Request #32

. This has driven me nuts for decades – I had a gritty YA realistic fiction teen peril kind of  book from the 70s or 80s in which the main character got to know another young woman in her small town who had a bad reputation for being promiscuous and was thus known by the nickname “Everybody’s Evie” or “Everybody’s Evy” (but I am pretty sure this was not the title of the book, nor am I talking about ME Kerr’s Deliver Us From Evie, which is newer and different). If I recall, this was one of those moralizing types of books, like don’t sleep around or the town will cast you out, but I also seem to remember that it might have been a little more progressive than that and the main character got to know Evie/Evy and learned she hadn’t really done the things that earned her this reputation, but rather was just kind of a rebel nonconformist who didn’t give a crap and was therefore being stigmatized and marginalized unfairly. Still, I have the haunting remembrance that the ending wasn’t so happy. Nobody knows what this book is and I am going nuts, please help! Did I dream it?  Lost Classics reader Miss Amy alerts us that this one was solved over at Goodreads: Everybody’s Evy by Rose Blue

Request #31

I’m looking for a teen/young adult book that follows a group of girls in Jr. High adventures. Read it in the 80s. The only adventure I clearly remember is a team gymnastics competition where the girls squirt ink on a competitors leotard- that girl and her twin sister had been switching places in their best gymnastics events, so their team always won! (Yes, a huge crime.) Then the ink-stained girl and her twin had to finish the competition with no cheating, and they lost. (Justice prevails.) If anyone can help, I’m desperate to find this one. TY in advance! The Rascals from Haskell’s Gym, by Frank Bonham ID’d by an Anonymous Lost Classics reader!  

Request #29

I’m trying to remember the title of a book that I read, probably as a tween in the late 70s, early 80s. It was set in the first person, I think, and it was meant to be more funny than dramatic. The main character was maybe 11-13. She was shy, maybe a bit of a social outcast and hated school. It seems to me that her home life wasn’t that great either. I think I remember that she was sent to the AV closet at school to retrieve something and found a place where she could hide and watch TV all day. She did this every day. Nobody seemed to miss her and this went on for quite some time. Eventually she was discovered by a guidance counselor and she agreed to stop trying to escape her problems and stay in class. It might be a Scholastic book, and I have this memory of an orange and pink cover but I don’t remember anything else about it. I’m Canadian so it might have been Canadian and style-wise, I think it was maybe from the mid 70s. It would be great if someone could prove that it isn’t a figment of my imagination.Suggestion: Wendy and the Bullies By Nancy K. Robinson 

Request #28

 I’ve been looking for a certain book for years, maybe someone here can help.

It was a young adult novel about two teen girls. They were friends, spending time together before the new school year started. There was an annoying little brother who pestered them constantly.

One of the girls wore glasses, but was getting contact lenses for the first time. She wanted to be prettier for the new school year. They called the makeover “Operation Chrysalis” or “Project Metamorphosis” or something like that. I think I remember them sitting in the backyard discussing their plans, with the brother spying and teasing them.

One of the major plot points involved the girls finding out that one of their distant, elderly relatives had died. The family drove to the relative’s house a few weeks/months later, and found that all of the furniture had been stolen. They eventually found it being sold at an auction, and were able to identify it as theirs by bite marks on one of the chairs.

At some point, the girls found an old diary with a pretty drawing inside. It appeared to be just a pretty pattern, but upon further inspection, the girls noticed it was actually a monogram of someone’s initials. It could have been hidden inside a desk?

At another point, the girls were cooking something with syrup. The little brother made a mess licking the bowl clean. The girls tried to tell him that he needed to use soap to clean it, but he insisted that syrup is made of sugar, which is water soluble and can be easily cleaned by licking it. He licked his finger and touched a napkin to prove he wasn’t sticky, but the napkin stuck.

I read a lot as a kid, so it’s possible I’m combining parts of several books. Most of the books I read were written from 1950-1995, and I would guess this one was written around the 60s. I thought it might have been one of the Trixie Belden books, but I’ve looked through most of them and couldn’t find this story. Suggestion from Lost Classics Reader Kelly L.: The Mystery of the Singing Mermaid By Ann Young

Request #27

Can’t remember title. YA book from late 1970s or early 1980s. Wren and her sister Francesca meet a girl named Anna Ferris. Anna is a budding singer. Anna has a brother, Travis (I think). Anna meets Tony and gets pregnant. Wren desperately tries to find a place to send Anna over the summer for the pregnancy so that Anna doesn’t lose her future. Wren’s mom is dating someone named Mr. Montcrief. Help! I can’t think of the title, I’ve searched the internet and nothing!  Sycamore Year by Mildred Lee identified by Lost Classics reader Susan. 

Request #26

I don’t really have a lot to go on, but when I was in 6th grade (so around `94) I read this scifi book my teacher had and literally all I can remember is they travelled from at least one planet to another, and there was something to do with a green stone and it may or may not have given the heroine special abilities. I’ve been trying to search for it for years, as I believe this may have been one of the catalysts for my interest in the scifi genre. Suggestions: The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, Forerunner Foray or The Zero Stone, both by Andre Norton. 

Request #25

 I am looking for a “teen romance” from the 80’s…it’s about a girl named Callie who falls for a lifeguard at the local pool named Kurt, who does not reciprocate her feelings. She has a little sister named Tessa and a good guy friend named Rusty, who she ends up realizing her feelings for at the end. I cannot remember the title! The cover shows a girl standing at a lifeguard stand looking up at him. Thanks for any suggestions!  Why Am I Too Young by Alida Young found by Lost Classics reader Laura! 

Request #24

 I am trying to remember the title and author of a book I read in c. 1986, when I was about 11. It was about a girl who goes to stays with her relative for a period of time. She meets a woman who, it is revealed later in the book, is her recovering alcoholic mother. She befriends an elderly man who has a German Shepherd named MacDuff. MacDuff is swept out to sea when the girl almost drowns, but is later found safe and brought home.  Now Is Not Too Late by Isabelle Holland identified by Lost Classics reader ninyabruja! 

Request #23

 I’m hoping someone can help out with this one. It probably would have been published sometime in the ’60s, but possibly earlier. It’s about a brother & sister named Mary Jo & James who are accidental stowaways on a ship headed to Germany. They’re caught almost immediately & have to work for their passage – Mary Jo by peeling potatoes & James by shining shoes. The local bad girl – who I think was named Lizzie – was responsible for them being stuck on the ship in the first place. Mary Jo & James have been hanging out with Bad Girl Lizzie because they’ve been temporarily sent to live with a (very unpleasant) neighbor due to their younger sister being sick with something – possibly scarlet fever? – & they will do anything to avoid being in the neighbor’s house. That’s about all I remember except that I think there’s something about one of the sailors from the ship coming to their house for Christmas at the end. The Surprise of Their Lives identified by Lost Classics reader Norma!