The Case of the Stolen (for 60 Years) Nancy Drew book

Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 4, 2025

Not long ago, I tried to give someone a book, and I was stunned when they said, “Oh, I don’t read books.”

I gasped, out loud. Who doesn’t read books? That’s like saying, “I don’t breathe air” or “I’m saving my taste buds for later.”

I’ve loved books my whole life, literally. I have a picture of myself at about six months old holding a book. Granted, I was probably teething on it, but it still counts.

By the time I hit my pre-teen years, I was devouring books faster than the library could restock them. Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden were solving crimes, and I was right there with them, turning pages like my life depended on it.

Fast-forward (cough) sixty-ish years (how did that happen?) to last weekend. I was sorting through some old books that had been at my mom’s house, and there it was, a Nancy Drew mystery staring back at me like it knew something.

I opened it, and to my horror-delight, I discovered it actually belonged to my childhood friend Lori, complete with her 10-year-old “left-hand written” address inside, presumably so people like me wouldn’t “borrow” it for six decades.

Had she been missing this book for 60 years? Had she filed a case with Nancy Drew herself?

So I confessed and posted it on social media. And you know what? She wants it back.

Good for her!

I just hope she doesn’t charge a late fee. At library rates, I might owe her my car.

Go read a book,

Christi Baron, Editor