Nancy Drew Clue Book: Candy Kingdom Chaos by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew is back again, in a new series: Nancy Drew Clue Book.  In book number 7, there is a new amusement park opening in River Heights, Candy Kingdom, and Nancy’s friend Bess wins four candy striped bracelets: passes to get in free for the whole week of spring break! She takes the “Clue Crew”- herself, Nancy, and George (a girl), as well as another friend Nadine.

After riding the Sour Power Pals ride, Nadine’s candy striped bracelet is gone! Feeling very sad, Nadine goes home, but the Clue Crew decides to solve the case. They have 3 suspects: Andrea- who wanted the 4th pass, Antonio- who thought he should have won, and the Sour Power Pals- who Nancy overheard saying the bracelets were valuable.

They rule Andrea out because her candy striped bracelet is made of metal, not rubber, like theirs. They rule out Antonio because when they trick him into emptying his pockets, there is no sign of a bracelet. They rule out the Sour Power Pals because they discover the Pals inside the ride are animitronic.

The Clue Crew decided to head to Nadine’s house to ask her another question and when they get there, Nancy realizes that Nadine still has her bracelet. Once they are able to get her to admit this, Nadine tells them she it too afraid to go on the roller coaster that everyone else wanted to go on, but she didn’t want to be a spoil sport, so she made up the lie. The other girls understand, but tell her that they want her to come back the next day with them. The next day Nadine conquers her fear and they all have a great time at Candy Kingdom.

This new spin on Nancy Drew is meant for a younger crowd than the originals. The author does a good job of keeping the story moving and the mystery interesting while keeping things age appropriate. My kids also loved the frequent descriptions of amusement park attractions that were candy themed.

There are 2 lies in the book: After Antonio grabs the winning paper out of Bess’s hand, George tells him that his shoe is untied and grabs it back. Later, Nancy is about to tell some adults that Nadine lost her bracelet when George cuts in and says Nadine went home because she “lost her lunch”. Neither lie is cast in a negative light. In fact, after the second lie, Nancy thinks “Good save” because Nadine asked the girls not to tell anyone she lost her bracelet. I’m not crazy about the fact that neither lie is called a lie nor addressed as not a wise or truthful choice. (Obviously, Nadine also lies about losing her bracelet, but she owns up to it and apologizes at the end.)

Language: The Clue Crew refers to Nadine as a “Drama Queen” and Antonio a “pest” several times, which are names I don’t want my kids calling others. The word “hate” is used a couple of times, although never towards a person. Bess also talk about a pair of her “lucky socks”. Nothing that is shocking or vulgar, but not a flawless book in this department.

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1. After Bess opened the winning chocolate bar, how could she have responded in a forgiving and loving way to Antonio?
2. Did the Clue Crew respond well to Nadine when she admitted what she had done? How?
3. When have you told a lie, or been tempted to, when you were embarrassed about the truth?