Category Archives: MG (grades 2-6)
361R: Portal Fantasy Novel for Kids
I’m trying to find a book that I read when I was in elementary school. Unfortunately, I don’t recall many helpful details about the book—including its title and author—but I do remember loving the book and recommending it to a non-reading friend who also loved it. I would very much like to find it so that I can buy it for my daughter.
The following is all I can remember about the book:
–It is a portal fantasy novel about a boy and possibly also a girl who somehow enter another world in order to help save a troubled kingdom or land (not very unique, I know).
–The plot involves a castle, mountains, wolves, and a race against time. Magical/mystical talking(?) wolves play a role in the book, from what I remember. I believe they were either the antagonists or the servants of the antagonist.
–From what I remember of the cover, it has a white border or partial border around it with a colorful collage of images from the book against a dark background. I believe that a castle, mountains, and wolves were all present in this cover collage.
–I checked out the book from my elementary school library when I was in either third or fourth grade, but I believe the target audience of the book is late elementary readers (4th to 6th grade?).
–I read this book in the mid-1980s (between 1983 and 1985?), so it was published prior to that.
–I do not think that it was recent publication at that time, though it wasn’t a very old book either. My guess is that it was published between 1950 and 1985—probably in the 1970s.
–It is a fairly long chapter book (perhaps 200 to 300 pgs?).
–The copy I checked out from my library had a small trim size, but was fairly thick with small type.
–It was written and published in English, probably either from the U.S. or England.
–It is a stand-alone novel, not part of a longer series.
–I do not believe it is a well-known or famous book. I have not, for example, run across it on lists of best fantasy novels of the 20th century.
–The title is strange, or, at the very least, not particularly appealing to an elementary school reader because I remember telling my non-reading friend to read it despite the odd title.
–I think the title might have the words in it like “nowhere,” “other,” “land,” or “world.”
–The letter “O” also stands out in my memory as an important part of the title.
361O: Underwater explorers meet advanced dolphin society (Solved!)
This was a children’s fantasy book from the 1990s for older children about a group of human explorers on a submarine or other exploring vehicle who become wrecked in underwater caverns with lush vegetation and waterfalls which are inhabited by an advanced society of intelligent dolphin people with three fingered hands instead of flippers. In one memorable scene, a dolphin doctor works with octopi on his hands to perform a delicate medical procedure. It had a bit of a “Journey to the Center of the Earth” vibe and plotline. The cover of the book had an image of people and dolphins against a lush jungle and water backdrop, maybe with a submarine on it too.
This was a wide format, 30-50 page hardcover children’s fantasy book illustrated with full-page and full-color realistic style acrylic or oil paintings. The book was in the exact same dimensions, thickness, and rectangular format as the original hardcover Dinotopia books, and purchased around the same time in the 1990s. However, it does not appear to be by Dinotopia author James Gurney – instead someone else creating a book in the same style and perhaps for the original publisher, Turner Publishing?
Edit: Oh gosh, with a bit more sleuthing I actually solved this one myself! In case anyone else ever asks, the solution was The Secret Oceans by Betty Ballantine, as noted in the description “in the tradition of Dinotopia”
361K: Four Girls at the Beach
361I: Colorful Girl Spooks Monsters in Haunted House
I wonder if you can help me find a book!
361E: Boy lives in lighthouse, has AI companion, fights elemental monsters (Solved!)
360Y: “Lead us to you Sarah!” or “Keep knocking Sarah!”
I read the book in the late ’90s? I had to have been in the 5th grade. I read a lot of paranormal books around that time! The book itself might have been a collection of ghost stories. I don’t think it was “Stories to Tell in the Dark,” but I could be wrong. All I know is that this particular story stuck with me for over twenty-five years.
A family moves into a house with their daughter. Could be just a single mom. The house was purchased after the woman who lived in it before passed. Soon after they move in the daughter starts having nightmares or is getting sick. She starts to talk about the ghost of a girl.
A medium is eventually called in and he holds a seance. The ghost’s name is Sarah (or Sara) and he asks that she knock to answer questions. Eventually, it is discovered that she is in on the property. With the knocks, she leads them to her resting place. “Keep Knocking Sarah!” or “Lead us to you Sarah!” is shouted by the medium. Her coffin is found behind the wall of the closet or the wall of the girl’s bedroom. Sarah is moved and buried next to her mother.
360U: Prehistoric fiction book from 5th grade
360S: Truly Scary Stories
I’m looking for a book from my childhood that I can’t remember the name of. It would have been 2000’s most likely 2001-2004. It was a compilation of scary stories that were actually scary. It’s a book for older kids. It is NOT scary stories to tell in the dark, or any of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series.
The cover had a skeleton on it and he was sitting in a rocking chair and it looked like he was maybe in an old attic. I think there were books and candles around him. Maybe a cat or a spider, or both. The cover was a blue - grey color.
Each story had an illustration that went with it in black and white. I remember there being a story about a dog being under a girls bed licking her hand.
I can’t be certain, but the book may have come from a scholastic book fair.
360L: Abandoned Lake House
The book I vaguely remember had something to do with a child or maybe siblings going to spend the summer with an elderly aunt (I think) who was living on a lake where most of the houses were abandoned. It had once been a vibrant summer community ca. 1900 (I think), but was now mostly deserted sans aunt’s household. There may or may not have been a mystery component to it. I think I read it around 4th grade maybe ca. 1977?