Category Archives: Teen

302V: Travels through alternate universes and baseball

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Possibly a book, possibly a series – listened to as an audio book on a car trip in the early 2000’s. The book was from Cracker Barrel (which is apparently Ingram Entertainment titles, if that helps). The book followed three protagonists, a girl and two boys. They traveled to other worlds or alternate universes through tunnels. The other worlds usually had some sort of baseball theme. At least one had a society of gnomes who used it as their court procedures. The girl protagonist was a pitcher. The had a map that helped them find the way – depending on how it was folded, it could show a neighborhood, a city or even be a star map. The antagonists had eyes you could see through, all the way to what was on the other side of their heads – photographs of Manhattan Project scientists showed that many of them were bad guys due to this effect.

301X: Shoes that looked like ballet slippers and a string of pearls

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The book that I have been unsuccessfully searching for is a book of short stories for girls that was published in the mid 1960’s.  I recall purchasing it at a school book fair, most likely in junior high.  The stories were mostly coming of age stories for teenage girls.  One story told of a girl who did not fit in in high school, and she wanted new clothes that she believed would help.  I remember she wanted to buy “shoes that look like ballet slippers and a string of pearls.  I seem to recall that she also played the piano.  Another story was about a girl who felt very unattractive and her dad said something to the effect of she was not a pretty girl but she was going to be a beautiful woman.  I have searched for this collection of short stories for many years and have found many collections, but not this particular one.  I would be very grateful if you might have any information about this elusive book.  Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

301G: Your typical high school romance

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I read this book in the early 1970s, I’m assuming it came from the 1960s. I don’t know the name of the book nor the publisher. But it was your typical high school romance of the time, where the popular boy in school falls for the less popular girl and her name was Beth.

Obviously the book resonated with me  at the time because my name is Beth I would have read it around the age of 10 to 13.  I always wondered if I could find the book and reread it is an adult what would I think of it.

299S: Mystery du Lac (Solved!)

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For the life of me I cannot remember the title of the book or the author. It was from the late 80’s or early 90s and was a mystery with teenaged characters. There was a girl sent to spend the summer with her aunt and a selfish cousin. I think a few years pass after the cousin’s death and there is a reunion and all of these odd things start happening. It was on a lake and had a French name like Fond du Lac or Chance du Lac. It might have been on the Wisconsin/Canada border. There was a romance element to it and the heroine was meant to feel like she could trust no one.

299E: Pre-Revolutionary War historical fiction trilogy read in the early 1970s

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As I remember this trilogy it starts shortly before  the French and Indian War and follows the generations of the family through the war of 1812.  I think the main character in the first book is named Adam.  The family owns a farm.  A key scene I remember is when someone is dying of a fever and their family member takes pity on them and gives them water to comfort them even though it is strictly against the doctor’s orders– the medical practice being so wrong really made an impression on me.  I took these three books out of the Park Ridge, IL public library when I was in junior high and read them several times.   I think they were written in the early sixties but it could be earlier.  There are a lot of descriptions of colonial life and the generational tensions about fighting in wars.  They were longer and more advanced reading than Johnny Tremain.

299B: Abandoned Gothic Mansion Mystery (Solved)

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I read this book late 90’s / early 2000’s (1998-2002), but the book could have been written any time in the 90’s.  I know it was a mystery book aimed at 10-15 year olds, the main character was a boy who was about 13.  (there may have been a female character too)  The boy explores / investigates this abandoned gothic mansion, coming across clues as he does so.  One of the clues is the word “Boss Stone” which eventually he realizes is the architecture term (“knob or protrusion of stone or wood”).  He realizes that there is a “boss stone” located on the ceiling in the main room of the mansion, and once he gets access to it there is something hidden behind it.  The only other part i remember is that the building is haunted / guarded by this cloaked figure that has a tentacle.