Thursday Thirteen #10

Thirteen Reasons I Loved
Trixie Belden
More Than I Loved
Nancy Drew

1. Jim Frayne
the hottest redhead around, and talk about angst in a hero!
If I were ever going to write a fanfic, it would be about Trixie and Jim finally hooking up.

2. Trixie was closer in age to me
she was 14, and Nancy was 18 in most of the books
It was easier relating to a girl my age, with my problems, as opposed to one who had access to a car and could come and go as she pleased

3. Trixie had two brothers to deal with
And neither of them were very nice sometimes. I remember Marty in particular, who was realistically obnoxious, as all brothers are. Trixie actually got in fights with her brothers.

4. Trixie had a mother--who actually said "no" sometimes
Nancy had a push-over father who let her do whatever she wanted. Whenever she wanted.

5. Nancy didn't have to work hard for anything
She could pack up and go whenever she wanted--to Turkey, to Kenya, skiing, to France, to the Moonstone Castle...Trixie had to beg and plead to go anywhere, and was always sent with stipulations and rules. Oh, and her brothers.

6. Nancy and the cops were best friends
Because Nancy's dad was Carson Drew, attorney at law, she had it easy with the cops. They not only believed her when she told them something, they sometimes asked her for help. Not so Trixie and gang. They were just young kids who sometimes got in the way. More realistic.

7. Trixie and Jim actually kissed
Nancy and Ned maybe held hands or he got a peck on the cheek, but there was no chemistry between them. At all. I gave up hoping after a few books.
As for Trixie and Jim...I still remember the scene in one of the books where she was standing in a field of burning maurijuana and so her clothes smelled like pot, and later Jim smelled it and was so angry and disappointed in her. That disappointment showed the depth of his feelings for her.
Mr. Nickerson was a plastic Ken doll next to Jim.

8. Trixie actually had real friends
Not paper cutouts propping her up. I mean, really, George and Bess: how bookendish can you get? George, the athletic tomboy with dark hair, and Bess the "pleasingly plump" fraidy-cat blond. Sheesh. Trixie's friends, Honey and Diana, actually had real problems and the three of them actually had arguments and fights. Especially when Diana started to date Brian.

9. Although Nancy did go to exotic places....
That was one thing I really liked about the Nancy Drew books. She visited some great places and I learned a lot about them. Trixie went spelunking and to a ranch, but even with Jim there, it couldn't compare to Turkey and Peru and Scotland and Hawaii...

10. Trixie wasn't perfect
Er...far from it. She had messy hair, normal clothes, and a temper and stubbornness that would try anyone's patience. Nancy...well, Nancy was perfect. I don't think she ever raised her voice, had a hair out of place (even when she was tied up and left in the stairwell in The Clue of the Tapping Heels), or argued with anyone.

11. Nancy never had to do household work or chores
But Trixie sure did. I remember reading more than once when she got into an argument with "Moms" about getting her chores done before she could go detecting.

12. But Nancy had much much better cover art.

13. But did I mention Jim Frayne???
I think he's the reason my first serious boyfriend was a redhead....

And ACK! to all you who haven't read Trixie! I did love Nancy--I gobbled up every one of her books, and now, as an adult, am collecting them...but Trixie was so much better. The first three aren't as good, because it's Jim getting through his angsty stuff...but one of the ones I remember being particularly good was the Bob White Cave one, the Cobbett's Island one, and the Mystery of the Emeralds.

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Thursday Thirteen #10

http://colleengleason.blogspot.com/2006/11/thursday-thirteen-10.html