Category Archives: Unsolved

359U: Teenage Girl Summer Coming of Age YA Novel with Oral Sex Scene

Leave a reply

I have been wracking my brain trying to think of this YA novel I read as a young teenager. I’m now 30 so I probably read the book in 2004/2005, if I had to guess.
The story is about a girl whose parents were divorced and so she goes to live with one for the summer (I believe her father). She’s bored in this sleepy little town and she meets a guy and has a summer of romance and exploration. The most distinctive scene I remember is that this love interest guy gives her oral sex and there is some line in the book about how “his tongue did its little dance.”
I also remember that even though the protagonist was a teenage girl, the author was a man, which shocked me. One of the testimonial quotes on the book sleeve said something like, “So and so masterfully captures the mind of a teenage girl.”
I have tried Googling versions of YA cunnilingus, YA teenage girl receives oral sex, YA teenage girl summer novel written by male author — all to no avail.
I’m hoping you can help me solve this mystery! Many thanks for your help in this.

359T: Lifetime Feud Between Pony Express Rider and Teamster

Leave a reply

Keyword: “Slade”. May be name of character, part of title, even place name.

I read the book in the mid to late 60’s. It was a Western, not a children’s book. A Pony Express rider and a teamster hate each other for reason unremembered (by me), which leads to a life-long feud. Their lives are somehow inextricably entwined, and they keep encountering each other. At the end, the teamster dies. I believe he may have been killed while saving the Pony Express rider. The Pony Express rider is distraught, and realizes his life is no longer as full as it once was, and he feels sad and empty.

359S: Spoiled Girl Takes Out Frustrations on Poor Girl Nicknamed “Safety Pins”

1 Reply

I am trying to find the title and/or author of a paperback book bought at a book fair from the late 80s early 90s.

Here is what I remember of the book:
It is about a girl named Patty or Patti whose parents were just divorced. She is living with her mother and because of the divorce, money is tight and her mom cannot afford a lot of basic things for the girl. The girl wears old clothes/an old bathing suit that is falling apart and gets teased by other girls who call her “Safety Pins” because she wears a bathing suit or clothes held up with safety pins. She volunteers or goes to some stables to help take care of horses, and cares for them, but cannot afford to ride them. There is another girl there named Stacey or Stacy who is rich, spoiled, and mean to Patty, and also treats her own horse badly. Stacey throws a tantrum because her horse doesn’t get a fancy twisted bit for her bridle, but a plain one, and screams at Patty for this oversight. I believe (this may not be correct) that Patty earns her lessons to ride a horse because she works hard at the stables and takes good care of the horses there.
The other thing I remember about this short paperback is that it had very simple black and white line drawings in it–maybe one in every other chapter or so.
It was written for kids in elementary school, I believe.

359P: Shipwrecked Captain Builds Life on Island, Which Goes Up in Flames

Leave a reply

This story is illustrated, about a ship, it's captain, it's shipwreck and his rescue. I believe the book was called "The Captain of The Promise" as this line was repeated near the beginning and at the end when the captain is rescued.

Storyline: Captain of a prestigious sailing ship undertakes voyage, huge storm overtakes, ship wrecks on small island and only the captain survives. He builds a life on this small island, it all goes up in huge flames, he laments "lost, lost! My promise is lost!", he awakens the next day to see a ship that stopped because of the flames to rescue him. I can hear my father's voice reading this book when I was a kid. Please find it. For some reason I can not.

359O: Teen Romance on Spring Break Cruise

2 Replies

This is an 80s, possibly early 90s, teen romance. A girl goes on a spring break cruise with her grandma. She has a crush on one of the ship’s workers. And also meets another passenger that is the “funny” boy. The ship’s worker leads her on a bit. One funny part is; she takes way too many tanning pills and turns orange trying to impress him. She ends up with the funny boy in the end. I thought his name was possibly Jace or something similar.

359M: Sister Saves Woman’s Stepchild From Drowning

Leave a reply

I am looking for a novel about a married woman who has come into contact with her ex boyfriend. One day at the beach with her child, stepchild and pregnant sister, she is communicating with the ex when her children get dragged out to the ocean. She runs in after them but can only grab one and she chooses her own child. Her sister, a strong swimmer, saves the stepchild but needs to be hospitalized due to bleeding.

There is a beautiful sentence about the bond between sisters.

359L: Secret Twin With Gloves On Hands

2 Replies

I have been trying to remember this book I read as a teen in the 90s for years now and it’s starting to drive me crazy.

All I can remember of the plot is that there was a guy and he had been dating the same girl basically his whole life. A new girl comes to town and somehow they end up together. I believe they were in high school or just graduating from high school. Then at some point it is discovered that the new girl has a secret twin and the secret twin tries to kill someone, I can’t remember who. The secret twin always wore gloves on her hands because there was something wrong with them, I believe they were burned but I’m not positive.
Again I know it isn’t much to go on. For some reason the movie Swim Fan always triggers me to try to find this book.

359K: Fantasy/Sci-Fiction 1970s/80s

2 Replies

I read the book in the late 1970’s early 1980’s. It would have been a fiction/science fiction paperback book from the local library (Manchester, Georgia). I remember a female protagonist child (and her brother) who were lost members of technologically advanced race studying the planet but were members of private tribe? She was being called back (dreams). She had to run away from her tribe. While in route her brother stepped on something in the sea (perhaps a sea urchin) (Spoiler alert! ………. and died.)