1) I love mysteries - especially trying to figure them out for myself as the story goes along. I think the ones that involve puzzles or word games were especially neat, because I loved doing crosswords and word games myself.

2) What teenager got to do as much travelling on her own as Nancy did? I mean, flying by herself to visit her aunt, driving all over the country. It was a carefree lifestyle, but yet one fraught with danger with the many mysterious she encountered.

3) Her best friends Bess and George - who wouldn't want to have best friends like these, who stuck by you no matter what. Bess, a little on the pudgy side, and George the tomboy, the three of them made a great team.

4) Her boyfriend, Ned, captain of the football team, the All-American perfect boyfriend for the All-American girl. Yes, its a little hokey now, but when I was a kid - I wanted nothing more than to catch the eye of the captain of the football team (even though we didn't have organized teams at the school's I was at until I got to High School).

5) Because the stories are still going strong over 70 years after they started - new writers have taken up the pen to replace those who started, and it's amazing to think about one character which such a long, storied, and varied career in literature.

6) Because its not the work of just one writer, as different writers take her over, you can see her grow, change, and evolve over the years.