My Hero, Nancy Drew Melanie Kos

When I think of heroes in my life, there are so many options to consider: who I am most like, who I have tried to emulate, who I aspire to be. Many could and would answer their parents, an older family member, or even a standout teacher. I certainly could say this too, but I know the truth.

Nancy Drew, you’re my hero.

Nancy Drew is the original female protagonist; her book series started in the 1930s and continues to this day. Nancy is a badass, point blank. With a lawyer father, a spanking blue convertible, and a college boyfriend, she sure does seem like your typical rich girl. But what sets her apart is her knack for solving crimes and mysteries, the way in which she conducts herself, redefining what it means to be a girl.

My good old Polish parents would often push girly things on me: the pink plastic heels, the frilly skirts, the bobbled hair ties splitting my head of hair into two painfully symmetrical pigtails, ingraining a permanent middle part into my mane. My seven year old self would get sweaty running around or rollerblading, and my mother would sigh to me in Polish, zobacz co zrobiłas, “look what you did.” In the first grade, when I picked up that Nancy Drew Notebooks paperback, Flower Power, I saw a mix of two...