The Clue of the Broken Locket (Nancy Drew, Book 11)

It all started in the early to mid 90’s. My sister, Mom, and I would go to Double Day bookstore (does not exist anymore. Remember bookstores?!) in the mall in my hometown and excitedly collect the next book in the Nancy Drew mystery series (I believe there are 56?) I’m 35 now. I realized I had most of the collection stashed away in boxes at my condo when I was unpacking and reorganizing closets. I guess the rest of the books are at my parents? Anyway...I wanted to make my own collection complete so I am ordering the ones I’m missing in the hopes that some day if I have a child...or maybe my sister’s kids will enjoy them...OKAY, let’s be real, I’m TOTALLY re-reading them!!!! They are every bit as delightful as I remember as a child and just super calming and transportive to read. They are easy to read for the 7-35 age group. Nothing TOO scary or intense happens, but they are lightly and engagingly suspenseful (Nancy and her loyal pals George and Bess get into some narrow scrapes but they use cool, calm, logic and ingenuity and they always come out ok) and the descriptions of the retro clothing, etc are sweet. Takes me back to a bygone era where ladies wore gloves, COVID wasn’t a thing, the state of the world/society at large seemed less dire—at least in my innocence as a child, my mom took care of me, and my only job was to be imaginative and learn. The 90’s editions of the books (which these are) have illustrations showing kind of mid century to late 60’s fashions, though, I think they might have been written earlier than that even. This is a time period I particularly love. Love me some 60’s era TV too—Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, etc. I think immersing myself in nostalgic 60’s era stuff just reminds me of my youth watching those shows. When adulting seems so overwhelming, it makes me feel like everything is going to turn out ok ultimately. And that’s generally what happens in the books. Now...when I filter this through a modern, critical, feminist lens...yes, this series does have vestiges of old school attitudes threading through. And I grew up in the golden era of Disney where you simply had to do something to catch some handsome prince’s attention and be charming and attractive and have a good singing voice and you were set for life, so I come at this from being a product of my OWN time. There’s the occasional female fainting spell and I can’t help but notice every time she is described as a “girl detective.” How about just “detective?” No need to qualify our abilities because we have ovaries! But I also can just take this lightly in these books as being simply a product of their time. If you bothered by this and you care to, you can always start an open discussion with kids about it—whoever is reading them, female, male, or undefined. And we SHOULD be open to reading all kinds of things—even things we don’t align with or agree with perfectly. Reading was meant to inspire critical thinking (which, I never thought I’d be saying about these books). That said, Nancy does embody all of the stereotypical feminine traits (she puts care into her appearance and is described as fashion-conscious for her time) but she also is bold, quick-witted, level-headed, active and adventurous and finds the answers before any of the male police officers in the stories do. This in itself is thought-provoking for young readers and almost underscores the concept that femininity (or in an even more modern context, if you care to put a finer point on it, gender identity in general,) really can be anything you want it to be. Or...these are just pleasant, nostalgic reading material. Life is what you make out of it!

What a fun story full of non-stop action and suspense! I read Nancy Drew books as a young girl in elementary school and loved reading about a strong brave female character. She was a great role model when there were not many to be found in those days! Now I am 75 years old and I decided to see what I would think rereading one at this stage of my life. Yes, Nancy Drew is a bit dated but I still think young girls today still would enjoy these books. Reading The Broken Locket was so much fun I think I will reading another Nancy Drew Mystery!s these books are a bit dated but they are still such fun stories I sieve young girls today would enjoy. I'm enjoyed The broken Locket so much I think ill read another!

Any Nancy Drew book is great but I especially love the ones with historical background. This book has always been a favorite of mine!

This is for a buddy read on Litsy. I enjoyed this one better than #10. There was a nice amount of action. The ending was a little farfetched, but it's a kids' book. 4 stars.

It was exactly as I expected, great seller, arrived on time and perfect condition.

Over the years, the Nancy Drew stories have been updated, sanitized and homoginized. This is the origial text, and with the original Clue of the Broken Locket, is one of my favorites. Yes, the attitudes about foreigners are a little condescending, but I think that over all, Nancy and her chums show a good deal of tolerance and open mindedness- especially for thier era.What I particularly like about this book is the exotic backdrop- a boy from India who cares for elephants. The seance scenes were new and interesting to me when I first read this at age 7. There's always a little history or geography thrown in, too. Girls who read Nancy Drew in the original are bound to learn to be creative problem solvers. Nancy is rarely at a loss. She's smart, determined and brave.

Nice ending, as usual. This story was more mystery with suspense, and a very good read. On to the next in series.

Among the Nancy Drew classic series volumes 1-56, 8 of the text stories were significantly revised. The Clue in the Broken Locket was one of them. I have the newest version, but had read the older version when I was little and this brought back the great memories of that story. Wasn't Nancy Drew the greatest?

I lost this book camping - I am so glad the early ND books are still in print!

The book I got was a hardcover with good font size. I got it today and immediately pounced on it. I'm halfway through the book already. This story is just too exciting. Too bad I have to sleep in the night else I wouldn't put down the book. I'd always been a big fan of Nancy Drew books.

Conforme à mes attentes... aussi bien pour le produit que pour l'emballage. Dommage que les éditions françaises ne fassent pas d'aussi beaux livres

I grew up reading all of the Nancy Drew books, and now sometimes read them again as an adult. I have a few on my Kindle, so if I'm feeling unwell I heat some chicken soup and read a Nancy Drew!

I am still a nancy drew fan. Now my daughter joind the club!