Category Archives: YA (grades 7-9)

210A: kind of “charm school” in book form

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I regret very much that I cannot recall the name of the book, and I do not know who the author is (but I’m pretty positive it was a female author). The book was one of a stash of books my grandmother sent to me one Christmas — I think I may have been about 12 or 13 years old. I was born in 1956 so that would be 1969, but my memory is weak, and I cannot recall precisely how old I was.

The book had pen and ink illustrations, and basically, it was a “growing up” book for young ladies or teenage girls. It dealt with good manners, proper etiquette, poise, appearance — kind of “charm school” in book form. I remember some of the passages: advice on what to do when you are a guest in someone’s home, how to address an invitation; how to properly rsvp to a wedding invitation, how to set a table, proper table manners, etc. — I even recall the instruction to leave some morsel on your plate when you are a dinner guest, rather than leave your plate completely cleared…..so as not to give the hostess the impression that you were left still hungry..!!). There was a chapter on good grooming, and the mention of an anecdotal story about a young secretary who, earning a meager salary, owned only one blouse, yet nevertheless took care that it was always clean and pressed….the young woman’s attention to her neat appearance eventually gained her the attention of her boss, who ended up marrying her.

I’ve searched for more than 30 years for this book — I did not own it for very long, as I was foolish enough to loan it to an irresponsible classmate who never returned it to me.. But having 3 daughters myself, I have often thought of this book and wished I could find it to share with them. The author’s writing style and language had a certain refinement that I do not find in the books that I’ve come across in my internet search for this particular book.

I’ll be astonished, and more than grateful, if my Stump the Bookseller inquiry is unsuccessful and you do actually locate this book for me.

208B: Post-apocalyptic fairy story (Solved)

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My memory is kind of fuzzy, but it was either a children’s or young adult novel I read in the early-to-mid 2000s (I’m leaning closer to somewhere around 2004-2006, give or take a year). The main plot line was that there’s some sort of horrible acidic superstorm approaching the house of these kids. Their power goes out, so the older sibling tries to calm the younger ones by telling them a story about fairies. Their parents aren’t there (I think I remember them being out of the house scavenging for resources. The kids are worried about this, and I think it’s implied they might be dead, but I’m not sure). I remember this part of the story being pretty dark.

After this, the story then shifts to the kid’s story, following the exploits of the fairy and its mischief in a much lighter and happier world, while periodically interjecting dialogue between the siblings. I also remember something about an old lady meeting the fairy. I can’t remember the story very well from here, and I don’t think I finished the book.

If it helps, I remember the cover of the book depicting some storm cloud and a lightning bolt, with the title involving something like “Sprite” or “Fairy.”

202B: Teen Love Triangle

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Teen book from the late 80s to mid 90’s about two best friends. One of them falls in love with the others boyfriend. I believe the boyfriend works on planes or owns one. I remember there was a scene with two on a couch in an airport hangar. I think there were also several scenes on a porch swing. I think the ending was the friend finally realizing her boyfriend and her best friend should end up together. Any help identifying the title and author would be greatly appreciated!

199E: 3 Siblings worship magic dough/bread man (Solved)

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I read this book in middle school, 1995. so book is late 80s-90s. Three siblings, 2 girls and a boy, with the boy as the middle child. the youngest sister is ill/sick/crippled in some way. home life is not awesome, and they may or may not have moved to a new house- a huge tree in the backyard, they each find different items in the “new” backyard and decide to bake all of them into bread that mom or grandma was making. i think one of the items was a wire in shape of a crown, and another thing for the heart and something in the dough mans hand. this became some kind of magical talisman that made the little sister stronger and or able to perform magic. i also distinctly remember (i may be wrong) them having an entity i thought was rowan or something with an “R” that they worshipped for giving them this magic, and it became mad for some reason, resulting in the little sister climbing the tree to give back the dough man, and her falling…

196B: P.S. I Hate You (?) (SOLVED)

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I read a young adult fiction book when I was about 13, probably published in the 70s. I was certain it was called PS I Hate You, but can’t find anything on Google with that title. It was about a teen girl, possibly named Marley, who leaves a note on the kitchen table, closing with P.S. I hate you and runs away to her father in the city. While living there, she falls in love with her English teacher when he introduces her to the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay (the same poem used in The Outsiders). She is also insulted by another teacher, who calls her “plain, plump and pimply.”

190B: Schizophrenic Teen

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I’m looking for a book that was probably from the mid to late-1970s. It was about a high school girl, and I believe she was schizophrenic. There was a pond involved, and at one point she had her face down in the pond and was only saved when her older brother’s friend saw her and intervened. It was probably a Scholastic Books offering.

189B: Children Abandoned on farm (solved)

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Oldest sister (story is her perspective) of I think 3 siblings keeps up appearances – keeps everything running so they can stay together. Careful not to let neighbors know they are alone, they make excuses why their mom has not been seen. They stretch the money they have, sell what they can, order clothes from Sears Catalog. The Story ends when the mom comes back. And although oldest is angry, she is relieved she is back in the end.
Young adult / teen coming of age fiction book, I read in the mid 70s.

188G: Children’s book about a boy who learns about different secret codes from a mentor

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I believe I read this book in the sixth grade (which would have been late 1970s). I got it from the school library. I would guess it was written prior to the late 1970s because we never had any new books at the school library. In the book, the boy meets a man who teaches him about different kinds of codes and how to break them. It included info about how people used to wrap paper around a cylinder and then write messages on the spiraled paper (so the reader would need a cylinder of the same radius to read the message correctly). It also had a tic-tac-toe type code (Different squares of the tic tac toe shape would represent different letters so an A would look like a backwards L and a B would look like a U). It also talked about E, T, A, and O being the most common letters (in English) so when you are trying to decode a message, the more commonly used symbols probably stand for one of those letters.

188F: Kids on spaceship schoolbus accidentally knock it off course and end up on strange planet

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A kid/teenager’s book about three kids that are on a spaceship school bus that is taking them home (the last three kids furthest away from school) who mess with the autopilot and end up loosing control of the spaceship. It ends up at another planet altogether where there are people dressed in fur.
It might have been published in the 80s. It had images for each chapter.