Books about the famous and the fascinating

Get a clue
Nancy Drew will always be a treasured friend to many women, whether they first met her in the 1930s, 1950s, 1980s or anywhere in between. The titian-haired teen detective didn't ever let romance (sorry, Ned) or interpersonal squabbles get in the way of solving her latest mystery. Attempts to revive Nancy for a new generation seem to have stalled, but her grown-up fans can comfort themselves with Melanie Rehak's wonderful "Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her" (Harcourt, $25).

Most Nancy fans know that author Carolyn Keene was just a pen name used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the series-book factory of Edward Stratemeyer.

Edward gave Nancy her birth (he originally wanted to dub her Stella Strong), but it was two women who carried the torch after he died: His daughter, Harriet, and Mildred Wirt Benson, author of most of the Nancy books.

"Girl Sleuth" intertwines their stories in a fascinating tale that touches on early feminism, the changing role of women in the 20th century, and more. Fans will especially enjoy specific information about how the plots and characters evolved over time — and were later rewritten to eliminate early racism.

It would have been easy for Rehak to present Harriet and Mildred as perfect, and it's to her credit that they come off human and fallible. Harriet cuts Mildred's pay and fights with her sister, Edna, over the business. Mildred isn't too thrilled with being edited, and is even less pleased when Harriet tries to take credit for her work.

If the book has a weak spot, it's that it's never quite clear why Nancy Drew (and the Hardy Boys) triumphed over Stratemeyer's less popular series, which didn't prove to have the staying power of the teen detectives. But then again, if you're reading "Girl Sleuth," you probably don't need a detective to solve that mystery.   —G.F.C.

The ache of hunger
Sometimes, the stranger the topic, the more captivating and surprising the book. It's not likely that many folks browsing through the local bookstore would think "I'd really like to read a book about the history and science of hunger," but the resulting volume surprises with its readability. Sharman Apt Russell's "Hunger: An Unnatural History" (Basic Books, $24), looks at the sensation of hunger with a fresh and fascinated eye.

None of us do not know hunger, though our modern world and our incomes may allow us to hide it away. Apt Russell traces exactly what happens in our bodies when we hunger, when we eat, when we fast. She examines famous hungers — Gandhi and the Irish hunger strikers who did not eat for a cause, the poor starved people trapped in the Warsaw ghetto, healthy Minnesotans who willingly starved themselves for a university experiment. Not even her science-based information is presented in dry textbook form, all is related to feelings, to real people, to hunger's unique pains and occasional pleasures. A chapter on anorexics and the unusual challenges they present is fascinating, if unable to ultimately explain the disorder.

The book could only end in one way, by looking at the power that hunger still has over our world today, Apt Russell presents the facts: Most people who live with hunger are in East and South Asia. About 50 percent are small farmers. Vulnerable groups, children and pregnant women and the HIV-stricken, cut across all countries, all groups. She interviews those whose job it is to look the world's hunger in the face, every day, and they present possible solutions. It's hard to not come away from the book with guilt for the food we enjoy, but also with hope.    —G.F.C.

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