Looking for a book from my preteen years. It was about a girl who moves to California. She lives with people who are not her family or maybe distant family or family friends. They run an orange orchard. They have to go out in the cold nights to light smudge pots to keep the fruit from freezing. (And I think at some point, it is a big deal for her to acquire a yellow raincoat that they call a ‘slicker’ in the book.)
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353M: Circus Boy Rescues Chinese Girl, Witch Heals Her Bound Feet
Looking for a children's fantasy novel about a poor boy working at a circus who rescues a Chinese girl with bound feet who's a prisoner in one of the attractions. Takes place in medieval Europe, I think. They're on the run and get rescued by a witch or an old woman who heals the girl's feet by breaking the bones and then teaches her how to walk again. The boy and the girl go on a quest together. There may be a dragon involved. Wasn't a picture book and it had chapters. Read it between 2002 and 2008, but was probably published way earlier. Wish I had more info, thanks!
353L: Victorian house with dog and dumbwaiter
Dog lives in a mysterious old Victorian style house that has a dumbwaiter, possibly has puppies to care for, and the book is for young adults, may be a chapter book with several illustrations. Art style and spirals on the ends of letters suggests mid 60s to mid 70s. I checked this book out from a library in San Diego around 1988.
353K: Satiric/ironic book on how to succeed in college (pub. in 1980s or 90s?)
353J: Historical Stories for Girls
I loved a book as a child (would have been reading it in the early 1990s), an old fashioned one with a hard cover bound in blue linen and fairly thick. I think there might have been a bird cage with a bird in it on the spine. It also would have had a different slip cover when it was new. I think it was called something like ‘Book for Girls’ or ‘Stories/Tales for Girls’
It was aimed at older girls, and had a variety of short historical stories in it, with female protagonists. It was interspersed with full page black and white ink illustrations, but not many, maybe one or two for each short story.
I think there was an Ursula Le Guin story in it, but I could also be confusing that with other books.
I know for certain that there was a story about a woman whose castle was under siege and the people in it are starving. There was also a historical love story where a man jumped over a women’s wall and starts to court her, even though she is married. She almost runs away with him, but he is actually a criminal so she stays with her husband, who brings her roses he picked himself, even though he was cut by the thorns. There was also a Chinese love story that was a ghost story, where the love between two young people is forbidden by her family. In the end maybe one turns into a swan? Or they both die?
Any help really appreciated, I have been trying to find this book for 7 years!
353I: Coal Eating Dragon With Big Appetite
1960s? children's book, full-page B&W illustrations except for red dragon, boy feeds dragon with big appetite with coal, possibly takes place in UK or Wales.
353H: Young Singing Boy Dies As Old Man Under Tree
353G: Non Fiction Alien Abduction
I read a book around 15 years ago. The author interviewed many instances of abductions. He began to notice that some of the stories of a few of them were exactly the same, and asked for the abductees to meet in person. When they met, they realized that they knew each other. They had been abducted together, multiple times, since childhood. They lived on opposites sides of the country and had never met in person, but knew each other! One of these abductees was a political figure who asked to remain anonymous for fear of ridicule.
353F: Children Encounter Scary Creature in the Woods
I am trying to find a book that I used to read when I was younger at the school library. It was a scary picture book. From what I can remember, the story goes like this: there are 2 siblings (boy and girl I believe) that live in a village/community in the forest. I want to say that it is a native American community but I’m not entirely sure. They wander out too far from safety and stumble upon a creature that, based on the drawings, gave me nightmares as a kid. It’s extremely tall, covered completely with brown hair, sharp white claws on the feet and hands (but not too long), sharp white teeth and red eyes. The children try to escape but the creature chases after them. I do remember vividly a page where the kids are climbing a cliff, while the creature climbs below them. Somehow the rest of the village comes to the rescue and saves the children. I tried researching as best as I can but I can’t find anything remotely close. I know it’s not a wendigo story, the closest thing I can find based on appearance that I remember is the Tennessee Wildman. And I want to say that the author had other books with the same style of drawing.
353E: Kid Adopts A Camel – Humorous Non-Fiction Children’s Book On Cassette!
I'm looking for a humorous non-fiction children's book, with accompanying cassette, about camels. I read it sometime between 1987 and 1995, likely closer to the earlier range, and it was probably published no later than 1975: it felt "modern" at the time. I recall the book being slightly larger format, softcover, and fully illustrated in a semi-cartoony style - and that it also had an audio cassette version which I believe was just the narrated book, without music. The conceit of the books may have involved a kid secretly adopting a wild animal as a pet: it introduced animal facts to explain how the animal's adaptations could help the child keep it hidden from their parents. One specific detail I recall is a fact that camels can close their nostrils to keep from breathing in sand - "or your dad's cigars!" as they illustrated by showing an unfazed camel in a living room where a man in a green armchair was smoking heavily. I'm fairly sure the book was part of a series, including one about penguins (where the kid tried to fill the bathtub with ice for them,) but I don't recall any other books in the series.