self reliance, and hard work inspired me throughout my childhood.