Book Review: Nancy Drew - The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson and Jenn St.-Onge

Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom
by Kelly Thompson (writer) and Jenn St.-Onge (artist) (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Thompson) 

I’m going to age myself — I grew up in the late 1960s/early 1970s, reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novels with equal interest (though my favorites were the novels in the Three Investigators series, which never achieved quite the popularity of Nancy, Frank and Joe). Both Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys have gone through various transformations over time, updating the characters for new generations — though I haven’t read any of those versions from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

 

However, the cover of this new (2019) graphic novel caught my eye on the “New Materials” display in the Teen Room at the downtown library, and I’m really glad I gave it a shot. The Palace of Wisdom is a terrific update of the characters of both Nancy and the Hardy boys (who play a supportive role in this story), keeping them in their late teens (some of them have drivers licenses) but bringing them up-to-date with modern technologies, lingo and relationship statuses. Nancy is now living in River Heights, and obsessively solving crimes with the assistance of some capable tech-savvy sidekicks. When she receives an unusual anonymous message from her old home of Bayport, she feels compelled to return — where she hooks up with past friends Bess and George (and ultimately Frank and Joe Hardy).

 

The mystery she’s pulled into ties into her mother’s mysterious death years ago, though some of the new friends she makes in town have more recent losses that they’d like her to look into. The characters are all hip, fresh and sassy. The artwork is marvelous. Nancy is a much more active character than she was in the books of the 60s/70s, and a lot of fun is made (by the other characters) of her tendency to lose or forger her cellphone, leading to her getting in a lot of jams that her friends must rescue her from.

 

This graphic novel comprises a complete story, as it appeared in issues #1-5 of a new comic book — with the presumption that that comic book would continue, and this graphic novel ends on a major cliffhanger. I hope there will be additional issues, as I can’t wait to see more of this modern Nancy Drew’s adventures!

[If you’re into “retro” — investigate the old yellow-spine hardback Nancy Drew novels (a few remain in the libraries’ collection, attributed to Carolyn Keene. They’re definitely from another era, but you can see the character archetypes that have led to this new series.]

[ Wikipedia page on the history of Nancy Drew ] | [ Wikipedia page for Kelly Thompson ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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