Category Archives: Unsolved

304B: Tracks & Trails, nature books in the mail

Sometime between 1970 and 1974 my parents purchased a nature book series for me that was mailed to our house once per month (or perhaps bi-monthly).  It was for kids and contained different themes in each book.  I think there might have been 10 or 12 books in the entire series (but I’m not sure).

I distinctly remember the first book’s title (or theme) was called:  Tracks & Trails.

I’m trying to locate this book series (or at least this first book in the series.

Thank you.

304A: Rim Rat the Wease

Rim Rat the Wease (Weaze? or Weese?) steals eggs (that would otherwise hatch to be chicks) and takes them to his diner to cook them. There is a monkey who climbs a telephone pole in the beginning of the book. The diner might be called the Sunny Side diner. . . or something like that. The biggest thing I remember is Rim Rat the Wease, who I’m guessing is a big weasel though in my head he looks like a giant rat, the diner, the eggs and the monkey. I think the Monkey and other animals have to go save the eggs so they don’t get cooked. Thank you!!

303Z: Little Girl Searching For Golden Rule

In elementary school, we read a book about a little girl with a Z name. I think it was Zelda. She was trying to figure out the Golden Rule. She searched the world. Of course any references online that I find always refer to The Legend of Zelda. Not what I’m looking for, obviously. This book may have been written in the 50s, 60s ,or 70s. No cover. The book itself was orange.

303X: Concise Contemporary Novel Featuring a Special House and a Leather-Bound Book

A contemporary fiction book in the published in the early 2000s, this book by a male author had a male main character.  It centered around a special house, a beloved house, that the main character wanted to own or live in.  At some point a leather-bound book was a major plot point and the leather-bound book was hidden in the house, or possibly the walls of the house, and later found.  The novel had beautiful language, and was very tightly written.

Thank you so much for your help!

303W: Has misadventures and joins elven woodsmen

Plot – a young woman joins a good mercenary company, but after a while the company’s work gets too dark, she leaves and travels on a ship, gets off and travels with a half elf mage who tricks her into fighting in Elven ruins, they kill a lich, she continues over the mountains to a small town, joins semi-religious fighting order there, has another battle in ruins near the town, has misadventures, joins elven woodsmen, eventually becomes paladin, I believe, and finds royal family connections.

303V: Possibly Sick Girl Hides in Cottage Covered in Shells, Maybe Cleans It?

Hi, I’m looking for a book I read when I was younger.  It might be a young adult book, but it might be a regular grown up book too.  I don’t remember a ton about it, but I do remember this cottage being covered in shells.  Or maybe it was just some rooms within the cottage.  A girl, maybe she was sick, is possibly hiding there after recently discovering it.  I think as she feels better she works on cleaning and restoring it?  If this is enough for anyone out there to tell me the name of the book I’d be forever grateful!

303U: A princess is turned into a dragon

A Princess who wears white and is innocent and pure is turned into a dragon. I seem to remember that she has to fight princes and knights who come to rescue her, not knowing that the dragon is the princess. I think she has to kill a few of them to defend herself. When she is finally turned back into a princess, she wears gray, which symbolizes that her soul is stained. I think the book was published before 1994, although I might say 1996 to be safe.

I have been thinking about this book for the last twenty years! Thank you for your help.

 

303T: The kidnappers find out that he’s a great dancer

Here’s the book I’m trying to find, and all I know about it.

It a boy who either gets lost or kidnapped, but the kidnappers find out that he’s a great dancer and start to make him perform dances in front of people and on stages. That’s really all I got – that’s not much, I know. Oh, and for some reason it stands out in my mind as a book that was very similar to “In A Dark Room and Other Scary Stories” by Alvin Schwartz — this was an illustrated kids book that was dark and strange.

That’s all I got.

Thank you! And good luck solving this mystery! I really really appreciate it.

 

303S: A 90s or earlier young adult book about a teen girl in poverty

A young adult (YA) book I read in the late 90s:

The main character is a teenage girl. She lives with her mother and younger sibling. She lives in poverty/school outcast.

Three events from the book:

Something about the younger sibling having a pee accident and the vivid description from the teen

Something about eating cereal for dinner

At one point, her family gets a bag of free clothes, which she is really excited to wear to school even though it’s stained. Might be leather skirt and white sweater?