Category Archives: YA (grades 7-9)

187C: Shinkin, Shinkin, I am granny Shinkin

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I’ m looking for a young adult novel set in Wales (or possibly Cornwall), published in the 1940s or early to mid 1950s (based on my age when reading it). I recall a Customs (Revenue) Officer who was trying to stop smuggling, some accusations of witchcraft involving an old woman who was named Granny Shinkin (or something like that) and, at one point, a massive civil disobedience action where many women all dressed up the same and chanted the words in the stumper title to keep the Customs Officer from arresting the old woman.

187A: “Ghost”

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This was a paperback book that I read in the late 1970’s. I believe the story took place in the 1960’s or 1970’s. The cover of the paperback was white and a teenage girl’s face was looking out a window that had lacy curtains and I believe the curtains had daisies or flowers on the bottom of them. The picture on the cover had a sort of lacy dream look to it. The title of the book was “Ghost” or “Ghosts”, I do not know who the author was. Despite the title of the book, it had nothing to do with ghosts, the supernatural, or hauntings. It was a story of a teenage girl’s coming of age with her first high school boyfriend. The girl’s mother does die of pneumonia in the story, but again that is not the main storyline. In one part of the book the girl and her father go put to eat at a diner and the father kills a cockroach that crawls across the table with his thumb (Yuck!). Towards the end of the book the girl decides to stay overnight with her boyfriend and he gives her what is described as a “shy new bridegroom smile”.

186D: Life of a Jewish girl in a turn-of-the-century Russian village – NOT “Letters From Rivka!”

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Book was on the life of a young Jewish girl (possibly named Rifka) in either the late nineteeth or early twentieth-century Russia. She either took care of, or had a family/pet goat that she tended. I remember descriptions of the family/villagers going to the river to bathe and wash clothes; all the men would go to one area and the women to another so that they would not see each other.
Another part of the book described a non-Jewish peasant friend warning the family of an impending pogrom, and the family boarded themselves up into their house and waited it out, frightened of the noises they heard outside. This is not “Letters From Rivka.” I thought the book might be called “Rivka” but I can’t find any info! I read this in the 1970’s, and it was a softcover book.

 

184A: Boy Believes that Resistance Fighter Dad is Still Alive

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I want to buy this book and need help!!!! I do not know the name or the author, but the book The Long Way Home by Margot Benary-Isbert is NOT it.

The story was written for teenagers. It was in my junior high or high school library and I read the book (many times, I enjoyed it very much) around the late 1960’s or early 1970’s.

It took place after WWII.

A young (10?,12?, 14?) boy’s father fought in the war as a member of the French (?) resistance or underground. The father was supposedly killed during the war and his son then placed in an orphanage, residential school, or something similar. The son wants to believe that his father somehow survived. On the basis of a partial name similar to his father’s, which is mentioned in a torn newspaper article about a former French (?) resistance fighter teaching or something for some California (?) university (?). The boy hoped/believed that somehow his father actually survived the war and was living in the United States.

An international adoption program placed French (?) war orphans with adoptive parents in the United States. The boy did all he could at the orphanage/school – good grades, great behavior, etc – to get himself into the adoption program. The boy wanted to search for his father and saw the adoption program as the means to get to the United States.

The young boy is placed with an American couple. The adoptive father (Cal???) was a WWII veteran whose capture by the enemy was prevented by some French (?) civilians. Cal (?) wanted to “give back” by adopting a French (?) child/war orphan. I think the adoptive mother’s name was Sally. The couple is wonderful to the boy and the boy quickly comes to love them both very much. However, the boy cannot drop the hope/belief that his biological father is alive and the boy is compelled to make it to the town/college mentioned in the torn newspaper article.

About a month or so after arriving in the United States and moving in with Cal and Sally (?), the boy runs away to the town/college mentioned in the article. The boy has adventures along the way. He somehow meets up and travels a while with a young want-to-be reporter who sees a prospective human-interest story and perhaps the opportunity for an entry level position as a reporter in the orphan’s quest.

The boy eventually arrives at the place mentioned in the article and learns that the man mentioned in the article is not his father. Sadly, the man confirms that the father was indeed killed during the war. Because of his involvement in the underground, the man had known the boy’s father and is able to tell the boy the circumstances of his father’s death.

The boy is desolate, alone, and afraid – believing he has no options and no one. His biological father is dead and he felt he could not return to Cal and Sally as he had rejected them by running away. The want-to-be reporter who was following the boy contacts his adoptive parents. He explains what happened, and tells them where they can find the boy. Cal travels to the boy and reassures him that they love him and want him. Cal brings the boy home.

I think the title had the words “Long Journey” or “Long Road” in it.

181C: Unknown Beastmaster (solved)

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Unknown Beastmaster – not the series, but a single book, and this one has a young woman (perhaps a teen) as the main character. She somehow ends up in a gorgeous forest (definitely a fantasy book) where she can communicate with the ‘beasts’ and becomes the ‘master’ although the relationships are more friendly. I read this in the 70’s but have no idea when it was published. The cover had a picture of the young girl surrounded by vines and lush vegetation and of course animals. I always remembered the title as Beastmaster but it comes up in no searches, anywhere. Can anyone help? Thanks!

175D: boy, ghost, orchard (solved)

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i don’t know the title or author, which is why i need you. this is a YA type mystery or horror (not sure how they categorized things back then) from the late 70s early 80s. I probably got it through scholastic at school (i was in 4th or 5th grade at the time). i’ve searched and searched book covers for years and am hoping you can help.

i don’t remember much, but finding this book means so much because of events surrounding it during that period. dark green cover with a broken gravestone on it, possibly a crow, possibly trees (an orchard or grove) as well. the story itself was a boy gone to live with his grandparents (? or relatives in general?) and befriends a ghost in the walls/closet/something in the house. ends up in the orchard out back. finds the boy’s grave. god that’s not a lot to go on!

Thank you in advance!!