The Secret Pact

Penny wants to write a story about a strange tattoo she sees on a sailor, but neither her father's nor her school's newspaper agree to the idea. Penny impulsively decides to start a new newspaper in the abandoned Morning Press building and enlists the help of a few close friends. She soon finds herself in over her head and courting trouble after she runs the story about the tattooed man in her new paper. Penny's story turns into a big scoop, gaining Penny respect from her father's colleagues.


Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson (1905 – 2002) was an American journalist and writer of children's books. She wrote some of the earliest Nancy Drew mysteries and created the detective's adventurous personality. Benson wrote under the Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, Carolyn Keene, from 1929 to 1947 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew mysteries, which were bestsellers.