Category Archives: 1990s-

303C: Beauty and the Beast fiction anthology (Solved)

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I’m hunting down a fiction anthology that involved “Beauty and the Beast” riffs. One of the riffs involved a perfect couple (I think New Yorkers) with a perfect life–and the wife was slowly beginning to think that her beautiful, flawless, successful, doting husband had a terrible double life as a beast in a city reeling from a series of bloody, violent attacks. I’m fairly sure it was published in softcover in the late 1980s to mid 1990s. One detail that really stands out to me is that when the husband came home late one night, the wife noticed a drop of blood on his cheek and realized that he was the beast–which left her in a whole bunch of serious dilemmas, most of which were left as cliffhangers. This was only one of many stories in the book, but it really left an impression. If I recall correctly, most of the writers in the anthology were women. I was way into Sheri S. Tepper and other female authors at the time, if that helps, but I don’t think it was her story collection “Beauty.” I hope you can find it! Thanks 🙂

297T: Illustrated Children’s book with the theme ” You can choose”

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Illustrated Children’s book with the theme ” You can choose”. We had this book in the late 1980s/ early 1990s. It was square with a yellow hardcover with a cartoonish girl/boy on it. Book was about 20 pages ( 10 layouts with different scenes where the boy and girl make different choices between colours and objects etc. ). Each scene ends with a phrase similar to ” You can chose”. Very repetitious. One scene has them in a classroom. Size of book 20cm x 20cm. I know it is not the following books “If I could choose” or “Which one would you choose”.

296F: Teen Overeats on Holiday Vacation Due to Parents’ Divorce

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I read this young adult novel in the early 1990s at my local library. It seemed like it was relatively recently published at the time. I believe that it was a first person story, about a teenage girl who is either on Thanksgiving or Christmas break from school. Her parents tell her they are getting divorced, and she starts secretly overeating all of the leftovers from either the Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. She is writing in her journal, feeling isolated, and having some weighty conversations with her parents–particularly her dad, if I remember correctly–all while developing an unhealthy relationship to food. The book ends with her swearing off of the overeating, and taking walks in the snow to lose all of the weight she gained over the holiday vacation.

295G: 90s young adult book with a man who has had his tongue cut out

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A couple of kids on a mountain and are either rescued or menaced (possibly both) by a man who has had his tongue cut out. He may have been Native American or it may have been implied that this was done by Native Americans. He might also have had a dog. Probably 1995-2000. May have won awards as this was read aloud in a children’s library where award-winning books were often chosen.

295F: Convicted US Businessman Organizes Mars Colony

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I do not know the title. I am looking for a Sci-Fi book published in paperback in 1991. The story is that of a very powerful businessman who is unjustly convicted of disposing of toxic chemicals off the eastern US coast. Fumes from the chemicals come onshore and kill a lot of people. As penalty he is shipped off to Mars where (unknown to him) the colony needs someone with significant organizational skills. He is able to provide those skills and builds a successful life there. A memorable scene is where the bad-doer, who has taken over command of the earth business, goes into a room where ribbons hanging from the ceiling are able to generate electrical charges. To prove his manhood, the bad-doer goes into the room; the good businessman’s valet turns up the electrical charge and kills the bad-doer.

293Y: Mother and child mouse encounter a road at night

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Children’s book set entirely in a rural setting at night. A mother mouse guides her child mouse through grass and vegetation — perhaps a meadow — and I think I remember berries in the illustration. I think she teaches/explains her surroundings to the child mouse as they go. At some point, they encounter a road, and the child mouse feels its cold, hard, unfamiliar texture. I think the mother mouse tells him that the road is dangerous. I was reading this book in the late 80s or early 90s.

292I: A Royal Family ‘roman a clef

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Back in the l980s or early 1990s, I read a recently-published ‘roman a clef’ about the British Royal Family.  Cannot remember the title or the author.  The main character was “Princess Louise’ (aka “Louie”) who was clearly modeled on the real-life Princess Anne.  She was widowed, lived in Kensington Palace, and had a pet parrot.  In the novel, she had been born into the Russian (Romanov) Imperial Family but had married the heir to the British throne.  Part of the plot may have involved a potential kidnapping.  I am not sure, but there may have been a sequel (or two).

291V: Fox Trapped in a Smokehouse

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This is a book of interconnected short stories. It was an oversized hardcover book with full-page text and color illustrations, meant for an older reader. The stories all concern a community of animals who live in the woods adjacent to a farm. I’m fairly sure the title of the collection has the name of the animals’ home in it — maybe the lake they all live around, or the name of the woods, or the name of the farm? The book was published in the 80s or 90s. Each short story ends with a well-known moral or saying. I think there is a story about a badger or raccoon who is sick of it all at home and doesn’t want to get out of bed. There might be a story about an animal collecting (quail?) eggs that then get destroyed or eaten — the moral is don’t count your chickens before they hatch (or don’t put all your eggs in one basket?). The story I remember most is about a fox (perhaps the main character in the book) who gets trapped in the farmer’s smokehouse. He sneaks in to steal some of the farmer’s ham (I think?) and gets his leg stuck in a claw trap or gets locked in, and he has to beg another of the animals to help him escape before the farmer finds out and shoots him with his shotgun. In one of the later stories, I think the fox runs away from the animal community. I loved this book as a kid but can’t seem to work my Google magic to identify it! Thanks in advance to all you sleuths out there!