Category Archives: 1990s-

345L: Children’s Book – Little Girl Trying to Hide a Giant (Cyclops?!)

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This was a book my father used to read to me at bedtime in the early/mid-90s. There was a little girl (perhaps with a pageboy haircut, pretty sure she had brown hair and bangs!) who, for reasons I cannot remember, comes upon a giant (who if memory serves had one giant eye) whom she has to hide. I feel like there may be a scene in a library and/or one involving a fence or hedge. I’ve been searching for this book for YEARS!
Thank you so much!

344R: Historical American romance pregnant heroine with amnesia

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I read this book as a teenager in the early 1990s.  It was a paperback, but I don’t think it was a Harlequin.

Hero                     

  • An American soldier/person of importance

 Heroine

  • An American from an upstanding family who were sympathetic to the plight of the Native American Indians

 Location

  • America

 Era         

  • During a war – not sure which one, but it involved Native American Indians

 Main plot                           

  • Hero and heroine marry in a traditional Native American Indian ceremony.
  • Heroine is given a necklace with a carved wooden charm (I think a turtle) in lieu of a wedding ring.
  • Heroine is kidnapped on her wedding night.  She suffers a head injury and gets amnesia and finds out she is pregnant while imprisoned.
  • The hero finds her, but she does not recognise him.
  • The hero claims her and they are married in a traditional Christian ceremony.
  • Heroine gives birth to their child – a girl  – and regains her memory.

 Other plot twists

  • Heroine’s brother is fighting in the war.  He secretly marries a Native American Indian known to the family.  Heroine’s brother is killed in the war, and his wife dies in childbirth, and the heroine cares for their child – a son named Andrew (I think) after his father (the heroine’s brother).
  • One particularly gruesome scene where a preacher is tortured and burned.

344Q: Fruit and Vegetable Creations to Entice Reluctant Child

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I am looking for a children’s book from the 1980s/90s era about a young boy left at home with a babysitter. He hates eating anything healthy and complains about the sitter wanting him to eat apples, carrots, etc until she shows him that you can make it fun and create animals and other creatures with the fruits and veggies. The back of the book had photos and instructions for making your own creations.

344O: Children’s picture book about girl who dances with shadows

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Looking for a children’s picture book about a girl who lives in a village (likely indigenous, maybe based on cliff dwellers?). The villagers see scary shadows on the walls of the cliff they live at the bottom of and thinks they are monsters. Eventually the girl climbs to the top of the cliff (maybe with a grass? ladder) and discovers that the shadows weren’t monsters, but friendly (people or animals, can’t remember.) I read this book as a kid around 2000, my grandparents had bought it, so likely published between like 1990 and early 2000s. They’d traveled to Australia and American Southwest, and I think book was purchased one of those places. It was a hardcover with full color illustrations. Tried googling key words but can’t find it so far, help!

344N: Undercover Magical Woman and Her Moody Cat (Series) (Solved!)

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It's a series about a young woman who was born into a powerful magical prophecy & a secret society was to murder her at her birth, but she was taken & given to a rich man in a different magical ability/ house/ guild who raised her to believe that she was weak in magical power, so she became a stiletto-wearing, marriage minded socialite instead. She just graduated from the academy(?), & her dream job/ life ambition is to be the magical administration building's reception hall's decorator so she can meet & marry a powerful man with the right status from an appropriate guild/family.  However, her secret boyfriend/ leader of the magical world/ head of the most powerful guild (whom she’s known & flirted with forever because of her high-status parents) gives the job to her bff (whom he's dating on the side & plans to marry because she's more magically suitable), & forces her to join a rough & dangerous monster/ bad guy/ naughty troll/ misbehaving goblin- hunting task force which is lead by the brother she didn't know her boyfriend had. So she does, in her stilettos, on her own terms, & with her funny & excessively pampered cat.


I think it's 3 books.


First one they end up undercover at a hotel, & the girl works with the big hunky brother guy (who is secretly not awesome, who likes to hook up with & wreck the women on his team, I think his last team hook up was another guy on the team’s fiancée & she died... and now that guy’s not on the team), a funny, charming guy who spends more time in the bathroom & on his hair than she does, who we find out in book 2 is pure awesome, & a huge & burly animal mage guy who soothes her moody cat. She & the brother work while while the 2 funny teammates chase pretty girls at the pool in their downtime.


I think she makes herself & the brother guy disappear at the pool at one point while they amp the volume on two bad guys’ conversation.

There may have been a potty-mouthed goblin issue in book 1 or maybe 3?

2nd book she & the awesome hair guy go undercover as a married couple to a haunted, murder Inn, where the cook/maid? Is a weather mage who kills off the guests & maybe the owner too.

I read these within the last 1-3 years, I believe. It’s all starting to blur together, & I can’t remember book 3 which is why it popped up in my literary Rolodex so I can now read it again! It was hysterical & I loved it & cant remember everything anymore!!! Huzzah for the rereads!  But I can’t remember the title or cover either so I can’t find it.

344L: Brother and Sister Run Amuck Through Restaurant

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My book Stumper is a children’s book that I predict comes from the 90s (even 80s maybe). I had it read to me everyday when I was a kid (I’m 22 now).

I have no idea what it’s called, but the cover depicts night time (Navy blue) with a restaurant illustration! I remember the book being rather large and rectangle (long). To give you a visualization, it sort of resembles Van Gogh's “Cafe Terrace at Night” painting!

The book follows a brother and a sister who run amuck through the restaurant - they run through the chefs kitchen and hide under the tables. They also do a lot of magic tricks. I vividly remember a white rabbit in a hat and the extending handkerchiefs!

The girl has black hair in a short haircut, and I can’t remember what the brother looks like.

I suspect that it’s not a popular childrens book as I’ve looked at countless lists and it’s never been there!

If you can find this book, I will be beyond happy. I have literally been searching for it for YEARS!

344G: Backstabbing (Literally?) Females At Dream Beach House (Solved!)

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The book was a paperback fiction.  I read it probably 10 or 15 years ago.  I do not remember the title or the author.  I believe the female author had a common first name but spelled slightly different (example – Lynda instead of Linda – but that wasn’t the name)
There were four female characters- collegemates- and a male college student that was dating one of the girls.  Two of the girls were best friends but hung out with two others.  The male college student was an architect and dreamed of building the perfect house in the perfect spot (on a beach)  One of the friends was a flashy blond who was rich and ended up stealing and marrying the man from her classmate because she could give him the property to build that perfect house.  The other classmate was a strange person who eavesdropped on the other three girls and often heard them making fun of her (she never forgot that)
I am not sure how many years later the rich blond invited everyone to her big beautiful home her husband had built on the beach for a reunion.  The one classmate had married and had children (average kind of boring life) and her best friend had married a cop who was paralyzed in the line of duty (living sad life) (if I recall correctly)  They didn’t really want to go to the reunion but ended up going.
In the meantime over the years the fourth member of their group was the butt of their jokes.  She wasn’t pretty.  Short and chubby.  I think she had red frizzy hair etc.  She had blossomed.  Lost weight and had become a famous writer/author.  She was well off and she apparently held a grudge all those years – and was out to get revenge.
My memory is pretty blurry about the time they spent on the beach.  The blond had become an alcoholic, not pretty any more.  Her husband said he had always loved the first girlfriend and was making a play for her at his beach house.  The climax in the story was when the author lady tried to kill one or more of them during a big storm that blew in.
I enjoyed the story and was hoping to find the author’s name to see if she had written any other books.  I have been looking for years with no luck.  This is the last I will try.  I hope you can finally solve my mystery.

344E: Childhood Picture Book about Boy in Forest

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There is a book that absolutely transported me as a child. It was in the late 90’s that I read it (’97-’99). It was a picture book about a boy that enters a deep dark forest and encounters strange creatures in the trees. It was a rather eerie book and left me with a sense of mystery and awe. My friend from a conservative family read it too and he said it was demonic, if that tells you anything hahah! So it definitely had a dark, ominous tone. I don’t recall anything else, except that it had a lot of dark green.

Thanks so much for your help! I have been searching for this book my entire adult life. It would mean the world to me if you found it.

343T: Summer Time Twins (Solved!)

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The book I am looking for is a young adult book. I read it when I was a pre-teen in the early 90’s. It had twins, a boy and a girl, and the girl was named Willa. The boy may have been named August. They were also pre-teens. Their mother may have had a baby—a boy?? I remember trees, summer time and perhaps a tree swing or hammock. Maybe lemonade?

343L: Boyfriend Sleeps in Snow on Cold Night to Prove Love (Solved!)

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I have searching for this book for a while. It is something I read in middle school. I’m 36 years old. The book was about a high school girl that was dating her brother’s best friend. It takes place in a state in the US where it snows and some or all of the book takes place during winter. I remember there was a window seat where she drank hot chocolate and looked out and saw him in the front yard. There was also a scene where they got into a fight and to prove himself to her he built himself a place to sleep in the snow in her front yard. I remember the Mom remarking that it was cold out there. Unfortunately I don’t remember the title or author or names of the main characters but I remember the book being well written and very age appropriate for middle school and early high school. I hope you can figure it out!! I would love to grab a copy for my home library. Thank you!