Girl Gaming: Nancy is bringing a dramatic rise in female gamers ... or is she? This fluff piece at KABC in Los Angeles wants us to think so but folks at Gaming Today think differently ... especially rjtrhjyty. Read on ...

Join the Search for the Web Clue: Brighter Minds Media, LLC in conjunction with HER Interactive, have launched Nancy Drew and the Search for the Web Clue, an online scavenger hunt contest based on the mystery of Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor. Something's haunting Blackmoor Manor and it's up to you to find the clues to solve the mystery. The contest lasts for ten days, and each day a clue will be hidden on one of ten participating websites. Fans must use their best detective skills to find all 10 clues in 10 days to solve the mystery and find out what is haunting Blackmoor Manor.

Clues will be posted from September 4 until September 17 ...yikes ... better get started right now at Brighter Minds ...

If Nancy were ... a recent graduate of the police academy in Sweden ... she would be Linda Wallander ... and there would be burning swans and Guyana, ritual murder and sacrifice, and of course Chief Inspector Kurt Wallander of the Ystad police. Ok ... Linda is just a little older ... nearly thirty ... and maybe this books is for "mature" Nancy fans because it is a little violent but Linda certainly has the Nancy instincts as well the ability and nerve to pick just about every lock she sees in the first few pages of the book. Read more about Before the Frost ...

Drew and the Crew for You: River Heights is hosting its first fashion show -- for dogs! Proceeds will go to the Rollover Rescue animal shelter. The Clue Crew is excited because not only will the day be filled with tons of cute pooches, but Nancy's own puppy, Chocolate Chip, will be a model in the show! But of course, there are some bumps along this fashion show's runway when someone steals a special basket of gourmet dog biscuits ...

Need to know more about this or more about other Nancy items? View some Drew suggestions for you ...

Gamasutra Speaks with Her Interactive: This interview marks the 10th year of Her Interactive in the Nancy game business ... as well the recent release of their first DVD game in August, Nancy Drew: The Curse of Blackmoor Manor, where Nancy travels to England to investigate a series of mysterious events at a 14th century mansion ... and the upcoming October release of their 17th PC game in the series, Nancy Drew: The Legend of the Crystal Skull, which sends Nancy to New Orleans with her best friend Bess.

"Her Interactive secured the Nancy Drew license from Simon & Schuster in 1997.

When we first started in the industry, we looked around and saw very few games made for girls. We were surprised, but we realized an opportunity so we created our first PC game and took it to the publishers to put on the retail shelves.

All of them turned us down. They said girls and women would not play video games because they were computer phobic. It was an unbelievable comment, and yet it was pervasive in the industry."

Read more of this interview at Gamasutra ...

Hooked by Nancy: First Book, an award-winning children's literacy organization that provides new books to children in need has announced the results of its What Book Got You Hooked? campaign, revealing that thousands of Americans got hooked on reading by Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew mysteries. Hmmmm ... I know this wasn't true for me ... nope ... it would have to have been the combined collection of Oz and Tarzan books I discovered at my great-grandmother's house a long, long time back that led to where I am now ... dividing my time between Nevada Barr and Henning Mankell. All my other bad habits can be traced to drinking RC Cola and eating Devil Dogs ... well most of them anyway.

First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission ... to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Sounds worthwhile. And apparently First Book has provided more than 50 million new books to children in need in thousands of communities nationwide. To learn more about First Book or to donate, please visit http://www.firstbook.org/ .

University of Iowa Marks "Hills" Debut with Digital Archive: The University of Iowa Libraries is marking the June 15 opening of "Nancy Drew: The Mystery in Hollywood Hills" by gathering the scrapbooks, correspondence, rare photographs and early writings of Mildred Wirt Benson in a super digitized collection. Benson, a UI Distinguished Alumna seen at left in the 1926 UI Hawkeye as the hot young Mildred Augustine, donated her personal papers to the Iowa Women's Archives in 1992 and subsequent years until her death in 2002. These materials, along with artifacts from the Special Collections Department and the University Archives, form the bulk of the online collection, created by the Digital Library Services department for the Iowa Digital Library web site. View the collection now ...

Now We Know

Now We Know: Carolyn Keene was actually Nancy Drew's roommate at Bryn Mawr ... Nancy was "involved" with Frank Hardy ... the details of Nancy's marriage to Ned Nickerson ... the fates of George Fayne and Bess Marvin ... and more if we believe what Chelsea Cain tells us in Confessions of a Teen Sleuth :

I first met Frank Hardy in the summer of 1925. He and his younger brother, Joe, had come to town from Bayport, New Jersey, on the trail of a missing waitress. I was walking out of Jackson's Drug Store when I saw them pull up on their red Indian Scout motorcycles. Even soiled from their five-day journey, they were both striking. Frank was wearing khaki pants, a collared shirt, and a maroon sweater.

Read more about Confessions ... from Nancy Pearl about halfway down the page in her recent Books not to Miss piece at NPR ... and take a look at the book for yourself at Amazon ...

Movie Photos: /Film has posted some extremely dull photos from Drew the movie. Take a look ...

The White Wolf and the Crystal Skull: Two new Drew PC games have been announced by Her Interactive. The White Wolf of Icicle Creek finds Nancy undercover at the Icicle Creek Lodge in the Canadian Rockies to investigate strange accidents and a mysterious wolf which appears before each incident. Legend of the Crystal Skull has Nancy and Bess flying to New Orleans for spring break. Hmmmmm. Read more at Gamezone ... and at Her Interactive ....

Drew Two: First movie with Emma Roberts isn't even here yet but a sequel is already planned by Jerry Weintraub. AfterEllen, which has its own particular take on Nancy that you may or may not agree with, tells all ...

Missing Cover Art Misunderstanding: Dorsey & Whitney LLP reports that the case of the missing cover art which the ND Enthusiast mentioned in December last year has been solved. Apparently former Penguin employee Carl J. Ferrero thought that the Rudy Nappi paintings he had were a departure gift ... oops ... and now they are being returned. Read more ... Hire a lawyer ...

Emma Who: What about Bonita Granville? DVDTimes reports that "Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of 'The Original Nancy Drew Movie Mystery Collection' for 12th June 2007. Four classic mysteries never before on Region 1 DVD and featuring the escapades of the feisty teenage detective include Nancy Drew, Detective; Nancy Drew, Reporter; Nancy Drew,Troubleshooter; and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. The Collection will be presented on 2-Discs and will sell for $24.98 ." Read more at DVDTimes ...

The Girl Detective on Stage: Now this sounds like fun. The Ateh Theater Group in NYC is doing The Girl Detective, an adaptation of author Kelly Links best selling novel. This all takes place in a dreamy underworld of tap-dancing bank robbers and missing mothers to explore everyday emotional mysteries of identity. No ... I'm not making this up ... believe me:

"The Girl Detective is a master of disguise. She finds missing things, chases tap dancing back robbers and eats our dreams. But in her life of intrigue and adventure one mystery remains: the whereabouts of her long lost mother. Join her on a wild journey to the underworld in this surreal, darkly funny story of loss and reunion."

The show, which is at The Connelly Theater 220 E 4th Street Between A and B, New York, NY opens Friday, February 23rd, and performs Thursday's through Sundays at 8:00 until March 17th, with an additional Monday night performance on Monday, February 26th. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Ateh Theater Group website .

Deadly Secret of Olde World Park: Our favorite teen sleuth unravels an interactive mystery in Nancy Drew and The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park, a new game announced for the Nintendo DS from Majesco Entertainment Company. The game will use the touch screen to search for clues, undertake tasks, talk to other characters, and play minigames. Learn more at Gamespot ...

Top Mystery Books: Nancy Drew "a plucky amateur detective, tackles her own cases,and helps her father, an attorney, with his. Using her curiosity, intelligence, and bravery, Nancy gets to the bottom of the most perplexing mysteries" or so says Fact Monster when they include the the Nancy Drew series in their list of top mystery books. Also included are: the Bernie Magruder series, The Boys of San Joaquin, Chasing Vermeer, the Chet Gecko series, the Encyclopedia Brown series, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Egypt Game, the Herculeah Jones series, the Lady Grace Mysteries, the Lewis Barnavelt series, The Name of the Game Was Murder, the Sammy Keyes series and The Westing Game. Hmmmm ... the Bernie Magruder Enthusiast ... maybe. Read more ...