Category Archives: Unsolved

300Y: Dramatic in a good way

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So I read this book when I was still in elementary school, no older than 12 years old, meaning this book couldn’t have been published after 2003. Sadly, I cannot recall anything about the title or author, only that the cover, if I remember correctly, featured a boy with a lady ghost on his left side, with black and white colors.

So the story is about a school class that somehow ends up lost in a forest during a bad storm, I believe they were all in a school bus for a trip but it crashed. As far as I recall, no one died, but everyone ended up being separated. The story is linear but there are a some flashbacks we get to see while the characters are lost in the woods.

Speaking of characters, these are the people I recall:

  1. A boy whose mother died and the text implies he can see ghosts, including the ghost of his mother; he might have been the protagonist, but I don’t think the book narrated from his point of view often, if at all.
  2. Another boy called Alvin (or at least I think it was Alvin, I distinctly remember being distracted by his name because I always thought of Alvin and the chipmunks, so it’s either that or Theodore or Simon) who was implied to be involved with some shady business people. He had a briefcase that he carried around, though we never get to know what the contents are. If I recall correctly, he owed money (or something else) to these said shady people, and two men in suits are after him and manage to find him while he’s lost in the woods.
  3. The suits, the two men (might have been more though, but I’m nearly certain it was two) that are going after Alvin. The impression I got is that they were trying to kill him.
  4. The class teacher, who was a woman.
  5. An unnamed boy and girl who were part of the class.
And these are the scenes that I remember involving said characters.
  1. The class teacher has a flashback while she’s lost about the boy who can see ghosts, she recalls poems that they wrote in class, and how reading the poem of this one kid worried the teacher because it either implied that he could see ghosts, or that he wanted to die following the death of his mother, or both.
  2. The unnamed boy and girl are ‘regular’ kids who were friends, might have been love interests too, and while lost they have a scene where they reunite and fiercely embrace each other under the rain, I remember thinking the description was very heavy with emotions, even a little dramatic (in a good way though).
  3. Towards the end of the book, Alvin is found by the two suits, and have him cornered under an old/abandoned tunnel. Either that or Alvin tricks them into thinking he went to the tunnel while he hid. Either way, the suits end up meeting with the boy who sees ghosts instead, threaten him, but the ghost of his mom appears and I believe it was implied the ghost got rid of the men, or at least that’s how I understood it.
  4. The next morning (I believe they were lost during nighttime) the whole class reunites, Alvin made it out safe; I remember a classmate asks about his briefcase he always carried around (cause he was so defensive about it) saying he was leaving it behind, but Alvin replies that he doesn’t need it anymore. I believe the text also implied that the boy who can see ghosts no longer can see his mother after the tunnel incident, but gets closure somehow as a result.
That’s all I can recall… I believe the book was illustrated too, with some pictures every chapter or so, but here’s the catch. I’m from Mexico, so I’m not certain if what I read was a book originally written in Spanish, or a book that was translated from English to Spanish. Given the Alvin name (not a common one in Spanish) I’m leaning towards it originally in English, but I’m not 100% sure.
I hope all this helps, this book has been haunting me for years and I just want to get closure somehow haha.

300W: Bellhop goes through bizarre and dark Labyrinth

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I cannot remember the title of this book, but i do remember that this is one of my favorites from when I was a child. I can't have been published any time past 2000, and it had amazing illustrations as I can recall.

I recall many specific things about the book but a few recollections may be flawed: The protagonist was a bellhop trying to deliver a package through a bizarre labyrinth, I do not remember the context,one area was a stone maze with math problems carved into the ground, another was a deep staircase heading downwards with various things around the edges. There was a part where one had to choose the correct submarine or get sunken or eaten by a sea creature. Another involved stacking various blocks in a manner that would fit properly and then placing a plank on top of this tower to proceed. I remember a room covered in maps from top to bottom, in a grid tile format, with a spider or its web in it.

Finally it is revealed at the end that the package was an egg that hatched into a chick. The last thing I can remember is there being an old newspaper comic with the bellboy as a framing device, and I believe wrapping paper for the package. Please help me! I can't find this book anywhere and would love to see it again!

300T: Everything made from this wood was cursed

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I am searching for a novel I read in the 1980s about a researcher looking into numerous SIDS deaths in several generations of one family. It turns out that the family heirloom cradle was made from the wood from the cross on which Jesus was crucified. There was a curse on the wood and over centuries everything made from this wood was cursed and caused death. I think it had a dark blue or black cover and was in the style of a John Saul thriller. Please help- this has been driving me CRAZY!!!

300R: Haunting voice that would sing

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As a grade-schooler in the late 1960’s or early seventies, my teacher read the class a mystery book/novel about a little girl who’d gone to stay with relatives. Possibly for the summer. She was mystified by a haunting voice that would sing a song again and again. I remember something about a swing and hollyhock flowers. I’m not sure but I think by the end of the story it turns out to be the ghost of her deceased Aunt who died as a child.

300P: Travels the world while floating in a bubble

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I don’t know the title, but I checked it out from a local library in McAllen, TX about 20 years ago. It is a children’s book with pictures on every page about a small animal (like a hamster or gerbil or mouse?) who travels the world while floating in a bubble. I think the cover was dark blue or purple, and I believe one of the places he went was Paris. I apologize if this isn’t enough detail, but its all I remember. I had it checked out the maximum amount of times and want to own it now for my own kids.

Thanks for your help.

300O: 1970s book about baby brother

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I’m looking for a book I had in the 1970s. It was about a little girl who was, I think, called Amy.  She was upset her mother had a new baby brother until it ended up that she was the only one who could make him laugh.  The whole book was in orange and white. Pleas help me find it.  It could have been called something along the lines of

A Brother For Amy

Amy’s New Brother

Amy’s Baby Brother

 

Thank You,

300N: The mother who made Dough Soup

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I checked this book out from the library in 1st grade (2006-2007), and it involved the story of a poor mother with many children who couldn’t afford to feed her family. She got a job as a maid at a rich woman’s house, and rather than wash her hands after making dough, she would simply take the dough that was on her hands home and make doughs soup. Eventually she meets these people in a forest or something who give her a pot of gold, and give the mean lady she worked for a pot of snakes.

That’s all I can remember, but I would really appreciate the help.