Category Archives: Unsolved

323M: Sisters split shared room down middle, realize mistake

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I had a very favorite book which was either from the 60’s or early 70’s.  I was born in 1962, so I’m leaning towards the 60’s but I could be wrong.

I could have sworn the title was “It’s My Room”.  I have no idea who the author was, illustrator etc.  I might even be off on the title, but for some reason it sure rings a bell with me.

The book was about two sisters who shared a bedroom.  They were best friends until they weren’t.  Then they decided the only way to fix the problem was to split the room in two.

They did this right down the middle with tape or something like that.  One sister got to have the window to look out to see what was going on outside.  She thought she had the best deal, until the other sister left the room through the door…which the other sister would have to cross the line in order to leave the room.  She stayed in the room but realized her mistake.  Pretty soon, they become friends again and she could leave the room with her sister and all is well with the world.

I particularly loved this book because I grew up with many siblings and always shared a room and only dreamed of having my own room.  (Probably why my Mom bought this for me.)

I hope you can locate this book/title for me.  I would so appreciate it!  I have tried on my own and have not come up with anything, however I remember it vividly.

323L: Mermaid short story/book of ironic stories

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I believe there was a YA book of ironic stories that I read between 1979-1983. Story I’m looking for: A teenage boy discovers a mermaid living in a pond at the bottom of a quarry. She never breaks the surface of the water, but looks beautiful underneath it. The quarry will soon be dynamited and caved in, so he decides to save her and move her to another pond. When he does capture her, with much difficulty, she is a hideous monster (the water had distorted her features) that nearly kills him. He lets her stay in the pond. The next day the quarry is dynamited and she is buried under the rubble. Have asked for years on every search site I could find. Please help! Thank you!

323J: Children search for Victorian explorer father

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Looking for a YA book published 2008-2015-ish.  It is a kind of steampunk-y story about some children whose father has disappeared. He’s a Victorian-ish explorer and there are still vast expanses to be explored. The kids follow some clues and find a hidden world…maybe in a cave? I think the father was part of some sort of explorer’s society, too.

323I: Anthology for girls featuring Jane Austen and others

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I am trying to trace an anthology that was in UK libraries in the 60’s/early 70’s, but may have been American in origin. I can’t remember the title or editor but it was aimed I think at girls and was well illustrated. One of the early stories in it was an extract from Northanger Abbey – the scene where Catherine and Isabella talk about gothic novels they are reading; a later extract has the Riding in Trains section from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s On the Shores of Silver Lake. Don’t think it was part of a set and don’t think it was a Clifton Fadiman or Louis Untermeyer anthology, as I have others of theirs, but I may be wrong. It was my first introduction to Austen and hence was significant to me. Wish there was a directory one could consult that would cross reference anthologized extracts so one could look up the Austen for instance and find all the collections in which it appears..
Hope you can help.

323H: Tree On A Hill

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Children’s Chapter Book, 4-Book Series, 1 for Each Season (Around late 80’s). These books may have also had a boy and a dog. There were frequent pictures along with the words. My guess is that the length of the books were around 30-40 pages. I can’t recall anything else. Thanks for your help!

323E: Creating the story of one’s life

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Around 1996 I bought my dad a book of questions about one’s life. In the end of answering these questions came a lovely little story about one’s entire life. My dad died without completing it and I couldn’t find the book again. I would like to know the name and author of this book. Thank you for all your help. I’ve looked on Amazon and have not found anything like it.

323D: Valley Prince Loves Mountain Princess

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Elementary School book read between 1962-1967.  A Prince from a kingdom where everyone has the same color of hair, climbs a mountain to the enemy kingdom where everyone has the same, but different color hair from the Valley Kingdom people.  He meets the Mountain Princess, and falls in love with her.  Together they must overcome the prejudice against different looking people that is held by their two kingdoms. Fairytale style color illustrations with simple narrative.  I think the Prince’s hair was brown and the Princess’ hair was silver.

323C: Fun Jokes For Kids

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Looking for a collection of children’s jokes from the 80’s or earlier that featured the joke and an illustration on each page, including these 3 that I recall (not verbatim):
1. What do you get when you put ducks in a box? A box of quackers.
2. Whats the longest word? “Smiles” because there’s a mile in between each “S”.
3. What happens to a rock if you throw it in the Red Sea?  It will get wet.
My sister and I loved this as kids! Thank you for your help!

323A: Man meets gurus in India, is healed of blindness

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A man finds healing for near blindness by examining gurus in India who told him to talk to his father. A man disrupted contact with his father, and later suffered from near blindness on a real physical basis. He traveled all over the world and stayed for longer in India, but 2 gurus in a line told him he just should go back and talk with his father. He found unbelievable healing that way, and talked about it on youtube or TED, and wrote a book with which he became famous. He has a website as well and holds presentations. It must have been around 5-10 years ago, I assume. I cannot find it anywhere I search. I think he suffered from a kind of retina disease and small vessels in it.