Category Archives: Solved

361E: Boy lives in lighthouse, has AI companion, fights elemental monsters (Solved!)

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This is a children’s series
Boy lives in lighthouse with an AI companion who designs all-terrain ships/vehicles. Boy uses advanced technology mods to fight elemental monsters. There was a secret base underneath, and the main character fights elemental monsters that occur beyond the borders of human habitation. the areas are separated into the prime elements such as water, earth, air and fire along with mixed elements such as mud and lava.
My son was reading this at school in 2010/2011 and waiting for new publications at this time. He has confirmed that it is not ’The Edge’ series or ‘Monsters of the Earth’.

361B: Trilogy With People That Absorb Magic Power (Solved!)

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This is a high fantasy trilogy that I read in the early 90’s where the magic system had a very unique requirement that required a person that was sensitive to magic power, who would dedicate his life not to casting/making magic but only with the ability to absorb the magic power around him like a battery and then was able to give that power to an actual mage that could then use it to make magic.  The mage would be useless without having access to this other person who would feed them magic power.

Also by the third book the magical world gets invaded by a world/reality that has modern technology like tanks and guns.

360Q: Picture Book about a farm with huge vegetables (Solved!)

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This is a larger-format picture book, in full color, with illustrations that cover most/all of each page.  I read it in the early- to mid-80’s.  There’s a farmer who grows vegetables and something happens to his farm where he starts growing GIGANTIC vegetables.  There’s a bad guy (I think he’s dressed in a black suit and might have a black top hat?) who wants to get his hands on the farm or the stuff that makes the farm miraculous.  I can’t remember if the thing that makes the vegetables big starts to affect the farmer’s kids or not?
Thank you for reading!

360J: Children’s book about animal characters, including a fox who gets his tail wet in a stream and meets a mermaid (Solved!)

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I think the title was bedtime stories or goodnight stories, something like that.
The cover was a scene with trees and leaves, might have been autumn. In the foreground is a witch and a fox in a raincoat (maybe?) and they are surrounded by iridescent bubbles. 
The book was a few short stories about animal characters: 
In the first, a young fox (his name might have been Freddy)’s mother makes him a new raincoat and sends him off to play with friends, warning him not to get his tail wet. The friends end up sailing down a stream in an upturned umbrella and the fox’s tail hangs out and gets soaked. 
In another one, two other animal characters sneak into a local witch’s house and mess around with some spells, turning the sky green and grass blue. 
Another one had all the animal children go to the beach with school. The fox character meets a mermaid who gives him a shell to remember the sound of the sea.

360H: Young Adult Book About Teenager who plays pool and lives in an abandoned factory/hanger (Solved!)

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The book is relatively old (I read part of it around 2003 but it was published way before). The book was a young adult book that involved crime and a runaway that lived with two adults in what is either an abandoned factory or airplane hangar. The cover of the book I believe featured someone playing pool on it. The title might have been Me & (I can’t remember the rest). It was recommended to people that liked the Rag and Bone Shop and it was similar to the Westing Game. One thing I do remember clearly is that in the introduction the main character talks about how his dad can tell who has committed a crime or who has been to jail by just looking at them.

360D: Historic fiction about a special stone that appears to many different characters in many different centuries (Solved!)

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The book I am trying to recall is a novel, historic fiction, about a special stone that appears to many different characters in many different centuries. Each character being from a different era such as ancient Egypt (or was it Rome), southern plantation US … Mostly strong female protagonists who overcome some hurdle or calamity with possession or help of the stone. Not really a magic stone that I recall; no fantasy element to the story -that I recall. But I could be wrong on that point.

359R: Evil Ghost Tries to Bring Orphan Girl into her World (Solved!)

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Looking for a book where an orphaned young girl goes to live with her cousins – I think there were four cousins – two boys and two girls. I think the story was set in England because I remember a scene where the group goes out for fish and chips. The orphan is having a hard time adjusting and becomes friendly with a ghost who is haunting the house. The ghost – also a young girl – is trying to get the orphan to come into her world by dying. The orphan is eventually rescued from the evil ghost by her cousins

359E: Spooky Children’s Book (Solved!)

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I remember finding this in my elementary school library and haven’t found it since. I remember that its a picture book about a man who I think is down on his luck and he hears about an offer to stay at a haunted castle for a night and win money or something. I think I remember that he was pretty like chill through the whole night? And had like bread and cheese, and a horse or mule? I absolutely loved this book and I’ve been thinking about it on and off for several years at this point and I miss it.

358Q: Strawberry Soda is a Success at Girl’s Party (Solved!)

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The book I’m looking for was probably written in the 50’s or 60’s. It’s about a girl who is just encountering feelings for boys. The biggest thing I can remember is she decides to have a party and her parents get strawberry pop and she is afraid it’s going to be the wrong thing and instead, everyone loves it! No clue why I remember this, but there you go. She seems sort of sheltered, but in the end her party is a success and she gets a boyfriend, I think. I wish I could remember more! Hopefully someone else will remember strawberry soda/pop!

357O: Scandinavian folk tale collection (Solved!)

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I am looking for a book that was a series of short stories or collection of Scandinavian (?) folk tales. It could possibly be classified as young adult but likely for a younger age range (10-14). The usual searches (Norwegian, Swedish, Scandinavian folktales) have not turned up the book, so perhaps it was a collection of general folk/magical themed stories. There were pictures throughout book. They were not in a cartoon style but drawn and I believe one picture showed a cave and/or beach. I only remember these drawings being in black and white. There was at least one story about the sea. The version I had was paperback. Cover art: White background, young girl (face of a young girl). It is was nymph like, or some type of fairy. Very g-rated. There was some green on the cover. It was more modern looking than the usual cover art for Nordic folk tale books, however, an overall flowy feel to the cover. Timing: I received it sometime between 1998-2002. It was likely purchased in Canada at either McNally’s Robinson bookstore or an independent seller.