I read it sometime in the early 70's. All I remember is that a girl is in science class and the teacher is talking about how certain breeds of chickens are gone because they've been cross-bred out of existence. The next day, a male student brings in cages filled with the birds that the teacher said were extinct. The girl is impressed by the boy and asks to see more.
Category Archives: 1970s
333K: Juvenile Fiction On Car Racing (Solved!)
Seeking a whole series of juvenile fiction books on car racing from the 1960s or 70s. The main character raced at Le Mans and the Baja 500, among other races. Devoured these books when I was young, but can't remember any of the titles or the author.
333C: Robin and Jenny, the Modigliani Girl (Solved!)
This is a YA book from the 70’s or 80’s (I think). It is about two teenagers (Robin-male lead and Jenny-female lead) who fall in love and discover that years ago Robin’s mother killed Jenny’s sister in a drunk driving accident. Robin has blonde curly hair and he describes Jenny as a Modigliani girl.
333B: Tiny Magic Cat
332W: Wise King Shows We See That Which Is Sought
I am looking for a Children’s book, from the 70’s or 80’s. It does have pictures. It may be a Golden book, but that is just a stretch of my memory.
The book is about a Kingdom in strife. Lords and Ladies are backstabbers and no one is happy. The King is fed up with it
The King comes up with a plan: He summons a page. He tells the page he is concerned about the state of the kingdom. He instructs the page to go out (on his horse) into the kingdom and find all that wrong. Find that which has sharp thorns, plants that are poisonous and so forth. Collect as much as he can (for show & tell) and bring it back in a week.
When the 1st page has left the castle grounds he summons a 2nd page. He tells the page he is concerned about the state of the kingdom. He instructs the page to ride forth into the kingdom and find all that is beautiful. Collect as much as he can (for show & tell) and bring it back in a week.
The first page comes back. He is cut by thorns and has rashes from the poisonous plants. The King asks: “What is the state of the Kingdom?” The page replies that the kingdom is in terrible shape. It is covered with ugliness and poison plants everywhere he searched.
Shortly thereafter the second page returns. The King asks: “What is the state of the Kingdom?” The second page replies that “the Kingdom is covered with nothing but beauty”. He has the flowers with him to show it.
The King somehow make the point to those in the court that we see that which we seek; not only in nature but in each other. Of course that changed everything and from then on (as I recall) the Lords and Ladies interacted respectfully with each other, seeking to see the best in those around them. Great story. Applicable to today. Hope you can help.
332V: Witch Balls & a Cursed Child’s Palm
I read this book at some point during late grade school/junior high, probably between 4th & 8th grade, so somewhere between 1980-86. It was a pre-teen horror of the old school, by which I mean it assumes kids can actually handle seriously creepy, potentially life-threatening stuff. It was an older library book that our awesome school librarian recommended to me. Maybe published in the 50's or 60's? Definitely before the late 70's, given the age of the library's copy & when I read it. Unfortunately, there's no cover art I can reference as it had a green cloth binding with no dust jacket.
I don't remember much of the plot but what I do remember is as follows: A junior-high aged girl goes to visit her grandmother for the summer in a small village. Grandma is a witch (good, natch). Another woman has moved into town & grandma suspects her to be a bad witch. Bad witch tries to start a witch war. I can't remember if it was for a specific reason or just because she was a bad witch & that's what bad witches do. Similar in feel to The House With a Clock In Its Walls series or the Green Knowe books but a smidge darker. I believe it was located somewhere in New England, but I wouldn't swear to it. I *think* there were cars & telephones but the time frame was kinda vague. Or my memory is. And that's all for the overall plot.
I do, however, remember some weird specifics. The grandma hung a witch ball over the front door to see if the new neighbor was evil. She had a bottle tree, too. There were lots of nifty little folkloric witchy things like that. The thing that sticks clearest in my mind is that grandma gets a letter with what appears to be child's hand print. Grandma recognizes it as the actual skin of a child's hand & proceeds to place the skin inside an old Bible, which she wraps up tightly so it can't be opened because said palm skin is a curse. That scene has stuck with me ever since I read it, as one might imagine. It's pretty unique. Other than that, I can remember exactly where it was located in my grade school library but that's probably not much help. (Second from last bookcase on the left, third shelf from the top, right side, below the Nancy Drew books.)
332P: Months of the Year with a Blond Curly-Haired Girl (Solved!)
I am hoping the little info I can give you will be enough to identify a book that I would love to secure for my daughter- one of her favorites. I think the book must have dealt with months of the year instead of days of the week. The illustrations were in pastels and the little girl throughout the book had blond curly hair. My daughter would have been 5-7 years old when she was reading the book. She was born in 1968 if that helps. I have Googled every way I can think of – so far no luck. This is a long shot – I really have no expectations – if nothing else, I am so happy to have found the Loganberry Books website.
332G: Blue Monday (Solved!)
I am very sure the book I am searching for is called BLUE MONDAY. It’s about a group of adults that took a certain drug in their student days that was beginning to affect them years later and turning them into killers. The cover is a photo of a bald headed man with a maniacal laugh and a big knife in his hand. It was published and released in the the 1970s.
332B: Extended Families On Adjacent Farms (Solved!)
Seeking series from 70's or 80's about extended families who live on nearby farms in the Midwest. I think each book focused on a different girl and the series may have spanned multiple generations. Books may have had names of produce or plants in title (like Apple Farm or something). May have had a slightly religious orientation.
331Y: Margot Forces Agoraphobic Mother to Leave Apartment
This is a 1970's or 1960's middle reader. Possibly 1980. A girl named Margot lives in a city with her mother, who has not left their apartment since the father left her. She gets along pretty well by having her groceries delivered and such. Margot gets tired of this and decides to spend the night at a library or something to force her mother to leave the apartment to find her. Not sure if her scheme works or not. A neighbor ends up dealing with the police after Margot is found; I remember her spelling Margot's name for them and telling them "The T is silent" and sounding very proud of this knowledge, like it's a family secret. There is also a boy whom Margot befriends.