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I’m recalling a book I read in elementary school approximately 1973-74. It was a hardcover mystery with a red cover and the spine had a white section with the title and also an image of a ginseng root. The story involved a group of children/youths exploring a remote wooded area, possibly on a mountain, who found ginseng roots and were collecting them for money. Along the way they stumble across a mystery, although I don’t recall the details of that. I thought the title might be something like “Mystery Back of the Mountain” or something similar, but I haven’t been able to spot it.
In 1974 my 4th grade teacher asked for suggestions to read for class story time, and I suggested the book and it was very popular with my classmates. I’d love to be able to find it again and purchase a copy.
The Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain?
It fits with ‘The Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain’ by Crist, Eda Szecskay & Crist, Richard. Publication date 1957
Looking for ginseng, and red hardback.
https://archive.org/details/secretofturkeyfo00cris/page/17/mode/1up?q=Ginseng
As MamaSquirrel and Gill mentioned: ‘The Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain’ by Eda and Richard Crist.
You can see the red cover on Amazon and Goodreads and one of the reviews on Amazon mentions hunting for ginseng. https://www.amazon.com/secret-Turkeyfoot-Mountain-Szecskay-Crist/dp/B0007IWX6E
Thanks everyone! I obtained a copy and read it, the story is pretty close to what I remembered. There was a lot I didn’t remember though!
Mystery solved!