lost and found
Have a vague recollection of a book you once read and trying to remember if it was real or just a bad dream? Maybe we can help each other out.
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Have a vague recollection of a book you once read and trying to remember if it was real or just a bad dream? Maybe we can help each other out.
I’ll start. Sorry this is really vague.
This is a stand alone book about a girl whose siblings spend the summer at a small town with a realtive she doesn’t know very well because her parents are having some sort of problems. She has an older sister who is kind of slutty and fools around with the locals. Yea, that’s all I have right now…does that ring a bell?
The other book I am thinking of was part of a series of love stories that was a series but none of the books were related- they were just all love stories. This one was about a girl who was in love with her older sister’s boyfriend. The sister was described as having greenish blonde hair. The main character was gifted at sewing and ended up dropping out of school and finally getting together with the sister’s boyfriend. Anyone? Anyone?
Great idea, ihatewheat!
Okay, I’ve got one. New girl moves to town and makes a bunch of social faux pas that make her instantly unpopular. So she reinvents herself as a rock star (or, at least, a sort of punk rock chick–I can’t remember if she actually said she was a rock star) and tells everyone at school that she’s her “sister”.
She bleaches her hair and cuts it really short and buys bizarre clothes. One of these clothing items was a see-through plastic vest. This sort of blew my mind when I was 10. She becomes crazy popular, but of course the truth about her comes out and she realizes it’s better to be herself. I loved this book. I have no idea what it is.
Two of Us was the title of the book where the girl pretended to be her rock star twin. I also remember the plastic see through vest.
Somehow I feel like we are going to have more questions than answers here…
Anyway, what was that series of books that took place at a camp and involved Color Wars? Were they just called the Color War books or something like that? Jessa Fields, you have to remember these…I don’t know if they made it into the attic with the likes of Kidnapped By the Cult! and Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger…but I remember them being sooo good…
Jessa, this is so not helpful, but it sounds like a made for tv movie I watched as a kid, Two high school nerds decide to reinvent themselves as cool Italian exchange students and get all sorts of attention from it. Anyone? Anyone?
Sorry it didn’t help but it totally made me think of that and want to watch it again….
Count “Tizzie”: I remember the Color Wars! Or, that is, I remember them being strangely compelling in the late 1980s, but I have no idea what they are now. Oy, this is going to drive me crazy…
BTW Tizzie Mom told me she gave away all my non-SVH books (because those were in your room) to an elementary school in M—-. I was sooo annoyed. Included in the lot was my copy of “Stacey’s Mistake” autographed by Ann M. Martin!
She gave away your autographed copy of Stacey’s Mistake? She better have preserved my autographed copy of ‘Dawn and the Big Sleepover’. Damnit! The woman has no respect.
I believe that the Color War series maybe lasted 4 or 5 books. Very frustrating.
There was a book of short story romances that I remember reading in the late 80’s. I’m pretty sure it was written by Caroline Cooney but cannot find it anywhere. Does anyone have a clue what it might be?
I got one too. But I”m pretty sure it’s gonna sounds like every other YA book out there, but I’m going to give it a shot.
There were four girls (a la BSC) and the only that sticks out in my mind is the funky asian girl. I kinda remember one book where the funky asian girl got picked to do a shoot for some magazine, trumping out the pretty, bitchy popuar girl.
I know they lived in a small town (like stoneybrooke) and I think they were about 13 but acted way older. I know, it sounds like every other YA book.
But isn’t that why we love them?
are you sure that wasn’t a pen pals book? It sounds like a plot that could happen in that series.
Count Tisiano–It was “Camp Sunnyside Friends” by Marilyn Kaye. What an atrocious name for a series! No wonder we blocked it out.
ihatewheat – The movie was Student Exchange. I actually still have this on tape from where I taped it off ABC or something. Heather Graham & Todd Field (who went on to direct Oscar nominated stuff) were in it. Oh, and the chick from ER is in it too. Maura Tierney. LOVE that movie……..
OMG, I love you. I thought I dreamt that movie. That was Heather Graham? I loved the clothes in that movie.
Heather Graham was the popular girl the nerd guy liked. I loved the clothes in it also. The part at the end when she sings that Sweet Charity song? Fabulous! Oh, the series you were talking about before, the individual romance novels? I think that was the Sweet Dreams series but I don’t know the title. I think I may have read the same book but all those books were so interchangable. I only remember the ones I read by the covers. I need to search Amazone for them now……..
Does anyone remember a series about 3 girls at a boarding school? They were all new to the school. They were roommates, and there was a really rich girl, too. They drank Tab every two seconds.
It was a series- I remember in one book – a girl gets kidnapped but it was supposed to be the rich girl. She escapes just as the roommates and boyfriend come to resuce her. (of course! the poice couldn’t figure it out)
They were out the same time as SVH
Samimax–I’m almost positive you’re talking about “The Girls of Canby Hall’
Jessa Fields,
I remember that book where she comes back as a rock star but I think she came back as her twin….
she also lived with the grandmother who was in on it lol
I can’t remember the name of it but thought it was awesome at the time
ihatewheat, I don’t think it was a pen pals book, since I remember them going to a mall and hanging out with boys from school. At least, I’m pretty sure I am…
Robyn- could it have been the Girl Talk books? Allison, Katie, Sabrina and Randy. Randy may or may not have been Asian, but she sure was funky. Also I feel like all they did was go to the mall and talk to boys.
AGHH. Ok, so girl moves to New York, I think her parents are getting divorced. She finds a doll and builds this whole universe around it using remnants and carpet samples. I think there’s some mystery involved. This is when I first heard the phrase ‘bric-a-brac.’
And no, it wasn’t the awesome ghost story about a doll house. Though that was crazy and awesome.
Jessa! Yea! That has been driving me nuts! I wonder if my mom still have them! You made my night!
Hannah- it may have been Girl Talk books. Now I’m just going to have to get my hands on one to be sure. Back to the used bookstore I go!
And I came up with one more really vague memory of some YA book. I’m also sure it was part of a series, but not really sure.
I know the main character had three really good friends and one of them liked the super popular guy and he liked her back. But then the main character decided that he was fair game and made a play for him too. There was also the required blonde popular girl who was chasing the guy too. I think they were about 14, and there was some heavy duty kissing and dry hump dancing too.
Anybody have any idea?
I’ve been thinking a lot about this one book lately that was about 3 teenage girls (I think they were all 17-ish), and they were at a music camp for the summer. One wanted to be a rock star type, but her parents were big-time classical musicians and she was trying to find the courage to tell them. One was a bitchy rich girl whose daddy had pulled strings for her to go. I don’t remember anything about the third girl. Anyone remember the title? It’s driving me a bit crazy to not remember it.
ihatewheat, I read the book you described, and I can’t remember the title/series. It’s really bugging me. It was your “greenish-blonde hair” that jogged my memory, so now I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m determined to find out.
Does anyone remember Palm Beach Prep? One gal was named Esme, and she was a model and she was almost date-raped by some sixteen year old guy.
ihatewheat, this is in response to your first post. I have no idea what the first book is, but the second book is ‘Little Sister.’ The main character, the sister who sews, is Penny. Her big sister is Cass. Gary is the boyfriend.
Oh maaaahhhh gaaawwwwd that is totally it. I remember freaking out that she was dropping out of school. And Gary was such a drip, what was the fuss about?
Does anyone know the name of the SVH book that has Enid running track/cross country/whatever to lose weight? Does she end up getting sick or passing out?
Yes, Palm Beach Prep! Esme, Nicole, Quinn, and Alicia, and also Cara Knowles-it-all. Haha, I totally loved those books.
Did anyone read the Peanut Butter (I think her real name was Polly) and Jilly books?
Oh perfect. I have been trying to recollect a couple of series and you guys just might be able to help me. One was about sisters (twins?) that solved mysteries and the titles all had food things. I think one had double dip in the title or something? The other was a group of kids who ran a business throwing kids birthday parties (some adult connected to them did the cakes/catering). I distinctly remember them making pinwheels or something for the party. Would love help!!!
Staying on the boarding school theme we all know and love, there’s a book I read years ago about a girl attending boarding school. It was a single title, not part of a series. The main character was at the school on a scholarship. Her mother was dead. She made friends with another scholarship girl, who was way more outgoing than her. They were both tapped to join a secret group of girls and it ended with a scary hazing incident in which the pledges had to swim across the lake in the middle of winter. I remember that the second girl blew off a book report over winter break on Updike’s Rabbit, Run, and the two stayed up all night working on it together. Ring any bells?
Merrie, it reminds me of a book called Double Dare. Sound familiar?
I remember Esme! She was really scatter-brained and forgot everything, not unlike Dawn’s mom in the BSC series.
Was I the only one who read Hollywood Wars, about the redheaded girls starring on a sitcom? Alison and Jamie? I feel like that series got cut short. The writer’s name was either Ilene or Irene Cooper.
Anyway, Alison was all very Elizabeth Wakefield and Jaime was the sexy, troubled one.
McGlory! That was Susan and Christine Pratt! The Pratt twins. And it was by Cynthia Blair.
Links on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Fudge-Sunday-Affair-2/dp/0449701581
I remember Peanut Butter and Jilly! I think I only read the one that had to do with Valentine’s Day, but I was always totally confused by the fact that the dog was named His Nibs. That confused me for *years*. ^_^
And Girl Talk? Man, I’d forgotten all about that. That’s how I learned how to pronounce “gauche”. ^_^
I remember Palm Beach Prep! Loved those books. For some reason one of my fondest memories from that series was when the girls were involved in a dance at school and they basically made up the theme “Black and White or Very bright”. Funny the things that stick with you over time.
I totally remember reading the series of books where there were some girls that were party planners. I can’t remember the name of them for the life of me though, Sorry mcglory13.
Also the girl talk books are classic. I would love it if someone would recap those/
@McGlory: The second series is “The Party Line” series.
sophie- i definitely read a few of the hollywood wars books! they were awesome because jamie was such a witch. but a lovable one.
does anyone remember a short-lived series about all of these wealthy suburban kids in high school….it had gold keys or something on the cover? i remember reading them because my mom bought a couple for me, and i thought they were way more scandalous than SVH. but then the series dropped off the face of the earth, and when my mom moved, she only kept the BSC and SV books and only because i asked her to. the little side series books i was into got donated to charity.
also, did anyone else read those books about the kids who went to ocean city every summer? it was somewhat on the order of sunset island but was set in ocean city, md. i vividly remember one plot where the “good” girl finally gives it up to her boyfriend in a tent on some sand dune during a hurricane.
Thanks guys! The Pratt twins sounds right, but Party Line? Huh, I’m sure that’s right, but that title is ringing no nostalgia bells.
Ooops… McGlory and Jenny are the same person.
Ohh, just found this blog today…awesome..I’m from Australia so haven’t heard of some of the books you are describing but Peanut Butter and Jilly definitely rings bells!
I am trying to think of one that involves a girl about 13 I think, who gets given a diary from her grandmother and the story is told from her diary entries. She has lots of brothers and a best friend who in the first book, she starts to think is uncool, so she tries to hang out with the cool kids….but one of the cool kids is only after her brother. I thought the series was called Dear Diary but not sure. Any ideas?
Okay, I have been racking my brain over this one for years. Does anyone remember a series about girls who traveled through time? It was part time-travel/historical fiction and part romance? The only one I really remember was about a girl who got transported back to Salem and was accused of being a witch. (I think she first landed in the water, and she was floating, which led to the initial witch accusation, and then she had to spend the whole time trying not to get burned at the stake and, I think, trying to free another girl).The whole gimmick was that there was this time wrinkle, where two days in the historical place only equaled two minutes in the present, so they could spend two days there without anyone’s noticing they were missing, but then, if they didn’t get back in time, the time wrinkle flipped so (I think) two minutes in the historical setting was two days in the present and everyone would then know they were missing. And there was always a romance part, which of course took away from the Strong Girls Traveling Through Time theme. I think I would have read these sometime between 1985-1988 but maybe it was a bit later. PLEASE someone help me out with this, because I clearly am not Googling the right words to figure it out.
I think that one might be swept away. There was a braclette or something there about that caused the time shift.
I still have one at my moms but it was about a girl that went to studio system hollywood
Jean, I’m pretty sure the series you’re thinking of was called Dear Diary. I’m Australian too and I can remember getting these books through the Ashton Scholastic Lucky bookclub in primary school. The diarist was Lizzie Miletti and the cool kid was Samantha Howard. The best friend was Nancy and she fought with Lizzie in every single book, so they were a lot like Liz and Todd.
ihatewheat: is the first book in your first post (the one about the girl who goes to live with relatives in a small town) “The Jellyfish Season” by Mary Downing Hahn?
That has a girl whose family moves in with relatives because the family has to sell their house or something and doesn’t have anywhere to live. She has a slutty older cousin who’s 14 who fools around with an 18-year-old Marine named Joe. It’s set in a beach in I think Maryland or some other East Coast Ocean City-type place.
Might not be the same book as you’re thinking, but anyone remember it?
omg! THAT IS IT!!!!! You are my hero!
So I ordered a whole whack of Sunset Island books off ebay and did nothing but read them over christmas. It was gloriously mind numbing. But now, I’m about to start the last one that I have, Sunset Spirit which is number 29. I know it’s not the last one and I was just wondering if anyone knew how many books there were in the series, so I can begin to track them down. It’s pathetic but I’m dying to know what happens to these fab au pairs!
“Sunset Forever” is the last book in the series. Here is a list:
http://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Island-Series-%231-25/lm/GK85BSSHWWR9
I think there are five more or so…the ones where they go on tour with FLirting with Danger are amazing. Oh Billy Sampson!
“does anyone remember a short-lived series about all of these wealthy suburban kids in high school….it had gold keys or something on the cover? i remember reading them because my mom bought a couple for me, and i thought they were way more scandalous than SVH. but then the series dropped off the face of the earth, and when my mom moved, she only kept the BSC and SV books and only because i asked her to. the little side series books i was into got donated to charity.
also, did anyone else read those books about the kids who went to ocean city every summer? it was somewhat on the order of sunset island but was set in ocean city, md. i vividly remember one plot where the “good” girl finally gives it up to her boyfriend in a tent on some sand dune during a hurricane.”
Olivia- I’m not sure what the name of the series was– I think maybe Hillcrest Secrets? The author was Jennifer Baker. Yeah, she wrote 4 books that were actually really good (each book would end on a cliffhanger) and then never wrote anything after the 4th book. I was pissed– was dying to know if Luke went back to Nikki or stayed with Suzanne.
The second series was named Ocean City, and then they rereleased it as Making Waves, and reprinted the first 5 books, only changing a few of the pop culture references to fit 2001 instead of 1993.
That series was groundbreaking to me because in every other YA, the girls who put out were troubled and looking to change their ways. Ocean City was the first YA book where the girl decided she was ready, went and got birth control, and had a healthy, normal, sex life.
BTW- the writer of the that series, Katherine Applegate, wrote under a variety of psuedonyms, including LE Blair, the Girl Talk author.
Does anyone remember the Boyfriends/Girlfriends Series? They were set on a small island … The main character was Zoey Passmore, in the first one called Zoey Fools Around or something she breaks up with her longtime boyfriend for some other guy. Tons of drama – new boy was in jail for killing her old boyfriend’s brother in a car wreck BUT DID HE REALLY DO IT, etc. I read I think the first four and I cannot find them anywhere. I think I might not have the name of the series right.
Other characters:
Jake, Zoey’s boyfriend in book one
Ben, Zoey’s blind older brother
Nina, Zoey’s best friend
Claire, Nina’s older sister who is gorgeous and Ben’s GF at the beginning of the series
Lucas, Zoey’s new boyfriend who was in juvie for killing Wade, Jake’s brother
Aisha, the only black girl on the island whose parents own a hotel
Christopher, the only black guy on the island who works at the hotel and dates Aisha.
I would love to find these as the preview for the final book sounds awesome and I have never read it!
Abby, thank you!!!
Re: Hillcrest Secrets, I was so pissed that they left the series end on such a cliffhanging note! Thanks for remembering the name for me!
Re: Ocean City, duh. I should have thought of that
I always thought it was a pretty good series in terms of addressing sexuality, too. For once a girl actually had a nice romantic experience with her boyfriend instead of getting semi- raped by some random classmate, a la SVH. And I had NO IDEA she’s the same woman who wrote Girl Talk. Awesome!
I’ll have to keep an eye out in used bookstores for old copies now that I know the authors and names!
Whoever mentioned Dorothy Haas, thank you! I was reminded of my favorite book when I was a kid, “Poppy and the Outdoors Cat.”
Okay, now it’s my turn. I don’t think this book was in a series, but it was about a bunch of high school kids, some misfits, who get invited to a party at a rich girl’s house and end up disappearing or something.
The main details I remember are that the heavyset girl who was invited had a really pretty dress until her sister spilled nail polish on it, so she had to wear her mom’s light green dress and thought it made her look like celery. And someone else got trapped in a spa and couldn’t get out. WTH was the name of that book!?
ihatewheat: Did you ever read “The Doll in the Garden” by Mary Downing Hahn? I always thought that was so creepy, but entertaining.
Mia- the name of the book was “The Invitation” by Diane Hoh, (or possibly Caroline B. Cooney?)…one of the female horror writers that were popular in the mid 90s along with RL Stine and Christopher Pike (who, incidentally, was head and shoulders above the other 3).
The rich popular girl invited the misfits and then locked them up, telling the popular guests they were going to go on a scavenger hunt and find the misfits. Pretty stupid, considering she just could have put stuffed animals in closets and had people hunt for them. Plus, I can’t imagine the locked up misfits would be too happy when they were finally let out– that girl could have been facing some serious legal trouble.
@kristin: the books you’re thinking of are by katherine applegate; if you search for her on amazon you’ll find a bunch of similar series by her. But yes! My sister and I still have ours, we rode out the end of the series, but trust me, you don’t want to read too far; all these new characters are introduced and things start getting lamer, especially after they leave high school. The earlier ones are best.
I’m hoping one you you will be able to help me out–this book was 80s, and it was a stand alone teen romance type, relatively thick. I think it was called that night, or something, but too many things are called that for me to find it! I’ve been looking for it forever. It has a third person omniscient narrator, and the main protagonists are three girls, and all the action takes place at a prom-like dance, or on the way to one. One girl is blond and dainty and beautiful, and just had a baby, but is back at prom with her boyfriend, who has been cheating on her with the book’s villain. The second girl has a reliable boyfriend, her name is Emily and his is M—-, and they get become separated before the dance and she runs away from her family’s fighting, and the high school dropout that picks her up and offers to take her to the dance has this weird date-rapey vibe to him. Everyone calls them M&M. Of course. The third girl is either a tomboy, or bossy, or something, and the dude she likes doesn’t like her, but a waiter is into her. A bunch of bad stuff goes down, most of it instigated by the bitchy, slutty girl that is the villain (for example, she hides the blonde’s big purse so that she freaks out and annoys her boyfriend, who the villain wants for herself). And I think she pushes someone in a pool–the dance is at a hotel. And there’s this stupid survey/mystery questionnaire that everyone at the dance is doing, though most of them are annoyed by it. I think the third tomboy girl organized it. But the villain’s heinousness is solidified when she doesn’t put out her cigarette all the way, which causes this huge raging fire in the hills by the hotel, and everyone is brought closer to their significant crush and looks beautiful. Any luck? Sorry, I know this is embarssingly long, but hopefully one of you can help me so I can start tracking it down on amazon!
Gwen Stacy: Thank you! That is the one I was talking about. Yeah … I mainly want to read book 8, it is called Aisha Goes Wild or something? Because apparently she is dressed for Halloween and hits her head and think she is 14 or something again. Which sounds super weird and awesome. I remember reading the preview but then the book never came out anywhere! I will check Amazon.
Aha! Further search reveals that the series is now called “Making Out” when I was reading it was called “Boyfriends/Girlfriends” and I know because I still have one “Nina Won’t Tell” somewhere. I always floved Nina. I didn’t know it went on that long, I thought it was just an 8 book series (like one for each character or something).
from “Merrie” posted on 11-30
Staying on the boarding school theme we all know and love, there’s a book I read years ago about a girl attending boarding school. It was a single title, not part of a series.
I’ve never actually read the book, but it sounds like “The Daring Game” by Kit Pearson. I am sentimentally in love with her “Guests of War” trilogy and read “The Sky is Falling” at least once a year, so I am very familiar with the previews on the back.
(but have never been tempted to read the other books for some reason…)
Here’s an obscure one: I don’t even remember the plot, just some stupid detail from it…
A girl named Gloria and her grandfather were talking about how hot it was that summer and grandfather said it was so hot you could fry and egg… so Gloria and grandfather actually tried to do so. I forgot if they succeeded and don’t remember anything else of this book, but DOES anybody?
This is going to be one big rambling… I think.
Wasn’t there a book with the evil twins? I thought Margo had an identical twin sister too. And one tried to kill Jessica and the other one tried to kill Liz? And there was a scene in a fun house or something like that? And didn’t Margo have black hair? Am I making this all up?
yup.
http://thedairiburger.wordpress.com/2007/08/25/the-one-where-all-of-jessicas-boyfriends-die-or-100-the-evil-twin/
Burton– there were 2 evil twin books (well, technically, there was like a 6-7 book miniseries that culminated in Margo trying to kill Liz, which was the book ihatewheat just linked above me) and then later on there was another magna edition and we find out Margo also had a twin that she never knew about. The two decided to take over the Wakefield twins’ lives again, but they got into a screaming match over who got to be Jessica and who was stuck being Liz. Nora ended up killing Margo, although she didn’t mean to– I believe Margo kidnapped Jessica and took over her life without telling Nora her plan so Nora killed Margo thinking she was Jessica. Margo can only fault herself for that communication breakdown.
That book was ridiculous– they hold Jessica’s funeral in like, the high school gym.
ok wow, this site is so awesome it blows my mind. K, there was this book about an Asian girls in a mainly White school who wants nothing to do with her ethnic roots but meets a seemingly stereotype nerdy Asian boy and then learns to accept herself. She was apart of a cheerleading team called the Tigers I think? I remember the cover had the boy on the left with a blue and white stripped shirt and the girl on the right with a bunch of cheerleaders wearing an orange and black uniform.
So much detail…. can’t remember a title or an author…………
I remember a book with a Girl named Darcy and someone stole her Diary…
it might have even been called “who is reading Darcy’s diary?”
part mystery, part romance.. I am sure she fell in love with the neighbour…
and I remember these silly preteen romance novels…..though I cant remember the name of the series.
One had a girl who jogged all summer (all the way to the mailbox and back every day because it was like a MILE away) and when she went back to school in September everyone thought she as hot….
Katrina – That was “Who’s Reading Darci’s Diary?” by Martha Tolles. I can’t remember if I ever read that, but I (sadly) have a copy of the sequel, “Secret Sister” somewhere. I remember disliking Darci with a passion!
Kristin-Yes, the series is called Making Out!
I’m in the middle of it now actually, cuz I love it and it reminds me of Dawson’s Creek haha.
I just bought a book at the flea market and it’s talking about all these things I never knew happened, cuz the last one I read was the one where they all left for college except for Nina lol.
SVH-related!
Wasn’t there a series where the twins go to France and Jessica’s dating a total skeeze who’s pretending to be royalty just to manipulate her (which is something Jessica would do herself, if she thought she could get away with it)??? And I remember Elizabeth was in love with the prince and he was dancing with some other bitch of a girl… I can actually remember Elizabeth having an aside about “Put me in that silver dress and let ME dance with him! Waaah!”
I can’t believe I remember that detail. I also remember that the other girl the prince was involved with had red hair and an “angular” (read: pointy and non-heart-shaped, which is probably why she was such a bitch) face.
Anyway, what’s the name of these books? There were a couple of them, and they came right after the series where they’re interns at ~FLAIR~ (don’t even get me started on that series! Whoo, that was a whole mess of crazy right there. I absolutely dug it, btw.)
I make too many comments in parentheses. (At least I’m not a sociopathic cheerleader.)
OMG, this is my 4th comment on this site today! I’m so sorry for the spammage, ihatewheat.
BUT I MUST ASK – does anybody remember a series (or maybe it was just one book???) about teen models? I’m trying so hard to remember major details. All I recall is they all lived in a house and I think they worked for Ford models. And this one model is asking the housekeeper where another model is, and the housekeeper says: “I think she is taking another one of her long baths.” And the girl has a *special face mask* that she can only put on after a hot steamy shower because her pores will be open and her skin will get the most out of it.
I’m sorry, that’s all I remember. But is this ringing any bells for any of you? TY!
Wait, wait, I am totally floored by Abby’s summary above re: Margo/Nora!
I never read the “Nora” books, so I’m presuming that Margo survived the fall off Lila’s pool house or whatever? And everyone thinks she’s Jessica when she turns up later, but Jessica’s really just still hidden away after having been kidnapped? I’m all awash in a sea of confusion.
Oh, and on topic of “lost and found” – does anyone remember the “Keeping Days” series? I only read the first book when I was little, and recently I found out that there were four or five books in the series – most of which are apparently out of print. All I want is a quick rundown of what happens in the stories following the first book – you’d think there would be a “master synopsis” online, but I’ve never managed to find one.
Lauren – I can’t believe there was a SEQUEL about Darci. I couldn’t stand her after I read “Who’s Reading Darci’s Diary?” If I recall correctly, at one point she wins a dance contest – and I disliked her so much that I actually was hoping she would lose.
Jade-
Yes, Margo had a twin sister Nora she never met. When Nora’s stepmother told her about Margo (the girls had been separated at birth and did not know about each other) Nora retraced her footsteps and went to Sweet Valley. I am unclear as to whether she thought Margo was still alive, and there, or if she heard that Margo had died and went seeking revenge. But whatever, she went, and like, ran into Margo, who evidently survived the fall.
Anyways, Margo convinces Nora that they need to kill the twins and take over their lives, so they go for it. However, they get into a huge fight because they both want to be Jessica, and they end up doing their own thing. Margo stashes Jessica somewhere (I don’t know why she didn’t kill her) and takes her place. Nora doesn’t know this and breaks in and kills Margo, but is caught by Elizabeth so she has to split. Jessica is presumed dead, and they hold a funeral for her. Somehow Jessica escapes and everyone is happy. I don’t know if Nora gets killed or if she just leaves town, since I haven’t the book in over 10 years.
“Somehow Jessica escapes and everyone is happy. ”
Strangely, this is the part that sounds the most unbelievable at this point. Really? Wouldn’t everyone’s lives be insanely less complicated if the younger Wakefield girl was gone? You can’t tell me there wasn’t at least one group of slightly overweight geeky girls with glasses who were throwing a party.
This is cheating because it’s not a book. Does anyone remember a Hanna-Barbera cartoon called Wildfire that ran for one season in the mid-1980s? It was about a girl named Sarah who travelled, via a magic amulet (are there any non-magic amulets) and a horse called Wildfire, from her home to a kingdom where she was a princess. The cartoon was actually pretty clever (episode titles like “The Once and Future Queen). I loved this show, and noone ever seems to have heard of it. I also haven’t been able to find it on dvd.
Can anyone remember a series where the main characters are actors in high school? I know in one book the main girl plays Rizzo in Grease, and in another she has a role in Little Shop of Horrors, I think at a beach.
I haven’t been using the right google terms, apparently, probably because I can’t remember much else about the series. Any help would be loved
Amber, as always . . . you’re awesome! Thanks for the re-cap!
Sarach C., I also loved the cartoon WILDFIRE. I just found the opening credits for you on YouTube:
Oh, pardon me – thank you to ABBY, not Amber! My apologies.
Thanks, JWTS! The opening credits are so beautiful and moving and brought back such happy memories that I almost wept (there’s less irony in that statement than their should be–I loved Wildfire!).
@ Nora/Margo/Jess/Liz:
Are you talking about the series “Ford Supermodels of the World”?
(I only know this because there was a blurb about it in Stoneybrookite which linked to
a website with an article about it: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE6DA163DF931A35753C1A962958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
)
Caroline B Cooney’s Saturday Night book is the one where the four girls share a special dance, and Anne (the perfect one finds out she’s pregnant)…the sequel is “Last Dance” and that comes out after Anne’s had the baby. New Year’s Eve is the third and Summer Nights is the final in the fabulous series. I loved them because each book was about what happens during the course of one dance. I have the first three and would love to get my hands on a copy of Summer Nights (although its the less perfect of the four)
I read this series of 5 books when I was like a freshman in high school (so about 16 years ago, yikes). The first four were from the POVs of four sisters (one sister a book) and then the fifth book was from the mom’s POV when she was their age and met their dad. I remember NOTHING of the plotlines except one sister was a hardcore radical feminist and frequently spoiled the fun the others were having. (Now I’m all, ooh, who knew I’d turn into that one?)
Anyone have any idea what these were called?
I know which ones you mean, I think. I’m pretty sure they were just titled after each sister. I also am pretty sure the sisters were 11,12,13, and 14, respectively. The hardcore feminist was 14, and her book was number 4. I believe the first in the series was just called “Phoebe” and was about the 11 year old.
Yes, Abby, those were the books! Off to Amazon to hunt them down….
BTW- the author of that series was Marilyn Kaye.
Okay, this is weird, I found all four of the sisters books VERY EASILY, but am I crazy that there was also one about the mom? Or am I thinking of another series? Because I can’t track down the fifth on any of the million sites I’ve consulted.
Ok guys help with this one, please.
Series that way out around the same time as Sweet Valley began, I think. Tons of books in the series…each one was a girls name. They were YA books. One for sure was Amanda. They were historical books. The one I remember best was a girl on the Oregon Trail. It ended with her getting engaged or married or something to one of the boys she met on the journey. But each book was about a different time period. They were like the Dear Diary books out now, except with a heavier romantic line.
that was the sunfire series – all titled w/the main charator girls name – all set in a specific historial event – verious writers Willo Davis Roberts comes to mind right off the back – Post another message if you want more info as I have a hold box of these at the house
Also I think they were written by different authors…some of the authors maybe wrote two or three books, but mostly they were different.
Stacy, are you thinking of the Sunfire Romance books? Amanda was about the Oregon Trail. (My personal favorite was Megan, set right after Alaska was purchased by the USA.)
Woohoo MaggieCat! Thanks…I am suprised to see how hard they are to come by…Amazon is my trusted source for Sweet Valley of all kinds…but they have a very small selections of these Sunfire book… : (
You’re welcome.
They are a pain in the ass to try to find. I’ve been keeping an eye out the last few times I’ve been at the used book store I frequent, and they are sadly absent from the shelves.
I’ve had luck with Alibris.com though. Searching just with the subject “Sunfire” seems to pull up most of the series.
Thanks again MaggieCat. This is just what I need: Another YA series to spend my hard earned adult money on… I haven’t even finished getting all the SVUs or Senior Years yet.
Ok, I’m a newbie, so be kind.
I got this book from my jr. high library and read all but the very end and of course, lost the book. (Had to pay for it out of my hard earned babysitting dollars…) I believe it’s a stand alone and time frame would have been the late 80’s. A CHUBBY gal (this is so emphasized) somehow goes through a porthole in time and ends up in basically the cave man days. She adapts oh-so-quickly to the new circumstances, helps ‘teach’ the cavemen about things and in the meantime, loses BUNCHES of weight, just in time to be somehow transformed back into modern day as a skinny gal. I missed the complete end of the book but for some reason this has stuck with me over all these years. Does anyone have any idea on this one? I know it’s so vague but it’s always bugged me.
Love this site, makes me laugh out loud everytime I sneak on. Count me in as a new dedicated reader!
I’m not sure if it was talked about, but what’s the title of the book in which Lila spreads a rumor about Ken Matthews and the French teacher?
The one about Ken having a thing with Ms.Dalton was the 2nd book Secrets.
Here is a question someone can maybe answer for me: The Jungle prom miniseries: Jessica spikes the Liz’s drink, she and Sam go off together, wrecks the jeep, Sam dies. Jessica mourns for Sam by blaming Liz even though she knows that she herself is as responsible due to the spiking thing. How exactly does it come out that Elizabeth gets off? Something happened at the trial… I think one of the other school’s students came forward and said ‘yeah we brought in some booze’ but I don’t remember exactly how she got charges dropped and more importantly I want to know how the sisters made up.
“I’ve had luck with Alibris.com though.”
I heart Alibris too, MaggieCat. It’s included in AcqWeb which has lots o’links to other publishers/ vendors: http://www.acqweb.org/
I also like addALL a great deal: http://www.addall.com/
Oh, and you could try WorldCat too: http://www.worldcat.org
Stacey: I’m pretty sure that at the last minute, another witness turns up at Liz’s trial. And it emerges that he actually ran the Jeep off the road because of his dangerous driving, so it wasn’t Liz’s fault at all! Hallelujah!
I don’t remember exactly how the twins made up, but I think it was something to do with staring Margo’s butcher knife in the face.
Oh yeah…how could I have forgot ONE of their attempted murders….
Thanks!
Do you guys remember a book, like a trilogy maybe, about cousins? One of the cousins was named Amelia and she gets assaulted by a guy she goes on a date with. Also, her cousin moves in and only buys clothes at thrift stores and keeps them all in plastic garbage bags, which is a sore point with the aunt and uncle. The cousin who moved in was an orphan whose parents died in a car wreck I think…I remember they both had this other cousin who had her own book…Anybody know these?
So, of course I’ll jump at the chance to both show off my wondrous knowledge of stupid YA books and engage in some gratuitous self-promotion!
The book about the girl who fakes like she’s her own twin and a rock star is “The Two Of Us” by Janet Quin-Harkin, a Sweet Dreams paperback. I bitched about it a million years ago, in the same place where I bitched about Marilyn Sachs’ “Baby Sister” and Cass and Penny and Gary.
http://www.dwanollah.com/prehistoric/blather/singleYA.htm
The trilogy about cousins is called The Whitney Cousins by Jean Thesman. The one about the time travel to cave times might be Saturday the Twelfth of October, but not sure on that one.
Kristen – that’s IT! I looked it up on Amazon and that sounds just like the book. Thanks so much, I have no idea how you figured that out, but it has bugged me for a long time. Now I have to order it (under the guise as a gift for my 7th grader – hahaha) so I can finally read the stupid ending.
You rock!!!
I so remember Cassie and her greenish-blonde hair and yellowish green eyes. God i love books from childhood.
One i’ve been trying to remember is about a bitchy blond girl who each birthday gets to pick a birthday present from her relative’s antique shop and this year (her 15th maybe) picks a clock that doesn’t work.
whatever time she sets the clock for she wakes the next day at that age to experience it as her current self in the body of her younger self. through this there’s a hilarious bit (i thought) were she tells a grusome old lady off for having bad breathe from her pushchair and her mother thinks the old lady is drunk or crazy because obviously she can’t speak at that age. It also allows her to witness things that let her work out why her parents split up. Near the end she sets the clock (must be 24hrs) to her future.
Please help
Please excuse the complete lack of grammer above x
This might be a little out of the age range, but since I’m 30 and I read it…what was that series about two friends and one was named Toni? I think she was the one with the short, crazy hair and was involved in drama (acting, not like DRA-ma!) somehow.
This is like channeling from beyond…I read more murder mystery type teen dramas, and this one is gnawing at me, I swear the title is literally like Who Killed the Prom Queen? or some girl’s name and involves general teen angsting about the prom queen race, teen pregnancy, and a relatable, jockish kind of girl who inadvertantly becomes the frontrunner and the ice queen rich girl who….I think her father owned the mall? Plus she was obsessed with sueded. Anyway, she’s the suspect. The bitch of it is (no pun intended) is that I think the book began and ended with the murder, to be solved in later books. For twenty years now I have not had resolution! ….or the book’s title. Help, anyone?
Aurorasbored, was it Who Killed Peggy Sue?
here’s one I haven’t been able to figure out:
-likely from a teen romance series, like Sweet Dreams
-tennis theme set in Australia
-can’t remember the girl’s name, but I’m almost positive the guy’s name was Mike
-I think they were competitors; definitely a “not supposed to be with each other” sort of thing; probably her first love
I know that’s not a lot to go on; I’ve been searching for a website that lists descriptions of these types of books (I swear there was a site several years ago, which gave me the possible Sweet Dreams lead). Anyway, this looks like a great place to try!
Allie, that’s the series by Janet Quin-Harkin published as part of the Sweet Dreams numbered books, but spun off into some sort of Super Series of its own. The first one was “Ten Boy Summer” and then there were a couple others featuring BFFs Jill and Toni, but I don’t know the titles.
Stasia, if you ever figure out the old site that listed Sweet Dreams books, will you post it here? I am dying to look up some of those. For some reason I keep thinking of one where a girl combines the stubs of lipstick over the burner to create new, perfect lipstick? I remember really wanting to do that. Also there was one where a dude was blind, but then he got his sight back? I also remember P.S. I Love You (NOT the one used for the adaptation with Hilary Swank) where a dude gets cancer, and also there was a sequel, yeah? Man, I was into the cancer books back then.
Do you guys remember the River Heights Series? It was a spinoff from Nancy Drew involving the teenage set in her town of River Heights. UGH…talk about 90210!
Do you guys remember First Love from Silhouette? It was a series of books (just like the Sweet Dream series).
Alli, I loved that series from Janet Quin-Harkin. And the 2 characters Jill and Toni. Ahhhhh the memeries………Follow that Boy, when they followed Carlo all the way to Italy (Kind of reminds me of that movie Only You with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.) and Ten Speed Summer. Oh and then the miniseries On Our Own…when Jill and Toni attend different colleges with the focus shifted to Jill and her dreams, fears and ambitions). I loved reading and I read everything in the 80’s and early 90’s.
Do you guys remember Canby Hall? I loved this series as well.
Anyone remember the series SENIORS?
Anyone remember this series Bloosom Valley–it was actually in the First Love from Silhouetter book series, then when that line was discontinued it moved over to the Keepsakes book series.
I think the author of the Blossom Valley series was Elaine Harper, not sure, but I might have to take a trip to my mom’s attic……LOL.
Does anyone here remember that cartoon (sorry, I know this is suppose to be about books) but this is was such a warp on my life that I have to include it here–The Beverly Hills Teens?
Did you guys ever read anything by Ellen Conford? I remember reading my first novel by her, ‘If this is Love, I’ll take Spaghetti’…..the author went to the same university that I atteneded and its funny she became a well known young adult writer—-which is what I want to be when I grow up (LOL)!
Ashley, I LOVE Caroline Cooney…..Can’t Blame the Music is by far my favorite novel by her.
ok does anyone remember these books. They were very young YA l(ike 8-10 there’s no real romance or anything). and i belive they are a bit older like set in the 70s or early 80s and in Seattle. I dont think they were a series, but the books were all by the same author and vaguely related. i think the kids all went ot the same school. ok here’s what i remember
one book the girl has no mother, lives in an apartment with her father, the downstairs neighbor woman is always trying to seduce him. they move to the suburbs and get a wolf dog, the dog runs away. dad ends up falling in love with the new neighbor
second book. think the girl’s name is Jenny. her mother goes gets a job and the dad is very disgruntled. jenny has to take care of her little brother and starts getting in trouble b/c she thinks she’s not ggetting enough attention. ends up hitchhiking and get arrested by the police
last one i remember. girl is very dumb. she’s an only child, and her mother is always pushing her to do well in school. mother ends up doing most of her work, and turns out the girl cant even read and she’s like 12. ends up being moved to remedial classes. her uncle visits and gives her firecrackers and sets them off in school.
familiar to anyone? this is driving me crazy.
Thanks, Dwanollah and Gerry!
Aurorasbored: That’s definitely Who Killed Peggy Sue. I actually still have books 1 and 4, although I couldn’t tell you where 2 and 3 got to. I wonder if the mystery would still hold up after all this time…
Oh, and Gerry, not only do I remember Beverly Hills Teens, but ten years later they were showing it on the Spanish-language channel! I’m trying to remember the names of the characters without looking them up…Lark…Blaize…
Also, I was a huge Conford fan, especially And This is Laura. I reread it two years ago and wow, there was a lot more going on there than I remembered, in terms of Laura’s gift and why she might have gotten it…
Yeah, Allie, I remember Who Killed Peggy Sue being SUPER INTENSE and AWESOME, and now I’m a bit afraid to go back to it. Most of my favorites have NOT held up.
Anonymous- I’m not sure, but I think the second story (Jenny) might be Nothing’s Fair in 5th Grade. It was set in Washington in the early 80s or maybe even late 70s (they reference Rolling Stones and Elton John a lot). There is a chapter where Jenny and her friends (and younger brother) are going to a carnival downtown and they start walking, but get tired and accept a ride from a guy who goes the opposite direction and the girls end up jumping out of the bed of the truck in traffic and going to the police.
The last book is 6th Grade Can Really Kill You, and the main girl is named Helen. She can read, but she’s severely learning disabled.
Both books were written by Barthe Declements.
Oh, Blossom Valley… they made SVH seem wildly contemporary and relevent!
YES that is it! thank you! i’m googling barthe as we speak.
I LOVED Beverly Hills Teens. Thanks for confirming that the show actually existed: I thought it was a dream. Didn’t someone have a pool in the back of their stretch limo?
Doesn’t EVERYONE? I mean, seriously, let’s give up these Hummer limos and go back to the pool-limos.
“I’m not sure, but I think the second story (Jenny) might be Nothing’s Fair in 5th Grade”
Correct-O-mundo, Abby! I loooooved that book. Barthe DeClements totally rocks!
IIRC this title had some sequels/ spin-offs too — “6th grade can really kill you” , “How do you Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues?” and “Seventeen and In-between”.
BTW, in case y’all haven’t heard, the general public can add reviews and notes to the WorldCat database (http://www.worldcat.org/). And looking at some of the entries, methinks said database could benefit substantially from the astute insights of the Dairiburger gang.
“let’s give up these Hummer limos and go back to the pool-limos.”
Yeah, Allie! Brilliant idea — it epitomizes the Sweet Valley Way of Life. Increased Gas Consumption + Increased Water Consumption = Mobile Pool Parties.
“IIRC this title had some sequels/ spin-offs too — “6th grade can really kill you” , “How do you Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues?” and “Seventeen and In-between”.”
Oops! Sorry I misread part of your post, Abby. You already had “6th grade can really kill you” listed. The last two related books (i.e. “How do you Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues?” and “Seventeen and In-between”) feature Elsie Edwards who was the overweight girl in “Nothing’s Fair in 5th Grade”. She loses a lot of weight through proper diet and exercise, unlike the Robin Wilson fitness program.
the other barthe declemens book was called “fourth grade wizards” and was about jack and marianne from that same series with jenny, helen and Elsie.
the other barthe declemens book was called “fourth grade wizards” and was about jack and marianne from that same series with jenny, helen and Elsie.
“the other barthe declemens book was called “fourth grade wizards” and was about jack and marianne from that same series with jenny, helen and Elsie.”
Ah ha! I knew I was forgetting at least one — thanks, Anonymous!
There was this book I loved in middle school and checked it from the library at least 3 or 4 times but I can’t remember the title at all now. I think the author’s last name must have begun with either M or a letter near M because I’m sure the book was in or near the Ann M. Martin section.
Some of the major plot points I remember was the book being about a 12 or 13 year old girl with two or three brothers and her dad. Can’t remember what happened to mom. At one point, dad takes girl and her two best friends to the beach for a vacation and during the trip, she gets her first two piece bathing suit.
At some point in the book she also goes on her first date to dinner and her aunt (I think) told her to order the least expensive thing on them menu. She freaked when she opened the menu because there were no prices on it.
I also distinctly remember the girl and her friends having a discussion about cleavage and how if you had enough of it, you could hide your locket inside of it.
I think the dad also gave one of the brothers crap in the beginning of the book for having sex in his bed.
Anyone remember this?
I just reread nothings fair in fifth grade. I’ll write about it soon.
Jen- Those books sound like the Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I really enjoyed reading them when I was younger too.
There was a series of books I loved when I was in like 2nd grade, about a set of twins–Randi and Sandi?–and their “identical” cousin, Mandi. Randi only wore red and Sandi wore pink and purple…? And there was one where they auditioned for a TV show or something? Anyone?
Leatt – Thank you so much! Those are exactly the books. I only read the second book – I never realized it was an entire series. I’ve got some catching up to do now!
OK I’ve got two here:
First is a science fiction story about these teens, I think they live on another planet, who have special abilities due to some sort of cosmic event or something. They have been raised away from the rest of society. But then they are awkwardly reunited with their families. There is some kind of protective fence or barrier that seperates the human settlement from everything else. Pretty much the only thing I remember is one of the characters watching her (his?) parents die by being ripped apart by a tornado while he stands on the other side of said barrier. It was so traumatic for me growing up.
Two: this is even more vague. It was a series of very short books for young elementary schoolers who are first reading “chapter books.” A small town elementary school is the center of the series and each book focuses on a different grade in the school, from first to fifth. But the kids in the other grades serve as sort of background characters even when the focus isn’t on their grade. I can’t remember any plots, except that one involved some sort of Valentine’s day embarassment.
There are so many more mystery books out there for me, but this is it for now.
I have one!
I think it would be under more children’s than YA, but it was a chapter book about the length of a BSC. The main character had epilepsy, and she was friends with some twins. One of the twins rigged up a sleeve to hide her diary in that she taped to the back of her dresser or something, and the cover has the twins showing Miss Epilepsy where it’s hidden.
@snappleaddict:
Oh my god I totally remember that book. It’s how I learned what epilepsy was. But I have not an inkling as to the title.
I adored the Sunfire romances when I was a kid–I used to write summaries of them for fun. My favorite was Caroline, who dresses up as a boy and goes off with the California Gold Rush. According to the website someone listed, that book is quite rare. No wonder I haven’t been able to get a hold of it since I returned it to a library in a different state. Still not sure what my 5th grade teacher was thinking when she recommended them to me.
Also was a big fan of Barthe Declemens, those books were fantastic. I get a kick out of re-reading Seventeen and in-between every summer at my grandparent’s.
Now, my search:
The book was about a ballet dancer who I believe was named Kate, who goes off to hardcore ballet school in New York. She ends up going skate boarding with some boys and spraining her ankle. Since she can’t dance for a few weeks, she ends up gaining weight, and the costume lady gets pissed because she has to let out the costumes for a performance. In the end the girl tells her parents that she’s decided to leave the ballet school, I think because it made her too worried about her weight.
Anyone?
After some searching, I think the epilepsy book was What If They Knew? by Patricia Hermes. I’d know for sure if I saw the cover, but the only one I could find online was possibly from a different edition.
I have another one! I remember this one from when I was about 12 or so. The book is about a girl that likes to go to an abandoned house in the neighborhood, apparently there were a bunch of sisters (? maybe seven or so) that lived there decades before. She enters the house and is suddenly back in time, living with the family back in their era. Can’t remember details except I think once she returns to our time and she goes home, one of the ’sisters’ shows up at the house to claim something she took. Very gothic overtones, not scary, just kind of creepy. Sound familiar to anyone? Can you tell I liked the time travel stuff? LOL
That book Jess11974 was called “the Seven secret pigeon ladies in the garden”
I have searched for it for YEARs ; I loved that book so much.
I just found out the name was changed to something entirely different. When I learned what it was I went on Amazon and bought it. It is the same book.
I am at work but when I get home I will post the new title so you can find it.
I love that someone else in the world remembers this book! I have been reading it aloud to my boys (11 &
and they love it too.
I didn’t mean to put that smiley guy. I meant to say my sons were 11 and 8 years old.
Do you guys remember an SVH where Jessica finds a dress she likes but they only had size 4 left so she went on a diet to fit in it? Am I dreaming this? I think it’s an older one (pre-Evil Twin miniseries).
“It was a series of very short books for young elementary schoolers who are first reading “chapter books.” A small town elementary school is the center of the series and each book focuses on a different grade in the school, from first to fifth”
Not a lot to go on, but could it maybe the series about the kids at James Polk Elementary? I only say that because those were the first chapter books we read in first and second grade. I remember one book was called, like, The Beast in Ms. Rooney’s room, and was about a boy who had to go to a special class for learning disabled kids and was left back so he was a lot bigger than the other kids and was really embarassed about it. I remember another character was named Emily who was also in the special class. Then they had a series about Emily’s younger sister who was a grade below her.
“The main character had epilepsy, and she was friends with some twins. One of the twins rigged up a sleeve to hide her diary in that she taped to the back of her dresser or something, and the cover has the twins showing Miss Epilepsy where it’s hidden.”
Snappleaddict, was the name of the book “What If They Knew?” by Patricia Hermes.
Here’s the plot summary c/o Worldcat.org : “A 10-year-old girl staying with her grandparents for the summer is appalled to discover that her parents’ prolonged stay abroad means that she must start in a new school and somehow hide the fact that she is an epileptic.”
Hot or cold?
Oops! Cross-posted with ihatewheat. Nevermind…
I mean, with “snappleaddict”… Is it time to go home yet?
Abby: That’s it! Thank you so much. I honestly couldn’t remember anything about the title or the character names, but you figured it out. Yay! I looked it up on Amazon and the one I was referring to was “The Valentine Star.”
Paige,
I remembered those books too but couldn’t remember the names of the characters, just that they rhymed. I did a little online searching and found out that they are books by Michael J. Pellowski and that the first one is called Double Trouble and the other one you mentioned is called Triple Trouble in Hollywood.
I loved Double Trouble and the Hollywood one! The TV commercial involved chewing gum and being able to do a back flip – that really impressed me when I was younger.
Jessi1974:
The book you were referring to about the haunted house and the sisters (who take the forms of pigeons and who move around in their pictures) was called Seven Secret Pigeon Ladies in the Garden, then became published as The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden, and is NOW known as The Wicked Wicked Ladies in the Hauted House. It was written by Mary Chase.
Look it up on Amazon…you can find it pretty cheap.
I’ve got two SVH books I’d like to catch up on if anyone can remind me the titles.
One the girls go to a choir competition in Washington DC (this may have been a mini-series, it also may have been only Jess that went, but I think it was both of them)
I think they were there around Christmas, but since it’s Christmas 20 times a year in Sweet Valley that’s a pretty fair assumption.
The other one is some sort of special book, it was a bit longer than the regular ones and the twins travel to some alternate universe where there’s princes and nobles and a labyrinth??? Anything?
Thanks for the help ladies (and gents?)
I think the prince and nobles one may have been a SVT book where they go on a class trip to an amusement park. I think.
Christmas choir trip was SVT’s Holiday Mischief. I LOVED that book!
I think the second one you’re thinking of is also SVT, entitled The Class Trip. Loved that one too…so fantastical and ridic.
Kates: the book you’re referring to is Kate’s Turn. I can’t think of the author but I LOVED that book…maybe because I was really into dance too (although not that hard-core).
As I recall, Kate decides to leave the ballet school because she doesn’t like being away from her family and she wants to have more of a normal life. The weight thing was also a factor–one of her friends was bulimic and the housemother basically turned a blind eye instead of getting her some help.
snappleaddict, you didn’t imagine the book where where Jessica has to diet to fit into a size 4 dress! I think it’s called “Rumors”, and it’s about Susan Stewart not knowing who her real parents are. Jessica wants the dress to go to the snooty Bridgewater Ball, which is apparently THE social event of the year.
were those really SVT books? I mean that makes sense because I read more of those than SVH, but they seemed to be acting like high schoolers…
Well then, that’s the clue: They almost never managed to act like real high school students when they were in high school! And they generally acted middle aged in the few SVT books I ever looked at, so it all works out.
Girl – you may also be thinking about the SVT Magna Edition The Magic Christmas. In that one, Jess and Liz’s grandmother gives them matching prince dolls that belonged to their great-grandmother and great-aunt, Samantha and Amanda. In the middle of the night, the girls (individually) solve the riddle on the dolls’ matching medallions and are transported back to the dolls’ kingdom. Naturally, Liz is paired with the playful, irresponsible prince and Jess is paired with the serious prince. I remember that in the kingdom all they had to do was imagine something in great detail and it would appear for them. Fun read.
I did a recap of My Sweet Audrina here, if anyone wanted to see it. I know a bunch of you were discussing it re: the Kidnapped! post, so I thought I’d link it.
>Wasn’t there a series where the twins go to >France and Jessica’s dating a total skeeze who’s >pretending to be royalty just to manipulate her >(which is something Jessica would do herself, if >she thought she could get away with it)???
Nora- is it this? http://community.livejournal.com/1bruce1/4534.html
>Snappleaddict, was the name of the >book “What If They Knew?” by Patricia >Hermes.
Cool! I remember that book. The main character’s name was Jeremy, which confused me for a bit. I remember trying to figure out if she was a boy or a girl. It is also when I learned what epilepsy was.
Does anyone remember a book about a girl who’s sister had some kind of cancer (Leukemia, I think). The girls’ names were Meg and Molly (I think). The healthy sister would get kind of impatient with her sister because she got more attention because she was sick, but then she felt bad about it. I remember a vivid scene where, in the middle of the night, sick sister tells healthy sister to get their mom and dad. They turn on the light and there is blood everywhere, from her nosebleed.
88keys, you are thinking of one of my favorite books of all time, A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry. I recently reread it, and I think I like it even more as an adult. SO GOOD.
hey, i read a book in like the 90s about… ah where to start? it was like a murder mystery set around valentines day and there was a group of friends and two of them were sisters one was pretty and one wasn’t, anyway then i think the prety one fell off a horse and was brain damged and then the ugly sister proceeded to kill everyone while wearing a wig that made her look like her (now mentally disabled) sister. I think she killed her sisters exboyfriend and maybe friends… i think someone fell through some ice at one point as well. i cant remember her specefic reason for killing anyone but i do remember the book shocked me as a kid. Arg i don’t feel like i am explaining this well but i have a fuzzy memory of it. I think it was a stand alone within some sort of series.
If any one can help me it would be much appreciated, as a kid i mostly just stuck to the Sweet Valley and BSC but this was one of those rare forays into other series.
I know this reply is sooo late it’s not funny, but I just found this site & it’s really taken me down memory lane.The book you are referring to is Broken Hearts by R.L. Stine. I saw no one else had answered that yet, so if you by chance are on here, there you go. It was one of my favorites by R.L. Stine because it was one of the only books where the ending wasn’t entirely predictable.
@LoganLover: Are you thinking of Christopher Pike’s “Slumber Party”? It sounds similar, although the other sister was burned in a house fire, and didn’t fall off a horse. But I think there was another Pike book with a similar plot, too.
If it helps jog your memory I know the murderous girl in “Slumber Party” was named Celeste. Other character names include Dana the best friend, Nell the sister and Mindy the ditz. I can’t remember the main characters name. There is also a bitchy, beautiful girl. But I can’t remember her name either.
Stacey – You are the best!!! I used to check that book out over and over again at the library. Another one to add to my amazon order for my (ahem) daughter to read.
“I did a recap of My Sweet Audrina here, if anyone wanted to see it.”
Awesome, Diane!
One of my most enduring memories of this book was how Audrina’s father tried to make the first Audrina’s death “pretty” (his words) by including a description of her non-existent sister’s dead body lying under the golden raintree or some such scheiss. Yeah, that makes it soooo much better. [eye roll]
It was also super-freaky how Daddy Dearest would take that traumatized little girl to a fake grave with the “first” Audrina’s name inscribed on the tombstone. Natch she doesn’t realize until much later — after the Big Confrontation with Daddy, Arden, etc. — that the grave is actually her own. She confirms this by digging up the empty coffin. This is the only scene where Arden is finally of some use: he fetches Audrina a shovel and helps her dig. Oh, but not until AFTER he has sex with her in the pouring cold rain on top of the grave before he helps her dig. (What a zero!)
The real kicker is that Daddy Dearest drags Audrina to this fake grave everytime she does something that displeases him. (Like walking into the village or talking to Arden). Granted, the story is set in a rural area but they had money from Audrina’s mom’s family. Daddy Dearest could have paid for a real therapist instead of stuffing her head with lies for ten years. He even convinces all of the locals to abet him in his deceptions. This guy is totes from the Wakefield School of Ass-Backwards Parenting. Seriously yo. :\
Also, Audrina’s father beats her mom with a belt while she’s pregnant causing her to go into pre-term labor. When her mom dies in childbirth (of course) he starts shagging his dead wife’s sister again. Apparently this a$$hat has even less of a moral compass than Jessica Wakefield since even before he married Audrina’s mom, he had already spawned Vera the skank with the aunt. (More!Dark! Family! Secrets!)
And let’s not forget Daddy Dearest’s affair with Arden’s mom, Billie. She was a beautiful world famous figure skater before she lost both of her legs to diabetes and treats Audrina like a daughter. I really liked Billie’s character even though she never tells Audrina that her son witnessed her being gang-raped and that basically her whole life is a sham. It kinda made me sad when Vera killed Billie by pushing her down the front hall stairs of the family mansion.
When Audrina finally makes a snarky remark about how her father is just using Billie so he can get all jiggy and kinky with a legless woman, I was like YEAH, girl, it’s about time you confronted your dad for being a drunken, domineering wife-beater and lying, manipulative male ho-bag.
I swear that V.C. Andrews must have collaborated with the SV ghost writers too because ‘My Sweet Audrina” has the same repetitive descriptions of hair, eye color, body type, etc. Audrina’s “chameleon hair” is mentioned on every other page. It was strawberry blond-ish, but with all kinds of different streaks so her hair changed color in different lights. Every time a character enters a scene, there’s a minimum of three paragraphs of physical descriptions. Prime examples include “Billie’s violet eyes were like Elizabeth Taylor’s and complemented her luxurious curly black hair that tumbled to her slender waist” or “Vera’s apricot colored hair flared in the sunlight”. The worst description was of Audrina seeing her aunt getting out of her dad’s bed — it entailed “raspberry nipples” and that’s as far as I’m willing t o expound on that particular subject. Major blech.
Oh, and Audrina wears white dresses. Constantly. As in, every description involving her, mention is made of her “new winter white dress”. Daddy issues indeed…IIRC her father even says to Audrina “I made you a virgin again, darling” during the Big Confrontation which I guess explains her compulsive need to wear white and made me throw up in my mouth a little. IMO that’s waaay creepier than the Steve zipping up Jess’s dress while oggling her goodies.
Day-um this is fun! So who’s up for recapping the entire Flowers in the Attic seris? ^_^
“It sounds similar, although the other sister was burned in a house fire, and didn’t fall off a horse. But I think there was another Pike book with a similar plot, too.”
In Slumber Party, everyone assumed the younger sister was killed in a house fire, because the family told everyone she was. I don’t know why. Really, the horribly scarred (not facially, just on her body) sister was sent away for several years to live with relatives, and then came back to the school and befriended all her old friends under a different name. The older sister convinced the younger one the friends had set her on fire on purpose and they all needed to die. The whole point of the slumber party was to kill all the girls who were at the original party where the fire took place. The younger sister pulled out of the plot when it was revealed the older sister was a lying psycho.
A very similar Christopher Pike book was called “Weekend” where 2 sisters invited a group of friends to their beachhouse. One of the sisters had been slipped rat poison by one of the friends in the group and was close to death. All the friends are held captive and threatened to be killed when it’s revealed that the non sick sister is doing it all. She doesn’t actually want to kill anyone though– she’s just trying to scare the group into figuring out who poisoned the sick girl. Turns out the poison was meant for the non sick sister. “Weekend” is the book that has the beautiful bitchy girl– her name was Lena. Lena was the non sick sister.
“murderous girl in “Slumber Party” was named Celeste”
Nathalie, I remember this book too. It was definitely Christopher Pike’s “Slumber Party”. The ISBN is 0590334093 and it was published by Scholastic in 1985. According to WorldCat, 784 libraries have this book listed in their hldings. Here is the summary from the bibliographic record: “When a ski weekend reunites a group of teenage girls eight years after a fire at a slumber party disfigured one of them and killed her sister, new fire-related accidents suggest that one of them may have been responsible.”
IIRC Celeste got burned when one of the other girls (Nell?) makes the mistake of trying to douse the flames by throwing brandy on Celeste after her nightgown catches on fire from the candles that they’re using for a seance. The beautiful bitchy girl was the one who puts the fire out with a blanket and burns her hands doing so. I think her name was Brenda or Barbara but I’m not sure.
Since Celeste suffers 3rd degree burns over most of her body, her parents send her to an expensive burn center and tells everyone that she died. None of the other girls (except her sister Nell) know who Celeste really is until the end of the book When All Is Revealed.
And Nell is the person who’s been setting fires, right? She dies at the end after torching the family ski lodge but Celeste and the other girls reconcile.
GMTA, Abby! Thanks for clarifying re: the name of beautiful bitchy girl.
And that should be “in their holdings” not “hldings”– lousy patrons asking me questions while I’m at the Reference Desk. Goodness, can’t they see that I’m very busy blogging about something totally non-work related? ;O)
“So who’s up for recapping the entire Flowers in the Attic series? ^_^”
Someone is:
http://neonspandex.blogspot.com/
“Someone is [recapping Flowers in the Attic]:
http://neonspandex.blogspot.com/”
BWAHAHAHA! Thanks for the link, ihatewheat — that just made my entire week!
This line almost made me spew coffee all over the screen: “…Chris walks in. He used his incest radar to find Cathy.”
anyone remember a series about some middle-school kids… with the word ‘pickle’ in it? maybe? there was a girl in it named Sunny who was going as long as she could without bathing… that’s all i remember.
and i remember a book about a girl falling off a horse resulting in brain damage, and her evil sister wreaking havoc… i’m assuming it’s another Christopher Pike book with a similar plot to Slumber Party…
OMG I totally loved Christopher Pike when I was in 5th grade…there was one where there was a couple who had sex (ooooh!) and got pregnant, and then were suddenly in some weird alternate universe where no one else existed, and the guy got killed by falling out of a hay loft and onto a pitchfork. His name was Pepper. I thought that book was so cool.
@ Eliza from back in December–the Time Travel series you’re thinking of is the “Swept Away” books. I can’t remember the author but the first one was “Gone with the Wish” and had a red haired tomboy who went back to plantation times and learned how to be a lady, then there was a Woodstock one where her blonde best friend, Lou, went to Woodstock and ended up assisting in the birth of the guy who became her boyfriend in the contemporary part of the book. There was a Wild West one, the Salem one you remember, and a ’50’s one–again with Lou as the traveller, and I think they stopped after that–that was the last one my library had anyway.
In addition to the 2 days = 2 minutes wrinkle you remember, they created the warp when the red haired girl from the first book (who was a computer genius) had logged into their local library’s historical database. I remember it was the first time I’d ever heard of a modem.
Eliza // December 28, 2007 at 3:32 am
Okay, I have been racking my brain over this one for years. Does anyone remember a series about girls who traveled through time? It was part time-travel/historical fiction and part romance? The only one I really remember was about a girl who got transported back to Salem and was accused of being a witch. (I think she first landed in the water, and she was floating, which led to the initial witch accusation, and then she had to spend the whole time trying not to get burned at the stake and, I think, trying to free another girl).The whole gimmick was that there was this time wrinkle, where two days in the historical place only equaled two minutes in the present, so they could spend two days there without anyone’s noticing they were missing, but then, if they didn’t get back in time, the time wrinkle flipped so (I think) two minutes in the historical setting was two days in the present and everyone would then know they were missing. And there was always a romance part, which of course took away from the Strong Girls Traveling Through Time theme. I think I would have read these sometime between 1985-1988 but maybe it was a bit later. PLEASE someone help me out with this, because I clearly am not Googling the right words to figure it out.
Actually, after some searching (and some. . .buying), there are apparently 8 of them: Gone with the Wish; Woodstock Magic; Love on the Range; Star Struck; Spell Bound (the Salem one); Once Upon a Kiss; Pirate Moon; and All Shook Up.
Paige, Christopher Pike books were really good. The book you were talking about is called “Whisper of Death”, and when the main character goes to get an abortion, she has this weird dream that everyone in the world has disappeared except for her, and four of her classmates.
Really creepy book, but I always loved Christopher Pike books. My favorite ever was See You Later.
its funny the things you remember about these books. I cant belive someone mentioned the Alice series. I distinctily remember being a little kid and reading about the teacher with the “pear shaped” figure and praying i would grow up to a be a “perfect size six” like the twins and not a pear. Ha and teh bully’s name was Mac Truck. and I remember the locket thing too. and that one of the girls’ had parents that were nudists. yet i could tell you nothing about the plot points, just random details that had an impact on me.
ha and the Double Trouble books! I would beg my dad to read them out loud to me when i was a very young child (before i could read big chapter books). ha my poor dad was forced to read YA girl books. Ha i def dont appreciate him enough.
I definitely remember the pear-shaped description in the Alice books striking fear into my heart. There was another book about a girl who was working out to an exercise video with her mom and the woman on the video was talking about pear-shaped bodies and apple-shaped bodies. Ye gads, and my mother wondered why I didn’t want to eat anything in 8th grade.
I didn’t realize I had forgotten the title of the above book until I started talking about it. I feel like the main character’s name starts with an A, but I’m not sure, and she gets in a fight with her best friend, Rachel. They have a third good friend who the main character remains friends with throughout the book. I think they’re in junior high, and I distinctly remember a scene when they’re going shopping for clothes to wear to a dance and the main character buys a sweater with a parade of animals going across it. The main character’s parents have gotten divorced in recent memory, and her dad is seeing someone new. While visiting her dad and his new girlfriend, I remember her sneaking a spoonful of peanut butter from the jar. She also plays scrabble with her dad and his girlfriend, and I remember her coming up with a good word that she gets lots of points for. She finally makes up with her friend the last scene in the book. They live down the block from each other, and they start talking and offer repeatedly to walk each other home, so they keep walking up and down the block.
I hate when I remember that I’ve forgotten something (such as the title of this book).
Hey Kates, it’s Just as Long as We’re Together by Judy Blume.
NOOOOOOO! I just realized that I had totally blocked out horrid old “Slumber Party” until today. Thanks to this thread, it’s all come screaming back to me . . . I should have averted my eyes!
I think that and “Prom Dress” were the only “scary” books I ever read during my YA obsession. (SVH seemed “upbeat and positive” in comparision, although the long-term damage would ultimately be far worse. Ha ha.)
Thanks, Chris.
I cannot believe that I forgot the title of a Judy Blume book. I’m ashamed of myself.
Oh god, I went through a HUGE scary book phase and Christopher Pike was my fave. I somehow missed “Whisper of Death” though, which is too bad, because the description above sounds amazing.
I can’t believe a CP heroine actually had sex with her boyfriend! It seems like all of his books I read the main character was deciding that she should probably have sex with her boyfriend soon (one was debating between b-day and prom), but hadn’t done it yet. (Except of course for Shari’s failed attempt to lose her virginity in “Remember Me.”)
I remember thinking how “realistic” CP books were because the main characters were interested in sex. Of course they were also ghosts and serial killers and vampires, so…
Really? It seemed to be me like sex was a pretty recurring theme in his books. In Weekend, they lead you to believe all the couples are having sex. In The Immortal, Josie lost her virginity to her high school boyfriend and can’t look at fish without getting horny. Teresa decided she was going to lose her virginity to her high school boyfriend, but he dumped her for her best friend before she got the chance. Mary loses hers to her high school boyfriend in Execution of Innocence. Jean in Bury Me Deep kept trying to get laid, but guys thought she was too nice. I guess a lot of the main girls were virgins, but it didn’t seem to always be by choice.
And you should check out Whisper of Death…it is a pretty crazy book. Regardless of the often supernatural elements to his books, his characters are often very realistic and likeable, and his books definitely make you think. He was way above his “horror” peers such as RL Stine and Nicholas Pine.
I didn’t read “Weekend” or “The Immortal,” so I guess I missed out.
I know lots of the peripheral characters were having sex. But it just always seemed to me that the main girls were always just deciding they wanted to start. But you sound very knowledgable, so I’m willing to admit I’m probably wrong here.
The main just-barely-still-a-virgin girls I was thinking of when I posted were from “Remember Me,” “Spellbound” and “Gimmie a Kiss” (which were my fave CP books that I read over and over and over, so I remember the details better than some of the others).
It always struck me as sort of funny that these horrible things start happening in these girls lives just as they decide they probably want to have sex.
And I agree on the Pike superiority over other teen horror writers. He was actually quite talented at character development. And some of his books honestly did scare the crap out of me.
Christopher Pike was my favorite. He also writes “grown-up” books, like Sati, which is about a girl who says she’s God, and most recently The Blind Mirror (released only about two years ago), which wasn’t one of his strongest but it was definitely interesting. He also wrote another “grown-up” horror called Season of Passage which SCARED THE HECK OUTTA ME. OMG.
Anyway, sort of on topic but not about a book. It’s about a show and it’s been driving me crazy. I thought it was on Nickelodeon but I can’t find anything on the Nick Nostalgia pages. There were these kids, and a teacher-like person, and the teacher-like person went to another country, where she picked up an illness of some sort, and she prepared food, and the kids ran around turning over everyone’s dishes yelling “DON’T EAT THE SALAD!!!!”
Anyone?
You know what books would be fun to read and recap (but probably without the snark, because they were actually pretty good)? Those books about Kobie and Gretchen by Candace F. Ransom (I think). They had titles like Going on Twelve, Fifteen at Last, etc.
Does anyone remember the Silver Skates books? It was a short series, I think about 5 or 6 books, about teenage figure skaters in, of course, boarding school? They were SO my favorite ever because they combined my two favorite things, ice skating and boarding schools. I think every book seemed to center on some kind of skating competition, and there was lots of boy drama, too.
Does anyone remember a book (or possibly series?) about a girl who becomes a teen model, but she’s totally awkward and not loving it, and it’s really hard on her? (I know, right? BOO FRIGGIN’ HOO.) I totally remember loving it.
Chris, I don’t remember the Silver Skates books, but I think I’m going to have to go look them up now because figure skating and boarding schools were my favorite things. Did you ever read the Silver Blades series by Melissa Lowell? I loved those as a kid, especially the Gold Medal miniseries about the Olympics. Definitely a big reason I started figure skating. I’ll have to go re-read these books, because I feel like they actually might’ve been an accurate depiction of the sport.
A few things…
I LOVED the Alice books. I’m ashamed to admit that I looked up some of the books (bc they are still being written) and totally read one last year (at the age of 21). I really wanted to know what was going on in that universe!
My favorite Christopher Pike book was Remember Me. I actually also reread this recently and there are passages that are surprisingly really good.
As for the book I am looking for: it’s about a family, possibly living in the south. The mom walks out and abandons her kids; I think the dad had been gone for a while. The whole book is about how the kids try to survive and try to keep child services away. I’m pretty sure it was just one novel. I can’t remember anything else, except that the older kids were a boy and a girl and they also had a couple younger kids too, and I think they left money in a coffee can??
Kates,
I read the Silver Blades books, too! I was a little too old when they came out, so I’d send my younger sister over to that section of the library for me. I just recently got the Gold Medal series from Ebay and wondered what ever happened to Danielle Panati, the pudgy Italian American one with the grandma who always cooked?
I did some research and the Silver Skates books were by Barbara Mumma. They’re written for a slightly older audience than the Silver Blades books. And although I never really made it very far in my figure skating days (stupid Axel) I considered them as a more realistic
portrayal of what an actual training schedule would be like. You should definitely check them out!
Kelly- you are thinking of Mama, Let’s Dance, by Patricia Hermes. It has a 16 year old boy, I think the oldest sister is 12, and a younger sister who is 7. Well written, but one of the most depressing childrens’ books I have ever read.
Kelly, you might be thinking of Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. The main character was a girl named Dicey. There is a sequel called Dicey’s Song and a few more related books.
Tatsu (from Feb. 20): I totally remember that book, but I can’t remember the title. It was one of my favorites and I remember checking it out of the library several times. The book was set in England if I remember correctly and I think the main character’s name was Victoria. In the future-scene, didn’t she wake up married to her then-boyfriend and they had a couple kids?
Hooray, other folks remember HOMECOMING!
Kelly, you MUST read the other novels in the “Tillerman Family” series by Cynthia Voigt. I loved, loved, LOVED those books.
I just found all my old Mary Downing Hahn books in my basement! I want to recap “Tallahassee Higgins” and “Stepping on the Cracks,” but I’m not sure anyone else remembers them. Would you guys be interested in reading those recaps?
I’m looking for the book in the sweet valley series where Roger Collins ex-wife comes back to town and tries to take his son. Can anyone help?
Does anyone remember the series Bad News Ballet?
There was another series I read too about 4 friends and one girl,Molly, moves to Kansas so they start a pen pal club. I can’t think of the name…
Rachel, yes that’s her. When she sets the clock to 24 she finds she’d become pregnant by accident and now had at least one child and doesn’t much like her life so she chooses to break up with her boyf in the present to avoid it.
I used to love those sort of books, Margaret Mahy did some good spooky ‘young adult’ books too but those i can find.
Kelly, you MUST read the other novels in the “Tillerman Family” series by Cynthia Voigt. I loved, loved, LOVED those books.”
Seconding Jade Wu’s Toeshoes suggestion to read Homecoming. Dicey’s Song was great too.
And that reminds me (triggered by a scene in Homecoming when Dicey & her sibs go out on some teenage guy’s boat while en route to their Grandmother’s house)… Did anyone here ever read a book about a teenage girl named Katherine who lives with her Mom in reduced financial circumstances. Although she doesn’t have much money, she really wants to learn how to sail. She and a male friend work together on a broken down sailboat so she can race in local regatta. They end up being boyfriend-girlfriend. I think it was called “Catch the Passing Breeze”…?
Yes, I think it was Mama, Let’s Dance that I was looking for. Thanks, Abby. Although the series by Cynthia Voigt sounds interesting, I don’t think I can handle anything as depressing as that book was.
Anyone remember the SV book where Lila is super nice and keeps some kid hiding in her house and then the kid keeps complaining or something and gives herself away? WTF was that all about? I remember her thinking about pulling out a tweezers to make chunky peanut butter creamy or something. Maybe a unicorn book??
It may have been a Unicorns Book…I never actually read it but there was a book (I think #3) where a little girl who went to the daycare center where Lila volunteered ran away from home and went to Lila’s.
Kelly & Abby this was def the Unicorn Book #4 “Lila’s Little Sister”. I really loved that side of Lila.
Aseya “I’m looking for the book in the sweet valley series where Roger Collins ex-wife comes back to town and tries to take his son. Can anyone help?
At first I thought no that didn’t happen, but it keeps tugging at me, so I think maybe it did happen! Its going to drive me nuts….HELP anyone?
Floridagirl, that series is “Friends 4-Ever” and it’s adorable. Remember writing letters? Do kids even know what that is anymore?
In honor of this thread, I pulled Cynthia Voigt’s COME A STRANGER out from a box this AM when I couldn’t sleep, and read a few chapters, and cried. Whoohoo!
(My husband and our golden were both sound asleep throughout the whole process, except for when I started sniffling.)
stacy- I’ve been looking through all my old books but can’t find anything but I know it exists. I’ve also looked on the internet but can’t find any info. Let me know if you do manage to find out as it has been driving me crazy for weeks.
Chris, I’ll definitely look into the Silver Skates books the second I’m back in a country where English is a primary language (I think my parents are going to kill me if I send them another e-mail demanding that they track down x book from my childhood).
Love, love, love Homecoming, Dicey’s Song, and Seventeen Against the Dealer. I also really liked Voigt’s Izzy, Willy-Nilly.
This is going way, way, back, but has anyone read the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace? I just recently re-read Betsy and the Great World, and I have to say I loved it as much as ever. I cannot decide if this means I had excellent taste as a 9 year old or whether my taste simply hasn’t matured a bit since then.
So, here’s a book that i remember reading way back in my impressionable youth.
It was a diary of teen boy, think he was about 15 or something and he’s a normal happy kid. That is of course until he gets mixed up with satanism and starts sacrificing small animals or something like that. All I know for sure is that it scared me to death.
Anybody remember this one at all?
Robyn: I have no idea what that book is, but I have to say your description of it made me laugh out loud. Ha! Sounds amazing.
I loved the Betsy-Tacy books, at least the ones I read. I didn’t read any of the ones where they were teenagers.
Did you ever use a mirror to pretend you were walking on the ceiling like they did?
maybeimamazed……..thanks! i loved those books!
Robyn…that book, I believe, is called Jay’s Story. There were a bunch of “true stories” by some psychologist. There was a girl who got pregnant, one who slept with her teacher, etc.
My recall of YA books worries me.
I have a very vague one. These girls are gymnasts and one of them is Asian, probably Vietnamese. Her parents own a restaurant and the spring rolls are apparently awesome. For some reason one of the other girls is banned by her parents from going to the restaurant. All of the girls are good at different events; one of them is even known as the “beam queen.” The Vietnamese girl gets her period at a meet and panics, telling one of the other girls “spots–in my trunks,” which I remember thinking was strange.
I’m so glad so many other people love Cynthia Voigt. There’s a similar YA author named Suzanne Newton who is fantastic and deals sensibly and lyrically with real kids and real issues. Did anyone ever read her?
Diane: yes, please! to both!
“Whisper of Death” was one of the creepiest books I ever read. I actually had a nightmare about it. Definitely the scariest of the CP books I read, though I also loved “Remember Me,” “The Eternal Enemy,” “Last Act,” and “The Midnight Club” (so sad!).
Floridagirl- I had a couple of Bad News Ballet books. They were pretty cute. I remember the bubbly girl was named “Mary Bubnik,” but I can’t remember the other girls’ names.
Just found this site and love it! Oh, the flashbacks!
I have a two series that I would love to track down–one was about three (?) girls, preteens, who were gymnasts. Their team was called “The Pinecones” or something like that. At least one of the covers showed them in their leotards with the Pincone logo on it. I wanted to be a Pinceone!
And here’s a really vague one…I think in the early nineties, there was a short-lived series about (again) three girlfriends. The things that have remained with me are that one character was described as dressing “only in red, white, and black.” (Who knew Meg White of the White Stripes was in a YA series?!) In one of the books, that same girl takes a job cleaning swanky hotel rooms, meets a cute rich boy who assume she’s staying at the hotel as well, and she tries to keep the fact that she’s just a maid a secret. Any ideas?
I LOVE all the book series that people keep mentioning…so many that I had forgotten all about! Yay!
AmandaPea, I think the first series was just called the gymnasts, or something like that.
The second series you’re talking about, I’m almost positive, is Three of a Kind, by Marilyn Kaye. The girls weren’t girlfriends though– they were all adopted from an orphanage. The girls were all 13. The book you’re talking about was called Cat Morgan, Working Girl. (Pretty risque for a kids book). I think there was six books in that series.
Abby, you’re absolutely right! Thanks so much!
Okay, that “red, white, and black” thing is pinging something in my brain…but nothing else sounds familiar. Going to have to look it up at the trusty library with all the ’80s books still lying around.
Isn’t the “red, white, and black” thing about Stephanie in Sleepover Friends?
YES! Thank you.
Also, two more things: Was there a series–oh wait, I think it was called Couples? Was that the series with the girl who was mortified that her parents were white trash, lived in a teal house, and she had to go on dates in a garbage truck, or am I confusing it with something else? She was a model. Maybe her name was Melanie?
Sarah C., the book you’re talking about is called “Flip City” and it’s by Spring Hermann. I bought a copy at a library book sale a few years ago and actually just finished reading it for probably the 400th time
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amandapea – Oddly enough I know of both of the series that you’re talking about. The one with girl who wore red, black and white was Sleepover Friends. So, I second that one.
The one about the gymnasts was actually called Gymnasts and was written by Elizabeth Levy.
oh, sad day! I could SWEAR the girl who wore red, black, and white was in Three of a Kind…oh well. It made an impression on me nonetheless.
Totally forgot about the Gymnasts books!!
Does anyone remember the series where all the girls play little league? They are all really good and play against all-boys teams. There were several books, but I can’t remember much, except that the pitcher’s name is Breezy, her cousin is on the team, but is kind of girly and the catcher is sort of fat. Anyone?
In looking for “The Gymnasts,” I ran across a book about a young gymnast that I loved even more: It’s called “The Little Gymnast” and is by Sheila Haigh. I remember loving it and being very impressed by the cover art…unfortunately, I can’t find a picture of the cover art anywhere.
Here’s the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Gymnast-Apple-Paperback/dp/0590430157/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206395516&sr=1-16
Thanks, Rachel!
Amandapea, I also loved The Little Gymnast as a child, but was very upset when Anda’s family sold the goats to pay for her gear. As an adult I tend to think they should have kept the goats and their counterculture lifestyle and let Anda suck it up.
Hey Count Tisiano- Better late than never….(if someone else hasn’t remembered these by now)
The Victoria Martin Series about
camp, color wars, waitressing, the finer things in life.
Aseya & Stacey –
In the first few Sweet Valley High books, they used to have a section at the back of the book where you could “get to know” some of your favorite characters. One of the books had a section on Roger Collins and it explained that his wife (I think her name was May) took little Teddy one day and he went crazy trying to find them. I think it said one of her friends finally broke down and confessed where she was hiding. I’m thinking that might be what you’re remembering. I can’t remember which particular book this was in, but it was probably within the first ten books or so. Hope that helps!
I’m back with another ballet book search, since apparently that was all I read as a child.
Per usual, I remember next to nothing about the main character. However, one of her best friends in dance was named Guadalupe, and her nickname was Lupe. She had some sort of an eating disorder, and was always worrying because her family was eating a lot of greasy Mexican food that she’d gain weight. One of the main character’s other good friends was choreographing a modern dance that told the story of Quetzalcoatl.
And…that’s all I’ve got. I’m pretty sure that there was a sequel to this book in which the main character had a boyfriend (some guy she had gotten to know in the first book), but my memory’s failing me here.
Anyone?
clubx- thanks. that had been driving me mad for ages thinking i’d imagined it.
Clubx, Aseya, and Stacey–
You’re looking for #6 Dangerous Love; that’s the one with the scoop on Mr. C.
“Roger has problems of his own, but he’s careful to keep them to himself. A while back he went through a very messy, painful divorce. He loved May, his wife, but couldn’t ignore her wild behavior. She didn’t even bother to hide it when she cheated on him. And often, he would arrive home to find May passed out in the bedroom next to an empty bottle of wine.”
Kates, the book you are looking for is a 3 book trilogy. The first one is called Maggie Adams, Dancer.
Kates, the book you are looking for is a 3 book trilogy. The first one is called Maggie Adams, Dancer.
Allie, the “uppity girl” who went on dates in the garbage truck was in the series Cheerleaders.
Couples was one of my favorite series, each book changed vantage point. There was a core group of characters that had a few books devoted to them but many were one book wonders.
Bless you, tygre. Now if only someone could tell me what show I was watching with the salad incident, I could be truly, truly happy, even if I’m not a size six–I mean, four.
Wow- I completely forgot about THE LITTLE GYMNAST . . . I think my favorite character was the cat named Bella. Ooh, remember when Anda and her Dad had to walk for miles in the snow after their car broke down on the way to the meet? I always felt bad for her poor father . . . and with that shrew of a wife! Frighful!
Er . . . that would be “frightful.”
And I just got a screen that said, “You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.” I’m vaguely disturbed by that . . .
I have a couple of series I’m looking for.
Now, I remember more than I thought I would about this first series, including the name: “Sisters.” At least, I believe that was it. It centered around three sisters (surprise!), all in high school, ranging in age from about 14/15 to 17/18. Nicole was the oldest, sensible, serious francophile, Cindy was the middle athletic, assertive, competitive sister, and Molly was the bubbly, girly and adorable youngest sister (who was probably always getting into scrapes; it’s YA fiction so someone had to be). All gorgeous, of course, not rich but somehow living an apparently upper-middle class Santa Barbara (I think) existence with their loving and hard-working parents.
Even with all that detail my google-fu has failed me, and with a series as old and as vaguely-named as this Amazon turns up several thousand results. I’m sure I’d have better luck with the author’s name, anyone recall (I think) her?
The second I recall less about except, the author was female with three names, the books were the murder-mystery/supernatural thriller type, and each book featured a different central character. One centered around a teenaged girl who’d recently moved and there was some funny ghostly business occurring at the unoccuppied house next door or across the street (I’m remembering a menacing teenaged boy that may or may not have been a ghost that may or may not have meant the girl harm but I could be conflating any number of characters/plots/books). Another took place in New Orleans, I think, and the big reveal was that the strange young girl that the central character knew was somehow immortal, and that the girl’s subsequent relatives had and would continue to care for her as she would be forever-adolescent. I’m almost certain voodoo was involved. Ringing any bells?
Oh my god, I totally remember that sisters series! All I remember for sure though is that once Molly wore a bubble skirt and people laughed at her butt. WHY DO I STILL KNOW THIS?
Thegirllikestheband, the second book is ‘locked in time’ by Lois Duncan, I did love that book. Yes, it was voodoo, the mother didn’t want to loose her looks but also didn’t want her children to age and die around her. The result was that the daughter was subjected to being a spotty gawky teenager for all time.
Tatsu, I loved anything by Lois Duncan. “Locked in Time” was awesome. Then there was A Touch of Magic, Killing Mr. Griffin, I know What You did Last Summer, and a few others that I’m blanking on…
Sorry, i mean the third
Amber Tan, did you also read Margaret Mahy books?
This site is amazing.
Two questions:
1, Did anyone else love every book ever written by Lurlene McDaniel? I used to (and still do when I can find one) read them and cry and cry.
2, Does anyone remember a book with these two girls who were best friends, jr high age, but then this new girl moved in who was gorgeous and rich and her family owned a lingerie company or something and she was European and wore odd things like sweaters with v-necks in the back? She came between the two best friends until they had some sort of sleepover and I think became friends. Definitely played Rolling Stones at the sleepover, and the rich European girl had a hot brother and an orange tree growing inside the house?
Is that the one where the gorgeous new girl was named Denise and her brother was Tony? Damn, I wish I could remember what those books were called.
Yes! That’s totally the one.
Ah, that makes sense, tatsu. Lois Duncan’s name was floating around my head but I remember her book about the schoolbus kidnapping the most. I didn’t connect her with the voodoo story; thanks.
That still leaves me with the mysterious three-named author, though. I know I’ve read at least two of her books and I thought “Locked in Time” was one of them.
Does anyone remember a series–a fairly short lived one I think–about some teenagers who were on a soap opera? There was an ingenue, a hunky guy, and a kind of junior diva figure. . .
I think it only lasted 4-5 books, and I’m pretty sure it was written (or headlined) by someone who wrote a better known YA series. I also thought it was called “All that Glitters,” or that the first one was, but I could be wrong.
tatsu, Margaret Mahy is the bestest author EVER.
Robyn, the book you’re thinking of is probably “Jay’s Journal” a “real diary” “edited” by Beatrice Sparks, “PhD” — she’s some crazy Mormon therapist who “edits” the diaries of her patients. They all deal with some sort of teen issue — drug use (the first and most famous of her books, “Go Ask Alice”), teen pregnancy, AIDS, Satanism… you know, the usual. Apparently, “Jay’s Journal” is more real than the other books she’s written, but she took the diary of some poor depressed, suicidal kid, ADDED the Satanism bits, and then failed to change enough of the details, so that people from his hometown totally figured out who he was. Nice.
Re: Whisper of Death. My friend’s older brother now works in Hollywood, and it has been his goal since forever to make that book into a movie. I think he has had discussions with Christopher Pike about it, so it may show up on the silver screen to scare the living daylights out of us some time soon!
Ok, I have two.
1. Anyone read A, My Name is Amy and B, My Name is Bunny? I don’t remember much except they creeped me out for some reason.
2. Ok, I think the next one had several sequels: there was an overweight girl whose diet consisted of nothing between meals- and she had a friend who would inspire her to lose weight by making encouraging sayings on construction paper that she would hang up. Anyone? Anyone?
I have found my people! I’ve been meaning to track down Caroline Cooney’s “Dance” books, and now I have to add the Sunfire series to the list.
I have two series that you guys might be able to help me with:
1) Supernatural/suspense, Lois Duncan-esque. At least two books, possibly a trilogy. I don’t remember the main character’s name, but her hair was brown, silver, and gold. On good days the colors were separate and on bad days they were all muddied. She and a younger girl lived with a really creepy couple (maybe fostered?) who tried to drive them crazy.
2) A much more run-of-the-mill series about teens at a hardcore ballet academy. The main character (at least of the handful I read) loved purple, was kind of a priss, and might have been named Leah. She had a cat named Misha, after Baryishnikov.
RLC, those are the Junior High books. I am a lil ashamed to say I had ALL of them. I no longer do, sadly, though they would lend themselves well to a snark.
Leely, the first sounds like book one in the Caroline B. Cooney series, Losing Christina: Fog (Subsequent books are Snow and Fire, unsure of the order as I only read Fog). The girls are boarding with the school principal and his wife who, and this is lifted from amazon.com, seem to want to drive one of them crazy so that she will sacrifice herself to the sea.
Leely, I think the first series you’re looking for is the “Losing Christina” trilogy by Caroline B. Cooney. Christina is from a tiny island and staying at a boarding house on the mainland to attend high school (the island has too few students to support one), the boarding house is run by the high school principal and his wife. The three books are The Fog, The Snow, and The Fire, in that order. Seriously creepy, the lot of them.
Ha! Thank you! I was thinking her name was some Chris-variant.
Thanks, tygre.! I’ll definitely try to find them. I do remember it being super-cheesy. Any idea who the author was?
This was for younger kids, I think, but did anyone ever read a book called Baby Island, about some kids who got stranded with a bunch of babies and had to take care of them? I would love to find a copy.
“This was for younger kids, I think, but did anyone ever read a book called Baby Island, about some kids who got stranded with a bunch of babies and had to take care of them? I would love to find a copy.”
Hell yeah, RLC, I remember reading ‘Baby Island’. Written by Carol Ryrie Brink (who wrote many other books, including “Caddie Woodlawn”), the Macmillan Company published it in 1937. Helen Sewell did the illustrations.
Several editions have been issued over the years — not sure which one you’d want, RLC (the original I presume). Copies are available for sale online via Amazon, etc. Or you can check http://www.worldcat.org for local library holdings.
“Amber Tan, did you also read Margaret Mahy books?”
Maybe, Tatsu. Did Mahy write a book about a girl who tries to get an older kid at her school to exorcise her little brother? IIRC it was set in New Zealand.
And I vaguely remember another Mahy book called “Tricksters” that also took place in NZ.
Was I even close?
No way, Amber Tan, I LOVED Caddie Woodlawn! I must have read it like a million times. Now I have to go get a copy of that too
Leely,
Welcome to the group!
The second series you’re looking for is Satin Slippers. I can’t remember the author. I have a few, actually, from when I was in high school and the library I was working at cleaned out their inventory. Not sure how many were published–will you let me know if you track down any online?
ihatewheat, YES, I read A, My Name is Ami and B, My Name is Bunny. Can’t remember much about them either except that people called Ami “Foghorn Ami” because of her low voice.
Oh yeah RLC! Caddie Woodlawn was my heroine from the ages 8 to 12, especially after I learned that the character was based on the Brink’s grandmother, Caroline Augustus Woodhouse.
In fact, wanting to be as Caddie-like as possible was the impetus for dying my hair red during my twenties.
hey, does anyone remember a book about a girl named Colette who had a bunch of siblings? there was something about a christmas play, i think… and making irish cookies or something… and she pinned black socks to her head to make believe she had long black hair…. weird. anyone remember this?
oh, and i read the A, My Name is Amy and B, My Name is Bunny books, but i have absolutely no memory of what they were about…
Halo, that is so freaking weird…I was just thinking about the Colette character the other day! I think there were at least 2 books about her, because I read the one where her friend was having a boy-girl birthday party as her “signpost” (family tradition of doing something to mark her passage into womanhood or something like that). No memory of the title or author, though.
Re: JordanBaker’s post about “All That Glitters”
You are right on the title of the series! There were eight books total. The characters were Katie (the blond), Sheena and Mitch. Katie’s younger sister Jewel also was featured in a book or two. Kristi Andrews wrote the series. Amazon.com has some copies available.
I had a few people respond to my post way back in November about the boarding school book. I looked up the two titles that were suggested, but they weren’t the book I’m thinking of. So maybe it’s all in my head …
Hey, is there a SVT book where they do some child-rearing egg project? And one or both of the twins hates their partner, and one breaks their egg and cheats by getting a new one from the fridge? Or am I just off my rocker?
I had one of those random memory moments the other day, just wondering.
Thanks Merrie! I totally remember the name Jewel now.
BadKat- that book is SVT “Middle school gets Married”
There’s another 80’s YA novel starring another pretty popular girl named Jessica. The protagonist is an slightly nerdy girl who wants to hang out with the cool kids when she starts high school, so she drops her old best friend (Mary Beth?) to hang out with Jessica, a couple of others, and Libby (whom she knew before).
They play Truth or Dare at a slumber party, and Libby has to tell whom she likes best in the room. The protagonist assumes she’ll say Jessica, but Libby says “I like me best.” Jessica betrays the protagonist in the end, and she goes back to hanging out with her old best friend and Libby.
Does this ring a bell to anyone? I especially remember the line “I like me best” — kind of like Kelly Taylor’s “I choose me” on 90210.
Oh god, I am so glad I’ve found you guys!!
Aaaames wrote: “Does anyone remember a book (or possibly series?) about a girl who becomes a teen model, but she’s totally awkward and not loving it, and it’s really hard on her? (I know, right? BOO FRIGGIN’ HOO.) I totally remember loving it.”
Was it the one where the main character’s name was Sunday? I remember she didn’t do well as a model until one day she went to an audition and her hair wasn’t dry, so her mom french braided it and suddenly that was the thing that made her fabulous and she got all these jobs. I remember some other model she befriended started going through “the change” (ie puberty? started breaking out) and that ended her career. Don’t remember what it was called!
Now here’s what I need help with: anyone remember a 1980s series set in some small (possibly mill?) town, where half the town were super fabulously rich, and the other half were really poor. Lots of crossing the tracks for relationships etc. I remember one of the main characters was the bitchy rich girl, whose name I THINK started with a C? Argh, so little to go on.
I loved Cheerleaders – that poor girl who had to go on dates in a garbage truck was always torn between the poor guy she had the hots for, and the rich guy she wanted to have the hots for. And there was Olivia, who’d had open heart surgery!
Did anyone read “Can I Get There by Candlelight?” about the girl who moved to a new area, and when she would ride her horse Candlelight she traveled back in time and befriended some 19th century rich girl?
Wow, I just found this amazing list of Girls Series Books from 1840-1991 — I am off to peruse: http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/girlsseriesbook.html
Okay, that site rocks. The series I was thinking of is Chrystal Falls.
That list also reminded me of the Caitlyn series – anyone else read those?
I have one…
so, it is set in NYC. the main character and her friend are surrounded by rich bitches who wear these designer jeans and ‘bean’ necklaces which I think references those tiffany beans… anyway, there is an illustration in the book of the friend wrapped up in a bedsheet singing along to a Beverly Sills record. something to do with a violin. a recital, maybe? it was a great book! it may even have been part of a series. anyone? anyone?
Kendra,
I read “Can I Get There By Candlelight” and loved it, but remember next-to-nothing about it. I also loved “The Ghost in the Garden” where a contemporary girl who laments having no playmates meets a ghostly Victorian friend. But I think the best of the gothic/countryhouse time warp children’s books by far is “Tom’s Midnight Garden” by Philippa Pearce.
I should also add “The Little White Horse” by Elizabeth Goudge to the list above. Has anyone else read Goudge (Elizabeth, not Eileen)? She seems to be almost completely forgotten. I also loved all of Rumer Godden’s children’s books about dolls. Any takers?
Guys, I totally solved the YA teen model series mystery! I was at one of my local used book stores and found one of the books: Kelly Blake, Teen Model. I realized upon finding one, though, that I actually wasn’t that anxious to reread. Ah well! At least it’ll stop driving me crazy.
Stacey, Thanks! The title does not sound at all familiar; I can’t believe I remember that much of the story line.
I was at the Salvation Army today and saw the Super Chiller: The Christmas Ghost. I remembered the cover and title, but not the story. I’m glad, it looked horrible!
Eeh, this is such a cool idea! Okay, I have a couple:
1. This girl is in I think sixth grade, and for some reason (I want to say her school was overcrowded) all the sixth-grade classes are held in a special annex at the high school. The narrator is kind of mousy and awkward, and she’s best friends with a girl named Dilys who is sort of a Claudia Kishi type, like she wears crazy outfits and is an omg!wacky!nonconformist, but she’s really popular and is considered cool rather than weird. The narrator and Dilys have a big fight, and the narrator is suddenly left friendless. She starts hanging out with the class outcast, who is either named Ellen or Helen. Everybody thinks Ellen/Helen has cooties and she’s completely hated, but the narrator discovers that she’s actually really cool. At the end of the book, the narrator and Ellen/Helen play some sort of prank on their classmates (I want to say it was at a school dance) and everybody suddenly likes them again, and I think that Dilys tried to make up afterwards and the narrator was just like, “Whatever, bitch.” Other random things I recall about this book are, Dilys had a brother called Marlowe, there was a peripheral character named Allison Marconi, and there was something about the class pet, which was some sort of rodent, escaping and running wild in the school. I think this was a standalone book rather than a series, but I seem to recall that in terms of good writing and believability it wasn’t much better than the BSC, heh.
2. This was one of those horror books, and I could swear it was by R.L. Stine, but I can’t find a book by him on Amazon that sounds like this. A girl is murdered by being shoved off either a rooftop or a cliff, and comes back as a ghost. She can walk around and see everything that goes on after her death, but she can’t really interact with the living world. She remembers being killed, but since the person who did it snuck up behind her and she never saw them, she doesn’t know who did it. She’s afraid they’ll strike again, and she’s really anxious to solve the mystery. It turns out that the killer was her best friend, and at the end of the book, BFF tries to kill Dead Narrator’s brother (I think it was her brother, it may have just been a close male friend), who is diabetic and has to give himself insulin, by making him inject an air bubble into his veins. Dead Narrator saves the day and then, like, goes into the light.
Does any of this ring any bells?
Anonymous-
1. 6th Grade High, by Candice F. Ransom
2. Remember Me, by CHristopher Pike.
ihatewheat // I think that was the Fat Glenda series by Lila Perl. Glenda is overweight and outcast, but becomes best friends with a girl named Sarah (I think) who is outcast because her parents are hippies in squaresville. Sarah helps Glenda lose weight through motivational messaging. I recently re-read Fat Glenda’s Summer Romance and it was so disturbing. It was like a primer in anorexia.
Leely – I believe the ballet books you are describing are the Satin Slippers series. I don’t remember a cat. But the main characters name was definitely Leah and she did love purple.
RLC – “Baby Island” is still in print. You can get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Island-Carol-Ryrie-Brink/dp/0689717512/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207499326&sr=8-1
I’m a few months behind here, but…
Sophie: You’re thinking of the Whitney Cousins books by Jean Thesman. The three cousins were Amelia, Erin, and Heather. Erin is the “funky” orphaned cousin who shops in thrift stores. I think someone convinces her to come to a dance dressed as a bag lady–and of course she learns it’s not really cool to make fun of homeless people. As you said, Amelia’s story is about being date raped. Kind of a downer. And Heather’s… I can’t remember. I think it involved a boy? If you check out the cover (there’s an old listing on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-WHITNEY-COUSINS-HEATHER-by-JEAN-THESMAN_W0QQitemZ180152469787QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting), you can see she looks freakishly like Cameron Diaz! In tight-rolled pants! Also, there was apparently a FOURTH book called Triple Trouble, but I didn’t even know it existed until now. (Thanks, Google!)
Let’s try this again:
http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-WHITNEY-COUSINS-HEATHER-by-JEAN-THESMAN_W0QQitemZ180152469787QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
This one’s a bit vague, but i’ll give it a try.
Ok, I think this is about a girl who is a ghost. I’m not sure what happens while she’s a ghost, but at one point she drinks a glass of orange juice in front of a mirror and describes how weird it is to see the juice going through her body (I know I’m not even making sense to myself here). Anyways, I ‘m pretty sure that the girl dies while riding in a car with a bunch of other girls at night, maybe after a dance. The girl has pom-pom (so maybe not after a dance) and she playfully shoves them into the driver’s face and the car goes off a cliff. I think the rest of the book is the girl somehow atoning for what she had done that night and I think at the end she gets to relive the moment and doesn’t cause a car wreck. I think.
Any clues at all?
[quote]That still leaves me with the mysterious three-named author, though.[/quote]
Joan Lowery Nixon?
[quote]It turns out that the killer was her best friend, and at the end of the book, BFF tries to kill Dead Narrator’s brother (I think it was her brother, it may have just been a close male friend), who is diabetic and has to give himself insulin, by making him inject an air bubble into his veins. [/quote]
Remember Me, by Christopher Pike. Only the killer wasn’t her BFF; it was her brother’s girlfriend. Who is actually his sister.
JoJo – The book you are thinking of is The Ghosts of Departure Point, by Eve Bunting. It was a good book – I think I still have my copy somewhere!
Sarah C – I remember being around seven years old and holing up in the school library with LITTLE PLUM! (And crying, per usual, because I felt so bad for Gem.)
Also, until this thread came along . . . I never realized that I read REMEMBER ME. It was the injection of the air bubble that kick-started my memories on that one – so thanks, y’all!
One more comment to Sarah C – did someone in “The Ghost In The Garden” have tuberculosis? Or, at least, TB was hinted at because the character was coughing up blood (pardon the details, folks.)
If so, then I think I read that one . . . I literally remember nothing else about the book besides that particular, gory aspect!
I think the book was actually, “The Doll in the Garden” not the ghost, by Mary Downing Hahn, and yes, the girl did cough up blood, although I don’t remember what her particular diagnosis was.
The book I’m thinking of was “The Ghost in the Garden” by Carol Behrman. It was a slim scholastic paperback that I ordered from a Weekly Reader flyer. A modern girl named Jenny meets a girl named Samantha and discovers that Samantha is the ghost of a girl who lived in Jenny’s family’s house a hundred years ago.
Ok, here’s one. Two girls are best friends and one of them gets invited to hang out with the popular girls. She starts looking at her best friend differently, wishing she’d change. But somehow they are still friends at the end. Horribly vague, I know. The things that stand out are the fact that the “nerdy girl” always wore a Joe Namath football jersey and that she skipped school one day to hide out at a golf course and found a mother duck and baby ducklings. Anyone? Anyone?
Thanks Nathalie!
Merrie- I don’t recall the author, but I think the book was called “Friends Are Like That” and the nerdy girl was Kelly, who wrote short stories, the main narrator was Tracy, and the popular girl was Angie.
I don’t really remember the part about the jersey but otherwise they sound alike.
Ok, this doesn’t quite fit here, but does anyone know where those free ebooks of the babysitters club are? I can’t find them anywhere. There were just a few online, and I want to snark on some, but lost the site!
First of all, this blog is amazing! A great way to spend time while I should be writing papers. I have a couple of books I’m trying to remember.
The first is kind of a ghost story about a young girl who is at her grandparents’ house, maybe? There is a secret stone stairway, and when she uses it she occasionally travels through time. She might make friends with a ghost, or help said ghost resolve some issues? Gosh, that’s so obscure but I’ve been searching for this book since like, 7th grade I swear (I’m a junior in college, so yeah haha). The title may have had something like “the stone wall” or “the stone stairs” in it.
The second is another ghost story that involves time travel. A girl moves into a really old house with her family, and there’s a giant decorative bird cage/elevator thing in the foyer that holds a telephone. By going into the attic, the girl travels through time and saves someone by being killed, maybe? At the end of the story she is almost killed in the bird cage/elevator apparatus but is somehow spared. Does this ring a bell for anyone? This has been killing me for ages!
Thanks!
You guys really are good!
Rachel, thanks so much. I have had those bits and pieces of a story in my head for a while now, it was starting to drive me batty!
I can’t believe that you all have read everything I have as well! This has been a great trip down memory lane. It’s funny, because when I was younger I thought I was the only one around with her nose constantly stuck in a book and now I find out all these years later that I have people!!!
Hi people! I created a site where we can dicuss just this… check it out:
http://yabooks.proboards58.com/index.cgi
Also, I have been trying to remember for years the Making Out series, so thank you so very much!
Trailingclouds, I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of Stonewords by Pam Conrad. I love that book!
Just lurking on this forum has helped jog my own memory! However, I have a few with which I still need some help.
The first one is reeeeally vague: It was about a teenage girl who was friends with someone developmentally disabled. Yeah, that’s about all I recall! There MAY have been some chapters from the disabled girl’s perspective…
Next is a series about a ‘tweenish girl who was friends with a ghost. The ghost was from the 1800s or so, I think? They had adventures. I remember a scene where the ghost was riding on the girl’s bike.
Finally, I read another (short-lived) series similar to Goosebumps. The books didn’t interrelate. There was one about kids who frequented a beach plagued by some creature(s). Another involved a girl with a stepsister or classmate who may have been an alien? In any case, they kept playing “pranks” on each other; one cut the other’s hair while she was studying.
If anyone knows these, I’ll be very impressed since I’m not giving you much to go on! Thanks for any help.
I recently reread Mahy’s The Changeover and I was kind of shocked how sexy it was.
I’ve gotta find the Cheerleader books again; there are only two my library.
I’ve been really obsessed with finding the Harlequins I read when I was twelve, though, so the DB kind of fell off my radar. Oh and also finishing my thesis stuff. Bor-ing!
Amazon lists “Friends are Like That” as written by Patricia Hermes. I think I vaugely remember that book as well.
Hallo Lovlies, A series for you: Not sure how old they are, i think i borrowed them from the school library about twenty years ago. It’s a short series with the same male and female leads in each. I remember the leads are actually platonic friends which makes a nice change. The girl changes her fashion style each book and in the Vampire one is going through a new romantic or vaguely gothy stage. One of the books is about witches and Possibly one is a book called wereboy but i might be mixing them up. Not much to go on, ring a bell with anyone?
Tadpoledrain; i utterly agree with you that Margaret Mahy was pretty damn cool, i also skipped YA genre completely and went straight to adult but she was a worthy exception.
Amber tan: it’s not one i remember but if Tricksters is still good when i re read it for the first time in two decades i may search that one out too.
Tom’s midnight garden is a classic. Did anyone also love a little ghost story called Cold Christmas?
oops, i mean Almost skipped it completely, not Also.
Okay, this is a kids’ book, not even YA, but I loved it and can’t remember enough about it to find it.
I read this at least 20 years ago now, but I don’t know how old the book is. It’s set somewhere in frontier America, probably in the 1800s, and the main character is a little girl who’s afraid of everything. She has an uncle who visits, who she loves, and he promises her his fancy gold trinket (I think it’s a lion’s tooth) if she can make him an apple pie, made of apples from her beloved skinny little apple tree. He tells her that the trinket will give her bravery. So over the course of the next year, she sets out to do this simple thing: grow enough applies for a pie. But it gets harder: she has to chase off a pig in her nightgown, she comes home to find an Indian chief (no subtle racism here!) about to help himself to her last apple and has to tell him to stop. And, of course, in the process of doing all this, she gets courage anyway.
Does anyone remember anything more about this? I can’t think of titles of the book, of the place, or of the characters, to be able to search for it.
88Keys, thanks! Joan Lowery Nixon. I was way off; I really appreciate it.
Mojo, I recall reading a book about a girl who befriends a girl with Down Syndrome, the plot of which I mostly don’t remember except there being a birthday party at which some of the first girl’s friends make fun of the second girl, and the second girl is growing a flower in the school basement or something. The first girl is unconvinced that the girl with Down Syndrome is actually growing anything until the end of the book when the flower actually breaks the soil’s surface in the pot. It just flashed to me now that the girl with DS’s mother is moving her away to a warmer climate because she’s always getting sick. Damn those random flashes.
Anyway, Mojo, although I don’t have a title or an author might that be the book?
Well, it looks like I figured out the magic combination of words that unlocked Google so I’ve answered my own query: the series about three sisters is The Sisters Series by Jennifer Cole. Thanks anyway to anyone that might have been racking their brain.
Love love love this site. I have been lurking for a good 5 months now and decided I had to comment because I have been trying to remember the name of a book I read a long time ago and it’s killing me!
It is about a teenage boy who is mute. Everyone thinks he is really weird and damaged, but he also gets really good grades. The book is from the POV of a teenage girl who ( I think) is new to town. She befriends this guy and they maybe become romantically involved? She has a lot of brothers I think. Also, for some reason, I think the teenage boy’s muteness has something to do with someone drowning in a pool.
Someone help me please!
to Sweet Valley Hell: Was the book “Plague Year” by Stephanie Tolan? Kind of a long shot, but it has a new kid, muteness and a drowning scene.
aah no that’s not it. I just looked up a summary of that though, and it does fit my description pretty well. I will try to be more specific: the guy is mute because he is traumatized by something…I think his little brother drowned in a pool when he was supposed to be watching him. For some reason I remember the mute guy having curly blond hair? The new girl befriends him and ends up having a crush on him…she kisses him and he freaks outs. It all ends pretty well though, because he starts talking again and I think they end up together.
anyone?
Sweet Valley Hell…I don’t know of any book like that, but did you ever see The Wizard, with Fred Savage? (Big Nintendo movie, probably made in late 80s, early 90s?).
A little boy (not Fred Savage) has been pretty much catatonic since his twin sister drowned (he wasn’t watching her though- his older half brother, played by Christian Slater was supposed to be). Fred Savage plays his other half brother. All Jimmy will say is that he wants to go to California. Fred Savage agrees to take him, and the two hitchhike across country. They meet a girl along the way who ends up joining them. She does give Jimmy a kiss on the cheek, but she ends up dating Fred Savage. Jimmy also talks out the end of the movie. Sounds a lot like yours, although this is a movie, not a book. I love it though– great 80s nostalgia.
Wasn’t that an episode of Little House on the Prairie…?
Tatsu and Rachel, I have been searching for YEARS for that book about Victoria. I remember how hilarious it was when she woke up as a toddler and told her grandmother’s friend to piss off; and then as a 24-year-old, she was so disoriented by the washing machine until she remembered the one-pound coins that had just been issued. I always liked the end of the book, when her grandmother basically told her to get over herself. If you ever remember the title, please post it here!
Kendra, I still have my copy of Can I Get There By Candlelight? Creepy book, but I always loved it.
The series with a girl named Colette and her big family is called Baker’s Dozen.
The series about the sisters at 16 and one about the mother at 16 is the Sebastian Sisters by Susan Beth Pffer.
I like both these series.
Mojo- I honestly can’t remember anything about it, but I know I read a book called “Aliens in the Family” as a kid. Could this be what you’re thinking of?
Linda, I TOTALLY remember the book about the baking the apple pie, and at the end she bakes a tiny pie with her one last shriveled apple. I seem to remember that she had a couple of brothers and that they referred to their place as a “homestead.” I have no title or author for you, but I’m absolutely with you that it exists and I read it.
Okay I’m back, Linda. Your post drove me nuts and I found it on whatsthatbook.com. It was called the Middle Sister and once I looked it up on amazon, I totally recognized the cover. You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0027645002?ie=UTF8&tag=whatsthatbook-20&linkCode=as2
I need help please! It’s a book about a girl who is probably in middle school and she has an older sister (libby maybe?) and her sister always makes out with her boyfriend and wrestles around with him on the bed. The younger girl gets in trouble with a bully at school and competes in a bike race and uses her sister’s new bike, but the bike gets stolen, she doesn’t tell anyone and there is all this drama about it. Also, she makes a new friend and the friend gets a bike for her birthday that looks exactly like the one that got stolen. Oh, and she and her friend make apple pies together and make the dough in a cuisinart? (such random facts, I know) This is driving me absolutely crazy b/c i read the shit out of this book but can’t remember the title…..
Shelley- the Hand Me Down Kid, also by Francine Pascal. The older sister was named Elizabeth.
Abby–I never saw that movie, but with the great 80s/early 90s icons Fred Savage and Christian Slater in it, I’m sure it was amazing!
Thanks Abby!! You rock
Kendra – “Suddenly Sunday”, I think – I can still remember the cover and the special navy blue sweater with white poka-dots “like a starry Arizona sky” :-/
Elizabeth: “Truth or Dare”
My mom bought me and my sisters whole packs of decent YA literature from the Price Club; I also had a healthy dose of better stuff from library.
My older sister read SVH when she was in early highschool (late 80s) and we would talk about them (I am 3 years younger than her). Even then we snarked at Liz’s goody-2-shoes-ness and the silly plotlines…
my own question: what is that SVH book where it’s after Todd’s move to Vermont, and a new guy moves into town who looks like an identical twin to Todd. Elizabeth falls for him because of this, but is disturbed when she finds out he’s a total jerk (supposedly the polar opposite of Todd).
which is the one with Lila and abuser John (I think is his name)?
DHT: that’s one of my favourite scenes! I think she tells her that her breath smells or some such, the old woman’s utterly shocked and tells Victoria’s mother who writes her off as a drunk. I shall find it one day, hope it’s as good as I think still.
Tatsu – the book you’re looking for is Changing Times by Tim Kennemore! I LOVED it as a teenager. It’s available from abebooks.co.uk:
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1046541304&searchurl=an%3Dtim%2Bkennemore%26sortby%3D3%26sts%3Dt%26tn%3Dchanging%2Btimes%26x%3D0%26y%3D0
Sorry for hideously long URL!
For Jennifer:
The one with Lila and John is called “Don’t Go Home With John!”
Lucy, you are so awesome! I have posted about this book in threads like these for like the last twelve years.
All in a day’s work!
DNT…? Is that THE DNT…?!?
Lucy! You are awesome! I have been trying to find that book forever. Thank you! : )
Posted this in another section cos I’m retarded:
there was a book, possibly from the SVT series where the twins and Winston and Todd and… maybe Amy Sutton are baby sitting this family of 5 (?) children and a psycho girl terrorises them in their dreams and tries to kill them (also, in their dreams, but also in real life.. but it’s in their dreams…. hellloooo Nightmare on Elm Street) and it turns out she died when she was a kid and Alice used to baby sit her and thats why she was trying to kill the twins. And then she dies again at the end of the book because nothing can defeat the Wakefields! But… I mean what was stopping her from just coming back to life again? I think this was book #100 of the SVT series?
Also, there was a book (might have been one of a series) about a girl who was a real tomboy and only ever wore football jerseys to school and her best friend was named Stacey and was really girly. And she does this like child care thingy with a little boy who brings worms on the bus and then at the end she realises that the new boy in her class is this kids brother and she doesn’t hate him after all, then she turns into a bit of a girl and wears a skirt to a party and dances with some boys and starts dating the new guy (his name is… Mark ?) and Stacey is jealous cos she’s never had an actual boyfriend. What was it called?!?!!??!?! I can get a lot more descriptive on plot for that one if need be, I remember the book from beginning to end but can’t for the life of me remember the name or the author, or the main characters name.
Sarah- I believe the SVT book is #99…it is recapped over at 1bruce1, which is linked on this page. It is called something like The Beast Must Die.
The other book is called What’s the Opposite of a Best Friend, and I believe it’s by A. Barnes. The main character is named Janelle.
RLC,
thanks so much — I’m going to go seek it on Amazon.
(and whatsthatbook is pretty interesting in its own right.)
Abby – Cheers for that! I discovered 1bruce1 about 20 mins after I posted and the book I was talking about was If I die Before I Wake. Hooray!
As for the other, THANKYOU it has been driving be absolutely fricking bonkers all week trying to think of that girls name!
This response is a little late, but it’s to:
Jayde who posted on January 15, 2008.
I totally remember the book about the Asian cheerleader girl! I loved that book, and I re-read it numerous times in middle school! I’m almost positive you’re describing Molly by Another Name by Jean Davis Okimoto.
The nerdy asian guy who likes her was named Randy, and at the end, when they realize they like each other, they kiss while she fries bacon. I don’t know how i remember that. LOL
I also have a pretty vague description for the book I’m looking for!
It was a series about four or five friends ( i can’t remember how many), probably from the early to mid 90s. All I can really remember is that all the covers of the books in the series had a baby blue background and looked like lined paper?? One of the girls had really funky black hair, and I think she was in a band.
Are you thinking of the Girl Talk books? They were pink with blue lines that could kind of look like notebook paper. Also, one of the girls, Randy, had some weird ass spiky mullet and played drums for the band. Tales of a Former Walking Highlighter (linked on this page) has several of the books recapped.
8clubs: YES! Thank you so much. Now I can sleep.
Also, admins: Can you turn this into a proper forum with threads? I don’t know anything about running websites or how difficult it would be to do that, but it would definitely make the site more user-friendly. Just throwin’ that out.
This doesn’t have the capacity to make threads, it’s just a blog entry with comments. here’s a site that does this with threads:
http://www.whatsthatbook.com/
ihatewheat: grazie!
Abby, yes those are it!! thanks! When you guys were talking about the Girl Talk books above, I wasn’t sure if those were it, because I couldn’t find pictures of the covers when I googled it lol
I have another one, and it’s a pretty vague description as well lol. All i remember was that it was another one in the time-travelling-and-solving-a-mystery genre. I THINK the girl’s name was Mandy, but i’m not sure. Her and her parents moved to a new town in a house where she thinks some type of murder happened?….. I’m almost positive that the boy she becomes best friends with, and therefore a potential love interest, was a boy who lived right across the street named Dan. I don’t really remember much about the plot though….. if someone could help me out, that would be great!
oh, and i fogot to mention that Dan’s parents had a museum-type thing set up in their house….. hmmm!
Okay, here are two random ones dealing with names:
One book involved a girl who went to live with her dad in NYC? and her name was Blue. That’s all that stuck with me, but boy did it stick.
Another one was about a boy, late elementary-middle school aged, who gets a new neighbor (possibly she’s visiting relatives?) and her name is Bolivia. I remember it because in the book whenever she was introduced people would say, “Like the country?” and when I read it I didn’t even know there was a country named Bolivia. :/ (See! Books are educational!) Also, I seem to recall that the main character boy was REALLY into reggae music, which also seemed very strange to me, since the closest thing to reggae I had ever heard was Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” How my world has expanded!
Lucy you absolute Star! I’m loving you from the bottom of my shallow little heart. The link doesn’t work for me so i’ll be going to bother those nice people at waterstones just as soon as i remember where i left my book tokens.
Sarah C, I adored the little white horse. The fact that i still have a kitchen stuffed with salmon pink geraniums (bred from just one or two plants) is a direct result of that book.
Jade Wu’s toe shoe, are you sure the reference to a victorian girl coughing up blood isn’t from Helen Cresswell’s ‘Moondial’?
Amanda Pea- the second book you’re talking about it the Hot and Cold Summer, by (I think) Johanna Hurwitz? Not sure on that one. The book is definitely the Hot and Cold Summer though. There’s a sequel to, called either the Hot and Cold Winter or the The Cold and Hot Winter.
Tatsu – no problem! I wouldn’t get your hopes up about finding it in Waterstones though; as far as I know it’s out of print. Maybe try second-hand book sites? Abebooks worked for me – you could try searching from their homepage.
By the way if you like it you should check out Tim Kennemore’s other stuff – she (yes, she’s a woman, despite the name!) wrote some great YA novels in the 1980s, including The Fortunate Few and The Middle of the Sandwich.
Kendra!!!!!!! I could not ever thank you enough for pointing out that list of series from the U Minn library!!!!!!!!!
By the way does anyone remember a series of books about a group of girls at a ballet class? I think they were by someone called Johanna N Malcolm, but I can’t remember the title of the series, or of any of the books.
The girls were all terrible at ballet and were forced into it by their mothers, and they were always having run-ins with this snobby group of Jessica Wakefield-type girls who they nicknamed the ‘bunheads’, because they all wore their hair in a bun. The first book had a production of the Nutcracker in it, I think.
Is this ringing any bells with anybody? I adored these books when I was about 9-11 years old, but have never seen them anywhere since.
Lucy, am not sure if this was answered alreadsy but the series is called We Hate Ballet! Loved these books- always thought Rocky and McGee were cool and Fat Gwen who always had a bag of twinkies/M&M’s in her bag…and that gy who did the weird concoctions ‘Hi!’ I think I actuall;y still have a few of these books…for shame!
Lucy – Bad News Ballet! “Jahnna N Malcolm” were also Baby-Sitters Club ghostwriters.
I see the BNB books in thrift stores from time to time.