Category Archives: MG (grades 2-6)

370W: Child/pre-teen collection of eccentric stories occurring at a school/office

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I can’t remember whether the stories are related or unrelated. A girl named Erika/Erica presents something to her class (I think it was a poem or short writing), but her name is not revealed until the end of the story/chapter, when the teacher calls her up to the front to present. Another character figures out how to hypnotize people to bawk like chickens or do other things. The book is relatively short (probably around 100 pages) and I read it around 5 years ago. The stories were quite unusual, and I first found and read it in an elementary school classroom.

369N: Young Girl Makes it Through the Storm

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Looking for a book w/ very little info. It was a novel my 5th grade teacher read to the class in 1984 or 1985. All I know is the title was “Alee” (or contained that word) and the cover was a drawing of a girl walking in strong wind. I remember it was about a young girl making it on her own and there was a storm and tumbleweeds. It would have been a children’s or young adults book. Sorry – I know that’s not much to go on.

369J: Two Sisters share room with secret alcove or passageway

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My daughter is looking for a book that she checked out of the library in the early ’90s. This was probably a middle schoolers book. Two Sisters move with their parents a long drive away from where they previously lived. The first night they have to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. They both want the bedroom that has some sort of alcove or passageway that ( might) lead to the outside. They fight, and one sister climbs out the window (?) and falls and possibly breaks her arm (?) . The story is told from the POV of the younger sister. They possibly have moved to a small town and the house might be a Farmhouse type house or older home.

369I: Girl summer magic or witchcraft (Solved!)

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I read a book sometime in the late 70s/early 80s that was purchased from my school through a flyer or book fair.  It was a chapter book that may have had an illustration or two.  Best I can remember, a girl is spending her summer break maybe in a new home or at a relative’s home.  It seems like the summer may have been rainy and she was exploring the house.  She found something in a basement or cellar that was either magical or had to do with witchcraft.  She experimented with the magic but it seemed to turn out badly and there was  an explosion or climactic event in the basement.  In the end, all was resolved with a pleasant ending.  I don’t remember the book centering on any other characters so only one main female child.  I don’t remember the title or the cover but I have a vague recollection of orange and purple on it.  Here’s hoping someone remembers.

368T: Hidden riches turns out to be rare books

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I’m looking for a mystery/adventure book I read in the 1980’s in my elementary school library.  I believe it came from the same section where the Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, etc. books were and so could have been published in the 70s, 60s, or before.  I don’t remember if it was part of a series or a stand-alone book.  I believe the main character was a female who was investigating a mystery that involved a mansion.  In the mansion there was a library with lots of books that she would visit.  I don’t remember any of the main plot but the end stuck with me.  The man who owned the house was said to have hidden his riches somewhere.  In a twist at the end of the story the main character realizes the books that are in the library are rare originals (e.g. first-edition Shakespeare, early edition Bible, etc.)  The riches were hiding in plain sight all this time in the form of these rare books.
Can anyone help me locate the title or more information about this book?

368C: Service Boys dirt track car racing series (Solved!)

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– Fiction – Vintage series – 1970s or earlier – about dirt track racing written for kids. It was checked located in the children’s section of the library. Trying to find these books as a gift for a friend who remembers them very fondly, but doesn’t remember details, just that it was a series and of course, that it was about dirt track car racing.

368A: Fighting animals and villains on a ranch

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I’m looking for a YA or MG book about a teen boy who lives on a ranch (New Mexico? west Texas?), his cousin Horace comes to visit for summer which he thinks will ruin his summer but Horace turns out to be a good guy who can ride and shoot and they become good friends.  There is a mountain lion or cougar that kills his dad’s prize bull Red Toro so they go out to find the cougar, Horace shoots it with a great shot.  Along the way there are some villains who are trying to jump a gold claim, Horace sprains his ankle, has to be hauled out by the boy on an Indian trapezoid carry deal, they fool the bad guys into fording the river where there is quick sand and all ends well.  Can’t remember title.  Book had line drawings, and I think the cover was edged in burnt orange or brown. 

367X: Family takes an elevator underground – whistle if you get lost

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The book I’m looking for is as follows:

Children’s book   – from the UK
I read it in the UK when i was a kid in the 1970s

It was illustrated but with line drawings – was for older kids, maybe 7/8 and up?
There was a story in it about a family who takes an elevator down into the ground, and they whistle to each other if they get lost.
It was a collection of stories for kids. 

It might have also had poetry in it
This story has haunted me for years, no idea if it will ring a bell with someone somewhere

367P: Victorian Dolls Get Beautiful New Clothes

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I have been trying for a long time to remember the name of a book I loved as a child in the 1960s or very early 70s. In the book, Victorian-era dolls were outfitted with beautiful new clothes, shoes, and in one case, a muff. There was velvet involved, and the descriptions of the clothing and care the dolls received were beautiful (at least in my child’s mind). The dolls’ hair was fixed up as well. The colors of the clothing were rich. One of the dolls was a boy. The central character of the story was a little girl. There may have been a shop window or house with windows on the cover, but I have looked at so many books in trying to identify this one that I could be confusing this! It is also possible that this was a chapter book or series in which a particular doll needed to be repaired, as I recall multiple dolls with various problems that needed attention, and each was treated individuallly.

367I: A Magical Trip

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As a fourth grader in 1980, I had a teacher who kept a personal library of paperback books for us children to read when we were finished with all our other work. I read dozens of books in Mrs. Cohn’s classroom.
So assume this book to be anywhere from 1950s-1970s publication, a novel but fairly short. Things I recall:
There were at least two boys on the trip to another world/realm/dimension which they may have accessed via a cave.
Somehow they were equipped with a small wooden box of sausage and cheese. Intending to conserve their rations, they only ate half of each and discovered upon reopening the box that the food had regenerated to the full, original proportion.
They also had a blanket that would cover them both but fold down to pocket handkerchief sized and a “magic” match that could be struck and used again and again and even be stuck in a crevice and (perhaps rotated?) to become bright as a torch.
In one scene they passed a gangrel/beggar/wastrel on the road and as he came toward them he morphed into a well-clad, upright gentleman with a sandwich board or a handbell and advertised some type of ware or service and upon passing, returned to his former low state.