Butterfly Blues

Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #40

by Carolyn Keene, Peter Francis Jr. (Illustrations)

In this Nancy Drew and the Clew Crew adventure, Nancy and her friends must track down a beautiful—and very rare—butterfly when it goes missing from the new butterfly museum.

Nancy, Bess, and George can’t wait to check out Flutter House, an awesome new museum that’s all about butterflies! The girls are thrilled when they get to see the beautiful creatures up close and personal.

But soon after their class leaves, the rarest butterfly, a Blue Morpho, goes missing! It’s up to the Clue Crew to get the valuable butterfly back safely. But with a long suspect list and not many clues, it’s going to be a tough case for Nancy and her friends.

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Childrens, Chapter Books

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2015

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 In a few cases, outdated plots were completely rewritten.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

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Clue Crew and their classmates are super excited since today is their field trip to the Butterfly House. The Butterfly House is adorable, a glass structure in the shape of a caterpillar adjacent to a gift shop and the Caterpillar Cafe. While visiting, Josh, the tour guide teaches the kids about butterflies and introduces them to a blue morpho, a South American butterfly. Later that evening, Nancy learns from watching the news that the blue morpho has disappeared! Say no more, the Clue Crew is on the case and following the clues from an unpleasant wedding planner to a butterfly aficionado, the list of suspects is long. But the Crew is on the case and they will not stop detecting until the case is closed.
A cute Nancy Drew mystery that I recommend on a lovely spring day. The book would be fun to read outside followed by looking for butterflies and making the butterfly craft at the end of the book.
I recommend Butterfly Blues to Nancy Drew fans of all ages.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my 7 year old ... I'd read a chapter out loud, and then she would read one. We both really liked it. A cute little mystery with some simple, but well executed, plot twists. We've spent the last year reading miscellaneous books trying to find a series she really connects with and enjoys ... I think Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew is it! She can hardly wait to get to the library next week to pick up another Nancy book.

My only minor complaint is the way every single character is referenced by both their first and last names. Not necessary and also kind of unrealistic - I can assure you, my 7 year old has NO IDEA what her classmates' last names are, nor does she care.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

WE MADE IT! We finished the entire series! This one definitely wasn't the best, but it feels good to be done. In this one, a blue morpho butterfly goes missing. The girls are trying to figure it out but dont' have a lot of suspects. Turns out it was accidental. I am curious to see if Deidre Shannon is in the next series or not because she is so unlikable!

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew that the butterfly went into Deirdre's bag because after Antonio put his apple core in her bag, and Josh said that Blue Morphos like rotten fruits, I realized that it was in Deirdre's bag.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made it through this whole series!

These books were just truly adorable, and I highly enjoyed reading them, even as an adult.

[Eliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy's class goes to a museum that is all about butterflies. They even have a very rare one - a Blue Morpho. When the Blue Morpho goes missing, the Clue Crew has to solve this case.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been searching for books that were popular when I was growing up, but I didn't want to read. Our library didn't have any of the original Nancy Drew books for Kindle, so I borrowed this children's book. I liked the illustrations very much. The story was well written. This would be a good book for a child aged 8-11.