I read a book in the early 70’s. It was about a teen boy and his misadventures in a small town. It had a cover with a kids driving and old blue jalopy In the book. In One of the stories he gets a commercial propeller and puts it on a car to make a go faster. It flies loose and goes flying through the town, destroying things. I think the book had a white hardback cover, and the picture of the boy in the car was like light blue drawing I think it may have been a Scholastic book. But it was about this young early teen boys misadventures. And I recall the propeller wrecking havoc story. The book may have been from the 60s. But I read it in the early 70s. It may have been one of my older siblings book. And it probably was from the Scholastic catalog.
Category Archives: 1970s
377D: Older Children’s Book Set in Charleston, SC
I know this is a long shot- but i don’t know where else to turn. There was a children’s book written about a brother and sister who found arrowheads on either the wappoo bridge or the bridge going to folly. As you can tell it was written in the Charleston area. I had checked the book out from the old Charleston Library when visiting with my grandmother one summer- it had to have been in the early 80’s, but I feel like the story took place in the 50’s (not sure), but I loved the book. I just wish i could remember its name. If anyone can help i would be extremely thankful.
376W: Vampire Tosca
I’m looking for a vampire novel published between 1970-1989.
The plot revolves around a vampire who runs some kind of sleep disorder/research clinic on a college campus and uses that to cover for feeding (not enough to damage the subject). There is a detective, I think named Tosca, after the opera, who figures it out and confronts the vampire, who is a good guy. They maybe join forces to combat another vampire? There is a sequel, where the main character has moved to the southwest. Help, please!
376U: Seeking a YA book written before 1978
I’m so hoping you can help me.
My friend would love to find this beloved book. She read it in 1978 while living in a kibbutz in Israel, and believes it may be a book by either a U.S. or English/UK author. She believes this because there were women from the UK who brought books to Israel for the children/young people in the kibbutz to enjoy.
The plot is as follows: a college-aged girl becomes ill and is hospitalized for a long time. A hospital employee (might be a doctor, nurse, orderly, or someone else) tries to cheer up the hospitalized patients. It then turns out that this person is stealing jewelry from the patients.
Further details include the college student describing a man who cat-calls her, as a “wolf,” and the girl likes horses.
376Q: In Search of the Amulet (Solved!)
I’m hoping you can find my book….I really don’t want you to be stumped 🙂
(I think) the title is ‘In search of the amulet’
(I think) the author’s first name is Susan, and that she is English.
The book is likely to have been written in the ’70s or’80s, but I’m not certain.
Its a non-fiction story of her solo travels across Afghanistan and Turkmenistan (and other places) in an attempt to find the origins and meaning of the common fringed triangle symbol (amulet).
376O: The Friendly Wolf (Short Story)
The children’s short story The Dissatisfied Little Lamb by Catherine Jones, perhaps under her maiden name Catherine Hallman, published in a magazine sometime between 1940-80, about a lamb who leaves the farm to go exploring and finds a dog or wolf who is actually friendly and brings him home and he then protects the flock from a predatory wolf or other animal. Probably a magazine published in Georgia or SC.
376N: Magical Silversmith (Solved!)
Looking for 1950’s or 60’s fantasy young adult books about a magical silver smith in Massachusetts who can time travel and shape shift and enables a young boy to share his adventures. Author might be Lawson or Dawson. I have tried the Library of Congress listings of books without success. The books were available in the San Marino, CA public library into the 1970s or 1980s.
Additional story elements:
The silversmith was an adult during the American revolution. Story elements involve turning into various animals and birds, pirates and participation in the revolution
376D: Farm Book
The book is about a family living on a ranch/farm in the American West, sometime between 1970 and 2000. I remember three key details about the book:
A. The families father was killed by a bull during a rodeo. He was gored to death.
B. At one point in the book, a member of the family is in the hospital with a boy who lost his leg to a lawnmower accident. His siblings visit in the hospital and say they are not allowed anywhere near the lawnmower. The boy is in the hospital to get a larger prosthetic leg attached.
C. The children live on a ranch/farm and often play in a pasture near the house. They go there to hide at one point, but I do not remember why.
376C: Revolutionary War Adventure
I’m looking for a YA book about boy in SC during the American Revolution. He blows up a British wagon at one point. Read this in late 60’s- early 70’s. Thanks!
375Z: Scholastic Book Club, 1977-81, children’s book, thriller, white paperback with cover art, kids at night, carnival with Ferris wheel with swinging lights (Solved!)
Have little to go on. Believe purchased via Scholastic Book Club or at Scholastic Book Fair between 1977 and 1981; a short-read, 1–2” children’s novel; think it’s published by Scholastic; it might be a supernatural or science fiction thriller; white paperback with cover art, possibly with kids and a Ferris wheel; main characters are kids, with the climactic event at a carnival with a Ferris wheel with swinging lights?