The Nancy Drew adventure series, a classic girls' favorite for over 50 years, offers less sex role stereotyping and sexist cultural indoctrination than the majority of reading textbooks now used in the elementary school classroom. Textbooks were excluded from the Title IX regulations of the 1972 Education Amendments, and a review of studies conducted since 1969 of elementary school readers reveals the continuation of a strong male sex bias in textbooks. The Nancy Drew series, on the other hand, presents a different perspective. The heroine is a paradox, appearing strong, resourceful, independent, and bold, while at the same time using traditional feminine wiles, relying on her instincts and charm. Although further study of the adventure series identifies a reduction over the years in the quality of characterization, description, and plot structure, as well as in vocabulary level, the female image in Nancy Drew is preferable to the stereotype found in most classroom reading texts. (AEA)