Category Archives: 1980s

225D: Girl experiences loss and self exploration in New England

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Adolescent book from 1980s: Girl and her lovely sister move to New England; the sister gets cancer and dies. They meet and interact with all kinds of characters, including a pregnant couple they think is not really married and a photographer. At the end of the book, she goes to an exhibit called Faces of New England and sees her own face among the portraits submitted by the photographer friend, and sees herself in a new way. Beautifully written, a book that stayed with me a long time as a teenager.

Thanks for your help!

225B: Unicorn picture book, black and white drawings, no text (Solved)

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Unicorn picture book, black and white drawings, no text
My kindergarten library had this book in 1985, and it did not look new. It was a red hardcover that was much thicker than other children’s books. I think the title included the word “horse” or “unicorn.” The story was about a little girl who finds and then hides a white long-legged foal that develops wings and a horn, but there was no text; the entire story was told in detail with lovely black and white pencil or charcoal illustrations. I remember it being relatively sad, with the unicorn flying away/escaping in the end.

I wish I remembered more! I’ve checked my kindergarten’s digital library catalog with no success, as well as other online catalogs, but there are so many unicorn and horse books out there!

Thank you!

224H: Stone Soup

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The title is Stone Soup. I don’t know the author or year, but the main characters were pigs instead of humans and I think all the townspeople were various other animals but I’m not sure. I believe the background of the cover was light blue and there was a picture of the pigs on front. Also, it was hardcover. I read this book probably in 1985-1986, but I don’t know when it was actually published.

221D: Scary Children’s Book from the 1980’s – Solved

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I have been trying to remember this book for so many years, this is what I remember:

It had actual black and white photos, not illustrations. The character was a little girl and at the beginning, it is her birthday and she is happy and the setting is bright and cheerful and she is in her bedroom. Then as you turn the page, it is dark and creepy and she is alone in a home of some kind, so I think that she may have been dreaming. From what I remember, there are several photos of her exploring wherever she is, there is a kitchen, basement, garden grounds, etc.

The very last page is an image of blurry figures or what appear to be ghosts. I remember wondering of those were her parents.

There may have been a pet in the story as well. It wasn’t a long book, 20 pages at the most. I read it in the mid 1980’s, in about the 3rd or 4th grade.

I’m hoping you can help!

217B: Girl Coping with Parents’ Divorce and Father’s Second Marriage (Solved)

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The book I’m trying to remember is a YA novel about a girl in middle or high school. Her parents were recently divorced, and her father remarried not long after. I think his new wife was a teacher, or maybe a substitute, at the girl’s school. The girl has a new babysitter or nanny or au pair, possibly an older high school or college student. I think they might have held a seance or used a Ouija board together, but I’m not positive. There was a scene with the girl and her mother driving in the rain, and the girl was thinking about her father’s second marriage, with the words “Divorced in (a month, maybe December), married in (another month, possibly May)” running through her head like a chant in time with the windshield wipers. I think the girl’s last name is Beckwith, or something similar, but that’s the only name I remember. I think it was probably published between 1985 and 1991, or sometime close to that.

212F: Boy with ability to copy other’s skills. (SOLVED)

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I read the book in 6th grade (1990-1991.) The book most likely printed mid to late 1980s or early 1990s. Set in modern times in North America/USA. Male lead age 13-15. Junior high or high school student. He finds out one day he can some how summon abilities. Example in the only scene I remember he’s being followed. He confronts his stalker and summons the abilities of a boxer and fights off his stalker. Through out the book he summons skills. Sometimes he can do it other times the power fails. Doesn’t understand how he can do it.

Can anyone help?

211C: YA mystery series (Solved)

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I’m attempting to find two YA novels (may be part of a longer series) featuring best friends Kim (tall, thin, blonde) & Alexa (name may not be exact; small, brunette), 13-15yo, amateur detectives. One book features them at riding camp, investigating twin sisters who may be planning to kill male counselor who impregnated one sister. In one scene, they hike through a cave with stalactites and stalagmites. The other book features a mysterious death at a neighbor’s house where college/20-smtg friends of neighbor’s child(ren) are staying; they are involved in drugs and may have faked friend’s death by drowning him/her in swimming pool. I seem to recall the author had a woman’s name. The last I saw these books was in my secondary school library in the late 1980s/early 1990s. I would guess they were published in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Any help appreciated!

208D: a sort of Little House on the Prairie-light set

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The book I’m looking for was actually a series of Juvenile books I read in the mid 1980’s. I remember 4 or 5 of them. They were a sort of Little House on the Prairie-light. Set in mid western prairie state, but in a town. During or around a big influenza epidemic. The publisher may have been a Christian publishing house. The protagnist was a red head, who was 10-12ish, prone to eavesdropping and misunderstanding. There was a sort of mystery to be solved in each book by the children, that was always just a misunderstanding. One of the books revolved around Valentine’s Day. Can’t for the life of me remember the name or the author, nor can the friends who read them with me at the time.
They were short trade papers, with illustrations on a few pages, but not “illustrated.”
Don’t know if that is even remotely enough helpful information to track them down 🙂