The Bike Race Mystery

Nancy Drew: Notebooks #59

by Carolyn Keene, Paul Casale (Illustrator)

George's bike is missing -- will she miss the race?Nancy, Bess, and George are really excited about the bike race River Heights is holding during the girls' spring break. The winner gets lots of cool prizes! George is the most excited because she thinks her bike is the fastest. But a few days before the race, her bike disappears! Nancy and Bess promise to help George find it, but this bikenapper leaves almost no tracks to follow. Nancy must pedal her way through this mystery -- and fast -- or else George will be sitting on the sidelines!

Genres: Mystery

76 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

About the 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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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.

Reviews

[caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me want to spray paint my bike lol. Stupid idea.

[Ananya · Rating 2 out of 5]

rating-2.5

[Martha Reitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love mystery books, so this is a great early chapter book to introduce kids to the genre. Nancy and her friends Bess and George were wanting to participate in the bike race and rodeo at the end of their spring break to have a chance of winning the new mountain bike prize. When going to sign up for the race, someone stole George's bike, so the girls had to work together to investigate who took the bike. They had a few different suspects, but the culprit was unexpected.

I would use this book for 3rd grade. In the story, the children go to the bike store to sign up for the race and the owner talks about his charity where he fixes up old bikes and gives them to children who do not have one. I think it would be interesting for students to come up with their own charities to give back to the community. I would give them time to design an idea and create a business model to share with the class.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

15 stars!