Straight out of last week's girl detective discussion, Laurel Snyder introduced fictional character Hope Jones as the girl detective who has not yet been created. We all played around a little in the comments with what adventures Hope could have as a 21st century version of the classic character. But I've been thinking more about the many things that came up in that discussion, about the relatively simple and tame nature of Nancy Drew and the more serious world girls live in today. Is there room now for a serious, hard hitting, intense (but also sometimes humorous) girl detective series? Here's what I think Hope Jones could do:

1. She could live in a state like West Virginia and find herself at ground zero for some of the biggest environmental crimes in the country. She could track illegal logging, look into mountain top removal, seeping/leaking coal slurry ponds, and mine collapses. Hope could be actively trying to improve the health and welfare of the folks in her area, plus butting heads with those who might not see the bigger picture she embraces. Or....

2. Move our budding environmentalist to the heartland and have her deeply involved in farming. This opens up the possibilities of migrant workers and immigration crime (if she was in Florida she could be investigating slavery) and also a look at the dirty underbelly of agribusiness like price fixing and the nastiness in slaughterhouses. (That fallen cow video is going to haunt me for life.) Or...

3. How about Hope is the daughter of human rights lawyers? In this scenario she could travel the world with them and get caught up in their cases (or others she discovers). This introduces the always popular element of international intrigue while also allowing countless plots. You could have spies, or uncover crimes involving governments or NGOs, or track stolen antiquities, or protect endangered animals or rescue teens suffering from human rights abuses. Or....

4. We all know high school is kinda awful. Part of why Buffy was so successful was because Joss Whedon played so successfully with the idea that high school = hell (even without the hellmouth in the library). So how about we set Hope loose in high school to uncover all the darker mysteries lurking in the halls? You could start with a version of the recent Supreme Court case involving the strip search of Savana Redding. Why did the other girl give her up? And why did the administrators think this kind of search of a 13 year old was okay? And what if Savana had fought back? What would be revealed about her, the other girl (or girls), the VP who did it and on and on. This is taking mean girls to a whole new level and a great way to rip off the veneer of "girls just being girls". Beyond that though you have so many other subjects: steriods, rape, theft, cheating on No Child Left Behind and on and on. High school is an endless source of crime when you think about it. (Thank you Veronica Mars!) Or...

5. Laurel threw out the possibility of cyber crimes in our earlier discussion and this one has a ton of possibilities. You could run down crimes across the country via the internet, especially with cyber bullying and this new penchant for uploading videos of teens abusing each other. Honestly when it comes to the internet and technology you don't have to be Cory Doctorow to see that the possibilities here for a teen sleuth really are endless. Or...

6. One subject Zetta in particular touched on was urban crime. This is, as she mentioned, a touchy area because the violence is real and the repercussions monumental. It would not be realistic to send a teen detective in as an avenging angel against gangs but on the flip side, she could be a lynchpin to bring a neighborhood together. In this scenario you set Hope in any number of American cities - Detroit, Miami, LA, New Orleans, NYC and have her battle to save her friends and family. It would not be easy - you would need a very careful writer here - but I think if done right it would be powerful stuff.

So there's six different Hopes, six different ways that a girl detective could prove her mettle in the 21st century world. I'm not suggesting that I have it all figured out here.....coming up with ideas in some ways is the smallest part of writing. But I wanted to show that there are particular ways that the girl detective could use the best parts of Nancy and Buffy and Veronica and be in older teen situations (involving sex and violence) where she works hard to sort out very real and very identifiable crimes. I think it would be critical that she have a supporting cast and life that extends far beyond the mystery plots (this is what I love so much about Saving Grace); that's what truly gives any series its longevity. But overall, the point I wanted to make was that you could do this. Hope Jones could be a powerful character and what she accomplishes could change teen girl readers everywhere.

Four hundred and fifty young women have gone missing in Juarez, Mexico since 1993. It's a dangerous world for teenage girls and that's a fact. Maybe it's time that some small facet of our YA literature reflect that truth - but in a positive, life changing kind of way. A Nancy Drew that matters - can you imagine?

[* Hope Jones the character name belongs to Laurel Snyder, body and soul!]