This is a YA book from the 70’s or 80’s (I think). It is about two teenagers (Robin-male lead and Jenny-female lead) who fall in love and discover that years ago Robin’s mother killed Jenny’s sister in a drunk driving accident. Robin has blonde curly hair and he describes Jenny as a Modigliani girl.
I read this book at some point during late grade school/junior high, probably between 4th & 8th grade, so somewhere between 1980-86. It was a pre-teen horror of the old school, by which I mean it assumes kids can actually handle seriously creepy, potentially life-threatening stuff. It was an older library book that our awesome school librarian recommended to me. Maybe published in the 50's or 60's? Definitely before the late 70's, given the age of the library's copy & when I read it. Unfortunately, there's no cover art I can reference as it had a green cloth binding with no dust jacket.
I don't remember much of the plot but what I do remember is as follows: A junior-high aged girl goes to visit her grandmother for the summer in a small village. Grandma is a witch (good, natch). Another woman has moved into town & grandma suspects her to be a bad witch. Bad witch tries to start a witch war. I can't remember if it was for a specific reason or just because she was a bad witch & that's what bad witches do. Similar in feel to The House With a Clock In Its Walls series or the Green Knowe books but a smidge darker. I believe it was located somewhere in New England, but I wouldn't swear to it. I *think* there were cars & telephones but the time frame was kinda vague. Or my memory is. And that's all for the overall plot.
I do, however, remember some weird specifics. The grandma hung a witch ball over the front door to see if the new neighbor was evil. She had a bottle tree, too. There were lots of nifty little folkloric witchy things like that. The thing that sticks clearest in my mind is that grandma gets a letter with what appears to be child's hand print. Grandma recognizes it as the actual skin of a child's hand & proceeds to place the skin inside an old Bible, which she wraps up tightly so it can't be opened because said palm skin is a curse. That scene has stuck with me ever since I read it, as one might imagine. It's pretty unique. Other than that, I can remember exactly where it was located in my grade school library but that's probably not much help. (Second from last bookcase on the left, third shelf from the top, right side, below the Nancy Drew books.)
I am trying to find the name of a book I read as a child. The plot is basically that the girl who lives next door to the protagonist is weird and can 'float for joy' - that is, levitate. She turns out to be a descendant of Atlantis or something similar - an elder race in decline now living discretely amongst humans. They cannot interbreed - at one point the Atlanteans are described analogously to horses and humans akin to donkeys. The result is something like a mule. I think it might have been hazardous for the humans and the others to touch? Painful?
Media - Single Book / Novel
Date of Publication - Pretty sure it was in either a children's section of a public library or a school library and it pre-dates 1995. Might even pre-date 1988.
Major Themes - Decline of a race / empire?
Characters - Two children, one human, one otherwise. However, I cannot remember if the protagonist was male or female.
Language - The book was in English and I read it in England.
Target Audience - Older children? Teens?
Looking for a young adult romance series, published circa 1950-1965. Young women find love in various times and places: the Netherlands, roundheads and cavaliers in England, and more. Very innocent. I remember the phrase "throw the handkerchief" as a proposal.
I read this book around 1983 from my school’s Jr. High Library. The main character is an android who believes he is the last one built. His maker has died and, while quite brilliant, was a very superstitious man.
I read this YA book in the mid to late 70’s. It is definitely NOT Deathwatch or The Most Dangerous Game but it has similarities to both. A man is being hunted by another man – I think simply because the hunter enjoys it. I’m not sure if the hunted man has any weapons or vehicle. The setting may be Africa or the southwest US. There are a couple of plot twists. The hunted man meets someone who offers to help him, but then it turns out that person also wants to kill him. And then in another twist, maybe that turns out to be a mistaken impression. Or maybe the first guy ends up helping the hunted man because it turns out the second guy is the real bad guy. The question of who he can trust is a big part of the plot.
The book I am looking for is a YA about a young girl that hides in her father’s wagon when he heads to California for the gold rush. She brings a small pail of milk and it churns into butter. At some point they meet up with a lady and possibly another child, the dad gets sick or injured, maybe he dies. They go to San Francisco? – their house is on a hill? – and start baking and selling hardtack for the other miners. The book describes ships sitting in the bay empty due to the sailors abandoning them to look for gold. One night several of the ships catch fire. I read it in the mid eighties, definitely before 1990.
When I was a young girl in the 70s, there was a chapter book that my mother used to read to me. This book stayed at my great grandmothers home, and we would read it when we visited. It was probably written for young adults. I think it was written before the 30’s or 40’s. All I can remember is the story was about this gypsy girl’s adventures. I remember a picture of a Romani style wagon, and the color red. I loved it, but can’t recall the title or the plot. Please help. I would love to revisit this book.