Author Archives: Julie Beckers

369J: Two Sisters share room with secret alcove or passageway

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My daughter is looking for a book that she checked out of the library in the early ’90s. This was probably a middle schoolers book. Two Sisters move with their parents a long drive away from where they previously lived. The first night they have to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. They both want the bedroom that has some sort of alcove or passageway that ( might) lead to the outside. They fight, and one sister climbs out the window (?) and falls and possibly breaks her arm (?) . The story is told from the POV of the younger sister. They possibly have moved to a small town and the house might be a Farmhouse type house or older home.

368X: Hobbit-esque Fantasy

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Bella Luna’s Flowers, caligirly2002@gmail.com

Looking for a book read to me by my dad in mid 1990’s. Fantasy. Could ride on birds. Had things like trolls or goblins and elves. In a forest setting. Not the Hobbit or Tolkien related. But does remind me of the Hobbit.

367R: The Odd Fae Child

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I read this book about 20+ years ago when I was Junior High in the US. It was about this guy who fell in love with a woman from a fae race I believe? I honestly don’t remember that much about it except I think the cover had some art but was green in binding. They had some sort of huge struggle with a type of villain and they ended up together and pregnant. He thought it would be a normal 9 month pregnant like for humans and her race actually had a 3 year gestation. Their baby was a girl who was very different and inquisitive and wasn’t a normal human child. That’s essentially all I remember. If you could help me find it, I would appreciate it!

365F: Inventions for Children (Solved!)

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Can you please help me find a book I read at primary school??
I read it in 1985 or 86 (87 at the very latest) when I was in primary school in the UK.
I would have been 7 or 8 years old.
Book title: Possibly ‘Inventions for Children’ / ‘Top Secret Inventions for Children’ (but that’s just a guess, as I really don’t remember!)
Book description: It was a hardback picture book. Each page, which were mostly double page spreads I think, had roughly 2 to 3 fictional inventions on (all aimed at children).
Some of the inventions I can remember: an armoured vehicle for a child, driving down a street (narrowly missing a cat and a lamp post I think??). Some kind of periscope / binoculars that let you hide behind your desk in school without the teacher noticing (possibly in the shape of a boy sitting upright??). Some little booster rockets (disguised as decorative circular medals?) that went on your swimming trunks to make you swim faster.
I remember all / nearly all of the inventions having a cross-section / cutaway section to them, so you could see the internal mechanics.

That’s about all I can remember, it’s been driving me slightly crazy for years (having tracked down nearly all the other books I loved as a child already).
I will give you any more information if I can, just let me know! 

365E: Romantic short story about two strangers: a carny and a young woman together on a carnival ride

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I think it’s a paperback book from about 25-30 years ago. I’m sorry I don’t recall title nor author, nor cover.
I’ve tried googling what little I remember in nouns, but no luck. It could be a short story
anthology or a book of short stories by one writer. As I recall, the carny, a kind of rough guy meets a young woman and takes her on a ride on what we used to call ‘the wheel of death’ but I don’t think it was called that in the story. That carnival contraption is usually a huge metal mesh cylinder that people enter through a door, and then line up, standing up, around the edges of the cylinder/metal cage.

 When the machine starts up, the cylinder starts to whirl in a circle, faster and faster until all the people are plastered by centrifugal force to the walls… then the floor drops out so that people are whirling through space in this cage with no floor beneath them, held up only by centrifugal force.

How the wheel was actually constructed in story, not sure. But that’s the idea.

The carny might kiss the young woman while on the ride, not sure, but it was romantic leaning a tidge into eros I think. I’m sorry, cannot remember any of the other stories in the book. At age 77 now, a lot of memories are softer, but good memories have gotten stronger. One of the blessings of aging sometimes.

364T: Little girls playing dress up

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Description of book with helpful details: 2 girls (friends) playing dress up, hanging clothes on a line, and maybe a tea party. Book had pen and ink illustrations I believe. I remember a drawing of one of the girls wearing high heels that were of course too big for her. I checked this book out of my grammar school library many times, probably in the late 60’s.

363C: Mystery by Italian Psychologist

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The book I’m trying to find was a mystery written by an Italian Psychologist. I believe he wrote three books, all mysteries with different modes of transportation as the setting (an airplane, a train, and a ship.) The book I’m looking for was the mystery on an airplane. The murder occurred during the flight and the killer was exposed during the end of the flight. The author being a psychologist introduced some of his psychological theories into the story and I believe that this was the purpose of the three books – to explain his theories.

The book was probably written prior to the 1960’s but after the 1920’s. The title was short. I’m not sure if all the books were translated into the English language.

I enjoyed the story and wish I wouldn’t have sold my copy (it was a nice English first edition.) If you need more details, I’ll try to recall what I can. Thank You and good luck.

362Q: Old Fairytale Collection

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I am looking for a fairytale collection that I remember from my youth. My mom bought them for us in the 1950s and my stepmother has thrown them out. Sorry, I do not have the title. Here is what I remember: There was a set of three books. The cover was hard-bound and cream-colored. Each book had a small colored panel on the spine. One green, one red and one brown. I recall that they contained “The Princess and the Pea”, “Rapunzel” and “Rutabaga Tale” I would love to buy these treasured tomes if anyone has them.

362O: Child Finds Way Home by North Star

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I’m trying to think of a book I used to read probably around the year 2000.

The kid (can’t remember if it’s a boy or girl) lives on a farm with their dad, their mother has died. Every Christmas Eve they give the barn animals Christmas treats. At some point the kid gets lost in the woods with their dog. They follow the North Star to head back home and are found by the dad and their neighbor.