The Hidden Staircase

Written by Carolyn Keene, The Hidden Staircase presents a children’s, mystery work first published in 1930. The second volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, published in 1930 and revised in 1959. The original text was written by Mildred Wirt Benson, who said that it was her personal favorite of the Nancy Drew Books she wrote. The novel was adapted as a Warner Bros. film, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, in 1939. Another adaptation of the book from Warner Bros. was released on March 15, 2019. (This summary is from Wikipedia.). By returning to Drew, Nancy, Mystery and detective stories, and Teenage girls, the work links personal experience with wider social, moral, or imaginative concerns. The reading experience is shaped by a clear, lively style designed to make wonder and danger immediately accessible. At roughly 39,189 words with a fairly easy reading profile, it offers a reading commitment that is easy to judge before beginning while still leaving room for close attention. Its continuing value lies in its place in the development of literature written for younger readers. For modern readers, the pleasure comes from entering its particular world while noticing how its central concerns still shape personal and public life.