Young Adult Book Nostalgia (From the 1980s and early 1990s)

[Librarian]

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Everyman wrote:
The whole idea of having nostalgia for the 80s and 90s makes me scratch my head.

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Hi Everyman----You probably are implying something subtle here so my response is probably naive! I think everyone is nostalgic about their childhood and early adult decades, For me, that's the 1950s and 1960s.
Librarian

[Everyman]

Nothing subtle at all. Just that I'm so ancient that nostalgia for me starts in the 1950s and works back!

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Librarian wrote:

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Everyman wrote:
The whole idea of having nostalgia for the 80s and 90s makes me scratch my head.

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Hi Everyman----You probably are implying something subtle here so my response is probably naive! I think everyone is nostalgic about their childhood and early adult decades, For me, that's the 1950s and 1960s.
Librarian

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[Librarian]

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Everyman wrote:
Nothing subtle at all. Just that I'm so ancient that nostalgia for me starts in the 1950s and works back!

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Librarian wrote:

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Everyman wrote:
The whole idea of having nostalgia for the 80s and 90s makes me scratch my head.

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Hi Everyman----You probably are implying something subtle here so my response is probably naive! I think everyone is nostalgic about their childhood and early adult decades, For me, that's the 1950s and 1960s.
Librarian

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Everyman----I just got it! Boy do I feel foolish that it took so long for the meaning to click in my head! I'm probably right behind you in ancient!
Librarian

[courtrae]

Help!

As long as you're all waxing nostalgic, I wonder if you could help me.

I recently began thinking back to the books I read during my childhood and adolescence. Like many of you, that list is replete with works by Lois Duncan, Judy Blume, and Christopher Pike. There are so many others I could name--the _Great Brain_ series, Nancy Drew, The Little House books, those by Paula Danziger, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, etc.

The problem is that I remember all of these books so well, but there are a few that come to mind that I cannot remember for the life of me! I know plot details, but I cannot remember the title or the author of these books. In a moment, I will outline a few of the details, and if any of you remember these books, I would really appreciate some assistance on the author or title. Thanks in advance!

Mystery Book #1: This book is about a young girl who believes her mother to be dead. One summer, I think, she is staying at the shore and she meets a woman who lives down the way from her. The woman is an artist, and the two of them form a bond. During that time, the girl begins to have nightmares about a scarecrow-looking woman in a blue dress coming after her. Ultimately, the girl comes to the realization that her new painter friend is really her mother. Her mother had been an abusive alcoholic and now that she was clean, she wanted to get bak into her daughter's life.

Mystery Book #2: For this one, I do not remember the plot as well. I believe that there are four girls who are friends. They are junior high age, I believe. I could swear that the one girl is named Jan or Janet, but I can't prove it. Anyway, she has a crush on this boy, and at one point in the story, they eat together at a pizza place. She steals the straw from his drink and keeps it, as she thinks it's like they kissed. I believe the climax comes when he gets hit by a car (maybe in front of the pizza joint?). He's injured pretty badly, but recovers. She visits him in the hospital, which serves to solidify their relationship.

That's all I remember, and I'm not sure that the details are exactly right. Again, I thank anyone who can help me to solve this mystery!!

[courtrae]

Quick update for any of those of you who might have been pondering my question: I solved Mystery #2 with a little bit of effort and searching on the internet. It's from a series called _The Fabulous Five_ by Betsy Haynes, which was a spin-off from her earlier books about Taffy Sinclair. I don't know if any of you read any of those, but the specific book I was describing was titled (quite appropriately) _Hit and Run_. Still, if anyone has any ideas about Mystery #1, I would be so appreciative! Thanks again!

[MsBleuGenes]

Wow, I am so happy to find this thread. I just recently started listing books I enjoyed in the 80s/early 90s on my livejournal account. (I'm MsBleuGenes there, too, if anyone is interested.) I love the idea of people posting little plot points and asking other readers if they remember the author and title.

So, here is one of mine, also listed on my livejournal.
A girl has moved to/is visiting a farm. She meets a friend- possibly in a rose garden? The friend always wears dresses, and the girl gets her mom to buy/make her some, too. I seem to remember one dress being yellow. The two girls are searching for a cave the friend found once, but the friend is acting weird and saying soon she can't come and play anymore. The friend stops coming and the girl finds a map they had drawn in the pocket of her dress. She and her parents look for the cave, and I think someone tells the girl there aren't any kids her age anywhere around. The idea being, the friend was a ghost. There may be a comment somewhere about the ghost being cold (but that might be a crossover memory from "Wait Til Helen Comes", which I still have).

Anyone else remember this book??

And I wish I could help you with Mystery #1, but that doesn't ring a bell. I loved the Fab Five series, although I don't think the straw scenario happened in Hit and Run? I could be wrong. It was definitely Jana and Randy who were on that date.

[courtrae]

Wow, I wish I could help you with your mystery! That sounds like exactly the kind of book I would have loved to read when I was young, but I don't think I read it.

And for the record, I think there's a good chance you're absolutely right about the straw/kissing thing not happening in _Hit and Run_. When I finally figured out that the book I was remembering came from a series and found pictures of them online, I found out that I had created an amalgam in my head of multiple books from the series. I don't think I read any past #11, but I'm pretty sure I had mixed up the details from the early books.

Thanks for your reply. I'm hoping someone will see our mysteries and solve them for us! So many good memories come rushing back whenever I think of all these books--I would love to be able to find some of the missing books again.

[krenea1]

Have you read this book?

These teenagers all live in a small town. This one girl and her boyfriend are on their way to a clinic in another town to have an abortion. She doesn't go through with it but does not tell her boyfriend. When they get back into town every one is gone. They run into a group of other teenagers from around town and are trying to figure out what has happened and why they are the only ones left. They realize that they all have something in common with one person in town and they go on a wild goose chase throughout the book trying to piece everything together. The person that they all have in common with is a story writter. They find different stories around town about them and they all end with some kind of accident or death.

I read this in the ninties.

[allenctynimrod]

Krenea that's Whisper of Death by Christopher Pike. Great great great very dark book I read in 6th grad. With some thought I could probably set down and tell you the order they all get picked off in before the girl getting the abortion fixes everything in the end. If I'm not mistaken (and it's been 10 years plus since I read this book) I'm thinking the girl getting the abortion dreamed all of the elimination type stuff and then at the end she actually dies but I could be wrong too.

Message Edited by allenctynimrod on 08-21-2007 01:44 AM

[krenea1]

That's it!!! I loved that book. I think you are right about the ending.

[TheWildJacko]

Another mystery:

So I'm totally new here, but I was looking up some Scott Westerfield books (his entire catalog, actually), and out of the depths of my subconscious a memory arose of a trilogy of sci-fi/adventure books I read when I was much younger (I'm 23 now, this would probably be about 11-12 years ago). I don't remember any linear plot lines, just sort of the premise of the series. Perhaps one of you recalls the title?

It was about these three (I think) super-smart kids of varying ages, whose parents move to an island to do research on some major scientific project--I think they're trying to create an AI--leaving the kids to explore the island on their own time. At first they complain about being stuck on the island, but then they realize they have dune buggies and computers and other gadgets at their disposal, and their lives get more interesting. When all sorts of things start to go wrong on the island, they set to work finding out who's responsible.

I remember a lot of random details:

- One of the girls has a photographic memory / memorization technique that she uses to remember someone's computer password as he is typing it. I think her name was Rachael.

- They meet a kid who was raised on the island, and he helps them solve the mysteries I think his name was Hal. I think he and Rachael start dating or something.

- One of the adults creates a robot called Euterpe to play the music inherent in the orbits of earth's satellites, but everybody laughs at her name and her absurd design, with a metal grille for a face. She ends up being used in a plot to control the satellites that direct missiles for evil purposes, but then when the good guys prevail, she's used to destroy the missiles in space, which amounts to a huge fireworks display at the end of one of the books.

- One of the bad guys traps one of the kids in a rocket that's about to blast off.

- Another project on the island is a water power plant that uses tides to create power, and I think that presents another hazard for the kids at one point.

That's about all I can remember at this point. Anybody know what books these are? Pretty sure there were 3 and the title had something to do with the group of kids (as in, "The Genius Group" only something much craftier).

[TheWildJacko]

I found them! The trilogy is called "The A.I. Gang," by Bruce Coville. Six kids, not 3. I think I was right about everything else, including when I read them! May have to buy them again because I think they're packed away in storage somewhere untraceable.

[Wildflower]

Hi. Does anyone remember the title of a dark and creepy young adult book from the 80's that had to do with Astral Projection? All I really remember is that a dark and troubled girl takes over another girls body.

[ABI]

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HPFANATTIC25 wrote:
I think R.L. Stine is what turned me into a bookworm in the first place. I liked the Goosebump ones also.. but again they were a little on the juvenile side for me.. my faves were the Fear Street series. Even now when I'm between books I'll grab one that's laying around the house and read it in like 2-4hours(depending on if it's the cheerleaders series or not). Stine was my absolute fave author in middle school and into early high school, I just branched from him.

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yeah, Stine was always popular, except I branched off in third grade, I think...after a life-changing idea that I would show up all my class mates and read lotr..which is, I think, the reason I read so much as it is.. before that I read a lot of murder mystery types...in fact the first chapter book I completed was centered utterly around blood and murder.. then in fourth grade it was hp..still is hp. But in fifth grade I decided the adult section would not hold back on any info and abandoned teen-fiction all together. I can just barely fit into this discussion. thank god I was born in the 90s! well, that and my always having been a complete bookworm..

[Wrighty]

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Wildflower wrote:
Hi. Does anyone remember the title of a dark and creepy young adult book from the 80's that had to do with Astral Projection? All I really remember is that a dark and troubled girl takes over another girls body.

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There are probably a bunch of books that have that description. Can you remember anything else about it? I remember one that I think was from the 70's that sounds a bit similar. I think it was Down A Dark Hallway by Duncan (?). Teenagers were away at a boarding school for students that were gifted in different areas - music, art, etc. I think the main character played the piano and she knew something funny was going on. Ghosts of gifted artists would use(possess) the students to continue their work but it would appear that the students were doing it. I apologize if I'm not remembering this correctly but it was a book that I really enjoyed at the time and it got me hooked on that genre.

[bigbooklittleb…]

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Wrighty wrote:

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jjane617 wrote:
Hello all -

Just wanted to start a discussion on young adult books from the '80s and '90s. In my fourth grade class our teacher introduced "Troll" book orders and I don't think my life has ever been the same since I pretty much became a book worm after that. I started out with The Baby-Sitter's Club and Sleepover Friends and then quickly moved onto Nancy Drew - the older hardcover and newer paperback titles. After that, I got into V.C. Andrews' Flowers in the Attic Series and Lois Duncan and some of the R.L. Stine's. What kind of books were all of you reading in your youth? If anyone wants to discuss any Lois Duncan, then I am also especially interested as that author initially got me interested in suspense and horror genres.

Cheers!

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I loved the book orders from school!! My mom would let me order as many as I wanted and I took advantage of that. I must be older than you but I still enjoyed a lot of those authors. Judy Blume was a huge influence in my childhood. Every girl read Are You There God? It's Me Margaret. Lois Duncan's books were great too.

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Hello Everyone!
I am new to this whole discussion thing, but a friend a I were looking for a particular book from our childhood. We can't remember too many of the details, and the one's we can remember are a little sketchy, but here goes:
The book talks about 3 sisters who have to go and stay with a relative( a Grandma or an Aunt) while their parents go on vacation. They go through the motions and pack, with one of them, I believe the littleset one, packing only a few things in her suticase. They end up staying at a relatives beach house, I think, and have to eat mussels and things from the ocean because there is no food.
I hope that this meager description helps and that there is someone out there who can help us!!

[Wildflower]

No, it wasn't about ghosts inhabiting someone's body. A living girl would project her soul out of her body, but this left her body open for a not so nice girl to astral project herself into it. If you were out of your body for too long your soul would die. I remember something about rocky crags and possibly a cave??????? Not really sure about that part.

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Wrighty wrote:

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Wildflower wrote:
Hi. Does anyone remember the title of a dark and creepy young adult book from the 80's that had to do with Astral Projection? All I really remember is that a dark and troubled girl takes over another girls body.

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There are probably a bunch of books that have that description. Can you remember anything else about it? I remember one that I think was from the 70's that sounds a bit similar. I think it was Down A Dark Hallway by Duncan (?). Teenagers were away at a boarding school for students that were gifted in different areas - music, art, etc. I think the main character played the piano and she knew something funny was going on. Ghosts of gifted artists would use(possess) the students to continue their work but it would appear that the students were doing it. I apologize if I'm not remembering this correctly but it was a book that I really enjoyed at the time and it got me hooked on that genre.

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[MsBleuGenes]

I still have my copy of Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall- famous (dead) artists and musicians and writers and mathematicians take over the girls in order to finish their work.

I have another mystery book. It was about a girl named Skye who was starting sixth grade, and her older brother told her horror stories about the older kids picking on sixth graders. Sixth grade wasn't that bad, but when Skye danced with a guy her best friend was crushing on, her old pack of friends turned their backs on Skye. She made new friends and in the end had a big sleepover with her old friends and new ones. Some points: Skye played tennis with her big brother, Skye envied a girl who wore a blue lace bra (Skye didn't have a bra). Anyone remember this one?

[ArianaBass]

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Wrighty wrote:I loved the book orders from school!! My mom would let me order as many as I wanted and I took advantage of that. I must be older than you but I still enjoyed a lot of those authors. Judy Blume was a huge influence in my childhood. Every girl read Are You There God? It's Me Margaret. Lois Duncan's books were great too.

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Wow, I'm jealous! My mom would always set a limit because I'd try to order everything; they all looked so good!

[Popper19]

WOW - I can identify with all these books! Did anyone else have an obsession with the Babysitters Club?