{"id":10493,"date":"2026-03-15T12:36:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T16:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/?p=10493"},"modified":"2026-03-15T12:36:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T16:36:49","slug":"379q-obscure-1970s-80s-ya-boys-strange-adventures-betrothed-young-married-kids-maybe-cousins-gypsies-family-secrets-reunion-at-kentucky-derby-with-girl-in-polka-dot-dress-my-old-kentuc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/379q-obscure-1970s-80s-ya-boys-strange-adventures-betrothed-young-married-kids-maybe-cousins-gypsies-family-secrets-reunion-at-kentucky-derby-with-girl-in-polka-dot-dress-my-old-kentuc\/","title":{"rendered":"379Q: Obscure 1970s-80s YA: Boy&#8217;s strange adventures,  betrothed\/young married kids (maybe cousins\/gypsies), family secrets,  reunion at Kentucky Derby with girl in polka dot dress &#038; &#8216;My Old  Kentucky Home&#8217; playing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<p>This has bugged me for years\u2014posted about it on Library Thing back in 2018 (link: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.librarything.com\/topic\/292966#6515048\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.librarything.com\/topic\/292966#6515048<\/a>) with no solves, but adding more details now in case it clicks for someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I read this book in England in the late 1970s\/early 1980s (probably on a shared bookshelf at my dad&#8217;s work\u2014likely a US import or British edition). It was a quirky\/strange YA (young adult) book, from a boy&#8217;s perspective, more mystery\/adventure with family secrets than straight romance (though maybe light romantic elements or betrothal tension).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key bits I remember:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Two children (boy protagonist + girl) who were either betrothed young, arranged to marry early, or possibly cousins (that part&#8217;s fuzzy\/weak).<\/li><li>Strange adventures happen to them.<\/li><li>Possible gypsy\/Romani\/traveler family background (one or both sides\u2014maybe adding outsider secrets, wandering, or cultural quirks).<\/li><li>The story builds to a climax\/reunion near the end: They find each other again at the Kentucky Derby (or a Derby-related event). He spots her in the crowd (possibly amid race horns or excitement), she&#8217;s wearing a polka dot dress, and &#8220;My Old Kentucky Home&#8221; is playing (or tied to the scene somehow).<\/li><li>Not primarily a romance; more YA adventure\/mystery with a poignant, symbolic ending.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>No idea on title\/author\/cover\u2014it&#8217;s obscure, maybe small-press or regional. Anything ring a bell? Even partial matches or similar books would help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks in advance\u2014it&#8217;s one of those that pops into my head every few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This has bugged me for years\u2014posted about it on Library Thing back in 2018 (link: https:\/\/www.librarything.com\/topic\/292966#6515048) with no solves, but adding more details now in case it clicks for someone. I read this book in England in the late 1970s\/early 1980s (probably on a shared bookshelf at my dad&#8217;s work\u2014likely a US import or British [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,12,19,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10493"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10494,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10493\/revisions\/10494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w1.loganberrybooks.com\/stumpthebookseller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}