Saturday, December 02, 2006

Name That Book II

Well, my first attempt at Name That Book didn't solve my stumper. (Nah, it wasn't The Girl With The Silver Eyes, but that was a good book!)

And, I got tested and failed by not being able to identify a single one of these:

From Leila: "Here's one: I doubt it was published later than '85, though my suspicion is that it is from the 60's or 70's. Setting: an old farm(?). I know there was a fantasy element that involved a snow-globe and maybe time-travel. That's it. Pathetically, that's all I remember -- I loaned it to someone when I was in elementary school and never got it back. That rat."

Molly asks: "I've got one: My three daughters loved this picture/toddler book..about a little girl trying on every one else's shoes and asking at each try-on "Are these my shoes?"I think we wore it out.... Now my 3year old granddaughter is at the right age and temperament to 'read' this for herself. But of course I can't find it. We were reading this in the early to mid 80's."

From Alvina: "But here's one: When I was maybe 10 or so (so published in the early 80s, probably), I read this middle grade novel (I think) about a girl who's father was a veterinarian. She had wanted to be a veterinarian as well when she was little until one day her own dog got sick, and her father asked her to help him treat her, and the girl realizes that she wasn't able to give her dog a shot, and therefore realizes that she can't be a veterinarian. I had wanted to be a veterinarian myself, and this book made me realize that I couldn't be one. It changed my life!" Reminds me of my tragic realization that my failure at languages meant archaeology wasn't in my future. I still haven't fully recovered.

Genevieve even stumped Loganberry: "I only remember a few things from this book, which I read in the late '70s or early '80s. There is a girl named Caro and her younger brother. I think the brother is named Theo and is in a wheelchair, but I'm not positive. At one point, there's a young man who's interested in Caro, and I think he and Caro and the brother are in a rose garden together. The young man mentions that he's 28, and the brother says, "Caro's twenty-eight." And Caro may have said something about how it wasn't polite to tell a lady's age. For some reason, this little snippet of the story has stuck with me. Any help would be appreciated!"

And here's my new Name That Book, because hope springs eternal that I'm not the only one who read it and remembered:
Paperback book, read sometime in the mid 1980s, yet probably published up to 30 years before. Cover looked very science fiction / space opera ish. The plot -- and I'm not making this up: People jump from planet to planet because of devices that are almost like a portal. And they weren't created, but discovered, somewhere in the arctic. Well, that wasn't the plot, the plot had some type of space cowboy/thief/Firefly type guy and a girl, and bottom line, this is way before Stargate yet I recall a Stargate type method of travel. Anyone? Anyone?

2 comments:

web said...

Snow globe-type thingies are founf in _Jane/Emily_ and _The Diamond in the Window_ .

Anonymous said...

Okay, now I have one, but it may be easier. I remember a book about children who got turned into statues. It's title was something LIKE garden of stone, but not that. The children might have been siblings but I'm pretty sure there was a girl and a boy???? And that's all I remember.