Category Archives: MG (grades 2-6)

326T: 1950’s young detective gang? (Solved!)

Posted on by
2

I was in elementary school in the early 90’s and remember reading a series of novel/short stories in class from a book series. They were similar to Encyclopedia Brown and Nate the Great, but the time frame of the books was more low tech (they had flashlights or torches I think, but don’t remember TV ever being mentioned), probably circa 1930’s to 1950’s so a little before Encyclopedia Brown time frame.

I remember 3 distinct stories that happened. The main characters were young, elementary school aged, and engaged in small town mysteries and adventures. One of the stories involved one person from this young gang following someone or something into a local cave and the main character followed them/him but tied raw liver meat to his shoes and told a friend if he didn’t come out to get a police officer and a tracking dog to find him from the scent of the liver meat on his shoes. They ended up finding him and the person lost in the cave.

A second story involved a new teacher the main character didn’t like and he intended to frame him by making him appear to be an alcoholic and planting alcohol in his house. The plot may be located in a baptist southern town as the main character thought the alcohol conviction would be a death sentence for the guy. I don’t remember much of the rest of that specific plot except that Mint Schnapps were part of the story and how the teacher was purportedly covering up his alcohol breath. The teacher found him out and apologized to the kid that he did not like him being his teacher but the town had appointed him, the protagonist reconciled with him eventually.

A third minor story was the protagonist forgot to study for an exam and tried to contract mumps from a friend of his who was out sick that same week. He snuck over to his friends house and asked him to breath in his face repeatedly. The protagonist was young, coming of age, used m’am and pal a lot in his vocabulary. The book or series may have been published in the 70’s or 80’s but I don’t remember a whole lot of technology being used in the stories though, and the prohibition aspect lead me to believe it is older. It could be Encyclopedia Brown but I’ve read through what I believe to be all of the book plots and didn’t see it.

326Q: Boarding School Girls Discuss Castle Drachenfels (Solved!)

Posted on by
5

I read it in the 1970s.  It was written for girls, maybe came in two volumes, the copies at the library had stripes on the covers.  Came from the Beverly Hills Public Library, if that is helpful.

I think it took place in a girls’ boarding school.  Maybe there was one girl called Cordelia, shortened to Cordy.  Maybe in it they told a story about a Castle Drachenfels.  It’s possible I’m mixing this up with another book, but maybe not.

Please help!  Thanks!

326O: Young Teen Named Queenie Eats Poke Sandwiches

Posted on by
1

I read a book in the 5th grade so around 1972 (I think) about a girl named Queenie. I think she was a young teenager and she was poor and lived somewhere with a lot of dirt roads. I think it was during the Great Depression. She ate "poke sandwiches" or "poke biscuits" where she would poke her thumb into a biscuit and put jelly or honey and eat it after school. That's all I remember except that the book has stayed with me so I would like to read it again.

326D: Air Force Pilot Takes On Dragon In Storm Cloud

Posted on by
1

Short fantasy/sci-fi story in an anthology aimed at young readers in the late 70s/early 80s - I seem to remember reading it in late elementary school, though it could have been middle school. Story was about an Air Force pilot who lost a friend to a dragon in a storm cloud, but no one believed him, so he stole a plane and went back up to kill the dragon. He was catatonic and white-haired when the plane landed, and everyone thought he was just crazy, until they watched his gun-camera footage of his attack runs on the dragon.

325Z: A Boy And The Spirit Of Coolaid Bicycle

Posted on by
Reply

I remember a book from my childhood roughly 2nd-5th grade (which would be 1972-75) that had to do with a boy and a bicycle. The only thing I actually remember from the story is the quote, “Go, Spirit of Coolaid, faster boy (ching, ching)!” All of my bikes have been named Spirit of Coolaid! I have recently taken up cycling again, and, you guessed it, my bike’s name is Spirit of Coolaid. I really would like to know what story this phrase came from!

325Y: Boy Spends Summer At Beach Solving Mystery

Posted on by
2

I believe this book is for middle grade and from the 1970s or before. It is about a boy who spends the summer away from home, near the ocean or on an island. The first night there, he see someone using Morse code to spell out his name. Later, he learns it is another boy who wants to be friends. (They become friends.) There is some type of mystery to be solved and a man (maybe a relative?) tries to kill the boy at the end of the book. There are caves or some kind of natural phenomenon where at the right tide, the wind/water rushes through, sounding like ghosts moaning. When the man is after him, the boy has to face his fear and enter the caves to escape.

325W: Doll Smuggles Secrets Or Medicine During Civil War

Posted on by
1

I am hoping you can help me find a book a elementary school teacher read us aloud in class. It was probably 1987 when we were read the book, and I think it was historical fiction written about a doll that was used to smuggle war secrets or medicines during the Civil War. It would have been appropriate for fourth/fifth graders. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!!

325K: Giant Baby Studied By Scientist In Warehouse

Posted on by
Reply

All I had was a memory of reading about a giant infant brought to a warehouse, where a man studied him.  L158 “Large Child Playing With Real Cars” indicated the story was from a 1950’s or 1960’s elementary school reader, which seems right–the book was from the library back when I was 8 or 9 in the early 60’s.  It mentions the warehouse, which I remember, the man, which I do recall must have been a scientist, but other than this I’m completely drawing a blank.

Thanks for any help you can give,

324Z: Sports Car Race With Dirty Oil

Posted on by
2

When I was a kid in the 1950’s, I read a series of ‘car books’ about a young man who became interested in sports car racing.  I remember that the name of the car manufacturer was ‘black’ something and as an advertising promotion, they once drove one of the cars many, many miles (20,000+?) without an oil change, and then entered the car in a sports car race.

Any of this sound familiar to anyone?