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154B: The Princess Who Escaped Her Story (solved)

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Here’s what I remember:

The book is about a princess, I think her name was either Sophie or Sophia, who lives in a castle with her Royal Family in a town located within the confines of a storybook. Whenever the book is opened, the people in the town stop their current activities and rush to their places in order to preform their story for The Reader who’s name, I think, is Claire. The princess is very adventurous, she hates the repetition of the story and longs to visit a world beyond the book. I think that she does leave for a short period of time, and once she steps out from the book, she enters one of Claire’s dreams. She returns to the book ,and informs the other characters who react with shock and disapproval. When Claire’s little brother burns the book, the princess and the characters escape into Claire’s memory/imagination/dreams. The story and the characters, I believe, are passed down to Claire’s daughter or granddaughter, who with the princess’s help, re-writes/re-publishes the story so that it and it’s characters will live on.

Another point worth mentioning is that the book was published sometime in the early 00’s, I had a copy in my possession in 2003. It was from a school book fair, so the publisher could be something that has connections with Elementary and Middle schools like Scholastic. It was a paperback, the front and the back were off-white or cream in color, and I think the front had an illustration of the princess. All I can remember was that she had dark hair. 

 

154A: Green and gold book about the sea

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I was in second grade around 1963 or 1964 in Los Angeles Unified School District.  I remember in the school library there was a book on a book stand.  It was hardcover, green, with gold etching, about half or three quarters inch thick, a bit over-sized.  I desperately wanted to take home that book but couldn’t.  Now I think I dreamed it up.  The words “sea” and “star” and “world” sometimes flit before me.  (It’s not Sea Star by Marguerite Henry or the Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson.)  It was not heavy on text.  I had another epiphany with Holling Clancy Holling (Paddle to the Sea?), but I’ve looked at all of his titles and it’s none of them.  It’s size and feel were definitely Holling — green library binding — but not so wordy.   I can’t get any farther than this, but I MUST find that book!!  It is a true needle in a haystack with no author or title.  I have searched thousands of images of vintage books and can’t find this. 

 

153E: Looking for 70s environmentalist novel

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I am trying to find a book I started to read in middle school, but it is hard for me to remember all of the details because I didn’t finish reading it. It was a novel, I think from the 70s, with a strong environmentalist message, “save the trees” etc. It was about high school students (?), and had intermittent poems throughout the text, including one that went something like “acid rain, like a single tear drop, rolls down the flower”.
It appeared old and worn to me when I was in middle school in 1998, a small hardcover book with blue binding. I think the latest date of publication would be 1980, as it was about environmentalism and the messages were similar to the messages of the 1970s. Sorry I don’t have more details, but let me know if this jogs anyone’s memory.

Thank you!

 

153D: Pulp explorer adventure puzzle book

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At some point during my childhood, early grade school I would guess though I can’t pinpoint further (so circa 20 years ago?), my older brother brought a book home from the college book store at his college, Harvey-Mudd in California.

It was mainly an art book, depicting various Indiana Jones-esque archaeological adventures. The one I most vividly remember was a battle on a rope bridge, with unfortunate explorers tumbling over the side into some great chasm. There was also an introductory page depicting the top of a desk or table, strewn with artifacts obtained from the scenes on the later pages. But beyond that, it was a sort of puzzle book: the pictures were overlaid with what looked like torn-up pieces of a journal or memoir. When pieced together, they provided… something. The backstory of the pictures and artifacts? Clues to some further puzzle or objective you needed to find by hunting for clues in the pictures? I don’t remember ever attempting what was needed to put them together; you’d have to either photocopy and cut up the pages, or trace the fragments with paper and pencil.

Via my own research I’ve discovered there was also a pulp space adventure in the same series. Both had a sort of “many explorers left on this perilous voyage; only I survived” feel to them, so it had to have been aimed at young adults at least.

 

153B: Golden Ball Book

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My book is a fairy tale that is written about a girl who displeases her father and so she’s sent by him to the bottom of the sea in a huge ornate ball.   I know that she meets a prince who eventually gets the ball out of the ocean but that’s all I can remember.

The style of the book is ornate and looked Russian in design.  It must have been prior to 1990 when it was written.  Thank you.