Category: Name That Book Request

I read as a kid I think in the late 90’s. I could have sworn it was called on bear mountain or black bear mountain but everything I searched for didn’t match what I remember of it. I recall it being a village where a coming of age ceremony involved sacrificing your childhood to a bear the village would catch. I’m not sure if it was girl restricted or just all children of a certain age would have to do this.

 It this was about a girl who tried, failed and was scarred by it and I think she ran away from her village to a mountain where she met a blind man I believe who either painted or weaved. While on the mountain at some point she encounters a bear, all I remember is the bear was not normal but she was able to ‘sacrifice’ her childhood and embrace being a woman with this bear. And because it was a strange bear in the wild she wasn’t accepted by her village because in return for giving up your childhood to the bear you accepted the adult spirit of it? And I think she went back and lived with the man on the mountain. 

a girl moves to the country and is lonely. She meets a boy and falls in love, only to discover that the boy is a ghost. It may have had a greeny woodland cover with a girl’s face – or not. This would have been early 70s. Loved the story – so annoying not to remember any more details. Does this ring any bells?

I’m trying to find a book, a teen novel from 1984-1986 most likely. Maybe published earlier, who knows. It involved a mother and daughter, a pair of shoes. The daughter wanted these silver high heeled (uncomfortable) sandals. The mother wanted her to wear a pair of pumps dyed to match her dress. I want to share this with my daughter. I can’t remember the name or author or character names. It may have been Apple Books, Fawcett and Juniper, scholastic, or something similar

YA mystery – A girl’s annoying younger cousin comes to visit for the summer, goes missing and is found dead in a body of water (river, lake? not sure) with fishing wire tied around him. She then notices a fishing pole in her boyfriends room and realizes he’s the killer. Published 2010 or earlier, told from first person perspective. Perhaps has a stripey cover?

I’m trying to find a book I read years ago late 80’s early 90’s about 2 girls that are best friends. (I think they’re 12 yrs old) One had a dog that passed away and she got her period for the first time. The other friend went away for the summer and when she returned their friendship almost ended because seemed different to her friend. I remember crying as I read the sad parts. I’m 45 a d my memory is not as good as it was. I really loved that book. I’ve tried searching but no luck. Suggestion: The Trouble with Thirteen by Betty Miles

a late 70s book about a teen boy who has a crush on his English teacher then meets a young woman at the beach who shows off fixing his transistor radio for him and they get involved. I may be mixing up two books here.

I’m trying to find a YA novel from the late 70s or early 80s in which the young woman (maybe 16 years old?) lives in New York with her father who is a psychiatrist. She starts seeing this weird boy then discovers he is one of her father’s patients. Her dad accidentally cuts his finger and tells her she is impulsive like he is.

 Ok, lovely people who grew up in the 70s and 80s. A friend of mine is trying to remember the name of a book/series(?) about a little girl who could transport to other worlds through the surface of a pond/lake. I know there has to be someone else who remembers it. Help us out? Suggestion from Lost Classics Reader Rebecca: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis