The Dana Girls
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The Dana Girls was a series of mystery books produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and published by Grosset & Dunlap until 1979.
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[edit] Series history
The Dana Girls series was the brainchild of American author Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, who sought to capitalize on the popularity of both the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys books created by her father's syndicate. The first four books were written by Leslie McFarlane who also wrote nineteen of the first twenty-five volumes in the Hardy Boys series. The rest of The Dana Girls books were written by Adams and by Mildred Wirt Benson, who also wrote many of the early volumes in the Nancy Drew series.
The originals were substantially reworked beginning in the late 1960s; these later editions were also translated into Swedish (with the characters renamed Mary&Lou), German, and French.
[edit] Characters
The series' principal characters are Louise and Jean Dana, teenage orphans who attend the fictional Starhurst School for Girls in Penfield, not far from their hometown of Oak Falls. When on vacation, the girls stay at the home of their guardian and uncle, Captain Ned Dana, master of the S.S. Balaska. During his frequent absences, Uncle Ned's household is administered by his spinster sister, Aunt Harriet Dana, who supervises the bungling maid, Cora Appel often teasingly referred to as "Applecore" by Jean and Louise. In between voyages, Uncle Ned often appears to give advice — especially where nautical or riverine expertise is needed — and also to furnish financial support or secure goods or services unprocurable by minors. Uncle Ned can also sometimes be reached by phone or telegraph, and he often sends word from New York or European ports such as Cherbourg.
At school, the Dana girls are firmly under the control of the headmistress, Mrs. Crandall, who approves a minimum of absences from class and other exceptions to the rules deemed absolutely necessary to the girls' detective work. Her husband, the bookish Prof. Crandall, is usually occupied in his study and generally takes no interest in administrative affairs; it is rumored that the professor is engaged in writing a monumental English-language history of Ancient Greece and he is usually left alone by the student body, but the Dana girls discover he can be a useful source of obscure facts relating to the clues in a mystery.
The Dana girls' principal recurring antagonists are the school bully — and the wealthiest girl at Starhurst — Lettie Briggs, and her lackey Ina Mason. Lettie and Ina frequently attempt to solve the Dana girls' cases themselves while throwing their rivals off the scent; these attempts invariably fail and redound to Lettie and Ina's profound discredit, often with a humorous twist — one that is usually engineered by the Dana girls after being warned by friends of their nemeses' plans.
[edit] Original series (1934-1968)
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[edit] External links
- "Dana Girls Series" - information, summaries, and cover art for the Dana Girls series
