Category Archives: 1970s

313U: Visit to Aunt Rachel (Solved)

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The book I’m trying to find is from the 70s. The protagonist is a teenage girl visiting her elderly Aunt Rachel for the summer, I think. There’s a handsome man who’s a caretaker, I think, named Ewain? Ewan? In any case, it turns out that he’s hundreds of years old, and he’s really Merlin, and the aunt has some sort of charm that keeps him under her power. He has to do her bidding, and that keeps her young. I think they kidnap a young girl every 20 years or so and all of Aunt Rachel’s physical problems and aging gets transferred to the girl. And the protagonist is next in line. But I think Merlin saves her. Jeez, I read this about 35 years ago, over and over again! I’d love to find out what book it was!

313S: Missing Clock Tower Automatons (Solved)

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A girl goes on dangerous magical quest to find missing clock tower automatons. I read this book sometime in the mid-1970s. It may have been published from the 1950s-1970s. Statues or automatons have disappeared from the town cathedral or clock tower (I lean toward the clock) and if they are not restored by midnight (?) on a certain day, chaos will ensue. There is a European city feel to the magical yet current-day setting. Toward the very end, some adults are talking, “I’m letting her sleep. ” There is a sense that she has done things which were not quite lawful but she is excused because of her accomplishment. The adults may be a mother and aunt, or maybe aunts only.

312C: Missing Pearls

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Children search for missing (pearls?) from necklace on beach to save mermaids. I would have read this in the early 70s to 80s, and it very likely could have been a 2nd hand book. Some children are searching on a beach for the missing (I think pearls) from a necklace. The necklace needs to be complete to save (possibly) mermaids from something. I remember rockpools being involved. This has been bugging me for years, and I’d be so grateful if someone could solve it for me.

311X:Flood From A Nearby Reservoir’s Dam

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If I remember correctly, the children’s story is a short-story which was part of a larger book which contained many different stories. It may even be true, or based on a true story. It was read to me in the 1970s. It is the story of a flood from a nearby reservoir’s dam breaking, and a smart, resourceful mother who protects and saves her little children by climbing onto tables, then top of bookcase/cabinet, then eventually sawing through ceiling and placing them in attic, (or maybe outside)?. The story had at least once hand drawn black & white

311V:Prominent Tubular

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Pre 1970, fairly large format, color illustrated (vintage style) children’s book of fairy tales/nursery rhymes contains a story with an old woman baking a cake for a young male. Cake has prominent tubular peaks covering the surface. I think the illustration was on a left-hand page.

311L: Lost Little Girl (Solved)

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My mother is looking for her favorite book from when she was in school. She remembers the cover art was a girl sitting on a wood fence. Her top is a white tank top and she has a long skirt and long brown hair. In the background there is a dirt road leading to a house. My mom says the title is something along the lines of ‘The Long Road Home’ or ‘A Long Way From Home’, and she says it might have been published in the 60’s or 70’s.

310Y: The Alphabet book

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BC alphabet book from the 1980's. Soft cover, probably a burgundy colour. Place names from British Columbia, e. g. : Annie from Abbotsford, and then a little story about that. Bought for my son who was born 1982 so could've been published in the 70's? I believe he received it when he was 4 or 5 years old.

 

310O: The Murder Of A woman’s Teenage Daughter

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I’m looking for a paperback book I read in the late 70s possibly the very earlier 80s. The book was non fiction, written about the murder of a woman’s teenage (she may have been in her early 20s) daughter. The mother solved the murder by receiving what she believed were messages from her dead daughter. The murderer was her daughter’s boyfriend (husband).