Category Archives: Unsolved

365A: Vintage Little Golden Book showing car driving through a large tree

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I am trying to find a book from my childhood that showed a car traveling through a large tree. I was a child of the 80’s, so the book would have been published before then. I remembered reading it at my grand mothers house so it may have been a very old book!  I believe it was from the Golden Book series and I am guessing the book was about road trips, or traveling, or large trees or California since that is the only place I know of that has drive through trees. That book recently inspired my bucket list trip to Northern California to actually drive through a tree and now I want to find the book that inspired the trip! I have been searching, but have not had any luck finding the book. Thanks in advance for your help!

364Z: The Parachuting Duck

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I’m trying to help a friend track down a kids’ book she remembers from her childhood. She was born in the late 1970s, so the date of publication would be no later than the mid-1980s; likely earlier. She remembers the plot as having to do with farm animals – ducks, in particular – fighting in a war, and recalls an illustration of a duck or duckling using a parachute. Sound familiar to anyone? Very grateful for any leads people can offer.

364X: Fae Dark Romance Series

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I read a book series several years ago and I usually have an excellent memory in regards to books, but for some reason I cannot seem to remember this one. It’s an adult dark romance series about Fae or Faries, and only some people can see them. In the first book, there was a woman who could see the Fae since she was little but ignored it until recently (for some reason…). 


There is one Puck-like character in several of the books and he’s meant to be perceived as a bad guy until his book rolls around at number 3/4 in the series when he becomes a good guy (actually was the whole time). I don’t remember his first name but I remember his last name was Black. What’s funny is that I actually read them out of order and I read this one first and went back to read from the beginning, chuckling each time he came up because the mains didn’t like him but I knew he’d be good eventually.


I also remember that there is some kind of a fairy kingdom in another dimension that are really not good people. And in fact the character I mentioned above, Black, I think used to be a kind of henchman for them? And he wanted out, but in order to protect himself and his love interest, he had to make a verbal contract with another Fae which can be tricky because they love to find loopholes, so he went on for a long time trying to cover every loophole he could think of and never breaking eye contact to try to make sure that this other Fae couldn’t hurt them in the future.


I know this is long and I’m sorry I can’t remember more….but is there any chance you could help? I have been wracking my brain for days trying to think of the series but I just can’t remember…

364W: Not Bath Salt, but Crack

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This book is set on some sort of island/plantation. Written in 80s or 90s. Young woman goes there and discovers a mystery which in the end turns out to be an underground crack or meth manufacturing ring operating in the area. At one point she sees her cat playing with a crack rock but she believes it is a bath salt at the time.

364V: Girl in Black Not Interested in Bucky

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I am looking for a 90s or 80s book where a teen is writing an advice column for school and no one knows she is the one giving advice. She receives a letter about one of her best friends who dresses almost always in black from a boy (Bucky??) who likes the friend. She is conflicted about the advice to give because she would tell someone else to go for it but she knows her friend would not be interested.

364U: Children’s chapter book about a witch

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Details I remember – story is about a boy who goes into the woods and notices an abandoned cottage is now occupied.  He meets a mischievous girl and they form a friendship, then finds out she’s a witch.  At some point I believe she makes the mayor of his town dance around, and they go to a fair where she changes into a cat to accompany him undetected.  At the ends she starts to lose her powers because she starts to care for him (so her nose grows warm, it had always been icy cold), so she leaves.  The very end is the boy all grown up, now the mayor of his town, and he often looks to the forest hoping to see puffs of smoke from the little cottage.

The book had a lots of line drawings similar to Roald Dahl’s but smaller.

364R: Beach Read Where Woman Moves Back Home on Boat

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I’m looking for a book that I picked up in a B. Dalton in the mall in the late 90’s. Given the late 80’s/early vibe of the book I would say it was published in the 90’s. It was a novel, geared toward women, short and thick type. I guess now this type of book would be considered like a beach read or not serious writing (I don’t know the term) but I imagine it would be in the cozy reads section due to its lack of depth. The cover was beachy, with water and maybe a boat. From what I remember of reading the book there’s a girl who’s been out of her hometown doing her own thing and comes back to visit or move back and is arriving via the boat. There’s mention of a man or ex in town. She goes to a diner to eat or local restaurant and runs into friends. That’s all I can remember. I hope this helps enough to find it. 

364P: Orphaned Girl Sent West to Live with Twin Cousins

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The book I am looking for is about an orphaned girl who is sent out West to live with her cousins and their family. I can’t remember the girl’s name, but the twins were identical twins, and I think their names were Albert and Herbert. I think the book had a red cover, and it was definitely vintage. I read it in the 80’s I think, but my mom loved antique books, so I know it wasn’t a contemporary book. It seemed like it might have been set in the 50’s or earlier. I can’t be sure.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

364O: Mr. & Mrs. Bumper books?

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In the early/mid 80s I read a series of books I referred to as the Mr. Bumper books. No clue what the plot was, just that the main characters were an adorable plump elderly couple with round glasses who gardened. I probably have the name of the character wrong but it was something like Bumper or Bumpus. Pretty sure they were illustrated hardcover books with large chunks of text. Early readers. Any ideas?