Category Archives: 1980s
324Q: Aesop’s Fables and Fairy Tale Collection
Looking for an illustrated hardcover children’s book, a collection of fairy tales from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. It contained stories from Hans Christian Anderson (including The Princess and the Pea), the Grimm Brothers, and other authors. It included The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde. It also had a section of Aesop’s Fables. The table of contents separated out the Aesop’s Fables from the other types of stories. Please help me find this book, thank you so much!
324M: Girl’s Best Friend Moves To New York City (Solved!)
This was a thin paperback, and I think the cover was yellow/gold with a b & w photo of two teenage girls taken in a photo booth. I read it in the late 70s/early 80s. It was about a girl whose best friend moves to NYC. After being separated for awhile she is excited to visit her friend there, but when she arrives her friend is now a stuck up “city girl.” I remember her friend mocking her for calling 6th Avenue by its other name, Avenue of the Americas, stating only tourists call it that. There is also a subplot abut the girl’s dog, a sweet old yellow lab (?) named Nora/Lorna. Near the end of the story, Nora/Lorna dies under a lilac bush and the devastated girl wraps her in a special towel that was used for the dog’s baths.
323X: Suspected Witch Is Really The Hexed One
I am looking for a children’s chapter book from the late 70s or early 80’s. It was about a girl who gets sent to stay with a strange lady. The girl thinks she is a witch, but it turns out some other lady is jealous of her and was placing spells on her. I remember a scary scene when the girl is forced to drive the car to save her but the evil woman is in the back seat…
323R: Teen Girl Loves Horse But Cannot Ride After Accident
Ya fiction series with a horse, rich girl has an accident and can't ride. Her rich grandmother buys her a brand new Datsun (car), so she's at least 16 or 17, set in the 70s or 80s, published during that period. I think she was nasty to a few girls and tries to make up for it after the accident. I think she may have been in a coma. Her boyfriend might have cheated as well. I think it had a yellow cover with the old style oval centre that contained the image. I think she had a rich sounding name, Courtney or something but I'm not 100% on that. The horse accident was bad and she desperately loved her horse but was too afraid to ride it. I read this series in the late 80s, early 90s, but my sister threw them out before I could finish them. I never forgave my sister, who dares throw out a book? The books were paperback, they had maybe 100 to 150 pages, so not very thick. From the content, I think they were targeted towards ages 16 and up. I think the girl went to college as well. Her grandmother was some type of business woman.
323Q: Town Gets Rid Of Laws And Other Stories (Solved)
323N: Magical Teen Elizabeth
When I was a teenager in the 80’s I read a book called “Elizabeth”. The book was about a teenage girl who either had magical powers or magic was somehow insinuated. The cover was black and I believe it had a broken mirror on the cover. In the story she had a red mark on her upper thigh that she received from a spider bite maybe but it was identical to another character in the book, like an aunt or something. She would remark in the book how older men were attracted to her and she enjoyed it. I have looked everywhere online for the book and even called my local library. I guarantee the book is not about Queen Elizabeth or Elizabeth Taylor because that is all that I find out there. Please help!!
323L: Mermaid short story/book of ironic stories
I believe there was a YA book of ironic stories that I read between 1979-1983. Story I’m looking for: A teenage boy discovers a mermaid living in a pond at the bottom of a quarry. She never breaks the surface of the water, but looks beautiful underneath it. The quarry will soon be dynamited and caved in, so he decides to save her and move her to another pond. When he does capture her, with much difficulty, she is a hideous monster (the water had distorted her features) that nearly kills him. He lets her stay in the pond. The next day the quarry is dynamited and she is buried under the rubble. Have asked for years on every search site I could find. Please help! Thank you!
323H: Tree On A Hill
Children’s Chapter Book, 4-Book Series, 1 for Each Season (Around late 80’s). These books may have also had a boy and a dog. There were frequent pictures along with the words. My guess is that the length of the books were around 30-40 pages. I can’t recall anything else. Thanks for your help!
322Y: Kids book about 3-5 grade level that Is fiction and takes place In Washington DC.
Trying to find a fiction book probably published between 1980 and 1990 that takes place in Washington DC. It is about a boy that gets in adventures in all the landmarks such as the museums in the DC area. I don’t recall much more but it was geared to late elementary school children.