Nancy Drew Girl Detective Writ in Stone

Title:  Nancy Drew Girl Detective Writ in Stone (Online) 

Author/Illustrator:  Carolyn Keene, retold by Stefan Petrucha/Sho Murase 

APA Citation:  Petrucha, S., & Keene, C. (2005). Writ in stone. New York, NY: Papercutz. 

Lexile Score:  N/A (ages 8-12) 

Target Audience: I felt as though this book would be a good choice for young girls.  Although some boys may be interested in her detective work, I felt as though it was a more of a female take on a graphic novel. 

Summary: This story is one in a series of books that take the reader on Nancy Drew's exciting adventures.  In this adventure, Nancy must find the missing artifact and rescue the young boy she babysits for, but someone is out to stop her.  

Evaluation:

	4	3	2	1
Theme/Moral	The theme/moral of the story was worthwhile and provided a non-biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was worthwhile but portrayed a somewhat biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was somewhat worthwhile, but portrayed a biased message for the reader.	Theme/moral of the story was not worthwhile and portrayed a biased message for the reader.
Characterization	Characters in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Characters in the story were relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Illustrations	Illustrations in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were not relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Multicultural Aspects	Story provided accurate representations of  several cultures.	Story provided accurate representations of more than one culture.	Story provided accurate representation of only one culture.	Story did not provide accurate representations of  the culture discussed.
Historical Value	The story's historical references were accurate and did not convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were accurate, did convey some biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were somewhat accurate, and did convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were not accurate, and conveyed a biased opinion of the event depicted.
Self and Social Identities	This book positively counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book attempts to counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book does not reinforce stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book reinforces stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.
Language	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, and used alternatives to generic terms.	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, but did use some generic terms.	This book did not contain "loaded" words, however, consistently used generic terms.	This book did contain "loaded words, and consistently used generic terms.
Overall Rating	I would use this book in my future classroom and recommend it to other teachers.	I would try to use this book in my future classroom and might recommend it to other teachers.	If the occasion arose, I might read this book, but probably would not recommend it.	I would not use or recommend this book.

Overall Score: 23/32 

Literary Elements: Story structure, onomatopoeia, telling story through dialogue, expressive font 

Social Justice Elements:  Overcoming obstacles, Perseverance, Determination, Acceptance, Doing what is right 

Sample Lesson:  If I were to do a lesson with this book, I might pair it with Babymouse and some other versions of graphic novels, and have students create their own version of a graphic novel depicting an obstacle or challenge they had to face, as well as the outcome and how they handled the situation.