Category Archives: Unsolved

325Z: A Boy And The Spirit Of Coolaid Bicycle

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I remember a book from my childhood roughly 2nd-5th grade (which would be 1972-75) that had to do with a boy and a bicycle. The only thing I actually remember from the story is the quote, “Go, Spirit of Coolaid, faster boy (ching, ching)!” All of my bikes have been named Spirit of Coolaid! I have recently taken up cycling again, and, you guessed it, my bike’s name is Spirit of Coolaid. I really would like to know what story this phrase came from!

325Y: Boy Spends Summer At Beach Solving Mystery

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I believe this book is for middle grade and from the 1970s or before. It is about a boy who spends the summer away from home, near the ocean or on an island. The first night there, he see someone using Morse code to spell out his name. Later, he learns it is another boy who wants to be friends. (They become friends.) There is some type of mystery to be solved and a man (maybe a relative?) tries to kill the boy at the end of the book. There are caves or some kind of natural phenomenon where at the right tide, the wind/water rushes through, sounding like ghosts moaning. When the man is after him, the boy has to face his fear and enter the caves to escape.

325W: Doll Smuggles Secrets Or Medicine During Civil War

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I am hoping you can help me find a book a elementary school teacher read us aloud in class. It was probably 1987 when we were read the book, and I think it was historical fiction written about a doll that was used to smuggle war secrets or medicines during the Civil War. It would have been appropriate for fourth/fifth graders. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!!

325V: Funny Poems with Black and White Illustrations

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This book I believe would have been published within 1960-80. It was a collection of limericks and poems, black and white pictures only on rough pulpy paper, hardcover woven material,off white. No slip cover (sleeve) photo as I believe it likely had a slip cover at one time, but not once I had it as a child.

The illustrations, there was one for each, I think and they were very character based and they were all black and white. The very closest stories and illustrations that I can find that bear a resemblance is “Backward Bill” by Silverstein.

There is only one poem in the collection that I remember clearly. The illustration was of a skinny man walking on his hands in the sand. He has a pail hanging from his foot by the handle. The poem talks about this certain man collecting periwinkles on the beach and using his foot to carry the pail. I can’t remember the reason he has for doing this. I do remember it being a very comical book.

It would mean great deal if you were able to find this book. If there are any other details that come I can let you know.

325T: Dream Date Turns Into Nightmare Lush

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I remember reading this book in high school (I attended from 2004 to 2008) so it was either published during that time frame or before. I remember it being about a country girl who goes out with a unique boy, who I think ignores her at one point to get drunk and hangs out/dances with a older lady/groups of older woman or perhaps they whisk him away to them. The girl washes her hands of him and is angry by the betrayal and takes a truck to buy ice cream to drown her sorrows out. The boy finds her again and tries to apologize and grabs her arm to keep her from leaving but she is still holding a grudge so she wrenches her arm free, throws the ice cream in the truck’s seat, gets in, and slams the truck door in his face. She may or may not have gotten pregnant by the boy when they were dating too. That’s all I remember. Do you have any idea as to what the book is called?

325R: Goose Blown Off Course, Nursed Back To Health

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Unfortunately, I do not have a book title, which has been my challenge finding the book.  I can describe the book and the story, though.  I read it when I was about 10 years old in the early ’80s. I tended to read books significantly above my grade level, so that makes it harder to guess whether it was intended for adults or children.  I don’t think “young adult” was a real publishing genre back then?  It was an old, cloth-bound, hardcover book that I found on my great-grandmother’s bookcase.  It was very dusty.  I’d guess it was probably from the ’50s based on the aging of the paper and binding.
It was a story about a goose that got blown off course during a big storm.  A young woman found the goose.  I believe it was injured and she nursed it back to health (seems like it may have been caught in an oil slick).  There was a biologist in the story who was fascinated that the goose could have been so far from its normal nesting grounds.  Geese mate for life, and I think it paired with a goose (presumably the wrong species?) where it had ended up after the storm.  Part of the suspense of the story was, when it flew away for migration, whether it would return to where it had spent its first season or if it would follow its peers to its normal breeding grounds.  I think at least parts of the story were written from the perspective of the goose.  The goose starts migrating towards the breeding grounds with its peers but they are all going the wrong way.  It ultimately breaks off from them and returns to its “mate” in the wrong place.  Maybe there was a parallel human romance, but that I’m not sure.
It was not “The Snow Goose’ by Paul Gallico.  I bought that recently to check, and it wasn’t the right story.  This book was longer than that.  It was probably a little longer than a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book.

325Q: Forest Is A Friend

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We are looking for a book I would read to my son. He was born in 1998. We think that maybe a child or animal got lost and the trees help them figure out where to go. The overall theme was a respect for how old the trees are and their value. The forest seemed to be alive and responding to the character. It was definitely night time. Definitely a children’s book that can be read in 5-8 minutes. And published prior to 2003. Thank you!!

325P: Cereus Cactus Blooms During Anschluss

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I’m looking for a middle school book, what would be YA these days, but they didn’t have YA in the 60’s, when I most likely read this book.  The protagonist is a girl, part of whose attention is focused on a night-blooming cereus cactus party that her family will hold on the night that the plant blooms.  Surrounding this domestic detail are the events leading up to the Anschluss and the threat that the Anschluss presents.

325O: Picture book about boy growing up and his changing backyard

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This book captivated my imagination with colorful illustrations (I believe they were mixed media/collage/claymation – something unusual).  We see the boy growing up and the changes in his backyard/neighborhood.  I believe it focuses on the growth of the plants and changing that reflects him growing up, but also urban development, possibly construction or a dump.  There were themes of environmentalism perhaps regarding pollution.  I read this book in the late 90’s or early 2000’s.  I believe the boy was white with brown or blonde hair.  I think most of it focused on him in the window and the view outside.

Thanks so much!