Category Archives: YA (grades 7-9)

244A: UK Children’s Mystery (Solved)

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Looking for a UK children’s mystery novel published 1960-1970. Plot revolves around policeman stumped by robberies in which getaway vehicle is Morris Minor/Mini that always disappears. Case solved when officer notices (autistic?) boy who copies down all vehicle registration plate numbers while sitting on overpass daily, and from lists finds that ambulance always goes past shortly after robbery. Turns out the Morris is small enough to fit into ambulance. Officer risks job by insisting on searching every ambulance in vicinity after next robbery, and finds getaway car inside ambulance. Black and white sketch illustrations; probably library binding. Originally found in elementary school library in Southern California before 1974.

243H: Young Adult Book Based on Ancient Mythology

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In late 1950’s, early 60’s, I read a book from the Young Adult section of the library.  It had a dust jacket that I recall as darkish, perhaps blue or purple with people, maybe the children of the story.  The story was about a boy and girl (siblings?) who spied a wooden door in a culvert as they were passing by in a (carriage?).  They return on foot and upon entering, find Vulcan at his forge.  Reluctantly, he directs them to Pegasus.  They climb upon Pegasus’  back, and he flies to the Elysian Fields.  There is an illustration of Pegasus stretching out his dainty hoof to land gently with the children on his back.  I believe they meet other gods and goddesses also, but I do not recollect the specific incidents.

Thank you for any assistance you and your readers can share.

241E: Scottish Boy and a Castle

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I don’t have a title for the book I’m looking for. I read it when I was in 8th grade around 1962. It was a historical novel about a Scottish boy and involved a castle with secret passages and an uncle (maybe grandfather) who was locked up in the dungeon without light for 10 years. Believe the boy gets him out. Hope you can help me find this book!!

240B: Carrying The Mail In Old Florida

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I read this book in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. It was in our school library. It was about a boy who was hired to carry the mail along the Florida coast before any development of the Florida coast took place. Along the way he saw many interesting sights and had various adventures. Finally he met a young girl and the two of them hid under an abandoned rowboat for protection in a hurricane. I don’t remember the title or the author. But I would sure like to be able to read that story again. It must have been written for older children or teens.

Thanks

crrunion

237B: Companion Novels from the 80s: The Victim’s Perspective, The Bully’s Perspective (Solved)

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In the early 90s or late 80s, I remember reading two novels for kids. They were both about a boy being bullied. One was from the perspective of the victim and one from the perspective of the bully. I can’t find them anywhere. The only other detail I can remember is that some of the bullying took place in the neighborhood. It’s a fuzzy memory and maybe I dreamed it. Maybe it was only a chapter or two in the same book even. I was sure it was Blume or Cleary but I searched their books and couldn’t find anything like this. I do know that Wonder has a new companion novel from the perspective of the bully but this is clearly different. Thanks!

236E: Boy with special power

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Book I can’t remember details of:
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy (Most likely young adult/teen fiction)
Time Read: 5-7 years ago
May have been a paperback
Plot points: Main character is a boy, found/kidnapped after some tragedy (burning village?).
Kidnappers include a pair of twins? that have some sort of snake/venom/acid power.
They are encountered and defeated by another group of twins, who can control lightning or something like that.
(big time gap missing in memory)
Boy is taken to some sort of fortress/academy/institution and trained to fight, and ride large raptors?/bulls? which he enjoys a lot as he understands/knows a lot about them
He makes a rival out of his roommate or a rival is picked for him from one of the boys at the academy, not sure which. They get in fights (I think?).
There is a spot out in the training field of the academy with two buildings, one of them being a black isolation sort of box where people go in and experience things that terrify them and come out determined not to mess up again.
There is a test at some point where the boy has to travel through a very foggy area with a bunch of dangerous creatures to an old abandoned tower.
To graduate the academy there is a crucible/gauntlet/arena where he has to kill/defeat his teacher.
There is a love interest? who is the princess?(maybe) of a nation of people with beast powers.
In this book world there are people with powers that come from bloodlines and/or animals and/or eye colours and the powers generally stay within the kingdoms they originated from.
There is a character in some part of the book from a royal family that pushed their sibling/infant sibling/ or the heir to some throne from a window causing a severe injury which can be healed by the main character or something like that.
The main character has a power that allows them to view things from long distances, invade people’s minds, see spirits?(maybe), and other things like that.
Main character is maybe/likely an orphan, some part of the book involves a revealing of who exactly his parents (Father specifically) were.

234F: 1980s book that features child abuse

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Looking for a YA novel, 1980s, title and author unknown. About a girl living with a neglectful/abusive mother. In one scene, her mom leaves her alone in the house for days with no food (may or may not have locked her in) and when she comes home, tosses some groceries at the girl, who opens a can of spaghettios (or similar food) and the girl eats the contents of the can ravenously while the mom calls her an animal. I think the girl takes up painting (with watercolors?) under the tutelage of a neighbor. Title might include words like house (of)…, child (of)…, glass, light.

233C: A series follows a young girl to adulthood (Solved)

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The main character, Jennifer? Jennie? Jenny? Possibly on the farm could’ve been the first.
These were a series of chapter books featuring an American girl who (moves?) to the country, detailing her charming life on a farm. There were several from when she was about 6-8 to almost 20 I believe. There were animal characters, a boy she might have married, various family members. She takes up ballet in later books. She wears her hair in looped braids. I read these as a child in the 80’s but they were clearly written much earlier. I would say 40’s or 50’s. Possibly 30’s or 60’s but doubtful.

I would so very much love to find them for my own daughter! I adored these- not only because she had the same name as me. I remember being even fonder of them than the Betsy Tacy books. In a way they were in between those and the Little House stories. Set the stage for Anne of Green Gables. So curious to know why they’ve disappeared!