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I probably read it in the mid-late 80s - I can't really remember and that's no guarantee it was published in the mid-late 80s. I'm quite sure it was set in the U.S. It was a book for pre-teens or so about a girl who is a Quaker, although her religion isn't really the main topic of the book. Two incidents I remember from the book: the main character makes a new friend, who takes her to a store to try on sexy underwear - the main character tried on a merrywidow. I specifically remember it was a merrywidow because I had no idea what that was and had to look it up. Also, the main character enters a best pet contest or something of that sort. Someone wins a prize for "most original pet" after entering an empty jar labeled "germs." Some boys contest the award claiming that if you can't see it or touch it, there's no proof it's there. The school minister (or whatever they're called in Quaker schools) gets very upset as that's an argument against the existence of God.
Oh, one more thing I just remembered - when the main character tells someone she's a Quaker, she's asked if those are the people who roll around in church. She replied that she had never seen anyone rolling around in meeting.
Thanks in advance if anybody has any idea what book this is. I'm mainly trying to locate it because of the main character's religion, as I don't recall every reading any other modern fiction with a Quaker in it. And I think it was my first exposure to that faith.
The story is set in England during WW2. A young woman from the country joins the WAAF, and works with Barrage Balloons. A young American man is in the Air force (I think he joins the RAF as the US hasn't joined the war yet, a-la Ben Affleck in 'Pearl Harbour').
She gets injured in a Balloon accident, becomes crippled, and returns to her parents home. I think she has a brother who is in the RAF, and he becomes friends with the American. They get some time off, and go to the country, where the American meets the girl. She has been very depressed (as she is stuck upstairs, bed-bound, the physiotherapist is a bitch). At first he thinks she is much younger, and just feels sorry for her, and she doesn't like him much.
He visits again a few times whenever he has time off, and becomes friends with the girl. He organises for her bed to be moved downstairs so she is not so isolated, and gets a wheelchair for her as well. She starts having feelings for him, but he sees her more as a friend (and I have a feeling that he wants a 'rich' girlfriend). She is slowly learning to walk again. They share a kiss at some point, but there is some misunderstanding - they are still friendly, but now he is unsure of what he wants. He returns to the war. She ends up becoming a teacher at the local school. He returns after the war finishes, they resolve differences, and end up together.
I read a lot of books set in Liverpool/England during WW2 while I was over in London, mainly by Katie Flynn (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/ka
Thanks in advance!
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Posted by Bill on 5/12/2008 2:35:00 PM
Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?
This book was part of a series for kids. It was a mystery series where the girl had a photographic memory and would solve all kinds of mysteries with it. I know this is INSANELY vague.
It's sad. I could tell you the exact location of this series in my library growing up, but I can't remember anything else. I'm holding my breath simply because I assume there were very few books written about little girls who had photographic memories.
Oh, and sorry for the god awful sentence constructions. Writing a thesis and 2 other papers for 2 days straight will fry your mind.
Found! The Cam Jansen series
Although that doesn't ring any bells, whoever mentioned her saying "click" definitely helped. Thanks!
I read The Gunslinger originally in late 1980s, when it on the library’s shelves next to Christine and The Stand. I enjoyed the series, but I always felt like I'd missed something early in the series. Reading them was like having a compelling dream, but I couldn't remember how it had started. Then I read a review of one of the books that called the series "allegorical," and I decided I needed to start again at the beginning, to catch what I'd missed, but that I'd wait until after King finished writing the series. (He's done.). Now the graphic novel prequels have me reading the series again (though I'll probably wait for the Marvel books to finish before I start reading the nongraphic novels again).
The writing is great, but the coloring makes me believe in guns and magic. Richard Isanove's colors roar. His startling palette wouldn't work in most books, but I was hooked when I saw the vultures in the second panel of page 1– their eyes, their skin, the meat they're tearing at. The two page spread, two pages later, where Roland stands on a cliff with a weird sky behind him full of purples and oranges and yellows and all, that brought the other Dark Tower books back to to my mind, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to put the graphic novel down until I'd finished it. I wasn't disappointed.
Posted by Gene on 5/11/2008 6:49:00 PM
I have two for you. These should be pretty easy as I remember a bit and as I recall, they were pretty popular. Or so I'm hoping...
Okay. First off we have a book series. I want to say the author had a name like Jennings or Jenkins or something. The books had two word titles with pictures that tried to gross out readers. There was a short story about Santa Claws, one where a kid ended up with a mouth the size of a pea and another (which has stood out in my head for YEARS now) where a girl was raised to think everything was the opposite. That story ends with her father in a fire. Someone asks her if her father is in there and a look of recognition (possibly) dawned on her face as she said "no."
I've asked in book stores and no one seems to know. I know all the story details, just not the important things that could actually track them down...
Found! The author is Paul Jennings and is Un(canny, believable, etc) tales.
Secondly is one I read decades ago. It was a mystery novel, possibly a murder mystery. I remember that the guy the story revolved upon was four people with the last names of the directions (North, South, East, West). Er...I'm really hoping that the popularity of this story back in the day helps, 'cause I don't remember much else.
Found! The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
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P.S. We had been announcing the winners' names, but one of them indicated they didn't like that. So the winners will heretofore remain secret winners
Posted by Bill on 5/11/2008 5:00:00 AM
It basically sounded like a choose-your-own-adventure version of Pride & Prejudice. Which is ridiculous, of course, but I'm curious.
Edit: Found! Lost in Austen
edit to add: the alien is one of the protagonists. normally, its species survives "hyperspace" or whatever by wrapping up in a cocoon and hibernating, but can't do this while caring for an egg (which causes the distress of the protagonist-alien in the story, as they need to make an emergency faster-than-light journey for some reason).
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