Category Archives: Status

364U: Children’s chapter book about a witch

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Details I remember – story is about a boy who goes into the woods and notices an abandoned cottage is now occupied.  He meets a mischievous girl and they form a friendship, then finds out she’s a witch.  At some point I believe she makes the mayor of his town dance around, and they go to a fair where she changes into a cat to accompany him undetected.  At the ends she starts to lose her powers because she starts to care for him (so her nose grows warm, it had always been icy cold), so she leaves.  The very end is the boy all grown up, now the mayor of his town, and he often looks to the forest hoping to see puffs of smoke from the little cottage.

The book had a lots of line drawings similar to Roald Dahl’s but smaller.

364R: Beach Read Where Woman Moves Back Home on Boat

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I’m looking for a book that I picked up in a B. Dalton in the mall in the late 90’s. Given the late 80’s/early vibe of the book I would say it was published in the 90’s. It was a novel, geared toward women, short and thick type. I guess now this type of book would be considered like a beach read or not serious writing (I don’t know the term) but I imagine it would be in the cozy reads section due to its lack of depth. The cover was beachy, with water and maybe a boat. From what I remember of reading the book there’s a girl who’s been out of her hometown doing her own thing and comes back to visit or move back and is arriving via the boat. There’s mention of a man or ex in town. She goes to a diner to eat or local restaurant and runs into friends. That’s all I can remember. I hope this helps enough to find it. 

364Q: Young Woman Who Stops River of Time (Solved!)

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I am hoping to find a Novel read about 5-6 years ago – thought authors name included “Beatrice” but maybe just “Bea”. thought title included “River” but possibly just an image not actual word River.

Definite ” River of Time” imagery in my head – do recall looking for other titles by the author then,  and finding none or very few.

Story is about a young woman/girl who eventually has a memory of herself in the past stopping time with grandfather whose estate she was (is?) to inherit and she was somehow foiled (by bad relatives ?)

Also a romance line involves a noble neighbor? Friend? Lover? Who is/was older who could not break some type of vow – who also travels into the future with her –  was her best friend maybe as a young woman on her family’s estate (England pre-regency)….does he show up as a cheesemonger in America (Vermont) and that is how they meet in the modern day?

O how I do hope I am not mixing up several storylines

I remember really loving this book – but it is lost to my brain – I would  give a LOT to locate again.

One further detail: The detail about the protagonist’s “time stopping” skill – not revealed until end of novel – an inherited skill from her grandfather as a child in England she finally remembers she can actually freeze time and thereby stop motion…. “Freeze frame” style…  so prevents a tragic death by going back to the second before a murder?  Something to that effect.

364P: Orphaned Girl Sent West to Live with Twin Cousins

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The book I am looking for is about an orphaned girl who is sent out West to live with her cousins and their family. I can’t remember the girl’s name, but the twins were identical twins, and I think their names were Albert and Herbert. I think the book had a red cover, and it was definitely vintage. I read it in the 80’s I think, but my mom loved antique books, so I know it wasn’t a contemporary book. It seemed like it might have been set in the 50’s or earlier. I can’t be sure.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

364O: Mr. & Mrs. Bumper books?

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In the early/mid 80s I read a series of books I referred to as the Mr. Bumper books. No clue what the plot was, just that the main characters were an adorable plump elderly couple with round glasses who gardened. I probably have the name of the character wrong but it was something like Bumper or Bumpus. Pretty sure they were illustrated hardcover books with large chunks of text. Early readers. Any ideas?

364N: Teddy Bear Party?

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A teddy bear goes into the forest at night and comes back home each night/morning with something different about him.  A missing button, mud on him (possibly a missing hat?).  There is a little boy as the teddy bear’s owner who notices these things askew.  (this is not a Fred Asche book).   Maybe the boy starts to go with the bear at the end, the boy might follow the bear into the woods after he notices that things are different about him.  
The cover had a teddy bear forward facing (wearing overalls I think) and the little boy (blonde?).  Most likely from the late 80’s early 90’s.  The book was light colored and had speckles and a frame like border about an inch or so inset from the outside edge.  

364L: Aliens interbreed with human woman (Solved!)

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I read this book some time between 1991 and 1994, it was a true story about a woman who had repeat alien abductions throughout her lifetime, at some point she mentions she had found an implant on her body from the aliens, she believed it was a tracker, and thought they used this with many people. One time that she was abducted they introduced her to several “children” of hers, they had removed ova / ovum from her on previous abductions and were creating a mixed breed, and they took her to meet her “children” with this alien being, and the alien “mother” who was taking care of the children was allowed to watch her interactions with her “children” so she could learn about emotions, because apparently they are not emotional creatures.

364K: Rebecca’s Island (possibly)

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Possible title that I remember is Rebecca’s Island. The plot is as follows:
Mother and young daughter flee an abusive or unhappy marriage. They move to the grandmother’s home I believe. She lives with a lake behind the house and Rebecca paddles a canoe to a small island in the middle of the lake. She makes the island her sort of getaway from the troubles of her home life, paddling to the island on a daily basis. There is an ominous feeling to strange people showing up. Maybe the people are looking to find the mother and daughter for the abusive husband/father.
This was read to my elementary school class maybe in the mid to late 1980s. I got the flu and was not in school to learn how the book ended.