Category Archives: 1980s

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 🙂

208C: little girl that goes to a fairy or elf wedding (Solved)

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This will be fairly vague (sorry!) When I was little (late 70s/early 80s) I had a book that was about a little girl that goes to a fairy or elf wedding. The things that stick in my mind are that it had these really amazing illustrations and a Lupine Fairy who had blue hair that swirled all around her head, there were also fairies who were parachuting in on milkweed fluff. The husband fairy (elf?) had long pointy ears and a crooked nose… Unfortunately that’s all I can remember, none of the actual story except that it is all about them getting prepared for the wedding but it’s one of those things that pops into my mind occasionally and I’ve never been able to figure out what book it is. Any help would be amazing!!

207H: Children’s book about being afraid of the dinosaurs at the museum?

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I am searching for a children’s book I enjoyed as a kid. I believe it would have been available by the late 70’s/early 80’s.

I don’t remember the title, but I remember it had to do with a kid who thought he/she wanted to go to the museum, but then when they got there, was scared of the giant brontosaurus. I remember an image of her pulling on her mom’s hand to get away from the dinosaur. I don’t really remember what else happened, but the book might have been about saying no to things, or getting over fears. The images were quite simple, I think.