Lost Classics of Teen Lit: Name That Book!

Looking for a book that’s like a kids version of A Simple Plan, where two boys find a briefcase or duffle bag full of money in the woods and start spending it on things like a trip to an amusement park, but eventually a bad guy comes looking for it. Would have read it late elementary school or early middle school in the mid to late nineties. Reader suggestions: The Runaways by Ruth Thompson and Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn

 I’m dreaming of finding a book I read in elementary school and lent out, but sadly never got back. Young adult, published before 1983 for sure. A boy from a small town was somehow lost, maybe on an island, and was alone for a while, unable to get home. Somehow he got back to his hometown, and on the day he arrived back, there was a town fair. He went up to the girl he had liked when he was younger who happened to be at a kissing booth at the fair, she didn’t recognize him, and he kissed her and said “you taste like strawberries”, and then she recognized him and was happy to see him again after so long.

 I’m junior high school I read a teen romance mystery novel about a high school couple who were torn apart by a boy and a girl. It was also Halloween and they were all trying to set up a haunted murder scene that took place many years ago. In the end both the bad boy and girl got busted for trying to harm the nice girl. I also think that there was something with a dress that used to belong to the murdered woman from many years ago and was worn by the nice girl. On the cover is a guy and girl holding each other. I would guess that this book came out in either the 80’s to early 90’s. Thanks.

So I wish I had more information about this one because it’s been driving me crazy for years. A friend gave it to me when I was probably 8 or 9 (so first half of the 90s), but who knows how old that copy was at the time (definitely second-hand). I remember very few details other than it involved a village near a crescent shaped valley and at the climax of the book everyone went there in the middle of the night and some beings appeared (aliens? fairies?). I feel like maybe there was something about missing children tied in with that (maybe they were what appeared)? I remember how I felt reading it (slightly confused, slightly creeped out) more than I remember the book itself and I wondered if it was a title translated from another language – although I don’t have anything really to pin that on other than I found the people weird and decided they must live somewhere else. I remembered the title as “The Valley of the Crescent Moon” but that doesn’t get any results that seem right. I might be inclined to think I dreamed it if I didn’t remember being annoyed that my friend misspelled my name inside the front cover. Suggestion: Born INto Light By PAul Samuel JAcobs

Looking for a fiction book I read in 1971 or 1972 about a teenage girl who gets pregnant. She and the baby’s father try to figure out how they can keep the baby, then decide to give the baby up for adoption. The girl gets through the pregnancy by telling herself it’s not HER baby; she’s having this baby for someone else. Any ideas?

 I am remembering a book I read in the mid-90s, when I was around 10 years old. It’s about a teenage boy who either lives in or moves to a small town in rural California (I feel like I remember there being a line about “there was a sign on the road out of town where it said Los Angeles 567 miles [or some large amount] and someone had crossed it out and written 1,000,000 and honestly it might as well have been.”) Someone in his community teaches him and the other youths how to “witch for water”, or use a dowsing rod, and nobody is successful except him. He can feel the water through the rod by a sensation in his wrists and arms. Later on, he feels the same sensation without the rod, and discovers that he is essentially a human lie detector. There is a scene where he goes to help a friend’s dad as a border patrol officer on a state line, and helps them to confiscate illegal fruit that can’t enter the state for some reason (a big carton of cherries in one case, and like two apples in another.) The fruit-at-the-border isn’t the main plot thrust, but it’s the part I remember!! Thanks for the help :):)

Lost Classics reader Ceara writes: I’m almost certain it’s Liars by PJ Peterson! I remember reading the same book!

In 1959 my family moved & I did not to finish a library book I was reading. No title or author so slim clues but here goes: A boy, about 10 or 12, goes to live with his grandfather due to his Dad being made a manager at a soft drink plant (Coca Cola?) in the Philippines. His grandfather lived in desert, seemed like Arizona or possibly New Mexico & I believe it was a trailer a good ways out from town & boy rode bus to school. He had a friend nearby, a girl, & eventually they met an Indian boy who lived close by. They would slip out at night to watch the stars & just hang out together as kids do. One night they caught sight of what they were sure was a UFO landing out in the desert & they planned to head that way & see where it landed. That’s as far as I got! If this rings any bells with anyone, would appreciate a clue. It must have been a mid to late 1950’s book & I believe it was hardback, don’t remember a book cover if it had one. Thank you!

I am trying to remember a book but can’t find it. All I remember is the plot.

It’s about a girl named Harriet who meets a gambler named Jake who takes her money. She goes on his boat cause she hasn’t got anywhere else to go. She gets stranded on a island where she is forced to marry a rich old man and gives birth to Jake’s baby on the island. She names her Victoria. Jake comes back for her. The old man dies leaving Harriet his fortune. She builds an empire. In the end her and Jake get back together. I think this came out 80s or 90s. This is a 2 part saga.

I hope you can help! It’s driving me nuts!! Suggestion: A Promise of Gold By Joan Druett

 I am looking for a mystery book I read in the 80’s from the local library.  The book is probably older, maybe 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s.  Children find a scrap of metal.  They find out that years before a woman stole a hurricane lamp or a spirit lamp from a local shop keeper. When she tried to light it she set the building (it might have been a lighthouse) on fire.  Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!