Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?

My favorite book from childhood is actually a series of books — Nancy Drew.

With her pals tagging along, Nancy solved crimes. She was like Scooby Doo’s friends Daphne and Velma, but cooler and way ahead of her time.

I started reading Nancy Drew after getting a few copies of the books from my mother. They were old, at least 40 years old, when I got them. So by the time I put my hands on them, the pages were a bit yellow and had that musty, worn book smell. They were the best books ever.

When I started reading them as a teenager, the newer versions of Nancy’s adventures started to come out. It was the time of Sweet Valley High and the Babysitters Club series, but they were nothing like reliable Nancy.

She hung out with boys — the Hardy Boys to be exact — and they didn’t fall in love. I don’t recall her being called a tomboy for how she acted.

She was curious, strong-willed and smart.

The Secret of the Hidden Staircase. The Mystery of the Old Clock. Those were good reads.

Loving Nancy eventually brought me to Sherlock Holmes. I wrote several reports on Holmes and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I wish I followed up and learned more about Nancy’s author, Carolyn Keene.

I didn’t discover until adulthood, that Nancy Drew was created by Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book publishing firm that used many authors over the years. They all wrote under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.

The first author, Mildred Wirt Benson, wrote the first 23 books in the series. She died in 2002 at the age of 96. How do I know? I used to live in Toledo, Ohio, where she died. She wrote a column “On the Go” that I read quite a bit while I lived there. She worked for the paper, the Toledo Blade, for 58 years. Working in one place for that long is an anomaly these days.

I wanted to be Nancy. As a young adult and budding journalist, I wanted to be like Mildred.

I think I’ll stick with being me. I’m too old to climb hidden staircases and chase criminals with teenage boys. I don’t want to just write.

I like doing all the things and will continue to do so.