Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury

In second grade, Faust was the head of her class. Instead of congratulating her, the headmaster suggested that she take a break from academics and try to have “a summer of fun” (137). However, Faust loved reading. She discovered female role models in books that didn’t exist around her in real life, where “ladies became wives and parents unless financial hardship required otherwise” (138).

From an early age, Faust loved Nancy Drew. Nancy excelled in various ways and could take care of herself. Her boyfriend was a sidekick who did as Nancy instructed. She was “free, independent, resourceful, and brave” (141), breaking the mold of expectations for female storylines. Nevertheless, Faust also points out that the Nancy Drew books were riddled with racism, classism, and antisemitism. Many of the original stories were later revised to eliminate these problematic elements, but Faust laments that the newer versions “portray a less spirited and independent Nancy” (143).

The next formative book that Faust encountered was Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. Faust saw Anne as “an embattled champion of the true and the good” (145). The fact that Anne was persecuted for being Jewish appealed to Faust’s preoccupation with fairness, but she also related to Anne on several other levels.