Part of Series
Help Nancy and her friends find a prop that’s gone missing from a superhero movie set in the fifth book in an interactive Nancy Drew chapter book mystery series. Grab a piece of paper and get ready to jot down your own ideas and solutions to the case! School is out for summer and the timing is great because a movie is filming in River Heights, and Nancy, Bess, and George—along with a bunch of their classmates—get to be extras in a scene shot at the playground! The movie features Glam Girl, a fashion-forward superhero who gets her powers through her clothes. When the girls arrive on set, they catch a glimpse of the super shoes that give Glam Girl the ability to run, jump, and kick with super-speed. An assistant explains to them that there is only one pair in existence and that they were custom-made for the actress Shasta’s feet. Everyone goes wild as Glam Girl runs into the playground, blue shoes glimmering. But when Shasta’s on a between-scenes break, the shoes go missing! The director says that if the shoes aren’t found, they’ll be leaving River Heights and their scene won’t make it into the movie! Good thing Nancy happens to have her most important prop right in her pocket—her clue book. Who took the blue super shoes? Was it Paloma Garva, who needs a pair of blue shoes for her Junior Fashion Show? Was it Rosie the stunt-woman, who seems to envy Shasta’s spotlight? Or was it the Popcorn Peeps, their classmates’ film club, who need movie relics for their new museum?
Author
Carolyn Keene is a writer pen name that was used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers. For Nancy Drew, the writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to assure anonymity of the creator. Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father Edward Stratemeyer. Edna contributed 10 plot outlines before passing the reins to her sister Harriet. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt), who breathed such a feisty spirit into Nancy's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories®, including the first three. It was her characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit. The Stratemeyer Syndicate's devotion to the series over the years under the reins of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet, along with several writers, began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels. The Nancy Drew books were condensed, racial stereotypes were removed, and the language was updated. In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten. Other writers of Nancy Drew volumes include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts. The role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene" passed temporarily to Walter Karig who wrote three novels during the Great Depression. Also contributing to Nancy Drew's prolific existence were Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., and Margaret Scherf.
