Over the years, the Nancy Drew books have grown to include at least thirteen different series and specials.

The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories

These are the original. The first 56 books (The Secret of the Old Clock to The Thirteenth Pearl) were published from 1930 to 1979 by Grosset & Dunlap. In 1979, The Stratemeyer Syndicate (creator of Nancy Drew) changed publishers and Simon & Schuster started publishing the stories with Book 57, The Triple Hoax. There are now 175 books in the series.

The Nancy Drew Files

In 1986, Simon & Schuster began publishing The Nancy Drew Files for a slightly older audience than the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. The series was discontinued in 1997 with a total of 124 titles beginning with Secrets Can Kill and ending with Crime at the Chat Cafe.

The Nancy Drew Notebooks

From 1994 to 2005, The Nancy Drew Notebooks were released for the 5 to 8-year-old reader. These 69 books with titles such as Slumber Party Secret showcase an 8-year-old Nancy as she begins solving her first mysteries along with her best friends, George Fayne and Bess Marvin. In 2006, this series was re-launched under the title Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew.

Nancy Drew on Campus

It only took about 65 years, but in 1995 the Nancy Drew on Campus series sent her to college, accompanied with the usual stress and pressures of such an ordeal. However, the change was not well received and the series only lasted for three years and 25 books. Our “perfect” Nancy had been too “normalized” and was involved more in romantic escapades with stories like New Lives, New Loves than she was with solving a good mystery.

Nancy Drew Girl Detective

In 2004, Simon & Schuster released Without a Trace, the first book in the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series. Nancy and her sleuthing pals have been updated and the stories are told in first person from Nancy’s perspective. The series currently has 29 books with plans for six more books to be released between June 2008 and April 2009. This series has also produced Nancy Drew Ghost Stories (due for release in August 2008) as well as five Super Mysteries.

Nancy Drew Graphic Novels

Would you believe Nancy even found herself into the comics? In 2005, Papercutz released The Demon of River Heights and began what is currently a 12-title series of Nancy Drew Graphic Novels. Three more books are set to be released during the summer and fall of 2008.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys

Between 1981 and 1994, Nancy has also been teamed up with our other two favorite detectives, Frank and Joe Hardy. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Sleuths (1981) and Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Sleuths #2 (1984) were both book volumes containing seven stories each. In 1984 and ‘85 six stories were released in the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Be a Detective Series. This set of books was written so that the reader could be an active part of the story and the ending would be based upon decisions that the reader made. Then between 1988 and 1998, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys SuperMystery Series was released with 36 books.

All Nancy, All the Time

As you can see, there is a little bit of Nancy for just about everyone, and more are in the works and/or out there. There have even been books about our favorite girl sleuth, as well as those to help us be more like her, such as The Nancy Drew Cookbook
and The Official Nancy Drew Handbook: Skills, Tips, and Life Lessons.