Category Archives: Unsolved

362I: Kids Solve Location of Missing Treasure

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I am trying to locate a book that I read many times in the late 1970s. (I was in late elementary school.) I probably ordered the book through school and the Scholastic Reader book order program.
The book was a mystery that took place in the west (maybe Arizona?) and the kids solved it when at a certain time of day or year shadows appeared and marked an “x” where the treasure or the entrance to the treasure was located. I seem to recall the words “canyon” “shadow” or “gold” were in the title. It was a paperback with a blue cover and gold writing. It wasn’t a series or Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys.

362H: Friends in College in England Mystery Book

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In about 2006 I read and very much enjoyed a book about a group of friends at university in England (Oxford? Cambridge? Not sure). I remember a lot about the book but cannot remember the author or title. I’ve been scouring the internet which is where I found you. Please help!

There are four main characters: Brother, Sister (possibly named Maggie), Sister’s boyfriend (these three are British), and one American girl.

The book starts with the American character planning for a party to which Brother is invited. The American character is pregnant. The other characters are not invited. The rest of the book is the backstory about what happened between these four people at university.

The Sister and American girl meet at university. The American girl thinks the sister is really cool. The Brother really likes the American girl, but it’s unrequited. She has a strained relationship with her family including a family member who calls and reports her so that she gets strip searched by the airport security agents on her way back to the states for Christmas (or something like that). The security agent that searches her makes a comment about her breasts looking like fried eggs.

Somehow the Sister dies. Car accident?

The Brother despises the Sister’s boyfriend. And years later when sister’s boyfriend appears on some type of reality show where the citizens of England can call in and vote for their favorite contestant, he spends his entire lunch break every day calling in to vote for the opponent so he doesn’t win the reality show.

Brother and American girl see each other at the party. He has a terrible new haircut and it’s awkward seeing each other because of all the history between them including sister’s death.

Ok – please help me get this out of my brain! Thank you in advance!

362G: Christmas Board Book with Little Lights and Music

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I have been searching for this book for years with no luck. It is a LONG LONG SHOT probably impossible 😫 but hopefully someone may know or may have had it too as a child.

I had a children’s Christmas book around 1993- 1996 that came from the The Book People (or a very similar company) that came to my mums work place. It was a large book between A3 maybe even A2 size, it had little coloured lights that came through tiny holes onto each page that flashed and it played music when you pressed a button. The button was within the page.

It wasn’t an old fashioned looking book. I unfortunately don’t remember the front cover picture (if I saw it I think I would!!) but I do remember one page had a large snowy scene with Father Christmas flying on his sleigh. It was a thick board book. I know this is not a lot to go on but I loved this book so much and would love to find it again for my children 🤞🏼

Summary:

– Large Christmas board book A3/A2 size
– From The Book People or similar book club company (UK)
– Around 1993 – 1996 time
– It had little multicoloured lights that flashed. They were on the back page but came through tiny holes onto each page.
– There was a button which you pressed and it played a tune.

362C: Timothy Tiger

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I’m writing on behalf of my father in law. He is welcoming a new grandchild soon and wants to find a book from his own childhood to give to the new baby. He says:
“I was born in 1951 and I was given a child’s book – I’m sure that Timothy Tiger was in the title and the story had something to do with gaining courage and some kind of deed that he performed by going out into a stormy night to find his courage. Any help you can provide will be most appreciated! Thank you”

362B: Bopeep’s Lost Book

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I’m looking for a book from my childhood. I read it somewhere in the 80’s. It a book about a cowboy & I think he had a bad attitude. It’s about the adventures he had. Somewhere in the book it was prophesied that he would die after seeing a bird fly upside down. The book had colorful illustrations. I remember the chapter was upside down in the air somehow & he saw a bird flying. Because he was upside down in the air he therefore saw a bird (I think it was a buzzard) flying upside down & I believe he died after that. I must have read the book when I was somewhere around 4th grade which would have been about 1986-1990 but I believe the book may have originally came out somewhere near the late 70’s. I could be wrong about that though. I think the cover of the book was white.

362A: Monkey eating crackers

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I have very little to go on. I remember this book so fondly from my childhood. I would guess from middle school years. I remember just laughing and laughing about a passage from it while reading on a plane ride to England.
A young girl has a pet male monkey who is hidden in her bag or piece of luggage perhaps on an airplane or maybe a train. The monkey is eating some crackers I think and starts sort of spitting them. The description of it just had me laughing out loud. Sort of the words to describe the sound of it. Maybe ‘pffft’, no that is not right.
The girl may have been the daughter of a diplomat? I think the monkey may have snuck into her luggage and she hears him eating the crackers. I think bits of crackers come out of the piece of luggage as she opens it. I’m not sure though.
I do not know if the book was American or English. It had a mostly purple cover 🙄 and was hardback.
I know that is a minuscule amount of information to give you. Oh, I would have been in 8th grade in 1982 but moved to England after finishing 7th grade. I think it was a fairly newly written book.
I have always hoped that I would be able to remember more and be able to find it. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the monkey or any of the other characters.

361Y: Emily’s Animals Join the Family

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Children’s picture book (title unknown) involving a blonde girl who brings home a menagerie of animals to live with her and her family. The animals were the basic variety e.g. dog, cat, bird, horse, etc. . . The illustrations I would describe as whimsical. The little girl’s name might have been Emily (asked a family member what they remembered, and they thought this but obviously could be wrong). The book was read between 2003-2007, it could have been published around or before this time. I’m located in Edmonton, Alberta so the book was at least likely published in North America. So far books that I can confirm aren’t it: Emily’s house, Tierparadies Emily & Co, Thanks for telling me, Emily

 

361X: Cutting the Sails Wrong

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I have a book I have been trying to remember for years now. This wasn’t a children’s book, and honestly it’s possible I’m misremembering something that was in a magazine or a literary journal or even a TV show or movie. I think it was a novel but it could’ve been a short story. I am 99% certain that I read this within a published physical book, but memory is weird! And that’s why I’m here.
So I remember this as being a sort of satirical, maybe Quixotic story with a ne’er-do-well protagonist. I think it was a first-person narrative. In the scenario I have lodged in my memory, the protagonist is trying to find work by any means he can, and he stumbles across a job opening with someone who makes sails for sailboats. There’s an interview in which the protagonist lies about having a lot of experience cutting and preparing sails (he has none) and the harried owner says something like ‘great, you’re hired’ and hands him a fancy sail cutting tool that he thinks he knows how to use. He leaves the protagonist alone in a room with a large roll of canvas, and the protagonist begins haphazardly slicing the canvas into large, rough triangles. The owner comes back after an hour or so and immediately sees that this guy has no idea what he is doing, and he shouts something like “You’ve ruined thousands of dollars of this premium canvas!” In my memory, this was a very, very funny scene.

361W: Japanese book about a boy who seeks a powerful sword from a dragon atop a mountain

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I don’t know how you guys do with a series compared to single books, as this may be memory of the plot being tied to all the books, but I will try to order what I can remember as I go. If I were to guess I’d say there’s between 3 and 6 books.

Firstly I believe the story starts in a village in Japan. I don’t remember if the main character is foreign or Japanese. But the village is attacked by either ninjas or samurai from the emperor/shogun. The main character flees and at some point is sent on a journey to find certain treasures (maybe pertaining to the elements? Fire, sky, water, and earth). I only say this because at some point he is tasked to swim underwater for some item (I think jewelry or a pearl?) and while seeking the item underwater is tested or attacked by either a mermaid or a dragon. I know during his adventure he’s being chased by some guy who I think dies on his horse?
As the story at this point diverges from the main characters’ journey to this bad guy in hell who is trapped there wishing for revenge. Eventually the guy in hell gets free by finding the strength in a maggot he manages to eat. He escapes hell and rejoins the world as an undead and eventually starts killing other people in his quest for revenge and grows an undead army. (I’m assuming this part is in the final book) The main character hears of this and is tasked with climbing a mountain to obtain a powerful sword guarded by a dragon. The dragon tests him and after some sort of battle and fire breathing let’s him have the sword in which the character wraps up the story by killing the undead guy again.
If you have any questions please let me know! It’s been bugging me that I can’t remember. During your search you may come across a series called Young Samurai which is 8 books. I’ve read that series recently so I know it is not that one at least.

361U: Purple hair girl that lived on a moon

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I am looking for a children’s book that I used when I was an elementary school counselor. It was about a red king and a blue king that fought over who was better, the red-haired people or the blue-haired people. A little girl that lived there revealed at the end her purple hair. I remember she kept it covered with a hood, and I think had a strange name (that may have been the title). I have been trying to find the name of the book for so long and I have no idea what happened to my copy. Thank you so much for the help!