Sleepover Sleuths

C
HAPTER
O
NE
:   “G
UESS
W
HAT
?”

C
HAPTER
T
WO
:   S
LEEPOVER
S
ECRET

C
HAPTER
T
HREE
:   H
ELLO
, D
OLLY
!

C
HAPTER
F
OUR
:   C
AKE TO
C
ASE

C
HAPTER
F
IVE
:   C
LUE
T
IMES
T
WO

C
HAPTER
S
IX
:   H
IDE AND
P
EEK

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN
:   P
ARTY
A
RTIE

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT
:   R
ECESS
… C
ONFESS

C
HAPTER
N
INE
:   P
ICTURE
P
ERFECT

C
HAPTER
T
EN
:   D
ETECTIVES
F
OREVER
!

“Wow, Nancy,” George Fayne said as she raced down the school steps. “I don't know how you do it.”

“Do what?” eight-year-old Nancy Drew asked.

“As if you didn't know!” Bess Marvin giggled. She tossed her blond hair as she held her books in both arms. “You guessed the lunch in the school cafeteria again!”

“Oh, that!” Nancy said with a smile.

It was Friday afternoon and Nancy, Bess, and George were leaving River Heights Elementary School. Bess and George were Nancy's two best friends. They were also cousins. The three girls were all in the same third grade class.
They had been friends since kindergarten.

“It was easy to guess,” Nancy explained. “The halls smelled fishy today, so that meant we were having fish sticks. And Mrs. Nicholson the lunch lady makes potato salad every three weeks.”

“What are we having on Monday?” George quizzed.

“Macaroni and cheese,” Nancy replied. “I saw the boxes behind the counter today.”

“Yummy!” Bess said. “But I don't want to think about Monday yet.”

She glanced at her favorite blue watch. It told the time all over the world. Bess loved all sorts of gadgets. She also loved to build her own.

“It's exactly one minute after three o'clock in the United States,” Bess reported. “Which means the weekend has just begun!”

Nancy brushed some reddish-blond hair out of her eyes. “What are you guys doing this weekend?” she asked.

“I'm building a butterfly mobile to hang over my bed,” Bess said, her blue eyes flashing.

“There's a neat new game I want to check
out on the computer,” George said. “It's called ‘Space Cadets from Planet Weirdo'!”

“My cousin, the computer geek!” Bess joked.

“And proud of it!” George declared. “What are you doing this weekend, Nancy?”

“Maybe I'll give Chocolate Chip a bath,” Nancy said. “That naughty puppy rolled around in something stinky yesterday—”

“Nancy, Bess, George!” a voice interrupted her.

Nancy and her friends spun around. Deirdre Shannon and her best friend Madison Foley were running across the schoolyard toward them.

Deirdre was in Mrs. Ramirez's class with Nancy, Bess, and George. She was nice, even though Nancy thought she was a bit spoiled. Her mom and dad gave her lots of things. She even had her own Web site, called Dishing with Deirdre. Deirdre wrote about everything on her Web site—from her dance recitals to her dentist appointments!

“Hi, Deirdre,” Nancy said. “What's up?”

Deirdre and Madison stopped when they reached the girls. Deirdre tilted her head a
little and asked, “Do any of you have a City Girls doll?”

Nancy, Bess, and George traded smiles.

The City Girls were the most awesome dolls ever! Each one came with cool clothes and accessories. And they were each named after a city in the United States.

“I have Chicago Cheryl,” Nancy said. “The doll with the purple coat and matching hat. Purple is my favorite color.”

Madison nodded at Nancy's purple jacket and sneakers. “As if we didn't know!” she said with a grin.

“I have Oklahoma City Olivia,” George added. “She wears the neatest denim outfit and cowboy boots!”

“Honolulu Haley is my City Girl,” Bess piped in. “She came with her own little flip-flops and surfboard.”

Deirdre rolled her eyes. “I know, I know,” she said. “I know all the City Girls. I have five of them myself!”

“Then why did you ask us,
Dee-Dee
?” George asked.

Nancy jabbed George with her elbow. She knew Deirdre hated the nickname Dee-Dee.

“It's
Deirdre
!” Deirdre said.

“How would you like it if we called you
Georgia
?” Madison asked George.

George scrunched her nose when she heard her real name. “No, thanks,” she said. “I'll stick with George.”

Deirdre reached into her backpack. She pulled out three white envelopes. “Tomorrow night, eight o'clock,” she said. “Bring your sleeping bag, toothbrush, and City Girls doll!”

Deirdre handed the envelopes to Nancy, Bess, and George. Then she and Madison ran across the yard to Kendra Jackson.

“What are these, Nancy?” Bess asked.

“I can't guess everything,” Nancy said, smiling. “So there's only one way to find out.”

Nancy tore open her envelope and pulled out a card. Her eyes widened as she read the pink writing. It was an invitation to a birthday sleepover on Saturday night!

Bess and George pulled out their own invitations and shrieked.

“Are we lucky or what?” Bess cried. “We have never been invited to any of Deirdre's parties before!”

“Deirdre may be spoiled,” George said. “But I'll bet her sleepover will rock our socks!”

Nancy was excited too. Five minutes ago she had zero plans for the weekend. Now she had a cool sleepover to go to with her two best friends!

“This is great,” Nancy said. “But I wonder why we have to bring our City Girls.”

“Toothbrush?” Hannah asked.

“Check!” Nancy answered.

“Flannel pj's with cupcake design?” Hannah asked.

Nancy peeked inside her big purple backpack and smiled. “Check!” she said.

It was seven fifteen on Saturday night. Hannah Gruen was standing in Nancy's lavender and white bedroom, making sure she had everything she needed for the sleepover.

Hannah had been the Drews' housekeeper ever since Nancy's mother died, when she was three years old. Hannah took such good care of her that she was almost like a mother to Nancy.

“Sleeping bag?” Hannah quizzed.

“Sleep?” Nancy cried. “We're not going to sleep, Hannah!”

Hannah raised an eyebrow. “Sleeping bag?” she asked again.

“Check,” Nancy said as she tossed her rolled-up sleeping bag on her bed.

“Now, are you sure you have everything?” Hannah asked.

“Sure, I'm sure,” Nancy said. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. “But I'd better go now. Daddy is probably waiting in the car.”

Nancy shrugged her backpack over her hoodie. She tucked her sleeping bag under her arm and bounded down the stairs. “I am so totally psyched, Hannah!” she called. “This is going to be the best City Girls party in the—”

Nancy froze on the stairs.

“Oops,” she said. “I almost forgot my City Girls doll!”

Hannah stood at the top of the stairs. She pulled Chicago Cheryl from behind her back. “I was wondering how long it would take you to notice!” she said with a laugh.

Nancy tucked Chicago Cheryl under her free arm. She darted out the door and into her dad's car. After they buckled their seatbelts, Mr. Drew drove to the Marvin house to pick up Bess and George. Soon all three girls were sitting in the backseat with their sleepover gear and dolls.

George was wearing all denim, just like Oklahoma City Olivia. Bess wore a little red
silk flower in her hair like Honolulu Haley.

“Why does everyone have to bring a City Girls doll to the party?” Mr. Drew asked as he drove.

Mr. Drew was a busy lawyer. But he was never too busy to spend time with Nancy.

“City Girls rule, Daddy!” Nancy said. “Each one is different.”

“Anchorage Abby is from Alaska, so she comes with furry boots,” Bess said. “And Malibu Marcy has real sand between her toes!”

“That's gross,” George said.

“But the most awesome City Girls doll,” Nancy said, “is Hollywood Heather!”

“Oooh!” cried Bess.

“Ahhh!” exclaimed George.

There were only a few Hollywood Heathers made in the whole United States. She was very special and very expensive.