Tag Archives: World War II

355U: Metiek Survives Holocaust

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I don’t even remember how old I was when I read it. I’m thinking in the late 60’s or early 70’s. It was a paperback. A young boy nicknamed Metiek (I think) gets separated from his family during the Holocaust. I think, not completely sure, it was Warsaw Poland. He gets captured and thrown on a train to one of the concentration camps. He escapes the train and ends up back in Warsaw (?) on the streets and becomes very street wise. Later he is able to make it to New York City where some relatives are located, and ends up working in the garment district. He becomes successful, marries, she is an actress. They build a nice home, she goes on a vegetarian diet in order to get pregnant, is successful and they have several kids. They (wife and kids) die in a house fire. Metiek (don’t remember his real name) is alone. True Story, his biography. It had pictures in it.

353X: Child gives last ration of chocolate away

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This was a book I read in the 70s, but it might have been written anytime after WWII and it had a certain 50s or 60s vibe to it.
I am pretty sure it took place during WWII and was set somewhere in Europe.
I recall the character — a boy (I think) of around 12 — had a couple squares of his chocolate ration left. He was very hungry and they didn’t have much food, but he gave his ration away to another child — I think a girl, around the same age.
For the longest time I thought it was from Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan but I tracked down that book and read it to my son and there is no such scene.

353V: Orphan Cathy Runs Away to Scotland and Learns True Name (Solved!)

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I’m looking for a British children’s book, likely from the late 1940s, about an orphan girl who lost her parents in the Blitz. She’s found wandering London with a torn tag that says only “Cat” so the orphanage calls her Cathy. Several years later she has a sudden recollection that makes her feel that her family is in Scotland and runs away to find them. Meets some siblings who help her and have a kind uncle named Alastair. Lo and behold, the kids end up being her cousins, her name isn’t Cathy, it’s Catriona(?) and she is reunited with the family who have been searching for her all these years. Might be the first in a series, a la the Boxcar Children. Thank you!

339Y: YA Girl falls in love with military guy

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Genre Teen/YA? Military Romance
Approximate publication year rough guess late 1987-1988.
Read between 1987-1991
Title Guesses: Beyond the Sunset(no clue really. ?????)
Character names-unknown
Plot description: A girl meets a military guy at/or outside of a USO. The guy either leans on a car or out of a car window and they talk, the guy smokes cigarettes, they end up in a relationship… possibly WW2 era themed.
Cover:  Very plain with no graphics or calligraphy, San Serif style font for title/author, deep purplish sunset.
Setting: Mainland US maybe East Coast
Publisher:  I don’t believe it was Sweet Dreams/Wildfire/Crosswinds/Sunfire.  It might have been Point Romance(Scholastic). The book was in a display with these types of paperback books.  A librarian told me once that sometimes these books were purchased in a display set but I do not believe that this book was part of a series and was a stand-alone book.

331L: War Kids Seek Treasure

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The book I am trying to identify was written over 60 years ago, and it features a group of children ages five or so through 14, or thereabouts.  They have been sent to the country because of the Second World War, and they become convinced there is lost treasure in the vicinity.  The only scene I remember takes place in church.  The younger kids are shocked and scandalized during the service as the collection basket enters their pew.  The eldest, instead of putting a coin in, pulls one out!  This is their first real clue.  The coin turns out to be a genuine gold doubloon.  The eldest boy may have been named Emil.  Do you know which book this is?

325P: Cereus Cactus Blooms During Anschluss

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I’m looking for a middle school book, what would be YA these days, but they didn’t have YA in the 60’s, when I most likely read this book.  The protagonist is a girl, part of whose attention is focused on a night-blooming cereus cactus party that her family will hold on the night that the plant blooms.  Surrounding this domestic detail are the events leading up to the Anschluss and the threat that the Anschluss presents.

319A: Aeronautical Adventures

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1930s or 1940s adventure books (of short stories) for boys featuring airplanes.  I remember a story that featured a crew of men attempting a record breaking non-stop (transcontinental? Transatlantic?) flight, in a 3 engine plane that could be refueled midair.  I remember a scene where one engine was shut down for in flight maintenance. 

One story featured two pilots flying an old biplane in a barnstorming content that was won because the co-pilot dumped itching powder down his partner's back.  Another featured WWII aircrew captured by Germans and they manage to escape and steal a German plane equipped with skis for the snow.  These books had belonged to my father, and were probably given to him by his uncle, who was a pilot.