Category Archives: 1990s-

358T: Boy Coming of Age With the Edsel

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I’m hoping you can help me with the name and author of a book I started reading in 1996/97 as a teenager. I was about 1/4 of the way through it (it was a very large book if I recall) and was quite enjoying it…until my mother confiscated it because it wasn’t “church approved” 🙄 It was the story of a young boy in the 50’s. On the cover was a picture of an Edsel. The story sort of centralized on that car, and I *think* the father worked at the Edsel factory. There were a lot of coming of age themes, and I’ve never forgotten that book and wish to finish it now that I have my own teenagers. The author was a male, and he had multiple other books that I cannot remember either.

358P: Originally Reluctant Woman Frees Prince

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I have used several other places, and have had no luck with this one.

It is a high fantasy type of book that takes place entirely in the fantasy world. It definitely seems like the beginning of a series. I vaguely remember it being written by a female Australian author and I believe it was published in the mid-later 1990s or early 2000’s. It was a trade paperback that I checked out from the library. The cover was a simple cover, not a complicated/traditional fantasy one.

It starts with a young woman working in her family’s inn/tavern and then she gets swept up with a prince who later gets imprisoned and who she frees at the end. At the beginning, she has a bad opinion of him, but then she travels to some place where he is getting ready for battle I think and gets to know him better. I believe there is magic based on elemental powers. I remember that she has to work with elemental beings, and they start learning to work together. At the end she ends up going to the castle where the prince is imprisoned and she frees him.

358N: Introspective Loner Girl and Her Rebellious Loner Boyfriend

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I’m having trouble finding a book I read years ago. I read it when I was a teenager so I assume it is a YA book but the characters came across as mature. It is at the minimum a duology but it could be a trilogy or more but I just never read past the first two books of the series. The second book I read when I was around 16 and it did not feel childish in any way.
Both books were written from the perspective of a girl who volunteers/works at a rest home or with elderly people. I remember the girl being a very introspective, bit of a loner type character who felt alienated from her peers to a certain extent. The male protagonist who is her love interest I believe may have been called Angus, but not 100% sure on this. He was a rebellious, mysterious type of character who may also have been a bit of a loner. In the second book, someone in the rest home dies which she has some trouble with and also their relationship ends as I think she may go away to college/university for the second book whereas she was in high school for the first book. The second-book is her former life falling apart to some extent and her having to grapple with feelings of depression, alienation.
The first book I read circa 2001-2005 and the second book I read circa 2006. The books did not feel at all dated when I read them. I read both books in New Zealand but I don’t believe the books were set in New Zealand. I have a feeling they were set in the United States as I remember vaguely that there was mention of college which is not a term we use in New Zealand. The books are completely realistic, with absolutely no elements of fantasy. I’m pretty sure the author is a female.

358M: Children’s book on a boy and too many cats

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I’m hoping you can help us find this book we read to my daughters when they were young in the late 1990s, early 2000s:
The book is either a picture book or a beginning readers book about a boy who loses his cat, and decides to put “wanted” posters up around his neighborhood. But he forgets to put a picture of his cat on the poster, and neighbors bring all sorts of cats of every variety to his house and his home fills up with cats. There are lovely illustrations of the different kinds of cats. We can’t remember the author, illustrator, or the title, so this might be a challenge for you.

358H: Cold War spy thriller set in Africa

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As a child (sometimes in the 80’s or early 90’s) I read a book about a brilliant and charismatic Cold War era African leader who uses military cunning to successfully invade two of his neighboring countries (I believe Togo and Benin) .

The plot revolves around the leader setting the two countries against one another by having a mercenary frame one country for planting a bomb in the other. The leader than promises each country his support in a future war, but ends up invading and taking over both countries.

The book features an American or British white citizen visiting the country, befriending the African leader and falling in love with with a black tall singer. He joins the final battle in the book.

I also recall a minor scene where a pedophile communist spy was able to discover the plot by getting a government official drank, but he is killed prior to being able to share the info.

Another character is a British white secretary which works for the African leader and becomes his mistress.

I did extensive online research but could not find the book.

358G: Children’s Book with Elevator

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I have been searching google all day with no luck even finding the right title to this book.
I would imagine it was published sometime between 1990 and 1998. I am almost 34 (born in 1987) and loved this book as a child.
This book was shaped like a sky scraper – not a usual rectangle! It was a hardcover and all the pages were also board book material. I don’t recall any words or an actual story — just illustrations.
A track ran through the center of the book with a small plastic square that was an elevator you could move up and down the length of the book. The illustrations inside were the many floors of the building carved up into various different shops and businesses. For hours I would pretend to ride the elevator around running errands in the book.
It’s driving me nuts knowing this book existed (my brother remembers it too) but not being able to find anything even remotely like it after hours of searching online. I now have a daughter who I know would enjoy it just as much if I could find a copy. Although honestly just knowing the title and being able to see pictures of it would suffice!

357X: Cat Gets Lost, Travels World

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The book I remember is a children’s book.  I think the cover showed the cat sitting in front of the Taj Mahal.

The cat eventually found its owners.

The book is not “Pooni at the Taj Mahal,” “Lost Cat,” Lost and Found Cat,” or “The Cat Who Found his Way Home.”

The cat may have been white or yellow.  I read it in between 1983 and 1993.

357W: Racy novel set in 1960s in Fashion Industry

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I read this novel in the early 90s. It had a mostly white cover, possibly with a woman decked out in white fur. Here’s what I remember:
— Novel is set in the 1960’s and in the fashion industry.
— Main character was traumatized when, as a child,  she saw her mother, Coral, having sex and thereafter had a lot of problems.
— Her best friend is overweight, marries a drug addict named Alastair. She is also a fashion designer I think, in the style of Mary Quant.
— Coral, her mother, is a magazine editor I believe and nearly dies in a fire.
— Set in London and New York
— Potboiler type novel. Possibly with the word White in the title but maybe not … could just be confusing it because the cover was white.

357V: Traveling between the realms

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It’s been bugging me for a while. This is a young adult book from my childhood likely read between 2006 and 2010 from my school library.
It’s a fantasy book and the cover has flames on it with (I think) electric blue writing on it (like literal lightning font).
My very rough description: there’s a group of people traveling between realms (sort of like heaven and hell).
I’m so sorry that’s all I have!

357O: Scandinavian folk tale collection (Solved!)

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I am looking for a book that was a series of short stories or collection of Scandinavian (?) folk tales. It could possibly be classified as young adult but likely for a younger age range (10-14). The usual searches (Norwegian, Swedish, Scandinavian folktales) have not turned up the book, so perhaps it was a collection of general folk/magical themed stories. There were pictures throughout book. They were not in a cartoon style but drawn and I believe one picture showed a cave and/or beach. I only remember these drawings being in black and white. There was at least one story about the sea. The version I had was paperback. Cover art: White background, young girl (face of a young girl). It is was nymph like, or some type of fairy. Very g-rated. There was some green on the cover. It was more modern looking than the usual cover art for Nordic folk tale books, however, an overall flowy feel to the cover. Timing: I received it sometime between 1998-2002. It was likely purchased in Canada at either McNally’s Robinson bookstore or an independent seller.