There were some marked differences from Nancy Drew, however. Penny's father, Anthony Parker, owned and printed The Riverview Star, a newspaper, unlike Carson Drew, who was a lawyer. Penny's character is actually more similar to that of the original Nancy Drew, as she is terribly flippant and impulsive, which tends to get her into hot water. Penny (who, unlike Nancy, is still in school) also has only one close girlfriend her age, Louise Sidell, as opposed to Nancy's Bess and George. Her other friends included Salt Sommers and Jerry Livingston, a photographer and reporter on her father's paper. The latter was more of a Love Interest. The cast was rounded out by Mr. Dewitt (later spelled DeWitt), the Star's gruff city editor.
This was Wirt Benson's favorite of her series, and she is quoted as saying that she thought Penny was "a better Nancy Drew than Nancy was."
Not to be confused with another Penny Parker.
This series provides examples of:
- The Alleged Car: Leaping Lena.
- Alliterative Name: Penny Parker and Salt Sommers. Penny also called her car Leaping Lena.
- Bad Habits: In "The Cry At Midnight."
- Butt-Monkey: Louise can be this at times.
- Catch Your Death of Cold: Mentioned in Saboteurs on the River, with "pneumonia" in place of cold.
- Chekhov's Skill: Penny's ice boating in Ghost Beyond the Gate.
- Creepy Doll: The eponymous one in Tale of the Witch Doll.
- Da Editor: DeWitt
- Drives Like Crazy: Salt. Penny has her moments too.
- Fine, You Can Just Wait Here Alone: Penny does this to poor Louise sometimes.
- Going for the Big Scoop
- Green-Eyed Monster: Louise in The Cry at Midnight: "Louise considered Penny her dearest friend. Though she would not have admitted it, she was slightly green-eyed whenever another person claimed any of her chum’s attention."
- Implied Love Interest: Jerry to Penny. The Clock Strikes Thirteen says that she she "liked him better than any young man of her acquaintance", while The Wishing Well pinpointed him as having long been a "particular friend" of hers. Even though Penny pooh-poohed their relationship on at least one occasion, they still share many tender moments and several kisses throughout the series.
- Intrepid Reporter: Jerry and Penny. Salt could also qualify as an intrepid photographer.
- Kid Detective
- Kindly Housekeeper: Mrs. Maude Weems
- The Klutz: Louise, sometimes.
- Love Interest: Mrs. Deline to Mr. Parker, until we find out she's a criminal and he was only pretending that she was a love interest to gain information.
- Missing Mom: Penny's.
- Mystery Fiction
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Signal in the Dark.
- Official Couple: Jerry and Penny pretty much became this in twelfth book when he declared her to be his "one and only." He was absent from the next two books, and by Whispering Walls (book fifteen) they were back to their Unresolved Sexual Tension.
- Parental Substitute: Mrs. Weems to Penny
- Punny Name: Salt Sommers
- Put on a Bus: Jerry was gone on military leave for a few books.
- The Bus Came Back: He makes a "guest appearance" in Voice From the Cave and by the time Whispering Walls rolled around, he was back, no mention made of his previous absence.
- Recurring Character: Salt Sommers and Mr.DeWitt
- Rugged Scar: Apparently, Salt Sommers has a deep scar on his left cheek.
- Ruptured Appendix: Mr. DeWitt got appendicitis in "Ghost Beyond the Gate."
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Occurs in Hoofbeats on the Turnpike.
- So Proud of You: Jerry and Mr. Parker toward Penny, the former especially in The Vanishing Houseboat.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Jerry and Penny. See Implied Love Interest.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Or Riverview, in this instance. Melon cultivation (prominently featured in The Clock Strikes Thirteen) make it most likely in the southern half of the U.S. — anywhere from Florida to California — but no specifics are given.
