Category Archives: Solved

323Q: Town Gets Rid Of Laws And Other Stories (Solved)

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Growing up, I was born in 1982, we had a book that was a compilation of short stories and some poems and other things. It was a light blue/teal colored hard back book with a paper cover. It was a bigger book, like maybe more of an 8.5×11 size. There was a story in it about a town that got rid of all the rules and laws for the day and people didn’t wear their seat belts and sped around town. And there were pictures in the book. There was also another story about 2 teenage sisters who got in an argument and one sister ripped the nose on the other sister’s David Lee Roth poster and tried to cover it up. The book was definitely super random with stories ranging from life lessons to fun little kid’s stories. At some point my mom has lost or gotten rid of it and I’ve been trying to remember what this book was for about 3 years now. It’s been driving me nuts and both her and my brother have no recollection of it. Please help!!!!

323G: Late Bloomer Finally Dates (Solved)

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Young Adult book on library shelves in late ’60’s early ’70’s.  Has an old-fashioned feel.  Girl (first name starts with an M?) is slightly awkward, gets to date a boy she likes.  She overhears girls mocking her for wearing too much face powder.  Her yearbook quote was, “her voice was ever soft, gentle and low, an excellent thing in a woman”.  Good ending.

323F: Cassandra’s Star? Julie’s Star? (Solved)

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Looking for a Young Adult book on library shelves in the late ’60’s or early ’70’s.  Julie wants to go steady, but her mother (Cassandra) does not think that she is ready.  Set in a part of the country where there is snow.  Julie is a cheerleader.  Somebody tightens the fit of the uniform sweater and gets in trouble.  Julie wants to wear her mother’s star-shaped brooch.  At the end, Julie gets to go steady and wears the brooch.

322N: Aliens Use TV For Mind Control (Solved)

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Seeking a Kid's Book, I believe I read it in the early 80’s. About aliens invading and a group of friends trying to stop it? Or kids who had a machine that allowed them to make people think aliens were invading via TV. . . sort of a kid's War of the Worlds. Or kids get a machine from aliens to control people via the TV. May have had some device for mind control like TV or remote control. I think it took place in a big city. Had a cartoon-like cover. . . there may have been similar illustrations throughout the book. It was for kids 8-12 range I’d guess. I know it’s not the book series “Tripods”, for younger kids than that. I was young when I read it. . it's driving me nuts!!! Thanks

322G: Ocean Adventures in Octopus Town (Solved)

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I want to help my wife find a book that her mom used to read to her. Mom says it was a paperback picture book and the pages had metallic highlights so they sparkled. The cover had the main character on it, a young girl who had long brown hair and eyeglasses and she was surrounded by seaweed.
In the story/poem the girl falls into the ocean and encounters a variety of sea creatures as a result.
Some lines and plot points from my wife and mother-in-law’s memories:
“…and arm in arm we danced way down, until we reached octopus town. And there we saw one hundred more, eight hundred legs, one hundred heads, dancing in their seaweed beds”.
A line toward the end of the story describes something involving a dense school of sardines or mackerel as “bits of silver hit like hail”
In the end, the main character is being chased by a shark and wakes up, falling out of her bed.
Thank you so much!

322D: Magical Wooden Box (Solved)

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A description of the book, with helpful details:

  • Children’s books, maybe for ages 10 – 13 years old.
  • Red cover (?) with possibly a tree on it
  • Small book, probably less than 200 pages
  • Main character was female (maybe 12ish years old) with a father who gave her a magical wooden box, when she opened it her and her friend were transported to another place (/world.)
  • My foggy memory remembers the two kids standing next to a tree at some point in the other place.
  • The girl finds out her dad has also been to the other place. He may have been a king on the other side or the kids thought he was the bad guy when he jumped through the portal (?)

I’m sorry I can’t recall anything more than this, I’m going off an 11-year-old’s mind over a decade later.

322B: A Sea Princess Riding a Great Dane (Solved)

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Looking for a children’s book we used to get from public library. Dewey number in the 300s/fairy and folk tale section. The story involved a sea king’s daughter and a tea party? The end pages had a black line with color washes drawing of the sea princess (with crown/long wavy hair) riding a Great Dane type dog (with antenna.) Another illustration was an underwater scene with anemone and a glass palace.  We read the book in the mid to late 90s. No idea when it was published. Do not think this was a mermaid tale. The artwork was subtle & lovely, not brash or cartoonish. Do not recall if there were other stories in the book.

322A: Magical Oven Confounds Rude Neighbor Boy (Solved)

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I read this book as a child in the 70’s. A brother and sister’s family moved to a new town. Their obnoxious and rude neighbor boy, I think his name was Jamie, played with them. They didn’t like him but they didn’t know anyone else so the put up with him. They discovered an oven in an old shed on their property. They baked a batch of cookies in it. Jamie selfishly wolfed them down and turned into some king of animal. The oven had magical powers if you ate something that was baked in it. That’s all I remember. I hope someone can help.  Thanks.