The Sky Phantom is a children's story by Carolyn Keene (pseudonym) and the 53rd book in the Nancy Drew series. While vacationing on a ranch in the Midwest with her friends, Nancy Drew investigates a mysterious magnetic cloud, searches for a hijacked plane, and hunts a horse thief.I’ve always been a voracious reader. So, as a child, one of my favorite things about summer was the frequent trips to our local library, which was less than a mile from our house. Like most young girls of a certain age (ahem), my love for mysteries started with Nancy Drew—there simply was no mystery too baffling that she couldn’t solve. And as I would read her most current adventure, I would imagine myself following in her footsteps … taking charge and plunging ahead, getting into mischief, chasing down culprits and solving the mystery. Even though I haven’t re-read any of these books since I was a child, I still think that Nancy is a great character—her courage, confidence and fierce independence, makes her an iconic source of inspiration for young girls everywhere. A must-read children's book, The Sky Phantom is another wonderful Nancy Drew mystery.
Ok...maybe this one was better than so-so. Nancy almost showed some human compassion instead of focusing solely on solving the mystery. For a while I thought we might lose Bess to a cowboy. Bess is probably the most mature of the girls. She is thinking about getting married, but this time it wasn't to Dave, but a cowboy she meets. Dave hasn't asked her to marry him yet; The mystery is pretty weak. And of course Ned and the fellows have to make an appearance and ruin the girls' fun. George is also seeing a cowboy. They show up at the end so they can protect the girls and help solve the mystery. I find their appearance inconsequential except to tell girls of the day that they need a man to finish anything. I do like reading these to see if I can figure out if it's a different writer and so I can watch the characters develop. Ned and Nancy seem to be a bit closer in this book and they actually kiss. Ned is a bit concerned about Dave possibly getting hurt if Bess dumps him. Ah the blissful youth of the early 60s.
