Alice's Books for Sale
OUR LATEST REVISED LIST -- March, 2012
THIS IS OUR REGULAR LIST OF BOOKS FOR SALE
INCLUDING SERIES, "MALTSHOP ROMANCES,"
AND A LOT OF OTHER YOUNG ADULT BOOKS FROM THE PAST.
Click here to go down to the list of free books.
Click here to visit Linda Burns' March 2012 list of Books for sale
*********************************************************************
A FEW PRELIMINARY REMARKS --
IF YOU HAVE A NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS and you want to be notified of each new book list,
please let us know!
IF YOU DON'T GET NOTICES REGULARLY, but want to know when we list new books, please Email and ask to be added to our notification list. We'll be posting another list just as soon as we can, because we have A LOT of books that we want to offer to you! If you don't want to get these notices when we send out a new list, let us know.
FIRST COME, FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!! We try to take books off this list as soon as someone orders them. We do this so that people are not disappointed by wanting books we have already sold. However, sometimes we can't remove them for a day or so. Because of that, we can't guarantee the availability of all the books you want to order.
AFTER I WRITE WITH PRICE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR ORDER, you'll have a week for the check
to arrive, or for us to receive Paypal payment. After that the books will go back on the list --
PROCRASTINATORS BEWARE!
SO WE WILL KNOW IT ISN'T SPAM:
When emailing an order please use "Book Order" for your subject line.
ASK US FOR DETAILS OF HOW YOU CAN LIST BOOKS FOR SALE THROUGH OUR WEB PAGE!
IT'S A FREE SERVICE TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SELL VINTAGE CHILDREN'S BOOKS.
BILLHEIMERS' BOOK SALE LIST FOR MARCH, 2012 Here's a new sale list for this month, with some exceptionally interesting books for you to examine and perhaps want to buy. They're predominantly vintage books for teens and young adults, but there are some for younger readers and a few that were originally meant for adults. We think you'll find this list fascinating and nostalgic, as well as reasonably priced! We have a lot of fun collecting books and compiling this collection! ******We recommend asking your browser to reload or refresh to make sure you have the latest version of our web page.******* SOME OF THE CONTENTS!! (Not necessarily in this order) 1. MANY JUDY BOLTON, NANCY DREW, AND TRIXIE BELDEN BOOKS! 2. SEVERAL SPECIAL SALES HERE AND THERE! 3. A BIG SECTION OF YOUNG ADULT MYSTERIES THAT COULD ALSO BE "MALTSHOPS ROMANCES," OR TEEN NOVELS 4. Some CAREER-ROMANCES, a very popular category! 5. FOR HOME-SCHOOLERS, sometimes there are NEWBERY award winners, some non-fiction books, as well as other wonderful books to read. 6. FOR SERIES book collectors: you'll find many new additions of popular as well as unusual series to check out! You never know what I'll come up with! Usually including Judy Bolton Maida Trixie Belden Nancy Drew Linda Craig Jean Craig Cherry Ames and some interesting ones you may never have seen before! 7. Lots of additions to the "MALTSHOP" novels from "the nostalgia years." Many used book shops don't bother to stock these categories, so this is an unusual chance to stock up up on these teen-girls' novels from the 40s through 60s. 8. BOOKS BY WONDERFUL AUTHORS!! INCLUDING MOST OF THE FOLLOWING: Mildred Wirt Elizabeth Hamilton Friermood Betty Cavanna Anne Emery Maud Hart Lovelace Janet Lambert Catherine Woolley hundreds more!! 9. MAINE books from our home state. 10. ALICE'S PICKS -- books that I love best 11 Alice's Wish List 12. And who knows what else? Contents won't be in the same order as this list, but everything is there, somewhere ******************************************************************** PRICES OF THE BOOKS REFLECT Condition Popularity Scarcity My opinion of them! *************************************************************************** We only use a few abbreviations, including these: HB -- hardcover book PB -- paperback book XL -- library discard book DJ -- dust jacket PC -- picture printed on the cover YA -- young adult (teen) book cond == condition If you don't understand something in our sale list, Email and ask us. ******We recommend asking your browser to reload or refresh to make sure you have the latest version of our web page.******* OUR POSTAGE POLICY We weigh all orders, and charge the actual postage that we figure out from a chart. If we feel that we will be using a lot of padding, and packaging, that's figured into the price. . All will be sent Media mail unless you want to pay more for 1st class or whatever. If you want insurance, we'll figure out how much extra that will be FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!!!!!!!!! WE ACCEPT PAYPAL!!! ******************************************************************************************* ALICE'S WISH LIST!!!! WE'LL BE HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT TRADING FOR BOOKS ON OUR WISH LIST Condition isn't important unless I specify that I'm looking for an upgrade. MY WISH LIST! I'd like hardcover copies of the following Janet Lambert books: For Each Other Welcome home, Mrs. Jordan I'd also like these books by Phyllis A. Whitney: A Window for Julie and A Place for Ann Jean Nielsen -- Walk Under the Trees good hardcover with DJ of Fair Exchange SOME BOOKS BY RUBY RADFORD that I don't have MORE OF MY WISH LIST -- REMEMBER THAT I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT TRADING! Jack and Jill magazines from the 30's through 50's. I'm missing a lot from the late 50's. Condition does not have to be perfect, but will affect how much I'm willing to pay! Usually, I've paid $1 or $2 per magazine. Also, American Girl Magazines (not the ones related to the dolls, but the Girl Scout Magazines from the '40s and '50s!) I have some, but would like to have more. Calling All Girls magazines from the 40s and 50s The Fabulous Year (Elisabeth Ogilvie) in HB with a DJ. Or if you have a copy with a DJ, maybe you could make a copy of the DJ to cover my "naked" book! MORE OF MY WISH LIST! Dorrance Doings by Carolyn Wells "Sunshine and Shadow" and "Sugar and Spice" by Lorraine Beim I have both of these very good books, but would love to have a dust jacketed copy of either one, or a laser copy of your DJ (we'll tell you how to make a laser DJ, and we'll trade one for a laser DJ for the book of your choice if we have it.) Books by Fjeril Hess, including Toplofty, Castle Camp, and others. The Haunted Apartment, by Margaret Sutton REMEMBER, THESE BOOKS ARE NOT FOR SALE, THEY ARE ON MY WISH LIST!!!!! Dust jackets for Emery's Bright Horizons One of the Crowd Books by Virginia Fairfax -- Camp Pioneer, Secret of the Halliday House. REMEMBER, THE PRECEDING TITLES ARE MY WISH-LIST BOOKS! (Sorry, but they aren't for sale.) AND REMEMBER THAT I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT TRADING SOMETHING ON MY SALE LIST FOR SOMETHING ON MY WISH LIST! --------End of Alice's Wish List ----------- ********************************************************* TO START THIS MONTH'S LIST ******** HERE IS A VERY SPECIAL OFFERING! ******** ALICE'S "CHARMING SISTER SARAH" HAS MADE SOME BEAUTIFUL SERIES BOOK GIFTS! FOR YOURSELF OR FOR GIFTS!!!-- CHARM BRACELETS FOR BOOK LOVERS!!! MANY STYLES OF SERIES-BOOK BRACELETS (SHE'LL ALSO WORK WITH YOU TO MAKE A CUSTOM-MADE BRACELET ! MY OWN SERIES BOOK BRACELET HAS CHARMS TO REPRESENT JUDY BOLTON, NANCY DREW, CHERRY AMES, VICKI BARR, AND MALTSHOP BOOKS! SARAH ALSO MADE ME A MUSIC BRACELET FOR MY "DAY JOB" AND A SPECIAL "ALICE BRACELET" WITH ALL KINDS OF CHARMS THAT JUST SAY MY NAME! YOU CAN CHOOSE CHARMS TO REMIND YOU OF YOUR FAVORITES BOOKS, OR FILL A BRACELET TO MAKE AN AMAZING GIFT FOR A SPECIAL PERSON. INCLUDING ++++NEW +++ CHRISTMAS BRACELETS IN MANY STYLES! I KNOW SARAH WOULD TRY TO GET YOUR CHRISTMAS BRACELET -- OR ANY OTHER BRACELET -- TO YOU IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS! Alice's sister Sarah has made some special charm bracelets for people who love series books and Maltshops! There are many styles, each one with a theme. There are Judy Bolton bracelets, Nancy Drew bracelets, Teens-of-the-50's bracelets, general Series Book bracelets. They were first seen at the Phantom Friends' Reunion in Mount Dora Florida, where we sold out almost immediately. You will LOVE this fine jewelry: I can assure you. I should know, I wear my three "Sarah Bracelets" everywhere! The CHRISTMAS charm bracelets are more beautiful than you could believe, without seeing them! Colorful, varied, imaginative, you will wear yours for the rest of your life! If you would like to see some sample bracelets you can click here: http://www.midcoast.com/maltshopbooks/charms.htm ################################################################# NOW FOR THE BOOKS STARTING WITH A LIST OF UNCATEGORIZED, ASSORTED BOOKS OF ALL TYPES -- VERY CHEAP! FIRST, HERE IS A LONG SECTION OF BOOKS THAT I HAVE RECENTLY ADDED TO THE LIST. I'VE BEEN CLEANING OUT MANY NOOKS AND CRANNIES OF OUR HOUSE, AND FOUND LOTS OF GOOD BOOKS THAT I'D LIKE TO OFFER TO YOU -- WITH VERY LITTLE TIME ON MY HANDS TO DO SO! THEY'RE NOT IN ANY ORDER BY TYPE OF BOOKS OR ANYTHING ELSE. I WANTED TO GET THE LIST OUT IN A HURRY, AND TO LET YOU SEE SOME OF THE NEWER ADDITIONS ALL AT ONCE. IF THERE ARE ANY LEFT OVER WHEN I SEND MY NEXT LIST, I'LL BE RELOCATING THEM IN WITH OTHER BOOKS, OF THE SAME SORT ON THE MAIN LIST. I'M NOT DESCRIBING THEM IN VERY MUCH DETAIL, BUT THE PRICES ARE RIGHT. IF YOU WANT TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE, BUT YOU MIGHT MISS OUT ON THE BOOK IF YOU WAIT FOR ME TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS! My Brothers' Keeper (Nancy Johnson) A Civil War Story. 3 children were left to the very-unfriendly care of their step-father, after their mother dies. They put up with him so they can all stay together, but he threatens to kill their pet goose for Thanksgiving, things kept going further down-hill, and the children had to escape. The boy ends up in the Army at an early age. This is a fictional story of Joshua Parish, who served with Joshua Chamberlain, the man who became governor of Maine, and eventually president of Bowdoin college. Down East Books edition, brand new, gift-giving condition, large pb with maps, bibliography and glossary. $3 (2 copies available.) An Edge of the Forest (Agnes Smith) 1959. Beautiful, possibly allegorical story. Most of the characters are animals in the forest (not dressed-up, talking animals, but realistic ones.) the other characters are a shepherd and his family, who live there at the edge of the forest. HB, XL, good condition, with a printed library picture cover. $2.00 Rewind (William Sleator) 1999 do-over series. Signed by the author. PB $1.50 The Keys to the Kingdom: Lady Friday (Garth Nix) 2007. Hardcover with DJ, looks brand new. $2.00 MORE UNCATEGORIZED BOOKS! A Girl From Yamhill (Beverly Cleary) 1988. Cleary had a strange childhood, really good in some ways, almost unbearable in others. You will understand her writing much better after you read this, and the sequel, Her Own Two Feet. This volume covers her ealy childhood and on through high school, all in Oregon. (The other continues through her college years, and parallels The Luckiest Girl.) Girl from Yamhill, hardcover, Xlibrary, with pretty DJ, all in very good condition. $4.00 Querido Senor Henshaw (Beverly Cleary) Dear Mr Henshaw in Spanish, it makes good supplimentary reading for a Spanish student. Dave was teaching himself Spanish and used children's books to advance his reading speed. This was one of his books. PB, Newbery award winner. Good condition, $2.00 The King Bear (Michael Turner) 1968 Alaska setting. like-new HB with PC. $2.00 MORE UN-CATEGORIZED NEW ADDITIONS TO THE BOOK SALE LIST Shaggy, The Horse from Wyoming (Russell Gordon Carter) 1935. I think it's a fictional sort of story about a real horse owned by the author. Exceptional illustrations. HB, large, good cond. $3.00 Molly Make-Belive (Eleanor Hallowell Abbott) 1911. I don't know what it's all about, but it's a small, vintage romance book. Quite a variety of illustrations, like the one showing a man sitting in the very Morris chair that my parents sold at a yard sale for a few bucks before they ever heard about Antique Roadshow. If you don't want to read it, it would make a cute prop for a play from that era. First few pages are dirty, otherwise not bad at all. HB, vintage=looking. $2.00 Emmy Lou, Her book and Heart (George Madden Martin) 1901. Lovely collection of stories about a girl from primary grade age to high school. Large HB, fair condition, $2.25 Mary Jane (Dorothy Sterling) 1959. Nice girl caught up in integration experiment in High School. HB, XL, good picture cover. $2.00 Water Babies (Charles Kingsley) This is a "Young Folks Standard Library" edition, which doesn't sound nearly as beautiful as it is. watery multi-color dust jacket pattern, lots of good illustrations, high-quality paper. $3.00 Call Me Bronko (Rosa K. Eichelberger) 1955. Exceptional book for boys, dedicated to Phyllis A. Whitney, who apparently advised the author about this book. Scholastic PB in good cond. $1 HERE ARE THE FREE BOOKS! ONE PER ORDER. NOTE: MOST OF THESE ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD TO POOR CONDITION! YOU'LL WANT TO UPGRADE FROM THESE COPIES AS SOON AS YOU CAN!! BUT THEY'RE ALL READABLE, SO YOU CAN ENJOY THEM WHILE WAITING FOR BETTER COPIES. FIRST INQUIRY GETS THE BOOK, AND I IMAGINE THEY'LL BE GONE BEFORE VERY LONG. GOOD LUCK! REMEMBER -- ONE FREE BOOK PER ORDER! Ginnie's Baby-sitting business (Catherine Woolley) pb Going Steady (Anne Emery)pb Ghosts of Cougar Island (Peggy Parrish) pb Marty on the Campus (Elisa Bialk) pb (2 copies) Mr Popper's Penguins (Richard and Florence Atwater) 1938. Illustrated by Robert Lawson. Newbery Honor book. PB in very good conditioN Wildflower Girl (Marita Conlon-McKenna) 1991 from Children of the Famine trilogy very pretty paperback My sister Mike (Amelia Elizabeth Walden) Saturday night (Marjorie holmes) pb Leave it to beaver (Beverly Cleary) Pb Blue Willow (Doris Gates) reading condition PB MORE FREE BOOKS -- ONE PER ORDER -- FAIRLY GOOD TO POOR CONDITION -- Mystery of the Empty House (dorothy Sterling) PB I Never Loved Your Mind (Paul Zindel) from 1970. HB, PC Plain Girl (Virginia Sorensen) pb Champions Don't Cry (Nan Gilbert) pb Ghost Rock Mystery (Mary C. Jane) pb The Sea of Monsters (Rick Riordan) 2006 Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, book 2. PB in like-new condition Salem Witch (Patricia Hermes) 2005 From My Side of the Story series. PB A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle) PB A wind in the Door (Madeleine L'Engle) PB The Luckiest girl (Beverly Cleary) Pb MORE FREE BOOKS -- ONE PER ORDER -- FAIRLY GOOD TO POOR CONDITION -- Fair Exchange (Jean Nielsen) good maltshop, small drinking-glass stain on cover The Stolen Spruce (Kenneth Andler) HB Mystery Hotel (Louisa M. Johnston) lots of fun! PB Jean and Johnny (Beverly Cleary) pb Hobby Horse Hill (Lavinia Davis) 2 copies PB Haunted Summer (Hope Dahle Jordan) 2 copies pb Marty (Elisa Bialk) pb Amelia's War (Ann Rinaldi) 1999. Large PB in very good cond Megan's Island (Willo Davis Roberts) 1988 Very good mystery, winner of the Edgar Allan Poe award for children's mystery. PB A Voice in the Wind (Kathryn Lasky) 2008, revised from 1993. A Starbucks twins story -- I haven't read it, but the description sounds like a supernatural version of the Bobbsey Twins. However, Lasky is an author of huge repute, so I'm sure it's much more than that. Notes that it's written for ages 8-12. New Mexico setting. PB in excellent cond. END OF FREE BOOKS! NEXT, A SPECIAL SECTION OF MAINE BOOKS AND A FEW BOOKS FROM OTHER NEW ENGLAND LOCATIONS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS, TOO. We think that some of the greatest authors in the world live or summer in Maine! Try one or 2, and you may decide to come to Maine yourself. I can hardly believe how much some of these books are getting on Ebay and other places! I knew they were good, but didn't realize that other people knew it, too. My prices are no more than 1/2 of what they are getting other places. Most of my copies are x-lib, but some are very good! Our Way Down East (Elinor Graham) 1943. This is the first of 3 books that Graham wrote about the life she and her husband lived in Maine, primarily during WWII. Their early years of marriage, fixing up their old, old house, interactions with neighbors, their family, and most interesting to me, her penchant for collecting "Stuff." She was an inveterate collector, and especially of buttons, which led to her next book, Maine Charm String, but I don't have that one for sale right now. Her writing is reminiscent of Elizabeth Coatsworth's, and to some extent, Louise Dickinson Rich. The DJ flap of this book describes her writing as hilariously funny, but that is certainly an exaggeration. It's humorous at times, touching and beautiful at other times, and fascinating at ALL times. Laser copy of my original DJ, shows a darling Cape Cod house, with the island-filled bay behind it, and the pine trees and sailboats that people associate with Maine. Very pretty! HB with LDJ, $3.50 Our Way Down East (Elinor Graham) 1943. Hardcover in fair condition, Very nice reading at a reasonable price for a book that doesn't look nearly as good as it really is! $1.50 Father's Day Murder, A Lucy Stone Mystery (Leslie Meier) 2003. It's coming right up! You will want to give your father -- or yourself -- this exciting memento of the day. Meier sets her books solely in Maine, and I will have to say that most of them are very true to our way of life! Except for all those murders. And except for the fact that she takes a trip to Boston during this one. Well, Boston is Greater Maine, right? Very nice hardcover with DJ, showing appropriate pictures for a father, from a #1 Dad mug to a copule of guy-costumed teddy bear salt-shakers. HB, personal copy, DJ, $2.50 The Lobster Coast (Colin Woodard) 2004. Subtitled Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier. And extremely popular book here in Maine. From the back cover of this large paperback -- "Woodard reveals Mainers' increasingly difficult struggle to hold on to their communities and the early American ideals that have sustained them... in the face of uncontrolled growth and development." Sounds heavy, doesn't it! Well, if you are interested in Maine, in lobsters and how to snag them, or in the history of a place that many people feel extremely strongly about, give it a try. It isn't all that heavy! Big paperback (that originally cost at least $15.00) in fairly good condition, $2.00 The Lobster War (Ethan Howland) 2001. About a boy who wants to be a lobsterman more than anything else, but, young though he is, becomes mixed up in some territorial fights. This isn't all that unlikely, as there are always rivalries and sometimes vicious "wars" in the fishing business. Written by a Maine resident, for Maine young people, this is a pretty realistic story about how a Maine boy has to make up his mind what he should do with his life. HB book, great condition, with a beautiful DJ, not a library copy. $2.00 Fifty Hikes in Northern Maine: Walks, Day Hikes, and Backpacks in the Northern Mountains and Lake Country (Cloe Caputo) This is a good book to read in the winter, by the fire, thinking about how beautiful it would be to hike in some of the nation's last real wilderness. Simple, moderate, very difficult. Short, medium, quite long. Lots of maps and pictures, beautiful descriptions and directions. This book looks nearly new, and you'll soon know about some places that you never realized you'd find in Maine (not an inch of the lobster coast in this book, but some of the highest mountains anywhere in the East coast states, and how many ponds and lakes!!!) Enjoy reading about these hikes, or come along and backpack this wonderful territory! Large PB, like-new condition. $2.50 MORE MAINE BOOKS AHEAD! The Lobster Chronicles : Life on a Very Small Island (Linda Greenlaw) 2002. I'll just copy what's written on the back cover of this book. "After 17 years at sea, Linda Greenlaw... decided it was time to take a break from being a swordboat captain... and return home to a tiny island 7 miles off the Maine coast with a population of 7- year-round residents, 30 of whom are her relatives. She would pursue a simpler life, move back in with her parents; become a professional lobsterman; and find a man and settle down..." As you know, things never work out as you think they will! It's a true story, and you sure will learn a lot about lobstering, as well as what it's like to live on a very small island. Large PB, XL, wonderful condition, $2.50 Hardcover copy of Lobster Chronicles, first edition, in beautiful condition with a new-looking dust jacket. $4.00 Tin Tin (3 complete adventures in 1 volume) Includes Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and The Blue Lotus. Nice hardcover book, in very good condition. Cover picture shows the covers of all 3 adventures that are included. $2.50 Books by Anne Molloy, who wrote some really good Maine mysteries and maltshoppy type books. She certainly knew what Maine was like (beyond the touristy veneer) though the biography in back of her books mentions that she actually is a summer visitor. We won't hold that against her! I hope we'll have more books by Molloy very soon. The Mystery of the Pilgrim Trading Post (Anne Molloy) 1964. 3 cousins arrive reluctantly for a visit in far northern Maine, with their older Cousin Mary. She's the village pharmacist, plus lots of other things (this IS a very small town) and pretty much leaves the kids to their own devices. They kids are sullen, mad about having to leave their home towns and summer plans. But something catches hold of them, and after a few days they change their minds about leaving on the next bus. The old family home seems to be much too interesting to several other people, and Cousin Mary is very worried about losing the place. Cover picture shows 3 rather nice-looking kids looking up the rocky shore towards the perfect example of an old New England house, 2 stories, persumably a chimney at each corner, and a fanlight over the front door. Seagulls, rocks, it's Maine allright! HB in very good condition, picture cover. $4.00 MORE MAINE BOOKS COMING UP The Maine Dictionary (John McDonald) OK, we don't really talk like that, of course! But if you want to sound the way you think, or wish, Mainers talk, this is the book for you. If you just want a chuckle, that's another use for the book. I think, from the cover cartoon (which is really quite funny in a dreadful way!) that you're supposed to think this is an all-humor book. But there are definitions of words that I sort of wish we'd understood when we first moved to the absolute sticks, our first few years in Maine. And I'm ashamed to admit it, but I laughed (hard) over some of the shaggy- dog type jokes. Tall and wide paperback, very good condition, $2.50 How Many Days Until Tomorrow? (Caroline Janover) 2000. I don't know why, but this PB book has a price-tag of $11.95, which sounds high for me, but I guess it's from a small press (Woodbine House) and is written especially as the sequel to another book about the same boy, who has dyslexia. In this one, he and his rather mean big brother spend the summer with their grandparents on a remote Maine island. Gramps is better named Grumps, though the grandmother does her best to make the boys happy. Wonderful contrast between the 2 boys, but in the end (and it tells you this right on the cover, so I'm not spoiling the ending) the boy with dyslexia learns that there are other ways to be smart, besides being a good reader. PB in great condition, $2.00 Miss Rumphius (story and pictures by Barbara Cooney) 1982. This is a famous book in Maine, by one of our best-loved author/artists. The question is -- where did all those gorgeous lupines come from, growing along the roadsides every spring? Miss Rumphius loved Maine, but she thought there should be more beauty, so she spread lupine seed everywhere she went. After all this time, the lupines still increase every spring. You should see my front yard in May and June!!! HB, XL, big picture book format, $1.50 The Maine Reader: The Down East Experience from 1614 to the Present. This huge paperback has chapters by a wide variety of authors including Sarah Orne Jewett ("The Town Poor") and Kenneth Roberts ("Seamen and Sea Serpents") plus Thoreau, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Longfellow, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Sinclair Lewis ("George F. Babbett Takes a Maine Vacation.") Lots of contemporary writers, too. We like to think that Maine produces the best writers in the world -- who knows why? The beauty? The solitude and long winters that give authors a chance to settle down and write? Well, you can make your own decision, and see the sweep of history through the eyes of many Maine authors of great talent. Very large PB, $3.00 (it may take more postage than most books, but we'll weigh the order to make sure!) Lost on a mountain in Maine (Donn Fendler, as told to Joseph B. Egan)1939. All Maine school children read this story and are entranced by it! I didn't grow up in Maine, but I read it when I was about the age Donn was when the story took place, and I never forgt it, and was thrilled to find it when I was an adult. The true story of Donn Fendler, who was lost in the enormous wilderness surrounding Mt Katahdin, and wanders for 2 weeks with almost no food or shelter. Told pretty much in his own words, as related to the co-author. This nice pb edition has pictures, a map, and an Afterword, continuing the story. PB, $2.00 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ EVEN MORE MAINE BOOKS! The Country of the Pointed Firs, and Other Stories (Sarah Orne Jewett) preface by Willa Cather, reprint of a 1925 edition. Jewett has had a lot of attention in recent years, as a very fine American woman author. Most of her books take place in Maine, especially the title story, which shows what life was like in a peninsula town, way out in the ocean, well over 100 years ago. When I read this, after moving to the same town, I was struck by the description of a trip to Thomaston, which was the town where our daughters went to high school, so we sometimes ran up there a couple of times a day, 15 minutes each way. Well, for the people in this story, it was a major trip, not to be taken without days of preparation! This is just one of the lovely reminiscences in the respected and loved story. There are 11 short stories in this book, too. Large PB, very lovely cover picture, fairish condition, $2.00 Books by Maine writer, Lew Dietz. These have had great appeal to young people who really love the back-country forests. He wrote about boys, but anyone would enjoy reading them for the authentic (but very entertaining) stories of life in the wilds. His writing style is breezy, reading these books is great fun along with the adventures you'll love! Especially The Savage Summer -- I laughed a lot while I read it! The Year of the Big Cat (Lew Dietz) 1970. If you are an avid outdoorsperson (even if only from your comfortable chair) you will be fascinated by the cover picture of several views of a "big cat" prowling, snarling, etc. And an anxious-looking young man -- wouldn't you be? But there's more in this story, family life, joy of being in the wilderness. HB, XL OK condition, PC. $3.50 The Year of the Big Cat -- a very nice hb copy with a laser reprint of the original DJ, showing the boy and the "cats" with a snowy background. First ed. $5.00 Another copy of Year of the Big Cat (Dietz) with a very nice dust jacket, $4.00 Wilderness River (Lew Dietz) 1961. How's this for a begining sentence? "It was a warm Indian Summer day in late October that my friend Nick Fales and I found the body in the woods." Deitz wrote "boys' books," but anyone who enjoys reading about adventure in the Maine woods, would love them. Most of them are about Jeff White, but this one stands alone. It's a former library HB, but in almost pristine condition. Someone put a clear plastic cover over the library picture cover, and it would leave marks inside the book if you removed the plastic, so I didn't try. Enjoy it! $4.50 Pines for the King's Army (Lew Dietz) 1955 (first edition if this means anything to you.) Historical 1721. Maine woods when they were the true wilderness, complete with "savages." Several dramatic full-page illustrations. XL, HB, Somewhat worn, but tight binding and clean pages. $3.00 YET MORE MAINE BOOKS! Elspeth Bragdon doesn't have the reputation that many of our Maine YA authors still have (like Ogilvie and Coatsworth) but her children's books are every bit as full of Maine atmosphere and joyous interest as any Maine writers. There is a Tide (Elspeth Bragdon)1964. Motherless teen boy has a neglectful father who puts him into boarding schools and camps. When the boy gets into trouble again, his headmaster challenges his father to spend the summer with him, on a small Maine island, way Down East, where they can each learn a lot about each other and other people. The lovely Lilian Obligado illustrations add a lot, especially on the picture cover of this book: a boy sitting on a rock, while across a small inlet, are a sweet-looking girl and her setter dog -- with Maine pine trees and the rocky shore all around them. HB, XL, good cond, Picture Cover, some nice internal illustrations, too. $3.00 That Jud! (Elspeth Bragdon) 1957. What a nice story!!! Jud is an orphan, and feels unloved and lonely, even in the close-knit community of Spruce Point, Maine. He spends a lot of his time getting into trouble, or escaping to his "secret" island hidout. Things will go badly wrong unless he can redeem himself. It's a really nice book, a Maine book -- so don't worry too much about this appealing kid! HB, with DJ, over a library PC, in good condition. $3.50 That Jud! a very nice HB with laser copy of the original DJ, looking very attractive (Jud in jeans, sloppy shirt, and wind-blown hair, your typical country boy, along with his hound dog, ocean in the background.) HB, LDJ, $4.00 Three Children's books by E. B. White -- this is a large PB and includes his classic books (and when I call something Classic, I really mean it!!) IN very good condition! INclueds Stuart Little, Trumpet of the Swan, and Charlotte's Web. 2 have the wonderful Garth Williams illustrations, Swan has interesting Edward Frascino illustrations. These are the original art. Pictures of all 3 covers are pictured on the cover of the book. Very nice one-book set. $2.50 Mysteries by Barbee Oliver Carleton, who wrote nicely about the coast of New England. Mystery of the Witches' Bridge (Barbee Oliver Carleton) 1967. Orphan boy returns to Maine or is it MA?) after living most of his life in Europe. He livea in the old family home, but it seems to be inhabited by ghosts -- or are they people who are envious of his background, or trying to keep him from finding out some family secrets? His grandfather seems to believe that it's ghosts, but the boy isn't convinced. Nice coastal story for older teens, even the cover of this pb is creepy in an attractive, compelling way! Good Halloween reading. PB, very good condition, $2.00 Another PB copy of Witche's Bridge, fairly good cond, $1.00 Secret of Saturday Cove (Barbee Oliver Carleton) 1961 illustrations by Charles Geer Dedicated to the boys and girls of Friendship, which is the town right next to the one where we live. And according to the biographical note at the end of this book, the author was born in Thomaston, the town where my children went to HS, and where I work part-time. I do know several Carletons there now! This story is about a girl and boy who try lobstering to help the family, as well as solving the secret mystery! Personal copy in very good condition, HB with PC, $4.00 Abbie Burgess, Lighthouse Heroine, Jones and Sargent. Abbie is celebrated in this area where there are still many lighthouses! True story of a young girl who has to keep the lighthouse going during an emergency. Takes place on an island that is so close to here that some of the kids who live there, come ashore to our town for high school. Good quality Down East 'aperback in good condition $2.50 Abbie Burgess, Lighthouse Heroine in hardcover, XL, fair condition, with very attractive dust jacket picture of wild sea waves, and lighthouse. $3.00 Down East Detective (Karen Lemke) 1987. Front cover says "True! Stories of the Maine State Police." Some from as far back as the 1920s, some from much more recently. Cover looks like a True Confession mag or some such -- a girl with very torn dress (much of her body is showing through the rents in the garb) and a staid-looking trooper on motor cycle, with a bear riding in his side car. Can you resist finding out what this is all about? good cond PB, $1.75 BOOKS BY LOUISE DICKINSON RICH If there aren't very many, then I hope to have more books by this popular and very fine author on my next sale list. Probably my only "claim to fame" is that Louise Rich was my first cousin, once removed, in other words, her mother was my grandmother's sister. But that's not why I love her books so much. My own grandfather was also an author, he wrote books about religious education -- and I was so bored that I couldn't get through the first one, though he was very well thought of at the time these books were written. No, Dave and I love Rich's books because they are beautifully crafted and very entertaining, with a surprisingly wide reach for books about tiny places where very few people live! Start of the Trail: The Story of a Young Maine Guide (Louise Dickinson Rich) 1949. Reading between the lines on the front DJ flap, I find that I'm not the only adult who thinks this book is wonderful! It was written for young people, but if you have any affection for the wilderness of northwestern Maine, and the beautiful writing of Louise Rich, you'll cherish this book -- as well as the sequel, Trail to the North, which I will offer if I ever find a copy of it again. I think people and libraries hang onto these 2 books, so I felt lucky to be able to give you a chance at this one. Bill is just out of HS, and gets his Maine Guide license so he can take "sports" out on fishing and hunting trips. I enjoy this part of the story, though I don't hunt or fish, you just feel as if you were there in the wilds seeing their beauty and mystery. My favorite parts are the human interactions, Bill's nice family (his father is a warden) and the various people he takes out on his trips. Especially one man and his son. And there IS a lot of mystery and adventures in the story, too. Everything. HB, XL, good condition, not beautiful but solid and sturdy. I've covered it with a laser copy of our very good DJ, showing a canoe on a wide stretch of water with woods and hills in the background. $10.00 Only Parent (Louise Dickinson Rich.) 1953. Mrs. Rich wrote beautifully, anything she wrote. In this book, I think she was writing for the people who loved "We Took To The Woods," "My Neck of the Woods," and other books about living in the middle of nowhere in the Maine woods. I imagine these people were wondering what had happened to their favorite author and her children after her husband died and she moved back to town. Like her Maine wilderness books, this one combined humor, practicality, and poignant observations. Very nice DJ picture by Paul Laune, showing pretty dining room and slim, stylish mother looking out the window at beautiful children. Probably some of this picture is only a figment of the artist's imagination -- these people had recently lived in the back of beyond, but it's possibly realistic! HB, fairly good condition, with laser copy DJ that looks wonderful. $7.00 Happy the Land (Louise Dickinson Rich) 1946. A review on the back cover says "This is one of those rare books -- a sequel that is every bit as good as the original." The original, of course, is We Took to the Woods, and it may be an exaggeration to say that this one is as good as that wonderful, very popular and influential book, but it is something you really do have to read if you loved We Took... This copy is a Down East pb reprint, and if you've had any of these high-quality reprints, you'll know that I'm not kidding when I say they are almost "every bit as good as the original!" Very good condition, large PB, $4.00 The Natural World of Louise Dickinson Rich (1962) with nice nature illustrations by Margaret Cosgrove. The dust jacket flap says it's a companion to We Took to the Woods. Chapters tell about Louise's various animal companions, but of course there are side-trips to tell about people, the land and the events around them. Large and very attractive book -- personal copy in very good condition, with very good DJ. $4.00 $4.00 The Coast of Maine (Louise Diskinson Rich) with photographs by Samuel Chamberlain. Sub titled "An informal history and guide." 1956, revised several times, this is the 1970 edition. You'll find lots more than just facts; there are characters, books, little-known interesting sights to see, and all those very fine photos by Chamberlain who compiled quite a few photographic collections around New England. Chapters on history, of course, islands, all the varied locales in this large state, things to do and see, and Rich's beautiful conversational style of imparting information. Very large paperback book, fairly good condition, a cover picture that looks like what you think Maine should look like -- ships, shoreline, and a lobster boat, among other things. You'll even get a kick out of the introduction to this edition! $3.00 The Peninsula (Louise Dickinson Rich) 1958. Drawings by Grattan Condon, whom I've never heard of before or since, but they're perfect. This is the entertaining story of the Gouldsboro peninsula, but what she tells us about that peninsula, is pretty much equally true of the St. George Peninsula where our family lived for many years, or most of the other fingers of land jutting out from the Mainland of Maine. There's a recommendation by Rachel Carson, printed at the front of this book -- what high praise! Geography, history, lives and livelihood of the people living in that area, "a lot about lobsters and the lobstermen" according to the front DJ flap, names of people and places, food (including recipes that aren't fancy like the ones in gourmet magazines, but taste a lot better!) HB book in good condition, with maps on the endpapers. laser copy of our DJ, which is in good cond except for small pieces out of the top and bottom of the spine -- something like that comes out as white spaces on the copy. $5.00 Here's a book that wasn't written by Louise Rich, but has a lovely introduction that WAS written by her. The book is The Down East Reader, and it's composed of selections from Down East, The Magazine of Maine. Most people who love to read about Maine, would recognize a lot of the contributors, vintage essays, humorous bits, historical reviews, reminiscences, tour guides -- quite a variety! And right at the beginning, you'll find out why parts of Maine are referred to as "Down East," when any fool can see that it's "up North!" Big paperback with beautiful cover and lots of illustrations from woodcuts. Very good condition (and of course it's a Down East publication, which means it's a good quality pb.) $2.50 --------------------------------- A New Hampshire book -- The White Mountains of New Hampshire (Alan Nyiri) A Beautiful PB, brand new, with information, but mostly unbelievably stunning color pictures of the White Mt region. Some taken from the top of Mt Washington, some from the forests, lakes, waterfalls, and woods of this area of great natural beauty. Snow. Fall Color without equal anywhere! $2.00 YES, THERE ARE STILL MORE MAINE BOOKS! The Secret of the Missing Grave (David A. Crossman) A Bean and Ab Mystery, 1999. Takes place on a Maine island, and has all our favorite elements -- buried treasure, a hidden tunnel, a haunted house, sinister characters, and lots of dark secrets that the title girl and boy need to root out. This book proves that there are still wonderful YA mysteries coming along! 184 large pages. Cover by Chris Van Dusen -- he's the one who illustrated The Polar Express! He lives in a Maine town quite close to us, and the author lives in another Maine town, that forms one boundary with our town of Waldoboro. Down East Books (from Camden Maine) publication, large and high quality paperback. $2.00 Mystery of the Black Moriah (David Crossman) a Bean and Ab mystery, 2002. Brand new copy of this book from Crossman's YA mystery series about a pair of kids (girl and boy) who find extremely curious mysteries on the island where they're spending the summer. Author grew up on a Maine island, and now lives in the next town to this one, writes adult mysteries, too. This is a beautiful new cpy of the book, so obviously in great condition, with a mint DJ, too. $4.00 Books by Elizabeth Coatsworth --- One of my all-time favorite authors since I was a little girl! Most of these book could be listed as Alice's Picks. She lived only a few miles from where we now live, but I never met her. I have heard her daughter speak about her mother's works, at several seminars or meetings. She concentrates on her mother's poetry, as the daughter is a poet herself, but I'm convinced that her stories are even better! Coatsworth's historical books are almost as good as her stories about contemporary children. The Enchanted (Coatsworth) 1951. She wrote several (3 or 4) what she called Incredible Tales, which you could interpret various ways, but probably you'd lean toward the magical explanation! This one starts out logically enough, a young man buys a remote farm, and fixes it up so he can live there and raise horses. Then he starts to meet his neighbors, the man who tells fantastic stories about what happens in "The Enchanted," an area with a river of the same name. And he meets the large happy family up the road, including Molly. And the strangeness of certain things that happen. You can take my word, this another Maine writer who can delve into the strange -- and it's a lot more subtle than Steven King. A rather slim book, with line drawings that capture exactly the right moods. Suitable for teens and adults. HB, PC, $3.50 Golden Horseshoe (Coatsworth) historical, with adorable, terrific illustrations by Robert Lawson. From the description in the book -- " a tale of high adventure ... a story of Tamar's growing up, loyalties and friendship... the children's picturesque life in aristocratic Colonial household, relations with Indians and slaves and the Quakers..." The girl is half Indian princess and half daughter of a wealthy American father. HB, XL, in very good condition. $2.50 Another copy of Golden Horseshoe, this one with a good library printed picture cover -- $3.00 George and Red (Coatsworth) "is the story of two boys' sharing theclose moments of growing up... a century ago... When the Civil War breaks out, they don't have to create excitement..." Written for youngish readers, with a lot of amazing illustrations. HB, XL, good condition, $2.00 The Children Come Running (Coatsworth) 1960. The illustrations are all former UNICEF greeting cards, mostly by well-known illustrators; Coatsworth spins stories and poems that interpret those pictures. Nice hardcover book, with a dust jacket picture of children of all lands, running together. XL, good condition, $3.00 All-of a Sudden Susan (Coatsworth) 1974. She wrote and published for a very long time! This is a story for fairly young readers, but if you collect Coatsworth, you need this in your collection. Includes an antique doll and several animals, plus heroic feats by the young heroine, during a flood. HB, XL, DJ, $2.50 Maine Memories (Coatsworth) This is a collection of some of the stories that first appeared in "Maine Ways" and "Country Neighborhood." In a way, this one is easier to read, as the 54 vignettes (that's how they are described on the cover) are given titles, so you can find them again and again. There's a wonderful prologue, filled with nostalgia for Elizabeth's earlier years, and a good map with a little sketch of Chimney Farm, which helped us to locate it when we went searching the back roads. Printed by a small press in VT, and a very good-looking tallish PB. Good condition! $3.00 Personal Geography (Coatsworth) "Almost an Autobiography" In her 83rd year, Coatsworth put together this compilation of many selections from her private journals, public writings, poetry, and reflections. The date on the title page is 1968, but there are entries that date from later than that, so this must be a 2nd edition. Nice HB book in good DJ with a picture that covers both back and front of the book. Imposing woman stands in a meadow, overlooking Chimney Pond. $5.00 Sword of the Wilderness (Coatsworth) 1936. Takes place in 1689.Captured by Indians! Trekked through the wilderness, starving, freezing, eventually learning to live together. Much more than just an adventure story, of course, as Coatsworth was a fine author and observer of humanity. HB, PC, good condition, $3.00 Jock's Island (Coatsworth) Sheep dog trying to keep guarding his sheep when the island's inhabitants are evacuated before a volcano eruption. PB, nicely illustrated. $1 Jock's Island (Coatsworth) Volcano formed the island, and now it's suddenly becoming active again. The boy and his wonderful sheepdog have a huge job protecting the sheep. The illustrations in this book are amazing (Lilian Obligado) and full of animals -- from the dog and sheep, to cats, gulls, cattle. And the pictures give you an amazing sense of the power of the volcano and storms. HB, XL, $2.50 Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod (Henry Beston) 1928 I don't usually sell things that could be called Classics, but this one is too good to miss! If you've ever vacationed on The Cape, you probably didn't see anything like what Mr. Beston describes, but when you read this, and you'll know why people are trying to save the Real Cape. A year of almost total seclusion (try finding THAT in the touristy areas of Cape Cod today!) and observation of nature. You probably know that Beston was later married to Elizabeth Coatsworth. PB, $1.50 Especially Maine: The Natural World of Henry Beston From Cape Cod to the St. Lawrence, selected and with introductions by Elizabeth Coatsworth. All that is on the front cover of this lovely and large paperback book, reprinted from the original by a small press in Brattleboro, VT. The blurbs on the back cover seem to indicate that Coatsworth's notes are as important a part of this book as the stories of the natural world by her much-revered author-husband. There are letters, short notes, longer essays, poems.. and personal reminiscences by Coatsworth, about buying their Maine farm, about their daughters, travels and everything! Such a good book, if you love Elizabeth Coatsworth, you'll love to learn more about her husband (includes 2 pictures of this handsome man!)PB, good cond, $2.50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MAINE BOOKS BY DOROTHY SIMPSON All Illustrated by Dorothy Bayley Morse, who probably is one of my 4 or 5 favorite illustrators of children's books -- right up there with Mary Stevens! These books are about the Marshall family, who live on an isolated island off the Maine coast. They are poor from our point of view, but to them, the island life is a wonderful adventure, and they really don't want to leave it for anything, or for anything to change. The books are treasures, from any point of view. that Island in the Bay is the first in this series, but actually it's a stand-alone title. The first in this series is "The Honest Dollar" and "Lesson for Janie" is next. There aren't any of Simpson's books available right now, but you can look for them in thrift shops and book stores, and you can be sure I'll add them to my list when I can find more! Visitor from the Sea (Dorothy Simpson) 1965. See description of the series, above. This particular story is mainly about Becky Marshall. Right there, on the island, she meets a strange, stray dog. At first, she's terrified, but the dog adopts her right away, and she falls in love with it. But how on earth did a dog get there, so far from the mainland? And was there any way on earth that Becky can convince her family that they could keep the dog, if no one comes to claim it? An island story, a dog story, a family story, a Maine book! Beautiful. This is the one Simpson book that wasn't illustrated by Morse, and has no interior illustrations. There's a pleasant DJ picture of Becky with the dog, and a Maine coast background. HB, XL, clean and tight, with a laser copy of our very nice DJ. $6.00 MAINE BOOKS BY ELIZABETH LADD, one of the best authors of authentic Maine YA books from all of the 20th century. She lived just about all her life on a rather remote island, enjoying animals and children, all of which contribute to her wonderful books! Most of them were illustrated by Mary Stevens, another favorite of ours, and another Maine native. Some of Ladd's books form series, but any can be read separately with great pleasure. I'll certainly try to find more book by Ladd very soon. Meg of Heron's Neck (Elizabeth Ladd) 1961. This is the first in the Meg series, and tells about Meg's going to live with relatives, while always wishing that she could still live on the boat with her big brother. The cover is quite worn, but shows Meg with her black pets -- cat and crow -- with an ocean background. As in all the Meg books, there is plenty of action and mystery in this one. PB, luckily it was a good solid Down East reprint to start with, as it's had a bit of a rough life. But it's still holding together, and actually the interior pages are clean, with all those dear Mary STevens illustrations. $1.50 A Mystery for Meg (Ladd) 1962. Takes place on an island, and Ladd knows what she's writing about, as she lived most of her life on an island, too. During the summer vacation Meg goes with her brother to a small island where Alan has a job fixing up and old house. Very soon they run into what might turn out to be a dangerous mystery. Mary Stevens' illustrations are perfect, because she knows Maine pretty much as well as Ladd does -- she grew up here, too. Cover shows Meg lying in the grass looking across a tidal river, toward a house -- black cat Repulsive, lying beside her looking as if it, too, sensed something wrong across the water. PB in fairly good cond, XL, $3.00 Trouble on Heron's Neck (Ladd) 1966. Meg's crow, Crow, has probably been stolen, by a girl named Marty. Meg and marty can't agree on anything -- at first. Lots more in the story, of course, including Ladd's specialty, animals and birds, and some nasty adults. HB, XL, printed picture cover, good condition. $5.00 Treasure on Heron's Neck (Ladd) 1967. This book brings 2 appealing Ladd heroines together. There's Marty LaBree, who lives with her father in an isolated part of the shore, and finds adventure in small natural things and animals. She and Meg Elwell work together in this book, to thwart a rather unpleasant plot. If you've read the Meg books, you will be happy to discover another, related, story about Heron's Neck. HB, XL, printed library picture cover. $4.00 Ironbound Island (Ladd) 1965. After his father dies, the boy wants to help out with finances,, so even though he's just a kid, he tries to work on a fishing ship, but the conditions are really ugly. He jumps ship, and ends up being very welcome on an island (you'll have to read about the circumstances!) There's a lot of mystery, and it gives a really good picture of Maine island life a few generations ago. Very humorous pictures and plenty of fun as well as adventure. I can honestly recommend everything that Elizabeth Ladd wrote -- think of her Meg Elwell stories, animals, mystery, kids with a great deal of appeal! HB, XL, fairly good condition, with good condition DJ. $4.50 (2 copies available) The Indians on the Bonnet (Elizabeth Ladd) 1971. The Bonnet is a point of land on the Maine seacoast. As with most of Ladd's books, the characters are true Mainers, working and living under the harsh but beautiful conditions of the Maine coast, a life that summer visitors don't see. In this book, the plot goes beyond small-town fun, to touch on the subject of prejudice against Native Americans. I love reading anything by Ladd, whose heroines are always the nicest of girls, and whose settings are always gorgeous! This one, while entertaining reading for sure, also makes you think, and isn't quite as "cozy" as some of her books. Mystery element is especially interesting! HB, XL, in very good condition inside and out. $4.00 Personal copy of Indians on the Bonnet, with a very good DJ, $4.00 END OF BOOKS BY ELIZABETH LADD. MORE MAINE BOOKS COMDING UP! Ben of Old Monhegan (Sidney Baldwin) 1932. Subtitled A Boy's Life Among the Fisher Folk off the Coast of Maine. Ben is a quintessential island boy from the 19th century, when your whole life certainly centered around the island (no phones or email, not much snail mail even!) Very entertaining for child and adult alike, and some really good illustrations. This large PB book is in good condition, except for a curiosity, that the latter half of the book is bound upside down, so after you've read the first half, you turn it over and read the rest of the book from the back to the middle -- no problem, right? Reprint from a publisher right there on Monhegan island (which is off the coast of Port Clyde, near where we lived for many years. It's a place that everyone falls in love with, believe me! When you're there, you can imagine that it's still the years when Ben lived there, it's that romantically remote.) $2.50 Seven Steeples (Margaret Henrichsen) 1953. The story of a Protestant minister, but not a cloyingly religious book -- rather, it's a book by a religious woman with a sense of humor, a wonderful writing talent, and an eye for everything that makes Down East Maine so special. After her husband's death, she studied for the ministry, and ended up serving SEVEN churches in seven small towns in north-eastern Maine. It didn't start out that way, but she was so popular in the small town where she started, that people in towns that had closed their small churches, asked her to reopen them and start having services. Plus she joined in all the other town activities, became friends with people from all 7 towns, and had a wonderful time! The family of one of my sister's and my childhood friends used to go to one of the 7 towns each summer, and the family became friends with Mrs. Henrichsen. I remember hearing them talk with extreme enthusiasm about her when I was a kid, and I was thrilled when I discovered that she had written this book! HB, DJ, very beautiful People's Book Club edition (they always have lovely endpapers.) $3.50 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MAINE BOOKS BY MARY C. JANE. She wrote some of the best and most popular mysteries for young people in the '50s and '60s! Each one has a different setting. almost all of them somewhere in Maine. They're nothing fancy, but they show children enjoying their lives amid some pretty mysterious happenings! All of them feature girls and boys equally, which is quite unusual and very pleasing. Animals of several species are quite often part of the stories. Maine kids love them, I love them, and so will you. You really need to have all of them! All have pleasant Raymond Abel illustrations. Mystery at Dead end Farm (Jane) 1961. Takes place in the potato country of northern Maine, an amazing place (we got that far once, and enjoyed the guided tour of vast fields of potatoes!) Kids are visiting their cousins there, and are too polite to mention how bored they were -- and then things start to change -- a LOT! PB, XL, nice book in pretty good condition. $2.50 Mystery back of the Mountain (Mary C. Jane) 1960. It's always wonderfully enticing when a family inherits a house/motel/farm/cottage -- from a long-lost relative. In this one, the family inherits a farm and house from the Black Sheep of the family, a 2nd cousin, and they have to decide whether to keep it (and brave the unfriendly neighbors, who hated their late relative) or sell it for some much- needed cash. You know what happens! Set in fictional Fernbridge Maine. Plenty of mystery, of course. PB, good condition, $2.50 Ghost Rock Mystery (Mary C. Jane) 1956. Sister and Brother go to visit their Maine aunt and cousin, who are about to convert a creepy old mansion into a guest house. But lots of things go wrong, including a large rock that seems to be able to talk! One of the characters in the story is a Border Patrol officer, who helps them with the rehab of the house, plus gives them ideas about what might be happening to this place, so close to the Canadian border, where there just might be smuggling going on. But which of the guests could possibly be crooks? Wonderful story. PB, good cond, $2.50 Mystery in Old Quebec (Mary c. Jane) 1955. One of the very few books she set outside Maine. Sister and brother go on a business trip with their father, to Quebec, explore the city while he's busy working during the day. They meet an unhappy, lonely boy, and while they're enjoying the beautiful old city of Quebec, they help the boy solve his problems. Fun and satisfying! HB, pretty good condition, $3.00 Another copy of Old Quebec, XL, HB, with a picture cover -- in fair condition $2.00 Mystery by Moonlight (Mary C. Jane) Walking home at night, 3 children think they see lights in a burned-out old mansion -- and did they hear something there, too? And this is only the beginning of the many mysteries, including a lot of break-ins and robberies. This HB copy of the book is in fair condition, a reading copy, but is has a few more "reads" in it. $2.00 Mystery by Moonlight in a paperback copy, very good condition. $2 Mystery at Shadow Pond (Mary C. Jane) Set on a remote farm, near a mountain and pond. Strangers are coming around their home and searching for some old letters that must be very valuable. If the family finds them first, the letters might make them enough money so they won't have to sell their property and lose their beloved horse. PB with the kids-and-robot cover, $2.00 (2) Mystery on Nine-Mile Marsh (Mary C. Jane) What is that very strange noise over on the island? Crossing the marsh to get there, the children make a wonderful discovery and find a difficult mystery to crack. Excellent story, especially for animal lovers. PB in good condition, $2.50 Mystery on nine-mile marsh, HB, in worn condition, but the picture cover is still nice. $1.50 END OF BOOKS BY MARY C JANE Now is Not Too Late (Isabelle Holland) 1980. This very good book has a realistic Maine setting. The main character is an unhappy, rebellious 11-yr-old girl who is caught up in various family situations and secrets as she spends the summer at her grandmother's island summer home. The girl's pretty much her own worst enemy, but you can't help feeling sympathy for her under some pretty strange circumstances. There is mystery in here, and a wonderful story! HB, XL, nice DJ, $2.50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOOKS BY MAINE'S FAMOUS ELISABETH OGILVIE -- for both adults and young adults My late Maine "neighbor", Elisabeth Ogilvie, wrote some wonderful YA books in the 1950s and 1969s, I should include most of these in the Maltshop section of this list, but they are such true depictionf of Maine life in the area where we live, near the coast and on the islands. Ogilvie, who died a few years ago, lived near here, and was a very nice lady as well as a very talented writer for both adults and teens. I treasure my books by Ogilvie, and love to find duplicates so I can let other people read them! I wish there were more available -- and I will list them when I get any! By the way, I'm still looking for a copy of the DJ for Fabulous Year. If you have a copy with a DJ, and would be willing to make a laser copy of it for my book, I'll happily trade a LDJ for anything in your collection if my copy happens to have a DJ. Come Aboard and Bring your Dory! (Ogilvie) 1969. Parents have died, the oldest 2 children are determined to keep the 6 kids together. As you may know, you can run into a few problems when bringing up teenagers, so imagine doing it while you're barely out of your teens yourself! Set on Ogilvie's fictional but very realistic island, Bennett Island. HB, XL in pretty good condition, with a copy of my original DJ which is in beautiful condition. I'm not crazy about the front cover illustration, but it's appropriate enough, and the picture on the back cover is lovely. HB, LDJ, $7.50 Beautiful Girl (Ogilvie) 1980. Girl has been told so many times that she's beautiful, that she mistrusts anyone who tries to go out with her. She desperately wishes someone would like her for what she is like inside, rather than her looks. PB, good cond, $2.00 I'll list books by Ogilvie as soon as I possibly can! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS IS THE END OF THE MAINE BOOK SECTION! NOW FOR ..... ALICE'S PICKS -- A SPECIAL CATEGORY OF BOOKS I LOVE! I'VE LOVED SOME OF THEM ALMOST ALL MY LIFE! SOME ARE NEW DISCOVERIES THAT I WANT TO SHARE Here's a very interesting book! There are only 8 on ABE, priced from $23 to $5500 (no, that's not a misprint!) That one is a presentation copy from the authors to their daughter, and is apparently very special. But not special enough for anyone to have bought it yet, I guess. The book is A SURPRISE TO THE CHILDREN by Mary Kennedy, music by Deems Taylor, and illustrations by J. H. Dowd. Dated 1933. This one says it's a first edition, but of course I don't know whether there were further editions or not. The book is large, picture-book size but also thick and heavy. It tells the story of 2 children who are transported via a large bubble, to Fairyland and lots of other amazing places. There are 7 full-page, full-color print illustrations, and more black/white pages of illustrations. Also, Deems Taylor, a very well-known musician and music critic, contributed 4 songs, with all accompaniments. According to the description in that expensive ABE entry, he and the author were husband and wife, and the book was written for their 6-yr-old daughter. The copy that I have for sale, isn't in prime condition, there are loose pages, and the binding is starting to pull away, but not badly. There are quite a few crayon marks and a few pencil marks, also some foxing to the edges of some pages. Unfortunately half of one of the color pictures is torn off. But all in all, for a book that was obviously loved, it's not bad at all! Cover is nearly untouched, with its dramatic picture of the 2 children on a sea-going horse. As I said, a very interesting book, and one that you'd like very much if you are a fan of unusual picture books. Plenty of text, too, I'd say that this book is in the fashion of the Oz books, with lots of pictures and plenty of rousing story. HB with picture cover, $10.00 VINTAGE! Miss Sniff, the Fuzzy Cat (Jane Curry with illustrations by florence Sarah Winship) 1945. This book is apparently quite desirable, when I checked, there were 2 completed ebay auctions for it, and it had sold for about $25 each time. My copy is not in good or even pretty good condition, as the front and back covers are both separate from the body of the book. But they are here! And the pictures of the cat inside, are all fuzzy wuzzy! Miss Sniff is a gorgeous fluffy black cat that gets into a lot of trouble. There's a cute little girl, and some other cats as well as a fuzzy wuzzy black poodle in the story. On the pages opposite each of the fuzzy pictures, there are shadows from the fuzz. But if you just love old picture books, or if you can do some book restoration, you will love it. $4.00 VINTAGE! The Good Child's Delight with Pictures Bright and Stories and Rhymes for Happy Times. Yes, that's the title of this little vintage book. Inside, it adds that it's A Collection of catchy rhymes and Amusing Stories for our Little Ones -- The Whole Appropriately Illustrated with Original Juvenile Drawings. Well, in all honesty, there's only one "picture bright," and the rest of them are black and white, but they're adorable, and the colored ones are VERY brightly colored. You'll see what I mean! No date is listed in this one, but it looks as if it might be as much as 100 years old. In other words, it looks like some of the books that were my mother's when she was little, and she was 99 when she died this year. Hardcover with picture-bright on the cover (children having a parade.) $4.50 SOME COOKBOOKS! I've been cleaning out my cook book collection, and I hope some of them will look as good to you, as they did for me. I've read all of them, which is my favorite way to use cookbooks! Took a few recipes from each, but I didn't cut anything out of them. Have fun! Mr. Food Cooks Chicken: Easy Quick Fun Recipes. There's a bit of turkey in here, and a few sides like mashed potatoes and stuffing, too! For the most part, he isn't kidding when he calls these recipes EASY! HB, PC, $2.00 The Top One Hundred Italian Dishes (Diane Seed) Very large and essentially brand new paperback book, the title says it all. Beautiful color illustrations throughout, and of course on the cover, too. $3.00 The Top One Hundred Chinese Dishes (Kenneth Lo) A beautiful book, the pictures are as good as a trip to your favorite upscale Chinese restaurant. This book seems brand new, gift quality. A very large PB. $3.00 The Complete Book of Chinese Cooking. This one is a hardcover with DJ, very large and beautiful (I can't stop saying this about all these books, can it be that I love to look at food?) The pictures are very clear and you could nearly eat them right out of the book. Appetizers to desserts, with a glossary to help you translate. HB, DJ, excellent condition, $3.00 20 Minutes to Dinner -- Better Homes and Gardens publication. Main dishes, salads, soups, sandwiches, desserts, all of them looking so tempting that you'll want to make them all as soon as you see them. HB, picture cover, good condition. $2.50 Betty Crocker's Easy Mexican: 130 old-time Favorites and New South-of-the-Border Tastes. Oh, dear, here's another one to tempt us to overeat! This book includes the taco-tortilla-enchilada-guacamole regulars, but then goes on to other marvelous foods that you may never have eaten before, but you'll love them! HB, PC, very good condition. $2.50 Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls -- 1957. This isn't a perfect copy, but you didn't need the title page anyway, did you? I've made a lot of things out of my copy of this little spiral-bound cookbook; it's not just for total beginners, but has almost enough recipes to keep a family going forever. Look at the Mother's Day menu -- Swedish Meat Balls, baked potatoes, sunshine salad (you'll have to check this out for yourself) with straberry ice cream and a heart cake! Of course no microwave shortcuts, but you know how to adapt recipes anyway, don't you! Nice housekeeping hints, and adorable pictures like 3 Men in A Boat and Raggedy Ann Salad. HB, picture covers, $5.00 Taste of Home's Favorite Brand Name REcipes from 2004. You probably love Taste of Home magazine, as I do. I was surprised at this book, which names the brands in each of these recipes. I'm pretty sure you could use substitutes without any detriment to the taste of the food. Every other page is a full-color picture of one or more of the recipes on the facing page. Most of them are very easy to make. Tall book, and over 200 pages. Very good condition. $3.00 Mickey's Gourmet Cook Book Subtitled The Most Popular Recipes from Walt Disney World and Disneyland. 1994. I guess this isn't a child's cook book, as I originally thought from the cute cover picture of Mickey stirring a bowl of batter. But there are recipes from all over the world, as sold at various restaurants and resorts at the Disney theme parks. Large paperback, in excellent condition, $2.50 I'll Have what They're Having: Legendary Local Cuisine (Linda Stradley) Really big pb, nearly 250 pages, recipes from just about every state and region of the US. The book is in great condition, nearly new, and the food is amusing, delicious, odd, or familiar, according to how you feel about it, I guess. $2.50 MORE ALICE'S PICKS COMING UP! Kit's Story Collection (From The American Girls Collection) by Valerie Tripp. 2001. Kit was a middle-grade school girl in 1934, at the height of the Depression. She is adorable, her friends are fun and surprising, her family is brave and feisty. Dave and I read through this entire book, which includes all 6 of the books about the American Girl Doll, Kit. and we absolutely loved all of them! This is one really, really beautiful book, with gilt edges to the pages, many full-page color pictures, smaller color pictures scattered around, and very small detail illustrations here and there. A bookmark attached, a transparent DJ over a picture cover showing Kit's face. At the very end of the book, there's a historical essay with lots of photos from the news of that era. Beautiful, gift-quality book, large and heavy. You'll especially remember the story of Kit and her friend, delivering food to the soup kitchen. Large and heavy HB, with DJ, $3.50 Molly, An American Girl (by Valerie Tripp) 1988. This is a slipcase containing all 6 of the books about Molly, American Girl from 1944. I recently wrote a very favorable review of the American Girl books, for Whispered Watchword, and Molly is my favorite. In fact, I own a Molly doll, one of our favorite possessions among the thousands of collectibles that we manage to have around our house. In these 6 paperback books, you read about Molly and her adventures and esperiences during WWII, while her father is overseas, and her friends and classmates are helping on the home front. Full of pictures, historical information (the easiest way, through very appealing stories) and exciting stories. School, Christmas, summer camp, all of MY favorite subjects, and probably yours, too. Wonderful pictures of vintage items that I remember from my childhood a bit later than this, and oh, the clothes! Slipcase with 6 books, in pretty good condition, $5.00 MORE ALICE'S PICKS AHEAD! Lucky Orphan (Ida Cecil Moore) 1947. The orphan is a darling little lamb, and the reason this book is Alice's pick, is that it has supremely appealing illustrations. The artist is called "Primrose" and I'm amazed that she isn't very widely known. She is especially good at doing children and animals, and that's what this book is about. This is a fairly short book, a bit over 120 pages, but contains a very good story about a "touching... friendship between a dog and a lamb" that is "true in all its essentials." It was a Junior Literary Guild book, which was always quite a reliable recommendation. Hardcover with beautiful DJ, $3.00 The College Girl of America (Mary Caroline Crawford) 1904 or 1905 (both are listed.) This extremely interesting book is a sort of guidebook for girls who want to know about colleges they might be able to go to. There are chapters on all the well-known colleges, with pictures and prices -- wow, you only wish these prices were still true! There are several complimentary pages about Dave's and my alma mater, Oberlin, but we would never recognize these descriptions unless we saw the name. It doesn't sound in the least like the place, even way back when we graduated (NOT in 1905, though!) Anyway, this is an amazing book, good research tool, and a lot of fun. Many photo illustrations, lke A Wellseley Girl, or Afternoon tea in a Barnard Girl's Room. This book would be interesting to anyone who loves the vintage college girl series. Hardback, of course, with a very interesting picture cover. Rather good condition, very big and heavy book. $5.00 Joy in the Morning (Betty Smith) 1963. This is so obviously a VERY popular book. All you need to do is look at the list of printings, up to 33 just in paperback and just up to 1973. There have been more since then, for sure. A very young couple, in 1927, struggle through their first year of marriage. The book starts just before their wedding, with some background on their family lives, then takes them through the familiar (to us, anyway) story of being married while going to college, and coping with financial straits and keeping house. Extremely recommended! PB, good cond, $2.00 Books by Mrs. L. T. Meade -- who wrote 280 novels (according to what I read on Google, and I presume I'm allowed to quote that source briefly.) She lived from 1854 until 1914, and wrote books for girls, and books that would certainly be appropriate for girls, even if originally aimed at women. I'm not sure of the dates of the books that I have for sale, since most of them are without publication dates. Around the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The picture covers are beautiful, pictures of girls or women in what looks to us like very fancy clothes, sometimes in a garden, and occasionally in another setting, usually just with a misty background The stories are dramatic and mostly sentimental, but obviously if she published so many, people loved them very much! I have a large stack of these books, but of course it's just a drop in the bucket compared to how many she wrote. Most are in relatively good condition, they weren't cheaply manufactured. By the way, there's plenty of reading in here, too -- the books average 300 pages each! How on earth did one woman write so many words??? These will be $2.00 each, or 3/$5.00. Enjoy these adorable oldies! Titles are: A Sweet Girl Graduate A LIttle Mother to the Others The Rebellion of Lil Carrington Kitty O'Donovan The Girls of St. Wodes The Temptation of Olive Latimer A Bunch of Cherries (very pretty cover) Seven Maids (cover has 2 women in a canoe) The Children's Pilgrimage The Children's Kingdom Queen Rose Francis Kane's Fortune (extra pretty cover0 A Young Mutineer (snow scene) Light o' The Morning Turquoise and Ruby Girls, New and Old The Rebel of the School Willful Cousin Kate The Little Princess of Tower Hill (pretty cover pic, spine a bit worn) Out of the Fashion Bashful Fifteen A Young Heroine (a very interesting cover, showing a horseless carriage, and girls with tennis raquets and art supplies.) Betty, a Schoolgirl All these L. T. Meade hardbacks with picture covers -- $2 each, of 3/$5.00 MORE ALICE'S PICKS COMING UP!!! Everygirls Mystery Stories (Edited by A. L. Furman) 1954. Most of these stories came from American Girl and other teen magazines of the day. I can heartily recommend all the stories -- they're tantalizingly short gems of Maltshop writing! But not all that short, as there are only 10 stories in this 222-page collection! In fact, one of the stories is 50 pages long! Not really a "short story." I recognize most of the authors' names, though they aren't quite household names -- Margaret Leighton, Zillah K. MacDonald, Marguerite Aspinwall and others. Makes you want to go out and find everything that each of the authors has written. This book is from the Everygirls Library (no apostrophe as written) including Everygirls Romance.. and Everygirls Career .. stories. Sooo maltshoppy while having the added spice of being mysteries starring girls. Cover shows a girl in typical 1950s clothes (they look as if they'd come from my closet at the time) and a very frightened expression, while obviously criminal types are sitting at her kitchen table and someone (a cop?) looking in the window. Strong stuff! Some of the stories are humorous, some are scary, some are puzzles to solve. I LOVE THIS BOOK! HB, with laser copy of the DJ, all in good condition, A few nice illustrations. $6.00 MANY MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS AHEAD -- Jack and Jill Round the Year Book. 1958. Lots of stories from what I always think of as the Golden Age of Jack and Jill magazine, from its beginning in 1938 up to 1958. Edited by Ada Campbell Rose, with pictures by our darling Beth Krush. There are numerous stories, poems, non-fiction articles -- about 6 for each month of the year. You probably know that I'm a collector of Jack and Jill magazines from this period, and I recommend their approach to children's lit: high quality writing, educational but entertaining, with history and humor interspersed. This collection is probably aimed at grade school readers in general. Very large HB, 340 pages, in fair condition. Very enjoyable! $2.50 Battles at Thrush Green: A Novel by Miss Read. I'm collecting all the Miss Read books so I can read them in order. Have read one of them and liked it enough that I did want to read them all. This one turns out to be a duplicate. Would you like to start collecting them, too, so we can discuss what we think of them? This is a hardcover copy, from 1975, Xlibrary but in fairly good condition, with a DJ encased in plastic. $2.00 Another adult series that we've been enjoying, is the Mitford series by Jan Karon. We've been listening to the audio versions of them when we're taking trips. Here is one that we've finished (and I'll add the others when I locate them. Don't ever think that I'm a well-organized person!) "In This Mountain," is the 7th book in the series, but you don't have to have read the others, to appreciate this one. Father Tim and and his wife, Cynthia (Episcopal Father, you have to understand!) are about to go on a mission to a mountain community, when their plans are changed very much. You'll get to know the people in Mitford, and almost guaranteed that you'll want to read, or listen to, more of the books! 4 cassette tapes, and they were in good condition when we listened to them last month. In a nice case. $3.00 Book #2 in the Mitford series (book this time, not a cassette) is A Light in the Window, and you'll love it!!! Read about "the cousin who came to dinner" and Father Tim's romance, and all the people that you come to love in all these books. PB, very good condition (do these books really cost $12.95 when new? That's what this one says.) PB, pretty cover picture. $2.00 Here is a slipcase with FOUR Jan Karon books on tape. These are the first 4 books in the series, and were in great condition when we listened to them last month. We could hardly wait to make an excuse to take a trip, so we could listen to them (we only listen to books on tape or CD, when we're in the car.) Each of the books is on 2 tapes, 3 hours each. The slipcase has been reinforced by clear tape. The books included in the slipcase are -- At Home in Mitford, A Light in the Window, These High, Green Hills, and Out to Canaan. Lucky you, to be able to look forward to these engrossing and endearing books! I'll have more books or books on tape, as time goes on. 4 books on a total of 8 tapes, in a slipcase of 4 packets. $8.00 A New Song, "The Fifth Novel in the Beloved Mitford Series" so it says, and that's how we feel about the series. Beautiful cover, as always. This book takes Father Tim and Cynthia to a new church temporarily, though they stay in close touch with the people you've gotten to know in Mitford. I was especially interested in this one, as there is a mystery connected with a church organist, who is an important character in the story. (I'm a church organist myself, and loved the passages about his playing, which seemed way better than mine!) There's a good mystery in here, too! PB, originally 12.95 -- can you believe how much pbs cost these days? Very good condition. $2.00 for you. MORE "ALICE'S PICKS" COMING UP!!! -- Treasure of Bunny Stories (Beatrix Potter) really nice hardcover with dust jacket, this book includes Potter's 6 beautiful bunny books, Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, and 4 more. Of course, beautifully illustrated by Beatrix Potter. HB, DJ, both in nice condition. $2.50 Pitter Patter book -- 1936. No, it isn't in mint condition by a long way, but it's still very, very pretty and totally readable. Stories, fairy tales, information, poems, animal stories -- and the foreword says that the editors found most of the material in English books for children. They made this book for American children to know what kinds of stories English girls and boys liked to read. Very big and thick book, Wonderful pictures. The cover (which is coming loose from the rest of the book, but still attached) shows a lovely garden, complete with garden gate, and children talking across the gate -- the girl has a sunbonnet, graids, and a fluffy skirt. Nice back cover picture, too. HB, not collectible grade, but fun and nostalgic. $2.50 Jumbo Story Book for Boys -- subtitled "A Collection (from Authentic Sources) of Exciting Adventures, Heroic Deeds and Self-Denying Acts of Bravery." Edited by E. T. Roe, no date, but it certainly looks vintage! Large book, cute cover shows a boy with long blonde curls, and sitting on a bored-looking donkey. The stories aren't as bland as the cover, for sure. Lots of very exciting stories, plenty of frightening pictures (just what boys liked then, I guess, and probably still do.) Lions, bears, savages, floods, and in case you thought the connection between heart disease and cigarettes was just discovered in our generation -- a short paragraph stating that "several boys who were candidates for a naval cadetship from the Eighth Michigan district were rejected because the examining physician found that their hearts had been affected by smoking cigarettes." I think this book comes from around the beginning of the 20th century. Large format HB, fragile but holding together and as far as I can tell, complete. $3.00 Brownies' Annual (1961, published by the Girl Guides Association.) Very large HB book with numerous stories, articles, things to do and make, cartoons, art and photos, puzzles, and I don't-know-what-all! Endpapers show Brownies of other lands, though unfortunately the pictures have been slightly damaged by a library stcker. Oh, did I mention that this is a book about British Brownies? Lots of fun and inspiration for your American Brownie, too. cover shows 2 Brownies in uniform, with browies (the little fairy variety) dancing around them. Scratches to the cover, but it's still pretty cute. HB, PC, $3.00 MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS AHEAD!! The Railroad Children (E. Nesbit) New, large, and exceptionally beautiful edition of this classic about 3 British children whose lives are vastly and positively changed by living close to the railroad and the people who work on the trains. Large HB with a very pretty DJ (and if you lose or damage the DJ, there is also a picture cover just like it, underneath.) Every Child's Bookshelf edition. Nicely illustrated interior, also. $3.00 Grandfather Object (Walter Beebe Wilder)1946. First edition, if this means anything to you or anyone else. Front cover of the dust jacket explains that this is "An Hilarious accout of Grandfather's summer at the farm, as seen through the eyes of his young grandson) The DJ picture certainly is hilarious enough, Grandfather in his 3-pc suit, white beard and all, on crutches due to falling through the henhouse roof and breaking his leg (no, of course that's not funny, it's just the way the artist depicts the daper old guy) and the grandson in ragged pants and bare feet, stone walls, beautiful old barn, fields and all. Plenty of fun in the book, too, read about how the family reacted when Grandfather decided to remove the cast from his own leg, and got grandson to help out. They're both in trouble! The book is "largely autobiographical" and makes you wish you'd spent your summer with Grandfather on the farm. HB, with a very unusual picture on the dust jacket -- have fun! George Price illustrations (think: New Yorker cartoons! $2.50 Sal Fisher, Brownie Scout (L. S. Gardner) 1953. Illustrated by Mary Stevens. This is a rather scarce book! There are 3 books in the series, only one of which is easily available, since it was printed by Scholastic paperbacks -- that one is Sal Fisher at Girl Scout Camp, with the Barbara Cooney illustrations. Coincidence that both the artists were strongly associated with Maine? I don't think so! Aside from being very good stories, and Girl Scout collectibles, the illustrations in this one are many and super-wonderful! This is a hardcover book, former library copy, with the original library printed picture cover. I've also made a copy of the original dust jacket, showing Sal in her Brownie uniform and beanie. Back cover picture of a Brownie leader in the severe Girl Scout adult uniform of the era (and I certainly remember that, as I was a GS at that precise time!) The book is in pretty good condition, well read but firm and complete. The DJ that we made a copy of, is in very nice condition, so the laser DJ looks really nice. Lovely package of book and DJ. I checked this book out on Ebay (no copies in the past month and one currently BIN priced at $44.95.) I also checked on ABE (prices with DJ starting at $40.00.) I'm pricing this book plus LDJ, at $20.00 MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS COMING UP!!! Good Housekeeping's Best Book of Dog Stories (edited by Pauline Rush Evans)1958. A very large hardcover book with tons of stories for dog lovers, or short-story lovers (I'm the latter, and I had a lot of fun with it!) Here are some of my favorite authors who contributed to the book -- Alice Dalgliesh, Lavinia Davis, Marguerite Henry, Carold Ryrie Brink, Doris Gates, James Thurber, and of course, Betty Cavanna. Lots more, too. The book was compiled for young readers, and is part of a series put out at the time by Good Housekeeping. Nearly 400 pages, HB in good condition, with a somewhat water-marked dust jacket, but the DJ is all there, and has a colorful picture. Book is full of pictures, too. $3.00 Tornado Jones (Trella Lamson Dick) illustrated by Mary Stevens. 1953. There are 3 books in this impressive and enticing series, this is the first. Tornado lives with his grandmother in a secluded Nebraska cottage, and that's how he likes it! But "progress" is coming, and with it, another boy that he finally allows to be his friend. The rest of the book deals with how Tornado got his very unusual name, and who is making all the trouble around the area. What an amazing ending! We could not make up a better one, that's for sure. I don't find any of the books in this series very often, but here it is in paperback (large) in moderately fair condition. $2.50 Welcome to Animal Town (Jo Nell Lane) 1961. A little oddity, this book was written by a teenaged girl, who was paralyzed since birth and dictated the stories to her tutor. There are several stories in this little volume, mostly about the bear family and their neighbors. Cute animal illustrations by the girl's teacher. Small HB with nice DJ. $2.50 Trolley Car Family (Eleanor Clymer) 1947. Ursula Koering illus. Happy reading, very enjoyable family who are given a trolley car after busses take over from trollies, and their father is out of a job. They drive it to the end of the line, and set up housekeeping there. It's in the middle of nowhere -- but they seem to attract lots of interesting people and animals to visit and/or live with them, and have more fun than I could possibly describe! My favorite part is the 2-page spread, floor plan of the trolley's interior. PB $1.50 Another copy in fair cond. $1.00 Books by Lee Wyndham, author of Maltshop type books, Career-romances, and short stories, as well as being editor of young adult magazines in the Maltshop era, and complier of those very good collections of short stories that I've offered on my list in the past. I doubt if she had it in her to write a story that wasn't really wonderful! If there aren't any here, I'll do my best to find some soon. MORE ALICE'S PICKS AHEAD!!! Understood Betsy (Dorothy Canfield) 1916. Scholastic PB, OK condition, $1.00 Gone-Away Lake, Newbery prize-winning and very popular book by Elizabeth Enright, illustrations by Beth and Jo Krush except for the cover, which is new. 1957. Paperback in beautiful condition, 2 copies available. $2 EACH Bettina's Secret (Britt G. Hallqvist) translated from Swedish. pb good cond, sick girl in a hospital bed, has a secret. $1.00 Light a Single Candle (Beverly Butler) 1962. Girl loses her sight, eventually learns to do almost everything she wants to do, with the help of a guide dog. Thi is somewhat autobiographical, and certainly has an authentic feeling. PB, $1.25 A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt (C. Coco De Young) 1999, written about and for middle-grade students, but I loved it, too. Girl's family is doing OK during the Depression, but things changed fast then, as now. She found a beautiful way to help out. book in very good condition with a nice DJ, a small but very good book with some historical notes. HB, XL, DJ, $1.50 3-book set of Dick and Jane hardcover books. These reproduction books contain material from several primers and first readers. They don't have the very old, really cute illustrations, but slightly later (thankfully, integrated) pictures. Some of the little girls wear pants, but the mother still wears housedresses, aprons, and shoes with heels. And you have to see the station wagon with fins and streamlining! In each of the 3 books, the text progresses from single words to fairly complex stories. These books would be fine for teaching, home-schooling, or just for a beginning reader to have fun with. And you'll have fun with them, too! Printed in 2005, the books are in nearly perfect condition. Titles are "We Play and Pretend," "Fun Wherever we Are" and "We Play Outside." 3 hardcover books, $7.00 Told Under the Stars and Stripes: Stories of all of America's Children, Rich and Varied in Custom and Origin. Selected by The Association for Childhood Education, International. Long, long title, for a rather large book that I REALLY LOVE! Some of the wonderful authors of the 27 short stories -- Maud Hart Lovelace, Carolyn Haywood, Marguerite deAngeli -- others that you have heard of, and some that we wish we had heard much more. At the end of the book, there's a list of sources for the many stories, some are chapters of excellent books, some from children's magazines, a few written especially for this book. Modern stories, historical, humorous, serious, long-time Americans, new Americans from lots of cultures, all taking place somewhere in the United States. Large book (345 pages) in great condition, with very good dust jacket. I did mention that I LOVE this book, didn't I? HB, DJ, $3.50 MORE ALICE'S PICKS COMING RIGHT UP!!! Books by Doris Gates, one of the 20th century's best YA authors, in my opinion. Lovely stories, great characters, fine situations and solutions. Especially Blue Willow! Blue Willow (Doris Gates) 1940. About the MOST satisfying books you can ever read. Absolutely sweet story about a very poor migrant farmer girl who wants a home. Newbery Honor book and one of the most deserving! Everyone I know who has read it, loves it very much. The ending will probably make you cry, but with joy. PB in good condition, with the clever original Paul Lantz art. $2.00 PB in fair condition -- I get lots of requests for the book, so I'll offer this as a reading copy for $1.25 (2) A Morgan for Melinda (Doris Gates) 1980. Girl does NOT want a horse -- that's almost unheard-of! Father buys her one anyway, and in a way, the horse teaches her some very good lessons! Horses, people, especially a lovely elderly lady who becomes Melinda's mentor and dear friend. Nice cover picture of a horse in a field filled with flowers, a girl's darling face superimposed over the field. HB, XL, pretty good condition, with a very good DJ. $3.50 The DEAR AMERICA books are beautiful hardcovers, usually with a ribbon book mark to make them look like real diaries. Every one that I've read was wonderfully written, covering a very interesting period of history. On this list, I only include books that I've read myself and love (I usually re-read them in a few years, I like them so much!) They always include historical notes and pictures either of sites and artifacts, or prings of original photos from the time. They are not sugar-coated, but appropriate for pre-teens, so you won't cry too much while you're reading them. My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island New Your, 1941. Girl and her mother have to live in a boarding house while the father is at war. She and a couple of boys from her class, decide to track down a spy. The Coast Guard has something to say about their activities... There is danger as well as a lot about being on the Home Front during the war. A good mystery, beautiful copy of the book. By the way, I notice that this book was written by Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Tree House books, which have taught a lot of very young readers about history. This one is for slightly older readers, but it's also a very palatable way to learn history (yes, even though I was already alive at that time, it IS history.) HB, $2.50 Early Sunday Morning, The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941. A girl and her family move to Hawaii when the reporter father gets a new assignment. She is mad at having to move again, but learns to love Hawaii, until.... This is quite a scary book, but always told from the point of view of the girl and her new Japanese friend in Hawaii. HB in prime condition, $2.50 Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912. Orphan girl gets a job as companion to a "rich American lady" travelling from England to America on The Titanic. You can nearly write the rest, but it's a wonderful account! As in all of these books, lots of historic background and photos at the end of the text. HB in very good condition, $2.50 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan, 1932. Dear America series. Girl loses her eyesight, starts going to the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. She and her twin sister, who of course stayed at home, write alternating entries in a diary. Beautiful book, as all these Dear America books are, with historical notes at the end, and quite a few old photos from the history of the Perkins school. HB, good condition, picture cover, $2.50 HERE ARE SOME MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS --- Plain Girl (Virginia Sorensen) 1955. Amish girl finally gets to go to school after her father has a run-in with the government authorities. Her brother has already left home, and her parents were very much afraid that she would, too. And there are certainly temptations once she does go to school. PB, $1.50 Miracles on Maple Hill (Virginia Sorensen) 1956. This one is a Newbery Medal winner, plus it's illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush -- besides being a story that you'll love! Girl's father comes home after being MIA, but he is tired and depressed, and the whole family is in trouble. They move to a farm, and as the maple sap starts to run, things start to change. Very nice Scholastic pb, $2.00 Hardcover copy of Miracles on Maple Hill, with the original Krush picture on the DJ, showing a very happy girl, Marly, toting a sap bucket. XL, fairly good cond, with fairly good DJ, $3.00 The Hollow Tree Snowed-in Book: "Being a Continuation of the Stories About the Hollow Tree and Deep Woods People" (Albert Bigelow Paine) 1910. This is one BIG book! There are apparently several other books about these animal folk who live in the hollow tree. In this one, The Story Teller tells various snowed-in stories to The Little Lady, with introductions between them. Unlike a lot of books from 100 years ago, this one is full of pictures! Plenty of nostalgia, but I think a child of today would adore to be read aloud to, from this book. HB, nearly 300 pages, great condition. Very deccorative front cover, green with black and white (white snow, black outlined animals) and white lettering. Spine shows an animal, and pine cones with snow. $5.00 A FEW MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS: Books by Patricia Beatty, a recent favorite author for me! She writes historical stories, but these girls are NOT fussy, prim Victorians, they are feisty, active, girls who make things happen in a very practical -- and often humorous -- way. I really, really like every one that I've read! Bonanza Girl (Beatty) After her father had died, girl's mother needed to make a living for the 2 kids, and thinks a schoolteacher would be just what was needed in the new Idaho territory. So they set out and end up in a mining camp, where a teacher is pretty much the last thing anyone needed. So they open a restaurant, and you will LOVE reading about how they cope, the life they live, and the things that go on in a mining camp! Very nice PB with a pretty and interesting cover picture. A favorite book of mine! $2.50 The Nickel-Plated Beauty (Patricia Beatty) 1964. Set in 1886 in Oregon. Seven kids in a very poor pioneer family set out to buy a new stove for their mother, after the old one becomes too rusted to use. This is the story of the many, many things they do to get the stove COD before Christmas. Large and nice paperback book, former library copy, in good condition, with a rather artistic-looking cover. $2.50 Charley Skedaddle (Patricia Beatty) 1987. Takes place during the Civil War, when Charley, only 12 years old, enlists in the Union Army. When he can't take it any more, he deserts, or skedaddles, then has to prove that he isn't a coward. Most of the story is about what happens to him after he skedaddles. pB, good condition, $1.50 EVEN MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS! When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (Kimberly Willis Holt) 1999. Of course this book is on our "trailer collection" shelf, since the cover picture is of an old, cute aluminum trailer against an endless Texas skyline. To recommend the book, it's a National Book Award winner, as well as recipient of quite a few other honors. It's a Dell Yearling book -- they seem to publish the most worthwhile books. Not an easy story, but yes, it is worthwhile reading. PB, $1.50 Big, Big Story Book (no author listed -- Whitman publishing Company) Several dates listed from MCMXLIV (1944?) to MCMLV (1955?) Does this nostalgic book ring a bell for you? The cover picture is a circus, with the crowds, tents, and rides in the background, and an extremely tall thin man, plus a clown, in the foreground. There are 29 little stories, by a variety of authors, most of whom I've never heard of. Obviously something for everyone, as the yard sale ads always say -- stories about circuses, animals, airplanes, cowboys, a lighthouse. Several poems. Very large book, with a very colorful cover, many two-color interior illustrations, fair condition (given that designation because I had to mend the bottom of the spine to prevent further tearing, and the pages are a little brown with age. Otherwise pretty nice.) $2.50 Love From your Friend, Hannah (Mindy Warshaw Skolsky)1998. I was attracted to this book by the cover picture, a cute young girl sitting on a maltshop stool, writing something. At the bottom of the page, it says "PS, You'll never guess who I wrote to.." The picture on the wall, a dashing FDR with a flag stuck into the picture frame, might give you a hint! But it gets even better. Set in 1937 and 1938, this letter-writing girl has several pen pals, and the letters they write back and forth form a story that I pretty much guarantee that you will really love! This book won a lot of prizes. For me, that doesn't always mean that I'll actually love it, but in this case, I agree totally. Enjoy it! PB, $2.00 MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS COMING UP! The Hideout (Peg Kehret) 2001. Peg spoke to the PFs at our Seattle Reunion a decade or so ago, and we really liked her! I've been reading her books ever since, and getting a chill from her scary stories! This one is sad, but optimistic in the end. For a variety of reasons, the boy hides in an abandoned cabin in the woods, and has quite a few exciting experiences there. Written for middle grade students, but what the heck, I liked it a whole lot! I did warn you that it would be scary, didn't I? PB, good condition, $1.00 The Littlest Rebel (Edward Peple) 1911. In the Shirley Temple Edition from 1939. Lots of b/w photos of Shirley and the rest of the cast, in historical costume from the time of the Civil war. Colorful cover picture of Shirley in pinafore and pantaloons. HB, PC, very cute, good condition. $3.00 Sara Crewe (Frances Hodgson Burnett) abridged version of The Little Princess, that fascinating story of a little rich girl who loses her money and is turned into a slave for the cruel headmistress of her school. Then amazing things start to happen! Scholastic PB with beautiful paisley cover, nice for a little girl. PB, $1.00 The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) illustrated by Tasha Tudor. This would be a beautiful gift to a little girl, so you can share a book that you loved when you were a child yourself. It's a pb edition, but has the beautiful Tudor illustrations all through it, and a color picture on the pretty cover. Good condition. $2.00 (2) The Secret Garden (Burnett) Hardcover with Tasha Tudor Illustrations -- including the beautiful dust jacket! This is a lovely book. I treasure my copy that isjust like it. There are B/W illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, and several full-page, full-color illustrations throughout the book. All of them are treasures, even the endpapers which are green sketches on a white background. HB in good condition, with a DJ in fairly good cond. $4.00 The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame) illustrated by Michael Hague. Do you love this book as much as I do? Here is a large and beautiful edition, with a great many full-color illustrations, some of them 2-page spreads. I'm not sure whether I love the interiors or the outdoors scenes better! There are endpapers with maps of Toad Hall and surrounding countryside. For once, I actually like the new illustrations very much. This is what toad, mole, and the rest "really looked like." Large HB book in good condition, with dust jacket that has a couple of tiny rips, but for the most part, it's just great! $3.00 (the postage will be more than average, since this is a fairly heavy book.) A SELECTION OF DOLL BOOKS (THESE ARE ALICE'S PICKS, TOO) The Dolls' House, a Do-it Yourself Book (Venus and Martin Dodge) 1983. Large and incredible PB book! Everything from making several types of dollhouses themselves, and the furnishing that's appropriate for each one. Victorian, Tudor, etc. You'd never believe the details of the furniture and accessories -- oh, and there are instructions for making dolls to live in your houses! $4.00 The Doll House Caper (Jean O'Connell) 1975. Illustrations by Erik Blegvad, who used to illustrate a cut-out calendar for Woman's Day for years in the past -- there was always a black cat somewhere in each month's picture, do you remember these darling little desk calendars? There's a black cat on the dining table of the dollhouse on the cover of this book, too, plus a doll with his head in the toilet, and various other irregularities! A cute little book, especially if you like your stories a little creepy. Scholastic, PB, $1.00 The Doll in the Garden, A Ghost Story. 1989. You'll love it just for the cover picture, ghostly girl in a beautiful vintage white dress, a girl in shorts and a t-shirt, sitting together on the garden bench, holding a large antique doll, and joined by a stunning white cat. PB, very good cond. $1.50 The Ultimate Doll Book (Caroline Goodfellow) a Dorling Kindersley book from 1993. This is a huge and beautiful book, hardcover, tall, with probably thousands of photos, dolls of every possible kind. I wouldn't be selling it if I didn't have another copy of it because I love to look at the dolls, from Shirley Temple, to Barbie, to dolls of all nations, to very ancient dolls and their clothes. Heavy, the postage may be a little more than average. The hardcover book is in very good condition, with a beautiful dust jacket. $3.00 Dolls & Toys from A to Z (from McCall's Needlework and Crafts) 1985. There's a doll pattern in this book that looks just like the one my daughter Carrie used to make the Betsy-Tacy and Tib dolls that live on top of my livingroom bookcase. Different clothes, but same darling soft body. Of course there are tons more patterns, including a crocheted Noah's Ark, a baby doll with lots of accessories, clowns, simple, difficult, cloth, knitted, etc. Large (coffee-table size) with a very nice DJ. $3.00 The Handbook of Doll Repair & Restoration (Marty Westfall) Cover says "A Storehouse of Workable Methods and step-by-step directions for the doll collector/restoration artist." This is a huge paperback book, 282 big pages, with incredible details for making old dolls look like new. The book was first published in 1979, this is a new and beautiful reprint. Back cover says "thousands who began using this book as a guide have gone on to develop profitable careers in the restoration field..." Well, you may or may not want to become a professional doll repairer, but even if you just want to restore your grandmother's doll, this is the book for you! Info on kid, wax, leather, and all other body materials, and joints, and wigs -- all you need to know. Like-new condition PB, $3.00 (2) Here is your Hobby... Doll Collecting (Helen Young) 1964. Collecting and making all kinds of dolls, A lovely book in very good condition, with an attractive picture cover. It's in a library binding, but there aren't any signs that it was ever in a library. HB, PC, $3.00 The ABC's of Doll Collecting (John C. Schweitzer) 1981. OId, but entertaining. Large paperback, full of fabulous pictures, both color and b/w, and lots of information. Since this book doesn't talk about values, it doesn't matter that it's 25 years old; the dolls are wonderful! Very large PB, good condition, $2.50 End of Doll book selection +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Books by Eleanor Frances Lattimore. She wrote and illustrated a great many books for young readers, all of them very darling! I've read quite a few of them, and all are quite lovely little stories about children who act a lot like real children, not odd people in strange situations. If you see any of them, grab it! I hope to have more Lattimore books in the future. MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS! Books written and/or illustrated by Kate Seredy. I'm listing these in this section because I've just finished writing about Seredy's life (the article appeared in the May, 2007 issue of Whispered Watchword.) If you are intered in reading bookswritten and illustrated by her, or other people's books that she illustrated, here are a few of them. If there aren't many here, I'll try to find more very soon. A Brand-New Uncle (written and illustrated by Seredy)1961. A loving grandfather, but he does get tired of being at the beck and call of all those children and grands, as well as all their pets. So he decides to take a trip, before it's too late. At the same time, a boy is running away from an intolerable situation. I just re-read the book, and I can hardly type, over the tears in my eyes. Seredy is like that, never sentimental, but she knows how to touch your emotions. In case you're worried that you will cry your way through, worry not -- there are a lot of really funny parts in the book, too! If you've read The Open Gate, or A Tree for Peter, or the Chestry Oak, you know what I mean. HB, XL, wonderful illustrations $3.50 LOIS LENSKI books -- we really like these books about children from all over the country, mostly living in poverty but usually joyful and adventurous. She wrote and also illustrated all of her books. It took me a very long time to collect the books in HB, so I'll try to find some for you, too. I'll try to have more Lenski books to offer another month. ++++++++++++++End of Lenski Books ++++++++++++++++++ MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS Newbery Girls: Selections from Fifteen Newbery Award-winning books Chosen Especially for Girls by Heather Dietz. That's what it says on the cover! Hitty, Caddie, 15 in all. Very large HB book, with DJ, but also a picture cover under the DJ, in case it is damaged, I guess. Very good condition except a few tiny stains at the very edge of a few pages (not extending to the text. Just thought I'd tell you about it, but not very noticible.) $3.25 Lily and Miss Liberty (Carla Stevens) 1992. One of the sweetest of books for youngish readers (Lily is about 8.) Takes place in 1885, around the time that New York was preparing to welcome the Statue of Liberty. Lily's eager to help school kids raise money to build a pedestal for Miss Liberty to stand on, and eventually she starts a business venture that brings together children from various immigrant groups (Lily's family came from Ireland.) Sweet story, aimed at young readers, but I spent a very happy hour reading it myself. And there are instructions for making the surprise that Lily invented to raise funds. HB, XL, with nice dust jacket, $1.50 MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS! Books by Frieda Friedman. She wrote the most beautiful books for middle-grade girls! Since I was a girl myself, I've loved her books, and re-read them when I need something to counteract the complexities of adult life in the 21st century. Wonderful families in every-day situations, realistic stories, and believable happy endings. New York City settings. I'll be sure to list any Friedman books that come my way. The Janitor's Girl (Friedman) 1956. Mary Stevens illustrations! A very nice Scholastic PB of this darling book. Family has to move into the basement apartment of the building where her father becomes the building super. Actually it's a nicer apartment than they used to live in, and the job is a good one. Then a very unpleasant girl moves into one of the apartments, and sets the ball rolling for the other kids to snub our girl. She makes some much nicer friends, but is still unhappy about the snubs, and eventually has to make a choice. Surprise ending is very satisfying! New front cover picture, but all the darling original interior pictures by Stevens. PB, very good condition, $2.50 A Sundae with Judy (Frieda Friedman) 1949. Girl lives with her family above their candy and ice cream store in a rather shabby but friendly neighborhood. At least it's friendly until Judy has to make a choice between her nice new friend, and the other girls in her club. Judy is special, makes the right choice, and helps several very worthwhile causes, all the while making sundaes and sodas! I especially like the piano lesson episodes, and the especially nice family scenes, something that Friedman is SO good at! PB, very good condition, $2.50 Books written and illustrated by Carolyn Haywood. I really enjoy her realistic but humorous stories about Eddie, Betsy, and the rest of the group. By the way, the first Haywood was published before I was born, so I grew up with these darling books. The children remind me of myself and my friends in grade school! These are mostly "chapter books" of 150-200 pages Back to School with Betsy (Haywood) PB reissue of a 1943 original. Has the chubby-cheeked NOT original cover illustration. Internal illustrations are the original Haywood ones. Taped spine. $1.25 MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS AHEAD! =================================== Here's a lot of 3 large hardcover books with very nice DJs, each one a collection of short stories on a particular subject. Beautiful DJs, very nice illustrations throughout, and these books are in near-new condition. Good for teachers, for young readers, or for ourselves! Edited by Pauline Rush Evans. The books include: Best Book of Bedtime Stories, including stories by Carolyn Haywood, the Grimm brothers, Robet Louis Stevenson, Beatrix Potter, A A Milne, and many others. About 50 stories in this large book. Best Book of Animal Stories, "A host of real and fantistic animals in stories by Kipling, louis untermeyer, Thornton Burgess and Jack London, and others, including such unforgettable selections as Bambi, Black Beauty, Rabbit Hill, and Doctor Doolittle." That's from the front cover. Nearly 400 pages. Best Book of Fun and Nonsense, described as "Over 40 stories and poems by Kipling, Twain, Lear, Carroll, Thurber, O. Henry and Ogden Nash. Rollicking selections from such well-loved works as Alice in Wonderlnad, Freddy the Detective, Mr. Popper's Penguins....." Obviously a book to entice young readers away from their electronics. 3 large "Good Housekeeping's Best books..." near-perfect cond, with DJs. all 3 for $7.00 END OF "ALICE'S PICKS" SECTION -- AND I HAD NO IDEA THERE WERE SO MANY BOOKS IN THIS SECTION UNTIL I SCROLLED THROUGH THEM. I HOPE IT WASN'T TOO LONG FOR ANYONE! NOW ON TO THE SERIES, MALTSHOP, MYSTERY, AND OTHER GOODIES. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SERIES BOOKS -- HARDCOVER UNLESS NOTED +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Heidi's Children -- I loved Heidi so much when I was a young girl! Wouldn't I have been surprised to find out that it was first in a 5-book serles? This title is the last in the series, and was actually written by Margaret Sutton, of Judy Bolton fame! And the sweet illustrations are by Judy's long-time illustrator, Pelagie Doane. There are pretty b/w illustrations throughout, including pictures of those goats that Heidi and Peter liked so much. And a beautiful glossy, full color frontispiece, showing the darling children. The endpapers are adorable, too. The book is in good cond, except for a white stain on the front cover. Sorry! HB, $3.00 Swallows and Amazons (Arthur Ransome) Very nice recent reprint of this old favorite from 1930. This is the first in a series, and I think all the others were reprinted, too. Large, thick, paperback book in good condition. $2.50 TRIXIE BELDEN SERIES BOOKS COMING UP! You might guess from my email address (which incorporates Trixie Belden's name, and my cat, who is Trixie) that I am very fond of the Trixie series! Here are a few to start you on a happy journey! Note -- most of these are paperbacks, unless stated. Trixie Belden #1, Secret of the Mansion, 1948. This is THE book to read first in the Trixie series. Here's the story of how Trixie and Honey met, and eventually how they met and helped Jim. Everything else in the series develops from this original fortunate set of circumstances. What I would do (if you'd never read any Trixies before) is to read this one, then immediately take up #2 (Red Trailer) which starts almost the moment the first one ends, and then keep reading until you finish #3 (Gatehouse mystery.) I wish I could do it all over again! Here I have a HB copy of this book from the very recent reprint editions, featuring the original Mary Stevens illustrations, though a new cover picture (not too bad!) former library copy, good condition, but it has a few library stickers. Remember the wonderful interior illustrations by Mary Stevens! $2.00 Secret of the Mansion, Trixie #1, in the hardcover edition that originally had a DJ, but not in this copy. Red cover with 2-color outline of the old mansion, very nice MAry Stevens illustrations on the endpapers and throughout the book. $2.00 Red Trailer Mystery (Trixie #2) Trixie and Honey take off with Miss Trask, pulling a luxurious trailer behind the station wagon. They're looking for Jim, who ran away so his cruel step-father couldn't find him. As they travel and camp, they can't help noticing the people in the red trailer, who seem very disturbed and aren't taking very good care of their kids. These 2 mysteries and a few others, firm up Trixie's and HOney's determination to become detectives. This is a hardcover copy, with ALMOST all of a beautiful Mary Stevens DJ picture. The front shows a stunning log cottage and a red trailer in the background, the 2 girls and their dogs in the foreground. The back cover shows a blue trailer, withrose-covered white picket fence along side. Nice M Stevens interior illustrations, too. Page block is separating somewhere in the center of the book, but still holding together fine. Some romantic notes along the front of the page block ("Jean + Jack" for instance.) Otherwise, the book looks great! PB, good condition. $2.00 Red Trailer Mystery (Trixie #2) Deluxe Whitman (tall) edition. If you love Irish Setter dogs, this is the cover picture for you. The Red trailer is pictured on the back cover, don't worry! Paul Frame illustrations. Good cond. $4.00 Trixie Belden #4, Mysterious Visitor, Paperback edition, fairly good condition, $1.50 Trixie #4, Mysterious Visitor -- Small Whitman edition, one copy in good condition for $3.00, one in just short of good condition for $2.00 Trixie and the Mysterious Code, #7 in series. HB, small Whitman with picture cover, fairly good condition, $2.50 Mystery on Cobbett's Island, Trixie #13. Most of us really like to read about islands, and in series books, there are almost always hurricanes while the characters are on these islands. In this book, the Bob-Whites help clean up after the storm, they sail and picnic, they help raise money for the library, and -- of course -- they solve mysteries!!! This copy is tight and has clean pages, but there are a couple of creases on the cover, and it's been read and loved a few times. HB, Small Whitman edition, former library copy in fairly good condition, $1.50 Mystery of the Castaway Children -- Trixie #21. One of my favorite Trixies -- have you heard that one before regarding several of this series? Anyway, suspected chid abuse or even kidnapping, a lot of misunderstanding and mix-ups, danger for the children plus the Bob-Whites, who are taking on a grown-up mystery about little children. PB, good condition, $2.25 ********************************************************************************** JUDY BOLTON ! Start your Judy library at reasonable prices, or get started on an extra set of the very best of series for your niece or daughter! Or your son -- lots of men love the Judy books, including my husband, Dave. We have made laser copies of the DJs for many of these books, to make them look much nicer than the "undressed" copies. Most of us have a very hard time telling the difference between an original DJ and the copy, the LDJs look so beautiful. The later numbered Judy Bolton books are unfortunately much harder to find than the early ones, and are therefore much more expensive. I looked at Ebay and ABEbooks for guidelines, and tried to be more reasonable than either one. I love to get these wonderful books out to people who really want them! If you love Judy, take a look at My Sister Sarah's Charm Bracelets, near the beginning of this web page. One of the bracelets is full of Judy Bolton charms! I've recently realized that some of my customers/friends don't read Judy Bolton books. So I'm going to try to explain why so many people are in love with this series, which is really different from other series! What I came up with is this -- each book is, of course, a complete story that can be read and vastly enjoyed by itself, the entire series is also a very long, continuing story about a girl, her friends, her romance, and in a way, the history of a town. Judy grows in age and experience, and (in contrast to most of the other series of that era) never forgets what has happened to her in the past. You will get to know what happens to Judy, but also you can follow her friends and acquaintances, as well as her own family. The mysteries are really interesting, and the side stories are full of the kinds of things that most of us love to read about -- summer camp, parties, friendships, marriages, pets. Many people read all the Judy's in order every few years, as if we are reading one long, long continuing story. Here are some Judy Bolton stories -- these are old books, some in fairly good condition, some kind of worn out, and some wrapped up in nice laser copies of the original dust jackets. The pictures are vintage Pelagie Doane art, and in some ways, as collectible as the books themselves. Remember, if you take a laser copy of anything, it will have pictures of the same flaws that appear in the original item, so the LDJs have pictures of holes or tape or creases, wherever the original had any of those things. These were all taken from my own personal copies of the DJs, so my beloved books have these same holes, tapes, or creases! In many cases, what you are paying for is actually just above the cost of making the copies of the dust jackets -- the book comes along for the same price! Dates from the early 30s through the mid-60s. The classic series book era! I'll certainly try to have more Judy Boltons in the near future! #2 Haunted Attic --Thick green cover. The cover is a little stained but not badly! Covered with copy of the original DJ, made by Applewood press. I can't remember why I have this combination of book and cover, but it looks really good. Except for the applewood logo, this could pass for a vinate, white-spined original with dust jacket. $4.00 #2 Haunted Attic -- thick green book in good condition, with original DJ, in fair cond. DJ is all there except part of the spine. The front and back covers are all there, and there's a plastic dj cover to protect everything. $4.00 #4 Seven Strange Clues -- The high school burns down, and Judy wants to know what caused this disaster. A poster contest provides some clues. Laser repro DJ by Pelagie Doane shows Judy and several of her friends, gazing down a mysterious trap door! HB, in laser DJ, but the book itself isn't in very good condition. Covering of outer spine has been glued on. Looks good with LDJ. Pages of text are just fine! $4.00 #4 -- Seven STrange Clues -- tween, thin edition, in moderately good condition with a Dj showing Judy and friends in the creepy cellar. Looks very good! $4.00 #11 Unfinished house -- Thicker green cover. The book is in typical vintage condition but NOT BAD! Covered with a laser copy of the original DJ, White spine on the original DJ. The original had some tape marks in the corners, so the copy looks as if it does, too. Hardly noticible. $6.00 #11 Unfinished House -- Thick, slightly stained green cover. Sturdy book, fairly good interior, Laser copy of original DJ with was in Very very good condition, so the repro cover looks great, too. $5.00 #14 -- Clue in the Patchwork Quilt, thick green-cover edition. Book in what I think of as the typical green-cover condition -- a little faded and worn, but pretty darn good for its age. Laser copy of the original DJ, making it look very nice! $6.50 #16. Secret of the Barred Window -- this book is in fairly good condition, except for a little separation between the front page and the interior binding. Laser copy of the original DJ, in nice condition. $6.00 #21 The Clue of the Stone Lantern (Judy Bolton) This is the Judy that breaks your heart and makes you realize that this series is about real life, not a dream world where every single thing turns out perfectly. There certainly is a happy ending for some of the characters, don't imagine that there isn't. But there's such a what-if quality to the ending -- it makes you love Judy and her books more than ever. And if you love gardening, it tells about a special garden that you could duplicate in your own yard. HB in moderate condition, covered with a laser copy of the original dust jacket, showing the lantern held by an apprehensive Judy, in a night-time garden. HB, LDJ, $10.00 OTHER SERIES BOOKS INCLUDING GIRLS' AND LITTLE CHILDREN'S SERIES!! First -- books by our wonderful Mildred Wirt! I can't keep them long enough to let very many people see them, but I'll keep trying! Sometime I'm sure I'll have more Scouting books by Mildred Wirt! She wrote a number of books about Girl and Boy Scouts, Brownies and Cubs. They're mostly mysteries, something she did wonderfully! Each series is very well suited for the age group that would be in that particular branche of scouting, and I think that even scouts of today would love reading them! Several of the books have been reissued, I just found out, but these are "on demand printing" in paperback editions, and quite highly expensive. Anyway, I would far, far prefer the wonderful old original hardcovers with their good, heavy paper and tight bindings. Plus they come with super-beautiful dust jackets, by Marguerite Gayer, who was one of my favorite illustrators, up there with Mary Stevens, Paul Frame, and the Krushes. By the way, these books are truly series books, featuring the same members of a particular Boy or Girl scout troop in all the books about the same branch of Scouts. Most of these books have laser copies of the original DJs, made from my nice originals. These pictures are worth the price of the books! A Brownie Scout book by Mildred Wirt! The Brownie Scouts at Snow Valley, 1949. Very seasonal, with the wonderful DJ picture by Marguerite Guyer, snowing the Brownies out of uniform, in snowsuits, building a snowman. I especially like the background of the picture, snow-covered pine trees and the roofs of cozy-looking houses. The book is in fairly good condition. The pages are clean and the binding is firm, but there is some staining along the edges of the first few pages, and there is a slant to the shape of the book. With the laser copy of the beautiful DJ, the book looks very good. $5.00 Books from the Girl Scout series by Wirt (and these are my favorites, since I was a GS myself, and the books are aimed at older girls, which makes them extra readable for a series-book and Maltshop fan.) I'll add more Girl Scout books when I can. Penny Parker Mystery Series by Mildred Wirt -- A girl whose father is a newsman, and she wants to follow in his footsteps. Mystery follows in HER footsteps wherever she goes, as she revels in danger and adventure! I'd love to have more Penny Parkers for you in the future! Penny Nichols series by "Joan Clark" are actually by Mildred Wirt, and many people consider these to be pretty much clones of the later Penny Parker series. Penny N. is also a lively girl with a slightly less lively sidekick girlfriend, and a widowed father who is in this case, a detective. She zoooooms around town in her little car, and helps her father with his cases. To me, judy as good as the Penny Parker series! I'll try to have more Penny Nichols books very soon! Mildred Wirt is still a very popular author, and her books sell out quickly. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Enid Blyton -- HERE IS A BIG, BIG LOT OF A VERY INTERESTING SERIES! HANNI UND NANNI by Enid Blyton. If you read German, you'll love these books. If you want to learn that language, this could be the most interesting, and possibly easiest, way to get motivated! I don't know any German at all, and Dave's intensive year of college German is several generations away, so we can't really tell you the titles of these books, or what they're about, but the pictures give me the idea that they must be quite similar to Trixie books, and probably aimed at the same general age of girls. There's a notation of "9-12" at the top of each spine, which would bear out this supposition. These are translations of books by Enid Blyton, the ultra-prolific English author. Maybe someone out there can tell me what the girls' original names were, and when the books were written (I think the dates inside these books are for when they were translated.) Anyway, there are 15 beautiful hardcover books in this big lot, which I think comprises the complete series. All the books are in almost perfect condition, and all have very cute cover pictures. I notice tennis gear, a picnic, a country-Western singer, bikes, a spooky house, and a lot of sprightly young teen girls on the covers of various of the books. LARGE LOT OF HANNI UND NANNI BOOKS -- $25.00 Recent Whispered Watchword reviews rate the Marjorie Dean series highly! Loyal friends, high morals (except for the girls who have low morals!) parties, schooldays, clothes, and a tad of romance. Life of upper-middle class girls in the 2nd decade of the 20th century. I'll try to include more Marjorie Dean books in the next list! Willow Wind Farm, Betsy's Story (Anne Pellowski) 1981. There are 4 books in this series, covering 4 generations of a Polish-American family who live on a Wisconsin farm. I own 3 of the books, and I would assume this one is the last in the series, since it takes place in near-modern times. If you read all of them, you can trace the history of farming from mid-19th century until the present, when technology changes just about everything in farmer's lives. However, with TEN children in this family, there is still plenty of farm work -- and wonderful fun, too. This volume covers one whole year, and concentrates on one of the children, Betsy, who is 8 at the time. The art, by Wendy Watson, is cute and humorous, including the darling dust jacket picture of the whole farm from a hill above it, with all the children standing in line holding hands. There's a nice pronounciation guide to the Polish words that you'll find in the book. XL HB in fairly good condition, with a nice DJ. $4.00 Stairstep Farm, Anna Rose's Story (Pellowski) 1981. Takes place 30 years before the story in Willow Wind Farm. HB in fair condition with a very nice DJ showing a family of mostly girls, all around a table with their nice-looking father. One of the things I like about these dust jackets is that they wrap around to the back, so they can show more details, in this case, more of the kitchen. The spine is split between page 120 and 121, but luckily all the pages are still in place. HB, DJ, $2.00 First Farm in the Valley (Pellowski) takes place in 1876, after a number of other Polish families had settled in the valley, to make up a farming community. The cover of this book also shows a family around a kitchen table, but in this case, it's with their mother. Wonderful glimpses of rag rugs, wood stoves, and wooden furniture. Believe me, it looks very cozy and friendly, especially the baby, who is just learing to walk, and hanging onto the bigger sister for balance. HB, XL, pretty good condition, very nice DJ, $3.50 Katie John series by Mary Calhoun. (A tomboy, Katie John founds the Boy-Haters' Club!) DANA GIRLS MYSTERIES!!! By Carolyn Keene, so if you love Nancy, you'll love Louise and Jean. The entire series has been re-written, edited, and dressed in a new look, several times over the decades. I'll try to include more Dana girls on an upcoming list. By the Light of the Study Lamp (Dana Girls #1) picture cover hardback. Good condition, 1934 date. Shows the girls, one in a skirt and cardigan, one in a 2-piece designer dress, both with pearls and permed hair. So well groomed and beautifully dressed, for spying from behind a tree, while a shadowy figure sneaks into the dormatory. $5.00 The Circle of Footprints (Dana Girls #6) The HB book is in fair condition, with one page (117-18) pulled right out, but set back in. I don't know how it happened, as the binding is nice and tight. All pages are present. The book is covered by a laser copy of our nice dust jacket, showing the girls at the mouth of a cave, examining a circle of footprints (naturally!) It's dated 1937, and the spine has the classic "Blonde on right" picture of the sisters. I found that the lowest price on ABE for a copy of this book in a "real" DJ, was 12.50. With the LDJ, I'm going for $6.00! The Winking Ruby Mystery (Dana Girls #19 in the middle numbering.) Spine of DJ shows "bonde on right." Dated1957. Cover shows the girls, primly dressed in sweater sets and nylons, among the historical European ruins. Very dramatic! Book itself is in moderately good condition. HB and LDJ, $5.00 Nan Sherwood is a nice old series (there are 7 in all) about a girl who starts out facing poverty but like most of these old series, eventually can go to boarding school and chase around the world. I'd like to have more Nan Sherwood books for you in the future! (Written by Annie Roe Carr.) Nan Sherwood at Lakeview Hall (#2 in the series) 1916. Money problems cleared up, Nan goes off to Lakeview Hall, a boarding school. Subtitled The Mystery of the Haunted Boathouse. HB in fairly good condition, with a laser copy of the attractive DJ. Note: this book has a stamped inscription inside, saying "Helen Carr from Madelyn, 1930." The reason I included this is that the author's name is Annie Roe Carr. Any connection? The date is 14 years after the publication of this book, so I don't have any idea. HB, LDJ, $4.00 Grace Harlowe series -- one of the longest of the old, old series. Takes Grace through high school, college, helping out during the Great War, and into the world. It's unusual to find any of these books in good condition, as they were not made to last through the ages. However, they hold together, and are complete and readable. Starting around the year of 1911. I hope to have more Grace Harlowe books soon. Meet the Austins (Madeleine L'Engle) 1960. From the Austin Family series. This is a nice HB copy with a beautiful dust jacket. L'Engle was a favorite author for our daughters, and this is one of her most cozy books. Nice family, with obviously a lot of pets -- 5 assorted cats and dogs on the cover, as well as 3 children and their mother. Did she illustrate her own books? No illustrator is mentioned. HB, XL, good DJ, $2.50 Polly Brewster Series -- 1920's and '30s. Polly lived at Pebbly Pit in the Southwest, where her family owned a mine. Soon though, she branched out, and lived the life that seemed to be so dear to the hearts of rich series book girls in those days -- traveling, dabbling in business, giving and attending grand parties, going everywhere with a group of loyal friends. She still loved The Southwest (Colorado in this case) and returned there from time to time. I'll try to have more "Polly" books very soon. Author is Lillian Elizabeth Roy. Polly of Pebbly Pit, #1 in the series! 1922. You CAN understand the rest of the series, but as always, it's more interesting to read the first one first, to understand "where she's coming from." In this case, that overused phrase really means something. The first book tells about her simple life on the ranch, while later on, she lives pretty much all over the world. Her heart is always in Pebbly Pit, though. So now you can read about it.. in this book, which is in fair condition, but luckily the pages are all firm and intact. Cover is good, and I've mended the spine so it looks good, too. HB, $2.00 Polly Brewster series #2 -- Polly and Eleanor. Polly's richer and more sophisticated friend is staying at the ranch, when they discover a mine -- now Polly can go off to New York, to school, and on to the Great World! HB, Old, but pretty good cond. $2 Polly and Eleanor, #2 in the series, with a laser copy of the original DJ, showing a romantically-fuzzy young lady with auburn hair and a lacy blue blouse. The DJ that the LDJ was made from, had a small bite taken out of the front cover, but the picture is intact, and so is the interesting back cover, listing lots of other series books for you to look for. More series listed at the end of the text. Sigh -- so many books, so little time (and money.) HB with LDJ, $3.50 Polly in South America (LIllian Elizabeth Roy) 1924. It's always so easy to know what you're about to read, with these descriptive titles! However, by the time you get to the frontispiece, you aren't so sure any more. Picture of a bunch of girls standing around a barrel of water, and at least one of the girls has her hands tied behind her back. There's a royal-looking couple with crowned heads, looking on. #7 in the series, and you know they live through this harrowing experience, as there are many more books in the series, but it's shivery to read about this and so many other of their adventures in South America. HB, pretty fair condition for one of this series, which was never meant to last through the eons.$2.50 Merriweather Girls! Here's an unusual series, including 4 books, all about a group of girls who help people and have a whale of a good time while doing it. I'll try to have more Merriweather Girls in the future! Five Little Peppers Series by Margaret Sidney. This is a very early series book, that seems to have been in print ever since the first one came out at the end of the 19th century! About 5 kids in one family who have tons of small adventures. Despite their age, these books are easy enough to read, and one of the good things about them is that there are a lot of these books, so you can follow them through the years. Of course there are attitudes that seem dated to us, but you find things like that in the early Nancy Drews and Bobbsey Twins books. These books are long enough that you certainly get your money's worth, up to 300 pages in each one. I'll be keeping an eye out for more peppers in the future! The "Melody Lane" series by Lillian Garis is quite unusual. I guess it's one of those series that you either love or hate. I happen to like it VERY much! It's atmospheric and creepy in some ways, but very down-to-earth and realistic on others. Like Judy Bolton, the girls of Melody Lane lived during the Depression. Carol, the main character has to work at least part time, but has many chances to solve mysteries and expose the same type of evil-doers that Judy does -- scam artists, fortune-tellers, fake ghosts, and people who prey on innocent children. I highly recommend the books, but be aware that some people find them less snappy and concise than the Nancy Drews. 1933 and 1934. I'll try to have more Melody Lane books in the near future! In the meantime, good luck finding some yourself -- I think you will really enjoy them! While you're looking, try some of Garis' other books, which are similar but present other characters. MORE SERIES BOOKS! Betsy-Tacy Books by Maud Hart Lovelace, just about the best of all series books in the whole world! Shame on you if you haven't discovered them, but I can't say much, since I didn't read them until I was an adult. My daughters loved these books when they were young, and Carrie even read them to our oldest grandson when he was little (I like to think that it's one reason he's grown up to be such a nice young man!) About 15 years ago, Dave and I were going to our first PF reunion, in Mankato MN where these books are actually set (its called Deep Valley.) I started to read them out loud to him, After this, I'll always take my daughter's recommendations about books! There's one thing you need to know before you start -- the first book is just right for early readers, and each book gets just a little bit more advanced, until the last book, which is about Betsy's first year of marriage. All the books are indescribably good, but it's best to read them in order, as I fortunately did. They have all been reissued in the past few years, so you can do just that. And remember, they are incredibly good! (If I don't have any Betsy-Tacy books for sale, watch for some in the future!) Heaven to Betsy (Maud Hart Lovelace) Betsy and her friends are finally in High School! I won't go into details, as you know how wonderful every Betsy book is! Here is a hardcover copy of this 1945 book, with its pretty Vera Neville dust jacket, too. The book is a former library copy, with wear and a few library markings, but it's strong and clean, and looks SO beautiful with the DJ. $14.00 MORE BETSY-TACY BOOKS Betsy-Tacy (2 small paperbacks in moderate condition) $1.00 each Betsy-Tacy and Tib (2 small pb copies in good condition) $1.25 each Betsy and Tacy go over the Big Hill (2 pb copies in pretty good cond) $2 each Betsy in Spite of Herself (Lovelace) paperback in the really attractive edition, with Betsy showing through an oval hole in the decorative front cover. Original interior pictures. Good condition. $3.00 End of Betsy-Tacy books +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Beany Malone and Belford family series by Lenora Mattingly Weber. OK, I'll say it again, this is one of my all-time favorite series, beginning when I was a high school girl myself. Correction -- there are NOT two "series of books," they're the stories of real people (aren't they?) who will never leave your mind once you've read all the books in the series. They are available in beautiful PB editions from Image Cascade, but most of us want to have the original HBs in our collections. There's just something about touching and owning "the real thing!" There are 2 series by Lenore Mattingly Weber, the Beany Malone (or Malone family) books, and the slightly later, slightly more edgy, Belford family (Katie Rose and Stacey) books. I hope you can take my word that these are just about the 2 best series in the world! I certainly hope to add more Beany books in the near future! Beany Malone (Lenora Mattingly Weber) 1948. Continues the story of the Malones, which started in Meet the Malones. From now on, all the books concentrate on Beany, though the rest of the family is always a big part of each story. Marty, the father, is away again, and Beany is in charge of a large household of family members, pets, and people who are befriended by the hospitable Malones. As always, there's never enough money, and everyone has something different to worry about. All I can say is, DO NOT MISS THE MALONES!!!! I've covered a lightly worn former library hardback with a laser copy of the original dust jacket, showing the classic Beany pose -- blue eyes, braids around her head, freckles, a sweet little smile. The back cover has a picture of Norbett, always troubled, always cocky -- and a jar of freckle remover. There's an adorable frontispiece picture, showing the Malone kids and assorted other people. HB, XL, LDJ, $8.00 Beany has a Secret Life (Weber) 1955. Beany is so frustrated, nothing is going right! She really puts her foot into her mouth when she first meets her new stepmother. Her boyfriend leaves town. Mary Fred's horse is sick. When Beany's name is proposed for membership in a secret club, she jumps right in -- something to be happy about. OR IS IT? Well, probably not, but good things might come out of this whole situation, like a certain boy, and a valuable lesson? What a good book! And this HB copy has a laser copy of the original DJ, showing Beany with short hair, looking extremely appealing even though glum, and a background of sketches of various items that will take on importance as you read the book. HB, XL, laser DJ, $9.00 If there are no Weber books available now, I hope to have more at another time. The Maida books are So Beautiful! By the way, the Maida series is just about my favorite series, along with Judy, Trixie, and Beany. Maida is different from any of the other series, and entirely loveable to me! The author is Inez Haynes Irwin. I would like to explain that some people just don't care for this series. Quite different from any other big series, it's about a group of children, probably aged about 12 to 14, who live together in a lovely environment and learn by doing things themselves (with expert adult supervision.) They are enthusiastic and cooperative, and it isn't until well into the series that they start to solve mysteries! After reading all the Maida books, I collected my observations about them, and realized that the overall idea behind the "school" system was that children learn through experiencing and experimenting. Don't worry, there isn't a single line of boring philosophy in the books. Outwardly they're stories of a group of really nice children, having fun and exploring their world. The latter books in the series are nearly impossible to find, or at least at prices that most of us can afford. Since I love the series myself, I do recommend that you try them. I'll TRY to list more Maida books in the future, but in the meantime, maybe you'll spot some and give them a try. Maida's Little Shop (#1 in the series) This is the book the rest of the series hinges on, though it was written many years before the others. Maida is unwell, you never knew exactly what was wrong with people in those days (1909) but it disabled them considerably. Her father is desperate to cure her, and will do anything she wants -- so she asks for her own little shop to run, in the middle of Boston. Amazingly, this is just what she needs, and it does help her. Meantime, she meets the other kids -- also adults -- who will play huge parts in the rest of the series. An adorable story, a darling book with a laser copy of the 2nd version of the dj, showing Maida in a cute folky-looking jumper, and a group of nice children looking into her shop windows. HB, LDJ, $4.50 MORE SERIES BOOKS AHEAD!!! Books by Catherine Woolley, one of my very favorite authors. She turned 100 years old last summer! One whole issue of Whispered Watchword was dedicated to her, with many very loving reviews of her books (some written by me.) You can read some Woolleys to honor her along with people on Cape Cod, who are all celebrating her birthday!!!) Note: Sadly, Catherine Woolley died a couple of years ago, just after her 100th birthday. All the Ginnie and all the Cathy and Libby series go on my best-loved lists! I'll try to have more Ginnie and Cathy books, as well as other Woolley books, pretty soon. Ginnie's Baby-sitting service (Woolley) 1963. Original title: Ginnie and her Juniors. Ginnie sets up a sort of day-care in her home, and finds out that taking care of children is NOT an easy way to make a few dollars! PB in fairly good condition, $2 Ginnie and the mystery Doll (Woolley) 1960. She's an antique doll of great beauty and value, but she's been missing for many years. The book takes place on Cape Cod, and you'll feel as if you were there to share in the summer season -- an art exhibit, an antiques auction, clamming, a square dance, a nice shingled Cape cottage. HB, XL, worn but moderately good condition, covered by a laser copy of our DJ, showing Ginnie uncovering Lady V, the doll, under some beach grass. But that's just the beginning of the mystery! $5.00 All-of-a-kind Family is a series about a Jewish family in New York at the beginning of the 20th century. Probably one of the best children's series ever written, and so loveable! I'll try to have more of these nice books soon. MORE SERIES BOOKS AHEAD!!! CHERRY AMES -- the most popular nurse series ever printed, a nurse with 1,000 specialties, all of them interesting and romantic -- and connected with fascinating myseries! I'll try to have more books in this series very soon! #1 Student Nurse, Good interior, cover corners rubbed. $2.50 #2 Senior Nurse, good cond inside and out. #2.75 #5 Cherry Ames, Flight Nurse -- Cherry assists in flying wounded soldiers out of the battlefield, to England. This is a fascinating book, quite unusual in the series book world. Real life, and a touching mystery involving a little girl. Tweed book, with a dust jacket that has some damage but the front cover picture is very good. Shows Cherry in uniform, looking to the sky, while in the background, a man on a stretcher is being loaded onto a plane. HB snf DJ fairly good. $4.00 #6 Veterans' Nurse -- 1946. Vintage cover shows Cherry in Army uniform, at least that's what I think it is -- strips and a cute cap -- serving milk and cookies to a very handsome vet in a wheelchair, on the grounds of a veterans' hospital. Plenty of mystery, such as on page 118 -- "The hospital was electified. The staff people were shocked and buzzing with excitement. There had been a robbery in the medical storeroom!" This is the last book in what I think of as the 6-book early set of Cherry books, very good to read in order, all in chronological order, and followed by Cherry's many wonderful assignments to places like a department store and a cruise ship! HB in fairly good condition, with picture cover. $5.00 #8 -- Cherry Ames, Visiting Nurse 1947. Intriguing book. There are quite a few books about visiting nurses, as this gives the author a lot of scope for writing about people in interesting situations. This is one of the best. Nice DJ picture of 2 shabby children in front of an even more shabby Victorian mansion. Cherry in a trim navy-blue uniform. The book's in pretty good condition, has a laser copy of my nice DJ, $5.50 #12 Mountaineer Nurse -- Pretty good condition, has a sweet inscription to the original owner! Picture Cover shows Cherry in white uniform and scarlet-lined cloak, in front of a mountain shack, barefoot little girl waving happily. $5.00 #15 Rest Home Nurse. Very good condition. $4.50 #15 Rest Home Nurse. Good condition. $3.50 #17 -- Boarding School nurse. How about this -- 2 of our favorite genres, nurse-romance- mystery, along with a boarding school story. I'll term the book as being in fair/poor condition, mainly due to missing half the spine. But you'd never know this, as I've covered it with a copy of my very nice DJ, showing Cherry with a tennis-playing student, and a very cheerful and attractive young man doffing his hat in the background. HB, LDJ, $5.00 Cherry Ames: The mystery of Rogue's Cave (pb title of Cherry Ames, Island Nurse.) This is a small hardcover version of the pb edition, looking very much like a gothic romance, with Victorian mansion on a crag above a cliff leading down to the ocean. Cave in the foreground, and a troubled-looking Cherry. A sort of collector's item! HB, PC, $3.00 Mystery of Rogue's Cave (Cherry Ames Island Nurse.) PB, fair condition, perfectly readable, very romantic. $1.50 END OF CHERRY AMES BOOKS. Hardy Boys Casefiles: Collector's Edition including 3 complete mysteries, one volume. 1991. Stories include "Beyond the Law," "Spiked!" and "Open Season." Large PB in very good condition, $2.00 BOOKS BY HARRIET PYNE GROVE -- unlikely name, and I've heard that it wasn't even a pen name! She did write very good stories. THE S. P. Mystery, (Harriet Pyne Grove) From front flap: "Rewarded for good work in school, the 7 girls of the S. P. Club are given a cottage on a little lake, where they are to spend the summer." There, they do more good work! This time, helping a poor orphan girl,who lives nearby. These books can be as much as 75 years old! So they often have darkened pages and slight age-spots on the covers. HOwever, it's in pretty good condition, with a bright yellow cover! HB, 3.50 The Strange Likeness (Harriet Pyne Grove) 1929. I would advise you not to read the DJ flaps on this author's books, because someone summarized the entire story, including the supposed surprise endings, right there before your eyes. If you'd rather be pleasantly surprised, just dig right in! I'll just tell you that this book tells about 2 girls who end up at the same boarding school, where everyone is amazed at how much they look like each other! I just read this book for the first time, and it was a lot better than I had thought it would be. VERY good, in fact! And it didn't end quite the way I thought it would, which is always a bonus! Nice condition Saalfield book with a good DJ! $4.50 Another copy of Strange Likeness (everyone needs to read it!) with laser copy of the original DJ, and it looks every bit as good as the book with the "real" DJ. $4.00 The Amy And Laura series by Marilyn Sachs is aimed at a younger reader than the Maltshop books, but they appeal to the same audience of adults. 2 sisters move to a new apartment in NY, and deal with a number of problems, including a mother who has to spend a long period in a hospital, being the new kid on the block, and a bad bully. But there are wonderful, nostalgic scenes of jumprope rhymes, school adventures, pets, lots of family scenes. Laura's Luck is a camp story -- always popular! If you like the same books that I do, I can almost guarantee that you will like these books very much. I'll try to have more Amy and Laura books soon! Laura's Luck (Sachs) 1965. The girls go to camp, and Laura has a lot of trouble with her jealousy of her sister, Amy, who makes friends so easily and looks so cute all the time. She's scared of camp, worried about her sick mother, and almost misses finding out how wonderful camp can be! Library HB copy, nice picture on the reinforced cover, nice and clean inside. $2.00 Amy and Laura (Sachs) 1966. Their mother had a terrible accident, but now she's home, in a wheelchair, and everyone's waiting on her and being quiet and good. The girls' aunt takes care of them, and she just isn't Mother. The girls are at sword's point, but they can't fight it out. PB, good condition, $2.00 The Meadow-Brook girls series is an early outdoors-adventure series, based in New Hampshire (I think it's the only relatively major series that is mainly set in New England.) Enjoyable in the mold of the first few Ruth Fieldings or the Outdoors Girls. I hope to have more from this series, quite soon. MORE SERIES BOOKS! Kim Aldrich series -- There are 4 books in this series, written for somewhat older readers than a lot of our books, but certainly within the teen years. The Girls' Series Companion compares them somewhat to Nancy Drew Files, but I like them better. Kim Aldrich Mystery -- Miscalculated Risk (Jinny McDonell) 1972. First paragraph -- "Some people are accident -prone, Kim, but so help me, you're adventure-prone" said by her father. They were going to have a nice, quiet day, but you know how seldom that happens to girl sleuths! Cover shows Kim in her wet suit. HB, picture cover, good condition, $3.00 Every Boys Mystery and Adventure Stories, 1935. This isn't a girls' series book, but I have most of the boys' books on sale, so I had to list this one elsewhere. It contains 3 complete books, Brothers of the Senecas by Walter E. Butts, Detectives, Inc by William Heyliger, and Vanishing LIner by George Morse. It's a gigantic volume, as each of these books is about 250 pages long! There is a DJ, pretty nice looking but missing the back flap. DJ has a picture from each of the books that are included in the volume. Book itself in good condition, though I think the great weight has caused a little strain on the spine. But it's an interesting oddity, and very attractive. $4.00 Ruth Fielding series. Ruth starts out as a motherless girl, just like Patti Fairfield and a lot of other old series heroines! But she goes in a different direction, after the first few books full of rollicking adventures in boarding school, in the north woods, and at the shore. In later books of this very long series, she becomes a career girl, role model for feminists, and pre- courser of Nancy Drew and other series females. Yet, she keeps her femininity, and eventually even marries (take notice, Nancy!) I've enjoyed all the Ruths that I've read, from beginning to end. I'll add books about Ruth when I find them for you! Ruth Fielding of the Red Mill (#1 in this series) 1913. Subtitled Jasper Parloe's Secret. HB with Ruth's picture on the cover, fairly good condition. $2.50 Ruth Fielding at Snow Camp, subtitled Lost in the Backwoods, 1913. Ruth #3. Don't you love to sit in your cozy. warm house and read about people lost in the snowy forests? Or cringing in cabins while the blizzard roars around them? The book is in moderate condition (worn corners and edges, pages slightly loose, but everything holding together OK. Brown but clean pages.) Covered by a laser copy of the original DJ, which was in fair condition itself, but the LDJs always look better than the originals because they don't have any tears or holes! Front cover picture intact, 5/6ths of the original spine is showing. $5.00 STARTER SET OF 4 RUTH FIELDING BOOKS! Start your set of this long, long series, with this nice selection of the books! If you absolutely love long series, this is almost as good as Nancy Drew! In fact, you probably know that some of the same ghost writers wrote books for both series. So here you are! These 4 books do not have dust jackets, but each one does have a picture of Ruth on its cover. All Ruth F books have one of two cover pictures, depending on when the particular copy was printed. Ruth morphs from a girl with the hair style of the 2nd decade of the 20th century, and a longish skirt below a middy blouse (red sun in background) to the other covers, that have Ruth looking very 1930ish, bobbed hair, short skirt, "pumps" for shoes, sitting on a log, writing in a notebook. The books are in fair to fairly good condition. These 4 books are: Ruth #1 -- Red Mill, subtitled Jasper Parloe's secret. Ruth #3 -- Snow Camp -- subtitled Lost in the Backwoods Ruth #4 -- Lighthouse Point -- subtitled Nita, the Girl Castaway. Ruth #8 -- The Gypsies -- subtitled The Missing Pearl Necklace Four Ruth Fielding books for #12.00 Betty Gordon series -- Betty was a penniless orphan, staying with horrid guardians who also had young Bob working for them, and they treated him terribly. Betty and Bob eventually find a much happier home with her uncle, who owns oil wells and takes them all around the country where they help him out by solving mysteries. This series is similar to the Ruth Fielding books in appearance as well as age, and a little like it in plot. I'd love to have more Betty G books soon! Jean Craig series by Kay Lyttleton. This 5-book series is actually about the whole Craig family, and a lot of their friends. Jean features prominently, but all the rest of the family is part of each book. Fairly recent dates, but the books are re-runs of an earlier series, Greenacres. Only the names have been changed to protect the plagerist or at least borrower. Very entertaining, whatever the story may be! Jean Craig Grows UP (Kay Lyttleton) 1948. The family has to move to the country for the father's health when he comes home from WWII. Teenaged Jean has a lot of responsibility for settling the new house and the family. And meets the love of her life. HB, fairly good condition (these are among the fragile books, in the Falcon Book editions) Nice picture cover and very firm binding. $3.50 Jean Craig in New York (Kay Lyttleton) 1948. As it says in a description at the front of the book -- it "Tells of Jean's adventures in the city, but it is also the story of the Craigs who meet life's adventures with gaiety and courage." Jean gets a chance to study art in NY. HB, PC, pretty good condition for a Falcon World edition. $3.00 Jean Craig Finds Romance (Lyttleton) 1948. Sounds as if it should be the last in the series, but it's actually 3rd in the 5-book series, and continues the saga of the Craig family while Jean tries make up her mind about her future. HB, PC Falcon Book edition, picture cover looks a little stained around the very edges, I think it's discoloration from the glue used to fasten the book together. Not bad at all! $2.50 Patty Fairfield series. Patty starts out as a motherless girl who stays with various relatives, and is a simple, sweet young thing. She soon becomes acquanited with life in the lap of luxury, and you can visit her there in the many books in this series. Descriptions of parties, costumes, mansions, travels, decorations -- I've never read of more opulant settings! Of course there are adventures and mysteries, friendships, and romances. Patty ends up married in the end of the series. Due to their original good quality, they are sometimes found in fairly good condition, considering their extreme age! Interesting series. I'll add more Patti books as soon as I can, in the meantime, try to find them yourself, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading these extravagant stories! Author -- Carolyn Wells. I will list more Patty Fairfield books as soon as possible. Also by Carolyn Wells (a very prolific author, if that's her real name) is the Marjorie Maynard series. This is aimed at younger readers than Patty Fairfield, and is about family with 4 kids who love to do things together. No twins -- this isn't about the Bobbseys, though the time is just about right for the beginning of that series. They're a lively bunch "The fundamental principle of Mr. and Mrs. Maynard's training was common-sense, and this, added to deep parental love, made their discipline both wise and kind." But they get into all kinds of scrapes, while having a great old time together. I believe these books are written for kids between the Bobbsey Twins' age, and the Patty Fairfield teens. They are 240 to 280 pages long. Frontispiece, but no internal illustrations. I will be listing more Marjorie books from these and other of her series, as soon as I possibly can. Marjorie's Maytime (Wells) 1911. In case you think the books in this series are short because they're about some fairly young children, think again! This one has 241 pages, and is full of nice descriptions of pleasant places, exciting little adventures, family happenings. HB, old but holding its own! $2.00 MORE SERIES BOOKS! Peggy Stewart is a series that takes place in Anapolis area, where Peggy is a naval officer's daughter, and later, at a private school. The description describes the setting as "an old southern estate." There are 3 books in the series, all have the same picture on the cover, Peggy looking serious and dressy, sitting down -- in a carriage? with a cane or whip in hand. You'll read about rich girls and fancy parties and homes, while you'll have to have a tolerance for southern attitudes of a century ago, and occasional dialect. Certainly they are period-pieces and enjoyable as such! These books appeal to me especially, since my mother's first and middle name are Peggy (or Margaret) Stewart. I'll try to have more Peggy Stewart books soon. Prince among Ponies (Josephine Pullein-Thompson) I'm not sure of the date when it was first published. It says "first printed in this edition, 1962. British book from the Collins Seagull Library, Pony books series. The story of 2 children who are sure that a supposedly vicious pony is really just misunderstood, and they set out to prove it -- in secret. Small HB, in nice condition, with a DJ that has a few issues, but the cover picture is clear and very appealing to pony lovers -- child in riding gear, jumping a fence on the pony (I think it's a fence, but I'm no horse expert.) $3 Ginny Gordon Mysteries (by Julie Campbell, hooray, a Trixie author!) Ginny is another of the Schoolgirl Sleuths, part of a group like Trixie's Bob-whites, called The Hustlers. They are always looking for ways to make money, and run into plenty of mysteries while doing so. Some of their ventures include a "swap shop" which you might term a sort of antiques or highclass thrift shop, a snack shop, and a used book booth. I'll add more Ginny Gordons as soon as I find them! "The Mexican Mysteries" series is about 3 American girls (main character is Jo Anne) who spend their summers in Mexico, helping people and having rather wild adventures. A really great series, I only discovered it a few years ago, but loved it immediately. These are beautiful books, in the thick Saalfield formats, with rather brittle pages, but good sturdy bindings. I'll try to have more Mexican Mysteries (by Randolph) soon. Peggy Lane Theater Series By Virginia Hughes. These books are to a theater career what the Vicki Barrs are to stewardess career, or the Connie Blairs are to an advertising career. The books even look the same as those series, with similar attractive picture covers. The books all look good, they are almost always in very good condition, standing up well over the years. They're the story of a young girl who starts out in her career, and enjoys a variety of theatrical experiences as she advances in the theater world. As in almost all series books, there are mild mysteries in all the books. Series book collectors need to have these interesting and attractive books on their shelves! Of course, they're especially fun to read if you're interested in the theater. But they're entertaining even if you aren't a theater fanatic! I'll add Peggy Lane books when I have more of them. The Beverly Gray series is fabulous! It's a long series that was popular from the 30s through the 50s, and is still very much read, especially by subscribers to Susabella Passengers and Friends magazine. We will try to list more Beverly Gray books soon -- they've been very popular! Beverly Gray on a World Cruise -- 1936. #6 or 7 in the series, depending on how you count the famous "World's Fair." This copy is in the thicker, older edition, very good pre-war quality paper and binding, and has a laser copy of the correct dust jacket for this edition. This shows a lot of people meandering around in an obviously foreigh scene, dressed in the romantic clothes (mostly white) of the period, except for the people who are dressed in even more romantic native garb. Bev and all her friends go off on The Susabella, visiting many ports and always being pursued by The Count... HB, LDJ, everything in good cond, $6.00 Beverly Gray's Journey -- 1946. #17 in series. Bev goes to England to search for her fiance, Larry. Book is in fairly good condition, with age-browned pages. Has a laser copy of the original, beautiful DJ, showing Beverly hiding in the bushes around a castle, with wisps of fog swirling around. Very creepy atmosphere! HB book with LDJ, $6.00 Beverly Gray's Island Mystery (Blank) 1952. Great cover picture shows Beverly inside a cave, listening to 2 shadowy men at the mouth of the cave, looking very sinister. Bev has on a blazer and 3 strands of pearls, just what I would have chosen for spelunking activity. But she's up to any kind of detecting, so who am I to criticize her fashion sense? HB, PC, very good condition for these Clover editions. $3.00 Dorothy Dixon Series is about a very adventurous 16-year-old who gets her pilot's license and flies around solving mysteries and rescuing people, little things like that! There are 4 books in the series (and a phantom title) all from 1933. They were cheap books to start with, and pretty much always have brown, slightly brittle, pages. I will try to have more Dorothy Dixon books very soon! Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case (Dorothy Wayne) 1933. Fairly nice book in a good DJ, altogether a nice presentation. $4.00 Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane (Wayne) 1933. Like most of the books in this series, the binding is a bit loose, but the pages are all nice and tight, and the book is covered by a laser copy of the original DJ, so it looks wonderful! HB, LDJ, $4.00 DOROTHY DIXON 4-BOOK SET! This is the entire series, unless you're lucky enough to find the non-existent 5th book. The 4 books are in fair to fairly-good condition, and 3 of the 4 are covered by nice laser copies of the original DJs (they all have the same picture on the cover, but the titles are all different!) There are some nice ads on the back covers of the LDJs. Titles in this set include: Dorothy Dixon wins her wings Dorothy Dixon and the Mystery Plane Dorothy Dixon Solves the Conway Case Dorothy Dixon and the double Cousin 4- book set of Dorothy Dixon, $19.00 Nurses Three is a short (7 books) but very good hardcover nurse series. There are 3 sisters, all nurses, all daughters of a famous doctor that they seem to want to live up to. The 3 girls have different personalities and interests, and each one has a couple of books all to herself. A unique idea for a series, and quite wonderful! The books have attractive picture covers, in a different color for each of the girls. Written by Jean Kirby. Each has several nice internal illustrations. If there aren't any Nurses Three books here, I hope to have more to offer soon! A Career for Kelly -- Nurses Three, a Kelly Scott Story (Jean Kirby) 1963. First book in the series, first sister to go out on her own. Mild mystery, career. Very nice picture cover, front and back. Good condition. I get a kick out of the various original 1961 price tags on the covers. 2011 price -- $5.00 Polly series by Lillian E. Roy. Mostly with light blue covers. The Polly series tells about a girl who started out on a ranch in the southwest, and really loves her life there. The first 2 books are set on the ranch. Many adventures, and a bit of romance. After that, Polly goes out into the big world, and is very successful in every way, but of course it never changes her sweet nature! In a later book that I don't have for sale, she goes back to the ranch for a while, and then sets off for fantastic trips and adventures. Romance intrudes, but as in all of these very old series, it's very mild and treated a bit humorously. Eventually, she marries. This is a fairly long series, and worth collecting and reading. I'll try to list more Polly books very soon! MORE SERIES BOOKS! Emergency Rescue!! Trouble at Moosehead Lake (James and Lois Cowan) A short series, I think only 2 books so far, set in Maine. Kids help with the emergency rescue group. Exciting cover shows snowy scene with kids, dog, stretcher being loaded into the ambulance, and in the background, a glimpse of huge Moosehead Lake. PB, $1.00 Fat Glenda's Summer Romance (Lila Perl)1986. A likeable series of 4 books about a girl who starts out fat, but finds out there are still a few problems after you lose a lot of weight. In this one, 3rd in the series, she gets a summer job waitressing at an inn, with all that food to tempt her! Nice story. PB, $1.00 Kathy Martin nurse series. Kathy Martin books are like slightly more modern Sue Barton or Cherry Ames. A long and very interesting nurse-mystery series.) They were written by Josephine James, starting in 1959. Kathy has a very interesting family, who live on an apple farm in California, she has a nice boyfriend (but just can't make up her mind to marry him!) and she is just as good as Cherry Ames at nursing and finding mysteries to solve. All the books have attractive picture covers, and are Golden Press HB editions to match several other popular series that you probably already have in your collection. I certainly hope to have more Kathy Martin books in the future. A really good series, you should try it! One of the good things about it is that there are 13 books in the series, so you won't run out of them in a hurry! I hope to have more Kathy Martin books very soon! A Cap for Kathy, Kathy Martin book #1. Along with being a very fine story, this book has a darling cover picture -- Kathy in a blue/white striped uniform, with her first nurse cap, and a background of the family's apple orchard in springtime bloom. Reading copy of A Cap for Kathy. Cover is fine, pages are OK, but spine is weak. $2.00 Susan Sand series, from the early 1980s, is popular with Nancy Drew fans who love this feisty, brave teen girl detective and mystery writer. The titles are enough to catch anyone's attention! Too bad this is such a short series (8 books.) The first few are fairly easy to locate and reasonably priced. The next 4 or 5 are not too hard to find, while the last couple of them are quite rare. Good luck finishing your Susan Sand series! I'll try to include more Susan's on my list, very soon. Sue Barton Nurse stories! In my opinion, this is the best of all the nurse series. Yes, they are outdated as far as the nursing techniques and information, but the human interest is exceptional, and the writing is beautiful. If you read them in order, there's no other series that keeps your interest as compellingly as this one, unless it's Beany Malone. I'd like to promise that I'll have more Sue Barton books soon, but that's a hard promise to keep. I'll certainly try! Timber Trail Riders. Timber Trail is a horse farm, and there are both boys and girls in the riding club. I only started collecting this series recently, but I do enjoy them and want to share them with my friends. They were cheaply made and cheaply bound, so they're never in very good condition, but they have very attractive picture covers, and well-illustrated interiors. Whitman cellophane style I'll try to include some more Timber Trail Riders books as soon as I can. BOOKS BY L.M. MONTGOMERY -- The author of "Anne" was a very prolific writer! Here are a few! Anne of Green Gables -- Three volumes in One! This large HB includes unabridged texts of Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne's House of Dreams. There is a ton of reading in here, with the occasional illustration, too. XL book with a pretty dust jacket -- fairly good condition. There's a nice introduction, too. $2.50 Anne of Avonlea (L. M. Montgomery) 2nd in the Anne series. This is a nice hardcover copy from Grosset and Dunlap. It has a cameo-shaped picture of Anne on the cover, andvery attractive graphics around it. Very good condition, $2.50 Anne of Windy Poplars (Montgomery) 4th in the Anne series, Anne is teaching while Gilbert goes to medical school. This book covers the 3 years while she lives at Windy Poplars and teaches high school. HB, good condition, $2.00 Rilla of Ingleside "The Anne of Green Gables Novels #8" according to the cover. This is billed as a Special Collector's Edition, showing a beautiful girl in a filmy dress in the foreground, and in the background, a sea scene with lighthouse and uniformed officer, all under the moon. Nice PB in wonderful condition, $1.75 Some L. M. Montgomery books, great condition, beautiful pbs, and only a dollar each -- Rainbow Valley ("the Anne of Green Gables Novels #7")$1.00 Anne's House of Dreams ("The anne of Green Gables Novels #5") $1.00 Anne of the Island ("Anne of Gren Gables Novels #3") $1.00 Anne of Avonlea ("Anne of Green Gables Novels #2") $1.00 Emily Clmbs (from the Emily trilogy) $1.00 in beautiful condition. Pat of Silver Bush (Montgomery) 1933. Cover says "The Warm and wonderful story of a young girl and the home she would always love." Doesn't say much, does it? But if you know Montgomery's writing, you'll know it's special. Sweet cover picture on this paperback edition, which is in moderately good condition. $1.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Outdoor Girls is a very long series, 23 books in all, about an adventurous group of girls -- if you like the older series about girls who seemed to be paving the way for today's active women, you ought to start collecting these books! Oh yes -- they're really interesting and fun to read, too, historical impact notwithstanding. They can be read out of order with no problem. By the way, both this series and Moving picture Girls are for much older girls than "Laura Lee Hope's" Bobbsey twins. I'll add more Outdoor girls as soon as I can find them! The Moving Picture Girls books by Laura Lee Hope. The author's name is fictional, here and in the Bobbsey Twins series, but this series is very interesting. Moving Picture girls are way before their time, and very modern in their day. I'll add Moving Picture Girls books when I come across any. Good luck finding them yourself, in the meantime! Blythe Girls are supposed to be written by Laura Lee Hope, but if you're thinking "Bobbsey Twins," forget it! This long series appealed to teens of yesterday and appeals very much to PFs of today. The girls are in their late teens, no slapstick situations like those the Bobbseys were always involved in. Mystery, yes, but much more "mature" sleuthing. The girls are orphaned, and actually have to work hard for a living! Each has a totally different type of job, so there are lots of opportunities for interesting mysteries. I'll add more Blythe girls books as soon as I can! Helen's Strange Boarder, #4 in Blythe Girls series. An especially interesting story: Helen takes in 2 young children that she rescues from a fire, but where did they come from, and where is their family now? Like all the books in this very special series, there is a lot of boy-girl bantering and fun. HB, fairly good condition, some nice internal illustrations by Thelma Gooch. $4.00 Pollyanna Grows up (Eleanor H. Porter) 1914 ("The Second Glad Book") Girl's series Companion lists it as the 3rd Glad book, as Six Star Ranch takes place before the time of this book. Pollyanna has to decide which man to marry. Like the others in the series, it's a nice book about a dear young woman and her feelings of responsibility for just about everyone -- to make them happy or "glad." Book is in very good condition, with very pretty endpaper scenes. Makes you wish you could live in that beautiful setting! $3.00 Pollyanna's Golden Horseshoe (Elizabeth Borton) 1939. #10 or 11? in the Glad Book series. Pollyanna ia a wife, mother and social worker, and helps people to attain happiness -- but these books are nowhere nearly as sappy as their reputation. In fact, they are quite wonderful career and family books. HB, good condition, $3.00 Pollyanna's Golden Horseshoe (Borton) #11? in the series, with most of a dust jacket. Nice condition book, DJ has a piece missing from the front cover, otherwise it's quite nice, very colorful, with birds on branches. $3.50 Pollyanna's Castle in Mexico (Elizabeth Borton) 1934. The 8th Glad Book. (or 9th, depending on which list you believe.) Includes a mystery, and tells more about Pollyanna's and Jimmy's children, who are almost teens! HB, good condition, $3.00. Pollyanna's Door to Happiness (Elizabeth Borton) 1936. her husband has an opportunity to go on a scientific expedition, so Pollyanna doesn't tell him that something has happened to all their money, and she has to take a job to support the children. She works for a psychiatrist and helps the patients with The Glad Game among other things. Not a silly book at all, very well written and interesting. HB, good condition. $3.00 Eight Cousins: of The Aunt Hill (Louisa May Alcott) She dedicated it to the many boys and girls whose letters it was impossible to answer, and she offers it as a peace offering! Girl leaves a dreary boarding school to live with her 6 aunts and 7 boy cousins, so it says on the back cover of this Dell Yearling Classic paperback. Beautiful edition, nice picture on the cover, and o course it's a fascinating book! good condition PB, $1.50 Rose in Bloom (Alcott) From the A. L. Burt company "famous Books for Young Americans" series, which of course includes Alice in Wonderland, Kidnapped, etc. These are very attractive and large books, which I think would make a lovely display if you could collect all of them. This says it's the Complete Authroized Edition, whatever that may mean, and it's a sequel to Eight Cousins. Illustrations are an nice picture on the DJ, and a full-color frontispiece. The endpapers are city house scenes. There's a pencil notation of "60" on the front flap, I think this may be the original price for this very fine, large book that also has the stamp of a well-known store in Rockland ME (the bigger town fairly near here) which apparently used to sell books. It's an office-supply store now. Wish I could go back in time and pick up a carload of those 60 cent hardcovers -- probably including some Judy Boltons and Nancys with DJs! Inside the DJ there are lists of dozens of YA "books for every boy and girl." I love to look at these, and see how well I'm doing in my quest to own all of them! Good condition, $2.50 Louisa May Alcott lot -- 3 paperback books in a slipcase. These are her most popular books, all about the "little women." They include: Little Women Little Men Jo's Boys These PBs are large and very beautiful (and in nearly new condition) with decorative covers to match the decorations on the slipcase. The slipcase itself is in nearly as good condition as the books, but has just a bit of wear at the corners. The set would be a wonderful gift for a girl who is just the right age for her first reading of Little Women, or for you, if you love these books, as I'm sure you do! The whole thing seems to have been priced at $24.85 at the store -- a few years ago. I'll part with the set for $8.00 Donna Parker series. All are Whitmans eds with picture covers. You'll probably never see any books from this series in perfect condition. They've deteriorated with age, and weren't too sturdy to start with. But they're colorful looking and very good stories! The books are dated between 1957 and 1964 Complete set of Donna Parker books! There are 7 books in the series, here are all of them so you won't have to wait to read them all in order. Donna does a little growing up during the series, has lots of fun and solves mysteries and problems. So good! Their conditions are just about as good you'll ever see for these Donna Parker books. All are hardbacks with picture covers that wrap around the front and back. Books include: At Arawak In Hollywood A Spring to Remember On Her own At Cherrydale Takes a Giant Step Special Agent Complete set of 7 Donna Parker books -- $20.00 Donna Parker -- The Camp Summers, a 2-book set. If you, like a lot of us, love to read about summer camps (campfire songs, hikes, bunks in cabins, mess hall food, frightening mysteries, hostile campmates.....) you should start your Donna Parker collection with these 2 books about her 2 summera at camp. In the first, Cherrydale, she is a junior counselor in charge of 4 little girls. She meets a boy who plays a big part in the other books in the series, and together, they solve a really perplexing mystery. In the 2nd book, Arawak, she is a somewhat less junior counselor at another, bigger and more elaborate camp. Her bunkmate and fellow young counselor, is obnoxious, and Donna ends up doing work that both of them should share. The reason for all this, is the basis for the mystery. I think I didn't figure this out until the last minute. Really interesting! 2 HBs, good cond, $5.50 Donna Parker at Cherrydale (1957) First in the series! Donna gets a job as a junior counselor at camp. Creepy man is watching the camp from the woods, so Donna and her friend Ricky solve their first mystery! Very nice cover on this cello edition, square dancing picture goes around to the back cover, shows the campers in their wonderful "hillbilly" '50s outfits, in a barn, with a couple of cute old guys playing the music. Pretty good condition! $3.50 (2 copies available) Donna Parker, A Spring to Remember -- was reviewed in April's Whispered Watchword and given high grades as a well-written book, a good link between Maltshops and series books, and all-around enjoyable. Cover shows Donna and a good-looking boy, in front of a fence. In this book, Donna is called on to help both this boy, and her girlfriend Ricky, with weighty problems, while growing up considerably herself. Fairly good condition HB, $3.00 (2) If you like to read about the outdoors, camping, jolly fun and dangerous adventures, then the Campfire Girls stories will please you as they please me! There are several Campfire series, from various years and by various authors, and this can be confusing, but just dig in and enjoy them when you find them, don't worry about reading them in order or anything. Usually, they're episodic and unrelated to one another, and also, there's always plenty of explanation and descriptions of personalities, so you can catch right up on the previous books if necessary. I'll try to add more Campfire Girls books very soon. A Campfire Girl's Chum (Jane L. Stewart) 1914. #2 in the Stewart Campfire Girls series. This book is in good condition except that the pages are brown and the binding is just a little weak. It's holding together nicely! Hardcover. $3.00 Campfire Girls in the Maine Woods (Hildegard G. Frey) 1916. First in this particular Campfire series. When I bought this copy, someone cheated me out of the first few pages. Luckily, I had another copy that was all there, so we made copies of the missing pages for you. It's complete now, and you can read the fascinating story of the girls in Maine nearly 100 years ago (I don't suppose the woods have changed all that much, anyway.) Nice copy for one of these originally cheap vintage series books -- picture coverwith a nice printed picture cover, girls in amazing camp outfits, tents, a cook fire, etc. $2.00 MORE SERIES BOOKS! Mary Jane Merrill (Clara Ingram Judson) 1918- 1930. Mary Jane is a little girl, who is just turning 5 in the first of the 19 books in this series. . By the time she and her family have had a great many adventures and traveled all over the world, she's about 9 years old at the end of the series. She has the kind of adventures that the Bobbsey Twins and Honey Bunch have, innocent but a bit scarey, involving animals, being lost, misunderstandings, usually cute and innocent. But you also learn a lot about the countries where they travel, at least what they were like pre-WWII. Nice series for kids or nostalgic adults. I'll try to have Mary Jane books in future lists. Kay Tracey mysteries ("Frances K. Judd") If you haven't read the Kay Tracey mysteries yet, you're about to get a treat. They are among the long series from what I think of as the Golden Age of "classic" girls series books, the 30s through 50's. Actually, I love all of the series from that era, but Kay is one of the really good ones -- possibly that's because there are quite a few of them, so when you get interested in them, you are happy to find out that there are lots more! You are probably like me, and never want to get to the end of a series, so I'll certainly try to include Kay Tracey books in future lists. There were several editions of the Kay books, from dust-jacketed hardcovers, through attractive picture-covers, to a couple of paperback editions. The books were updated off and on and the numbers were changed from one edition to another. I will try my best to have more Kay Tracey books in the near future! Linda Craig -- get acquainted with this good series!!! It's gone through several incarnations, including a beautiful hardcover edition (which is pretty hard to find,) a beautiful PB printing of the original edition, and a new, slightly smaller PB set, with mostly new titles and quite a few changes. I've read all of them, and I will admit that I liked the older ones better, but even for a non-horsey gal like me, the new ones were good reading, too. If there aren't any Linda Craigs listed here, look for them when you have a chance, and I'll try to list some of them next time! Linda Craig BIG LOT! (Ann Sheldon) Larger paperback editions, with the original texts from the 1960s hardcovers, but with different covers. They are very attractive, with Linda's name written in rope along the top, and a different picture of Linda and her pony on the front cover of each one. Various colors, making this set a very nice addition to a series-book shelf. Books are in good condition. If you buy both sets, they make an interesting comparison. # 7, 8 and 9 were only printed in this paperback format, so these are the originals. Titles include: #1 The Palomino Mystery #2 Clue on the Desert Trail #3 Secret of Rancho Del Sol #4 Mystery of Horseshoe Canyon #5 Mystery in Mexico #6 Ghost Town Treasure #7 Haunted Valley #8 Old Sleigh #9 Emperor's Pony Big lot -- first nine of the older paperback Linda Craig books. $20.50 Linda Craig BIG LOT! These are the smaller paperback editions, from the 1980s. If you've read the old editions, you might want to read these. I'll tell you about some of the differences (I think of these are "Linda Craig Lite" or Linda the Younger.") In the originals, she's 16, in the newer ones, she's 12. The originals have around 200 pages, the newer ones have more like 120 pages. Those are unimportant changes, you can just figure the new ones are about Linda when she was 4 years younger. However, in the newer ones, her horse is named Amber, instead of the wonderful name of her horse in the originals -- Chica D'Oro. Despite all these differences, the new ones are worth reading, and a great suppliment to the older ones. Here's the big lot - 10 paperback books in the Linda Craig series, all in good condition except for #2, which is a little beat-up. The titles include: 1. The Golden Secret 2. A star for Linda 3. The silver Stallion 4. The Crystal Trail 5. The Glimmering Ghost 6. The Ride to Gold canyon 7. A Horse for Jackie 8. A Star in the Saddle 10. Anything for Kelly 12. Kathy in Charge Big lot of 10 Linda Craigs, $22.00 Linda Craig, Clue on the Desert Trail, taller pb, 1962 edition. PB, former library book, but in good condition. $2.00 The Callahan Cousins series (Elizabeth Doyle Carey) This is a "new" series, which isn't what I usually offer for sale, but what the heck -- it's a New England series, and the books are very attractive, and you'll like them! There are 4 young cousins who don't know each other very well, until their grandmother invites them all to stay with her for the summer at her seaside estate. The cover pictures give you a good idea of what kind of story you'll find inside -- girls sailing alongside the dock, with the town spread out above. The 2nd book shows a nice white picket fence, a flowering hedge, and a very typical Cape Cod house in the background. Penny of Paintrock series by Jane and Paul Annixter. Unfortunatly there are only 2 books in this series! They're very attractive, with strong bindings and beautiful picture covers (they are in the Golden Griffin edition, like a few Trixies and all the Kathy Martin series for instance.) With a Wyoming setting, these are mysteries, horse stories, tales of ranch life. They have something of the "Maltshop" about them, and they're good family stories. I am pretty sure there were supposed to be more in the series, but for some reason they just didn't get off the ground. Too much like Trixie's maybe? I'll try to have more Penny of Paintrock books in the near future. The Adventure Girls (Clair Blank) A short series by the author of the superb Beverly Gray books. You'll only have to find 3 books to complete the series! The name says it all -- they have adventures. HS and early college age girls. If there aren't any Adventure Girls books listed here, I'll try to add some to the next sale list. In the meantime, you can be looking for these interesting books yourself -- good luck! By the way, one of the best things about this series is that the girls live in Maine! But they travel far and wide. I hope to have more Adventure Girls books in the near future. Vicki Barr series. This is a major series from the same era as the Cherry Ames and Connie Blair books. If you don't have this series, GET STARTED ON IT!!! Vicki is a flight stewardess. This might be one of my very, very favorite series -- I re-read the books every few years, because they are so beautifully written and such great mysteries. If I don't have any Vicki books for sale, I'll certainly be looking for them during our book-searching travels. In the meantime, now you know about this series, and maybe you'll find some yourself! Good luck! Vicki Finds the Answer (Helen Wells, #2 in the Vicki Barr series.) Vicki has finished her training and has a regular route as a stewardess, to say nothing of being pretty well-known as the girl who solved a "baffling mystery" on practically her first flight. She doesn't let any grass grow under her wings, as she finds another mystery almost immediately. Plus romance. HB, fair condition book, but covered by a beautiful laser reproduction of the original DJ, showing Vicki in her stunning unform, in the doorway of a plane's cockpit. $4.00 ----------------------------------------- Connie Blair series was written by Betty Cavanna under the pen name of Betsy Allen. There are 12 books, from the 40s and 50s, and they're all well written (of course,) neatly bound, and very attractive if you can find them in DJ. The titles all have colors in them. Connie's an artist who gets involved in various mysteries through working for an ad agency. I hope to have more books from this series to offer you very soon! Connie Blair set -- #1 and #2 in repro dust jackets -- a beautiful starter set! The 2 books are "The Clue in Blue" and "The Riddle in Red." Starts out with Connie at loose ends, not wanting to go to college, but wanting to do something with her life. Her aunt offers her a summer job, which turns into a lifetime career in art and advertising. Career books, series books, good mysteries, with a few romances along the way. And you'll be started on a wonderful collection! The laser copies of the original dust jackets are dramatic and of course colorful! Connie #1 and #2, set of 2 books, $10.00 Meg Duncan series (Holly Beth Walker)This is a wonderful series about a "schoolgirl Sleuth," set in Virginia. Other than the setting, these books remind me of Trixie's or Robin Kane's or a few of the other series from that wonderful era of sweet, mild, friendly girl detectives! The books started out in hardcover editions, with very pretty picture covers. Then they came out in nice paperbacks with different, but also attractive, pictures on the covers. If you like YA mysteries and Siamese cats, you can't help loving the Meg books. I hope to have more Meg books soon. Meg #3, The treasure Nobody Saw -- pb in pretty good condition, $1.50 Meg -- The Treasure Nobody Saw PB in poor condition (free with another Meg book when I have any for sale) Meg Duncan #1 -- The Disappearing Diamonds. 1964. First in this nice series. Cover shows Meg with her black braids and beautiful Siamese cat. Meg and her friend Kerry go to a tea party at the home of a very rich lady who wants to show her fabulous diamonds to her guests. You can guess what happens to them, from the title! Meg sets out on her first detecting adventure. HB, good condition, $3.00 Meg Duncan #2, Secret of the Witch's Stairway. Meg, Kerry, Uncle Hal, and the cute Siamese cat, all work together to help an old couple who remind one of the Baldwin Sisters on The Waltons, except they sell eggs, not "recipe." There is a fabulous doll collection, and a Civil War diary that might provide a clue to where the treasure might be. Oh, how could you resist this one?! PB, in pretty good condition, $2.50 Meg #2, Witch's Stairway, hardcover with picture cover (contemporary scene of girls and uncle in a beautiful Rolls Royce, back cover scene of Colonial-dressed people.) Nice condition. $3.50 Meg #4, Ghost of Hidden Springs 1970. Meg and her uncle are on a picnic near the old mansion, when they have proof that it's haunted -- or is it their imagination? That's the big question in this book, and the cover is a good clue to how interesting the story is. Front cover shows Meg and her friend in costumes from the plantation days (long dresses with pantaloons.) The back cover shows them in modern clothes, looking at an antique picture of people in clothes from the era that the front cover is imitating. HB, pretty good condition! $2.75 Meg #6, Mystery in Williamsburg -- Meg and her friend Kerry do a spot of volunteer work at Williamsburg, and of course they find mysterious happenings there! PB, fair cond, $1.00 Mary Poppins Opens the door, 1943 and Mary Poppins In the Park 1952. Yes, there are several other books after the original Mary Poppins volume. They're just as good as the first, and I should know, since my we got these further books for Christmas presents from our honorary aunt and uncle, when we were kids. Any books that we actually owned, were read many a time, and that's what happened with these 2 wonderful magical books. Same wonderful author (P. L. Travers) and artist (Mary Shepard.) one has exciting map endpapers, both have lots and lots and lots of pictures. These venerable copies are perfectly readable, good interiors, with slightly stained covers. Each has a smallish printed picture of Mary Poppins on the cover. Both books for $4.00 Robin Kane Series (Eileen Hill) mid-1960s. These books are very much like the Trixie Beldens, as they are about a group of kids who have fun and solve mysteries, ride horses, and generally have a wonderful time. Like Trixie, Robin's best friend is rich, while she and her family live a middle-class life (though they feel poor, maybe in contrast with her friends.) There are superficial differences from the Trixies, such as the California setting rather than Hudson River area. I think that if there were 39 Robin Kanes, this series would be every bit as popular as Trixie. The real author is Nicolete Meredith Stack, who also wrote some of the Trixies and some very good Maltshop type books. Some Robin Kane books: #1 -- Mystery of the Blue Pelican, 1966. The kids get to act in a movie with one of their favorite stars (thanks to Mindy's father.) Mystery and danger crop up, and Robin leads the assult on these problems. Nice cover picture if you aren't afraid of heights (a canyon, but also a beautiful redwood forest with a cabin under the trees, and Robin leading Nugget, her palomino.) Good condition, $2.50 #2 Mystery of the Phantom, 1966 This book got good reviews in a recent article in The Whispered Watchword! Really nice California setting, and some interesting characters throughout. Fairly good condition -- $2 (several copies available) #3 -- Mystery of Glengary Castle. The creepy cover picture is a good indication of the very good story inside! It looks exactly like a site on the Southern CA shore where we used to walk when my parents lived there and were agile enough to climb a bit. Except for the castle -- unfortunately there wasn't a castle where we hiked! Robin and Mindy have to figure out what's causing an apparent haunting in the castle, so Mindy's father can use it as a movie set. HB, PC, pretty good condition, $3.00 The Ranch Girls series. The ranch is in Wyoming, but as usual in these very old series, the girls soon branch out and travel, first in the SW, then later in Europe. I'll try to add some Ranch girls books very soon! NANCY DREW PAPERBACK BOOKS. ALL IN GOOD TO VERY GOOD CONDITION, EACH ONE WITH A COLORFUL AND ATTRACTIVE PICTURE COVER. $2 each. 6 for $10.00 First a book from a new Nancy Drew series -- Super Mystery books, from Nancy Drew, Girl Detective. This one is called RealFake, and takes Nancy to Paris to be on a reality show. Soon she realizes that "the real mystery is going on behind scenes." Surprised? This is #3 in this series, and is quite hefty for newer pbs -- nearly 200 pages. Double cover, quite decorative. PB, good cond, $2.00 or 6 of the books from this section, for $10 Nancy Drew, the Movie Star Mystery, based on the Warner Bros Nancy Drew movie. This is a smallish and simply-written picture book, full of pictures from the movie, which I didn't see, did you? No date listed. Like new. $2, or 6 of the books in this section for $10 #57 Triple Hoax #58 Flying Saucer Mystery – 2 copies #62 Kachina Doll Mystery – 2 copies #67 The Sinister Omen #68 Elusive Heiress #70 Broken Anchor #76 Eskimo’s Secret #87 Case of the Rising Stars #92 Ghost of Craven Cove (takes place in Maine) #98 Haunting of Horse Island ($1.00) MORE NANCY DREW PAPERBACK BOOKS COMING UP! $2 each #104 Mystery of the Jade Tiger #110 Nutcracker Ballet (Christmas-time setting, of course) #111 Secret at Solaire (2 copies available) Tucson AZ setting #116 Case of the Twin Teddy Bears (2 copies available) Another Christmas tale #125 Teen Model Mystery #133 Mystery at the Crystal Palace #141 Wild Cat Crime (about baby cougars stolen from a zoo) #144 E-Mail mystery -- 2 copies #146 Ghost of the Lantern Lady -- 2 copies #151 Chocolate-covered contest MORE NANCY DREW PAPERBACK BOOKS COMING RIGHT UP! $2 EACH #154 Legend of the Emerald Lady -- 3 copies #155 Tornado Alley #162 Case of the Lost Song #165 Crime Lab Case (especially interesting if you like Forensic Files on TV) #169 Mistletoe Mystery #173 Danger on the Great Lakes River Heights #1 - 1989. I'm not sure whether this series is still in existence, It featured Nancy's neighbor, Nikki. Small size, cute kids on cover. $2.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ More Nancy Drew books Mystery at Lilac Inn (Nancy #4) Thin tweed covers on the book, digger endpapers. The book is in good condition, and has a laser copy of my original dust jacket, showing Nancy peeking in a door, where the crooks are sitting around a table with an oil lamp. Hb with LDJ, both in good condition, $7.00 The Mystery at Lilac Inn (Nancy #4) This is the Applewood reprint edition of the original HB, and has a fascinating introduction by Mildred Wirt herself. Just this intro alone, is worth the price of this book, with its insights into Wirt's writing of the series, and interactions with the publishers. This book was a library copy, but you'd never know it from the beautiful condition of both the book and the DJ. Applewood Lilac Inn -- $3.50 The Haunted Bridge (Nancy #15) White spine on the DJ, blue tweed covers on the book. "digger" endpapers, all in good condition! Cover picture shows Nancy in red jacket, wispy bridge and ghost in the background. Very romantic and beautiful picture. There are a couple of small tears at the sides of the dj spine, but carefully protected by a mylar cover. A few smudges on the pages of the book. Generally -- a book and DJ in good condition, $15.00 Nancy Drew Books with laser copies of the vintage DJs! As far as I could figure, each of the LDJs comes from the Djs that came on that particular edition of the book. They look really good on the older books! Nancy Drew PB #63 -- The Twin Dilemma -- Nancy fills in for a model in a benefit fashion show, but of course that's not the end of the story! If you enjoy reading about the high fashion world, this will be fun, and of course all Nancy Drew books are on the top of my list. From 1981 -- and it has Paul Frame illustrations!!! $2.00 Nancy Drew PB Ghost Stories! "Six bone-chilling tales of Mystery and Terror." 1983. Good cond except for a small crease on the front cover. $2.00 Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase. This is the Applewood Books reprint of the HB original book, with introduction by Nancy Pickard. It certainly does look like the vintage book, with a darling dust jacket though the DJ isn't in perfect condition due to some apparent water damage and warping. Everything's complete, and the interior is good. HB with DJ, $3.00 Nancy Drew, The Bungalow Mystery. It's a HB Applewood reprint of the original book, with a nice vintage picture on the reproduction DJ. Edges of some pages are a little stained, DJ has a tiny tear, otherwise it looks good. Enjoy the look of a valuable old original! $3.00 The Following are newish editions of Nancy Drew, with shiny yellow covers, and the pictures that came on the revised edition YBs. These are in very good condition. Password to Larkspur Lane $2.00 Secret of Shadow Ranch $2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________________________________________________________ REFERENCE BOOKS TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL LIFE OR AUTHORS FROM THE ERA WHEN MANY OF OUR FAVORITE BOOKS WERE WRITTEN! AND A FEW OTHER REFERENCES FROM MORE MODERN TIMES. YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT THE NONFICTION SECTION OF THIS LIST, WHERE THERE ARE BIOGRAPHIES AND BOOKS ABOUT AUTHORS WHO WROTE FOR YOUNG READERS. Collecting Little Golden Books (Steve Santi) 1989. The prices may be out of date, but the pictures are priceless, and you'll find many LGBs that will take you way, way back, or reveal books that you never knew existed. PB book in very good condition, hundreds of pictures (and the Poky Little Puppy on the front -- I loved that book when I was a little girl!) History of the LGBs, information on distinguishing editions, etc. $3.00 The Boy Scout Story (Will Oursler) 1955 "The Story of the Boy Scouts of America, by the author of Father Flanagan of Boys' Town." so it says on the cover. This is a big, fairly scholarly book for adults, though of course suitable for boys who like to read a lot. Such a nice DJ picture by Norman Rockwell! Everything is good condition. HB, DJ, $3.50 Book Collecting, A Comprehensive Guide, 1995 edition (Allen and Patricia Ahearn) OK, this is an old reference book, but we're all mainly interested in reading old books, so it should be perfect for you. This book is about collecting first editions, rare books, books that won all kinds of prizes over the years, and lots of things about collecting, taking care of books, selling, etc. Lots of price lists, some pictures. A huge hardcover book, like new, with a fine DJ. $3.00. The Burgess Bird Book for Children (Thornton W. Burgess) 1919. with illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. What a beauty! And a large book (about 350 pages.) It's told from the point of view of Peter Rabbit, who meets birds of all sorts, and learns about them while of course teaching YOU about them. Each bird has a first name, Melody the Wood Thrush, Speckles the Starling, etc, but that surely makes it easier for young readers to remember facts about them. The color plates are lovely, and there are a whole lot of them! Old this book might be, but I can't imagine that it would ever go out of style. Birds haven't changed that much in the past century, have they? Book is in good condition, the spine is faded, but the title is bright and clear. Nice pasted-down cover picture. $5.00 The Little Burgess Bird Book. (thornton W. Burgess) 1919. A much smaller (and apparently harder to find) edition of the larger Bird Book for Children. The illustrations are taken from that other volume, some B/W and some in color. The book is the size of a Tiny Tales, if you know what that is. This book isn't masked as fiction, it features pictures and facts about a number of birds, without the help of Peter Rabbit. Small HB, vintage-looking with a little damage to the spine, but surprisingly nice. $4.00 Getting Along in the Teen-Age World (Virginia Veeder Westervelt) 1957. Cleverly starts out with a chapter headed "My Family doesn't understand me." That endears it to teens right away! And there are interesting stories to illustrate the points they're making -- sort of like very short stories to perk up the advice. Popularity, personality, friendship, succcess, love, marriage, the book covers it all -- in a small XL hardcover with a very nice DJ, very faint musty odor. $2.50 Dear Marguerite Henry: Behind the scenes with Marguerite Henry and her Books. 1969. First published as "Dear Readers and Riders." The book mostly consists of letters that people wrote to this so-famous and popular author of Misty and so many other beloved horse stories. A special book for people who have loved these horse books for several generations, and would like to know the answers to "inside" questions. Large PB, former library copy, some wear. Lots of illustrations by Wesley Dennis, plus photos. Special! $3.50 A Girl's Treasury of Things-to-do (Caroline Horowitz) 1946. Fun to have, even if just for the pictures of girls -- and a few boys -- from the mid '40s. Some of the ideas in this book, are very clever, like a doll house and furniture, jewelry, and puppets to make, games to play, art projects, editing and writing a family or neighborhood newspaper. Lead your kids away from the computer for a bit of the good old do-it-yourself! Written particularly for ages 9-12, but I kind of liked some of the ideas myself! HB with DJ (and I really like the DJ picture!) $2.50 Facts of Life and Love for Teen-agers (Evelyn Millis Duvall) 1956. This was THE book for teaching teens about life when I was a mid-teen. Very detailed, frank, scientifically and medically complete but written so it's easy to understand, with no preaching. No wonder teens read it. PB in good condition. $1.50 For Young Adults Only (Frank Howard Richardson, MD)1961. Subtitled: The Doctor discusses your Personal Problems. This one has a seriously moral and religious tone. Chapters like "Going Steady isn't as good as it looks" and "You can enjoy dating more without Petting," and "Owning a car may cost you your education." are heavy-handed and unrealistic, good though some of the advice may be. Interesting research tool for understanding problems our Maltshop girls were wrestling with. HB, fairly good condition, $1.50 Shaker Your Plate: of Shaker Cooks and Cooking (Sister Frances A. Carr) Originally from 1985, this is a paperback reprint. The first 3rd of the book tells about the Shakers in Sabbothday Lake, Maine, especially about their cooks and food. The rest is recipes that almost make you want to join their group! They may live simply, but they sure do eat well. Plenty of comments on the recipes, too. Fairly large PB, nice decorations on cover and throughout. $2.50 A Treasury of Christmas Plays (edited by Sylvia E. Kamerman) Subtitled "Royalty-free stage and radio dramas for young players."1958, 1972. There are 40 plays in this very large book, all aimed at junior and senior high school students. Some are original to this book, some are adaptations of well-known books like Dickins' Christmas Carol, and The Birds' Christmas Carol and one of my favorites, Christmas Every Day. 509 pages including production notes. HB, XL, good condition, with DJ. $3.00 Behold that Star: Fifteen Stories for Christmas, edited by the Society of Brothers, illustrated by Maria Arnold Maendel. 1966. A beautiful book, large and solid, with a very attractive and exciting picture on the DJ. I like the fact that the carol from the title, is the first thing in this book. I've used that carol as an anthem for my church choir to sing at Christmas time, and we love the peppy melody and rythyms. There are stories in this book, from all over the world -- Sweden, Germany, French Canada, Tyrol, Netherlands, of course the U. S. -- and many historical epochs. There are wonderful pictures in black and white, and other carols here and there. A lovely book, quite unusual. A nice Advent project, to read aloud and sing the songs. HB, DJ, $3.50 Singer Sewing Skills, Singer Sewing Machine company, 1955. You don't have to wonder if this is really a reference book, since it says so right on the cover. Tall, thin paperback book, an excellent reference if you are interested in construction of vintage clothes. Instruction for all kinds of details, decorations, stitches, etc. Of course they are often dependent on a Singer sewing machine and attachments, but by no means all of them. Inserted in the middle, an extra booklet, and a very interesting ad for winter clothes, from July 1958 newspaper (and you'll wish you could go back and buy some of them, or the groceries in another ad. And take a look at the TV guide! A few notes in the booklet, but mainly clean. $3.00 Junior Flower Arranging (Katherine N. Cutler) 1954. Quite an unusual hobby for a young person, but I guess arrangers have to start some time. This HB book with DJ, has lots of clera and simple instructions that even I could follow -- and I'm more of an appreciator than an arranger myself. The author talks about judging a junior flower show, so I guess at least at that time, kids did arrange flowers. The book also tells how to make gifts, plant indoors and outdoors gardens, and give parties with a garden theme. HB, nice vintage picture on the dust jacket, all in pretty darn good condition! $2.50 That girl in Your Mirror (Vinda Kay Van Dyke) "Miss America, 1965, talks sense to every girl." Nice cover picture of Miss America, holding a fluffy white poodle and wearing a nice wool suit, the kind we all had to wear for interviews, meetings, and a lot of occasions. Pictures on the back show her in her robe, and with her puppet ( the text says he was partly responsible for her winning her pageant.) Lots of stories and lots of advice. large PB, in good condition, $2.00 The Party Book (Mary Breen) 1939. This could have been read by girls in some of the stories that we love from the 1940s and 50s. They loved to give parties, and this large book has more party suggestions than any other book I've ever seen! 350 tall pages of them. Starts out with "A Turn over a new Leaf Party for January" and goes on through the year and the gamut, all the way to "New Ideas for Collecting Money' (for good causes, of course!) Games, costumes, lots of good food (easy and of course the kind of food that I grew up with, nothing esoteric.) Picnics (which are my favorite party,) little children's parties, sophisticated parties for adults, stunts, decorations, dances, theme parties, birthday parties, songs. The book is in very good condition. It has a DJ that was obviously very attractive at one time, but is now a bit ruffly around the edges, if you know what I mean! Still cute. HB, DJ, $3.00 Made in Mexico (Susan Smith) 1930. An unusual and adorable little vintage book, full of amazing and various illustrations by "a young Mexican artist." Plus a section of black and white photos of actual Mexican crafts. It's not really a craft-instruction book, but the story of many types of crafts that are used in daily life in Mexico (or were, in the 1930s.) The dust jacket picture is wonderful -- looks like folk art to me! This is part of a series of books about art and crafts in several countries, all by Susan Smith. Asking a fair amount for them on ABE -- I'd like to get $5.00 for this. How to Write a Children's Book and Get it Published (Barbara Seuling) Revised and expanded edition. Although I can't agree with this author's breezy dismissal of some of our favorite series, it is still a valuable and interesting guide for those of us who love to write and might like to make a living that way! Talks about everything from keeping an idea file, to understanding proofreader's symbols. Lots of examples from books that you have certainly read and enjoyed, yourself. HB, very nice condition, $2.50 My Favourite Chinese Stories retold for Young Readers (Pamela Youde) Large book in wonderful condition, with lots of beautiful illustrations. These are long and detailed stories, with notes and a bit of a guide to each. Map endpapers! $3.00 The World of Book for Children: A Parent's Guide (Abby Campbell Hunt) from 1979, so doesn't include recent books, but we like the oldies better, anyway, don't we! This book is full of lists and pictures, and covers books for children from birth through 4th grade, in many categories. Claims to report on over 2,000 books! Large PB, good condition, $1.50 Children's Plays from Favorite Stories (edited by Sylvia E. Kamerman) "Royalty-free Dramatizations of Fables, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and Legends." 1959 and 1970. A huge book! There are 50 plays, all written for children in lower and middle grades of school. Some of the familiar stories dramatized in this book -- Princess and the Pea, Three Little Kittens, Robin Hood, Pandora's Box -- you get the idea! Some of the stories are less familiar to us, maybe from other cultures, or other times, but all of them would be very interesting for school-age children. 582 pages, with a long section of production ideas, costumes, lighting, etc. HB, XL, very good DJ, $4.00 Singer Sewing Skills Reference Book, 1955. A large PB that teaches techniques of sewing the types of clothes that we wore back in the Maltshop years. There are lots of small sketches of people wearing the types of clothes that they're teaching you about (even one in a bridal gown, if you look closely!) This was someone's home ec manual, so there are notes written in some of the exercises, but otherwise, the folio is in great condition for being 50 or so years old. If you're interested in how really fine clothes were tailored, or if you need to make costumes for the Maltshop era, this is your book. $2.00 Children's Writer Guide to 1997. This one is different! There are chapters on how to write, where to send manuscripts (probably out of date) research, conferences, and contests. The most interesting part is the chapter written by a number of mostly well-known authors like Madeleine L'Engle, Paula Danziger, and Jerry Spinelli, with profiles of the authors, hints from them, and lists of their works. This is a very big book, with tons of a variety of information to help those of us who are vaguely thinking that we could do something like what our favorite authors are doing! Very large PB, $2.00 2 Cub Scout brochures from 1960 and 1964. These would look good on your shelf along with the Wirt Cub Scout Books (which are also very decorative.) The larger booklet is Staging Den and Pack Ceremonies" and is 225 pages long. Nice patchwork cover with pictures of Cugs in various ceremonies like a flag-raising. The smaller one is "Parents' Cub Scout Book" and is about 60 pages long, written for parents, to help them understand what the Cubs are about, and how to help your little Cub. 2 paperback booklets -- $2.50 Nonfiction for Children: How to Write it, How to Sell it. I'll quote from the cover -- From the Underground Railroad to the far reaches of space, from dinosaurs to robots, here's a complete guide to writing for five age groups -- and selling to today's editors. Written by Ellen E. M. Roberts, a children's book editor. Very large hardcover, I guess it must cover the subject pretty completely! Illustrated with examples from actual nonfiction books. In almost new condition, with a fine DJ. $3.00 Play, Learn and Grow: An annotated guide to the Best Books and Materials for Very Young Children. (James L. Thomas) This is a huge book! Organized in many ways, the longest part is "annotated titles" of well over 1,000 books for toddlers through early readers. Lots of fun to read! You'd like to read it yourself and then give it to someone who has a new baby. Colorful cover on this HB, which is a former library book, but in very good condition. $2 Play a Part (Bernice Wells Carlson) 1970. There are quite a few plays, puppet plays, and "playlets" in this book, but it's more than that. Instructions, suggestions, and fun! Also a glossary and a bibliography. Cute illustrations. HB, XL, PC, $2.50 That Girl in your Mirror (Vonda Kay Van Dyke) She was Miss America in 1965, and she'd like to tell you what teens of that era needed to know! On the cover it says that she talks sense to every girl about popularity, poise, faith, dating, goals and individuality. From the picture, I wouldn't take advice from her about hair styles, but that was 1965! HB, DJ, $2.00 2005 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. Yes, this is a few years old, but you can get some ideas from it, and decide if you want to spring for the updated version. This is much more than a list of places to send your manuscript! There are articles about writing children's book, interviews with authors, information about various ways to get your writing out in public, etc. Much of this is timeless, but there are also lists of markets for every type of writing. Huge PB. $3.00 Special Plays for Holidays -- a Collection of One-Act Plays for Young People. (Helen Louise Miller) 1986. 15 short plays for young people of varying levels of acting ability (according to the introduction.) Plays for quite a few holidays, and even one for Book Week! Suggestions for props, costumes, and sets. Hefty PB, XL, but in good condition, $2.50 Best Books for Children, A Lively, Opinionated Guide, for listeners and readers from birth to Age 14 (this is the title and some of the description from the front cover of this very large paperback book.) By Valerie V. Lewis and Walter M. Mayes. 1998. See if you agree with these authors' opinions -- I'll warn you in advance that our beloved series books do NOT form a big part of these lists! That's MY opinion, for what it's worth. Otherwise, a very, very interesting book of about 700 pages! Huge PB, XL, $2.75 Dear Gay Head: Questions from the Mail Box, answered by Gay Head. This cute little book answers questions mailed to various teen and slightly pre-teen magazines in the 1950s -- the era of our favorite Maltshop books. Dates, school, clothes, family, all the things that concern kids the most. PB, a little old but I'm not kidding when I say it's cute! $1.50 You're Asking Me? Questions from the Mail Box (Gay Head) 1958. Small PB Teen Aged Book Club (TAB) with chapters about families, dating, proms, the future, etc. Also a section of quizzes (for example, "Do you use deodorant after you bathe? ... Do you often have original ideas? ... Can you say NO to a goodnight kiss, and still leave your date feeling happy?" PB $2.00 First Love: "14 warm and glowing stories, selected by Gay Head."1963. From Seventeen and other magazines, some of them written by some familiar authors, some by authors you wish you'd heard more from. PB, good cond, $2.50 That Girl in your Mirror: Miss America 1965 Talks Sense to Every Girl. (Vonda Kay Van Dyke) light book of advice from a big-haired beauty of the late Maltshop era. Quite chatty and interesting, with advice like "If there is anything more unattractive than thoughtlessness, it's rudeness, and that's downright ugly." I know a few people who should read this one! PB copy of That Girl in your Mirror -- $1.50 Books and the Teen-age Reader: A Guide for teachers, librarians and parents. 1971. Full of many booklists and information XL DJ $2.50 Ann Landers talks to Teenagers about Sex 1963 This is the book that Beany and Katie Rose probably read and lived by! pb, $1 _________________________________________________________________ "MALTSHOP BOOKS" --TEEN NOVELS FROM THE NOSTALGIA YEARS, AND OTHER GIRLS' ROMANCES AND NOVELS OF THE LAST 65 YEARS!!! Please note that I have mixed hardcover and paperback books in this portion of the list. There will be an indication of whether it is HB or PB It could Happen to Anyone (Margaret Maze Craig) 1961. A very favorite author in the 50s and 60s. She wrote about things that most of the Maltshop authors were afraid to touch! In this one, a girl's friend becomes pregnant while they're both still in HS, and the girl has to face all kinds of questions and concerns about her friendships and love life. Amid all the rest of the details that we all love -- family, school, etc. PB, better condition than the Craig books often show up for some reason. $2.50 THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE BY BETTY CAVANNA: Hardback unless noted First, here is a lot of 4 books that Betty Cavanna wrote under the series title of AROUND THE WORLD TODAY BOOKS. They were illustrated with photographs by her husband, George Russell Harrison. The couple traveled to these countries to do research and take the photos for each book. They're picture books but not for preschool age children -- more for kids in middle grades who like pictures along with the text when learning about another country. Each book tells the story of a child from one country, following the boy or girl around to lots of interesting locations around the country. The books are all library copies, they're tall HBs with very good dust jackets, everything in very nice condition. They were published in the early 1960s. I don't want to promise you that these books will tell you what these countries are like NOW, but the scenery -- and I presume the country's children -- won't have changed that much. Anyway, they're fun to read, and by one of our favorite authors. She was very versatile, wasn't she! The books are: Pepe of Argentina Lo Chau of Hong Kong Arne of Norway Noko of Japan 4 Around the World Today books by Betty Cavanna -- $12.00 for all Betty Cavanna, who died a few years ago, was one of the most popular teen authors from the 1940's through the 1960's. She is still extremely popular with all of us who love the "Maltshop" type of book. Her earlier books are absolutely wonderful, perfect reading for nostalgia and simple romance. Later, she wrote a lot of mysteries, including the Connie Blair series under a pen name. Every collector of old girl's novels ought to have every Cavanna title! And you can afford them at these prices! The Black Spaniel Mystery (Cavanna) 1945. You won't be able to resist the dust jacket picture, even if you aren't a doggy person (I'm not one, but this picture has a ton of appeal!) 2 black cocker spaniels with big, sad eyes, look at you from behind a chain link fence, and there's wood to frame the cage, extending down the spine for a truly unique cover. Cavanna wrote an interesting explanation of why she wrote this book -- from the back DJ flap, "The chances of ... running into a pair of lost babies are very slim, but almost every youngster has found at least one lost pup at some time... what about turning the old lost-baby theme into dogs, and supposing they are valuable dogs?" I love to have a window into an author's thoughts like this, and in Cavanna's case, she did a terrific job, including the twins who find the dogs, a neighbor girl who needs a lot of help, and a nasty man who needs to be taught a lesson! HB, XL, a little beat-up, but covered with a laser copy of our nice DJ. $5.00 Mystery at Love's Creek (Betty Cavanna) 1965. Again, Cavanna takes us to an amazing location -- this time, Australian outback. American girl goes there to get acquainted with her mother's family, and incidently, "save the ranch." But first, she had to learn to like life, so far from civilization as she knew it! HB, PC, $4.00 A Time for Tenderness (Cavanna) 1962. Takes place in Rio, Brazil, where a family from North Carolina is spending a year while the father does some work there. The young boy quickly adjusts to the mixing of several races, and the girl eventually falls in love with a Brazilian, but the mother has a hard time with all this. Then the girl starts to volunteer at a clinic for the poor -- and how do you think her mother feels about her tending filthy, neglected babies among other tasks? A very unusual book, but full of the human interest that pervades all Cavanna's works, romantic twists, family interaction. HB, with very nice picture cover, all in very good condition. $4.00 More Betty Cavanna books -- Ruffles and Drums (Cavanna) 1975. One of Cavanna's few historical novels. Takes place in the midst of the Revolution, right there in Concord MA. Romantic, probably as authentic as you will ever come across (Cavanna lived in Concord herself, and loved to do research.) HB, particularly good condition, with a very good DJ. $4.00 The Boy Next Door (Cavanna) 1956. What can I say? It's a Cavanna from her best Maltshop period -- from the best of the Maltshop era, actually! He's only The Boy Next Door, the boy she played with when they were both kids, certainly not someone she could possibly have any romantic ideas about! She could date much more interesting people, and she wouldn't mind at all if he dated interesting girls, right? Well, you know the answer, but reading Cavanna's take on this wonderfully familiar plot, is a comforting and lovable experience. HB, good condition, personal copy. $3.00 Boy Next Door, a library copy, hardcover, with a dust jacket over a picture cover. The interesting thing is that they have different pictures! Neither picture is from the original edition, but the one on the dust jacket is quite appropriate. The picture printed on the book itself, is my least favorite of the cover art for this book, but it's interesting to see it (it's from the last hardcover edition, I think) and you can leave the pretty DJ over it. Good condition Hb with good cond DJ. $5.00 Lasso Your Heart (Cavanna) 1952. Not only a really good book to read, but also it has one of the most interesting DJ pictures of all Cavanna's books. The title is written within a lasso or larriet, and under it, in cowhide brown, is a picture of a cowboy with 10-gallon-hat and guitar, and a girl dressed in what probably was a fashionable square-dance outfit at that time. Girl and her cousins visit each other, the ranch girl trying to fit in at her rich cousin's debut, then the city girl learning how much she loved living on the ranch. Cavanna was the greatest maltshop writer (don't try to argue with me -- she WAS!!!) so this story is about a lot more than that, and a lot of surprises. Oh, and the endpapers show beautiful scenes of ranch life. HB, DJ, personal copy, very, very good condition. $5.00 MORE BETTY CAVANNA BOOKS COMING ALONG' Mystery on Safari (Cavanna) 1970. Kim's grandmother is a cool character, who persuades the headmistress of the girls' boarding school that Kim can go on an African safari during the school year. It's the trip of a lifetime, but it's marred by the realization that someone is poaching and killing precious animals. When I think about this book, I have a vision of the girl and a boy that she meets on the trip, sitting on the 2nd story deck at night, watching the animals drink at the oasis beneath the deck. Very romantic -- very scary! The mystery is dangerous and serious, not a kiddie story -- but just right for teens, and something of a Maltshop for us. HB, XL, with an exciting printed picture cover (not for the squeamish, but probably very realistic.) $4.00 Mystery on Safari, personal copy, HB, with DJ as described above. $5.00 Mystery of the Emerald Buddha (Cavanna) 1976. Girl and her photographer father, go to Bangkok to get photos for an art book. Complicating the situation -- the girl barely knows her father, as he's done a great deal of traveling, while she's lived in a French boarding school. She's in for a big change now! And then there's that mystery to solve! Exciting, exotic, but with the usual Cavanna touch that makes you feel as if you could be that girl yourself, things like her getting sick and having to understand a doctor who doesn't speak English or French! HB, XL, with a very colorful and clever dust jacket, all in good condition. $4.00 Spice Island Mystery (Cavanna) 1969. Girl had gone to school away from her home in Grenada, then comes back to get a job with a real-estate corporation that seems to be operating in a rather shady manner. This leads the girl into mystery and danger plus of course romance! Beautiful copy of the hardcover book, it's not from a library though it does have a bit of tape residue inside the front cover (some child playing library with it?)Book is in super condition, clean and new-looking, the DJ is in good condition, but the back is just a little stained. $5.00 STILL MORE BETTY CAVANNA BOOKS! Spurs for Suzanna (Cavanna) 1947. This is one of her early, really great, books! Suzanna is a city girl, living the good life, maybe a bit spoiled. Does she need a "spur" to get her going? Well, things are a little unsettled in her family, so she is sent to spend the summer in the country with a big and busy family. There, she has to take responsibility, learn to put up with teasing. But there are compensations -- mainly beautiful horses to ride and train -- and maybe a small romantic interest in one of the country cousins??? paperback copy, fairly good condition, nice vintage cover on this small Scholastic edition. $2.00 Angel on Skis (Cavanna) 1957. The 3 divisions of this book take Angela from age 14 to 16, and tells about her mother's purchase of a ski lodge in Vermont, the work and fun of running it, and Angel's determination to learn to ski. She didn't have any spare money, so this took a lot of time. On the way, you will enjoy the family, and their new venture. And did I mention a light, typically Cavanna,romance? PB copy of Angel on Skis in good condition. $2.00 More Betty Cavanna Books --- Every Maltshop collector should have a copy of Going on Sixteen, it's just about the definition of the late 40's teen novel! School life, family, dogs, clothes, dates, a little sweet romance. It's a wonderful early (1946) Maltshop type book. Going on Sixteen -- personal copy, good condition, with a nice laser copy of the original DJ. $4.50 (2) Going on Sixteen, hardcover, in the Especially For Girls edition (thin, nice picture cover. It says something about being a special edition, but I don't know whether anything is edited out. As far as I can see, it's all there. $2 PB copy of Going on Sixteen in good condition, with girl, dogs, and a tree, on the cover. $2.00 (2) END OF THE BOOKS BY BETTY CAVANNA. NOW FOR THE CAREER-ROMANCES! ---------------------------------------------------- CAREER-ROMANCES.... ...And I want to apologize in advance if there are very few books left in this category by the time you get to it. They sell out FAST FAST FAST! Sometimes even before I have time to delete the titles. I almost never sell a book from this category if I don't have another copy of it in my own collection! They are a wonderful adjunct to your Maltshop books, as they have the same appeal, while also being accurate descriptions of what it's like to work in a specific occupation (at least at the time they were written.) Check out some of the Maltshop authors for more career-romance, though not officially designated as that category. Jan Nickerson is a good one to look at, and if there are ever any books by Marjory Hall. Cavanna does well with that sort of subject, and so does Marjorie Holmes, and --- and --- Just take a look! A Cap for Mary Ellis: A Novel of Nursing (Hope Newell) 1953. This nurse story stands out from all the others, as it features an African-American girl in her first year of nursing school. Starts with her taking an entrance exam, and goes right on from there. She has the usual "harum-scarum" adventures that the nursing students in these books always seem to endure! But she is more serious than many of the student nurses that we know so well. XL, HB, with a nice printed picture cover. Fairly good condition. $4.00 Mary Ellis, Student Nurse, sequel to A Cap for Mary Ellis. 1958. Her 2nd year in nurse training, and there are plenty of things to learn, some of them to learn the hard way. There's enough lighthearted student fun and romance, to make this short series quite exceptional. HB, XL, good printed picture cover, very good cond. $4.50 2-book set of the books about Mary Ellis by Hope Newell. They're both Berkley Highland paperback editions, but one is library-bound as a small hardcover. The 2 books are A Cap for Mary Ellis, and Mary Ellis, Student Nurse. They're in good condition, and each one has a pretty picture of Mary on the cover. Both books for $5.00 Dr Kildare Takes Charge (Max Brand) Remember Dt Kildare? I used to watch that show a lot, though I liked Ben Casey even better. This one says "Kildare's choice, his career and a beautiful nurse, or the salvation of two young lovers." I bet he'll figure out a way to have all 3. Original from 1940, this Dell PB, from 1962. $2.00 Some Career-Romances are more "romance" than "Career," but they are similar to the ones that describe careers in detail. Many of these are about nurses, as this was a wildly popular genre for about 30 years from the 40s through 60s. I always enjoy reading these light novels, as they are fairly similar to Maltshops, though aimed at adult women. These "Nurse-Romances" and other adult career-romances, were very common at one time, but are getting harder to find due to their being discarded from many libraries in the past 10 or 15 years. Here are some of the most interesting: And here's a BIG LOT of nurse-romances. I've read some of these, and I also have a pile of about 50 more nurse-romances to entertain me, so I'm going to let these go for now, and hope to find them again when I catch up on the rest! Nurse-romances used to be extremely popular, but somehow the genre has slipped away. You are the lucky ones to get a chance to return to the halcyon days of yore with these goodies! All paperbacks, all romantic, varying conditions. Each one will be $1.50 A Nurse Involved (Peggy O'More) Very dramatic cover, with a Ben Casey look-alike doc Decision for Nurse Baldwin (Marilyn Ross) Nurse in Acapulco (Jane Converse) Nurse Harriet Goes to Holland (Betty Neels) a Harlequin nurse romance Psychiatric Nurse (Jane Converse) Psychiatric Nurse (Fern Shepard) Yes, they both have the same title, different stories. Miss Doc (Peggy Gaddis) Ok, this one is about a doctor. They have romantic problems, too Surgical Nurse (Diana Douglas) (2 copies?) EAch of these books will cost $1.50 each. BIG LOT OF VINTAGE MEDICAL-CAREER ROMANCES. Elizabeth Seifert wrote a whole lot of romances about doctors, in the 1960s and 1970s. There is a very long list of books that she wrote, in the front of these books. Obviously a popular writer! Here are some of her books, hardcovers with good DJs, for you to try. Here's a paragraph from the front DJ flap of one of them "Once again, ...Seifert takes the reader behind the scnes in a hospital, into the operating rooms and staff meetings, the clinics and wards..." There are NOT career-romances, though they are romances and about medical career-people. They were written for adults, but they are similar to nurse or doctor books written for teens in the same era. 4 books by Elizabeth Seifert, all XL HBs, all with DJs. $5.00 for all four books. For Love of a Doctor To Wed a Doctor The Doctor's Affair The Doctor's Daughter ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOW FOR A VARIETY OF MALTSHOP BOOKS BY VARIOUS AUTHORS!! The Unchosen (Nan Gilbert) 1963. Gilbert wrote excellent Maltshops -- I wish there were more for you right now. In this one, 3 "unpopular" and probably fairly unlikeable girls team up and try to help each other learn to get somewhere in the social life of their High School. When this scheme actually starts to help, there is some inevitable jealousy. If your favorite Maltshop books are about trying to break into the social scene, and about teen social concerns, you'll like this book as much as I did! If I've made it sound like a bitter story, don't worry! Scholastic PB, $1.50 Mabel Esther Allan wrote over 100 good books for young adults! Some are romances, some are more travel stories than anything else, some are mysteries. Most take place somewhere in the British Isles, but there are some taking place in Europe and a few from the US. I'll try to have more Allan books really soon. The Flash Children (Allan) 1975.. The Flash is a kind of lake, and when the father starts a new job, the family moves to a house right on the lake -- and also right on the railroad tracks. The kids hate the new place -- and before long, strange and even dangerous things start happening. HB, very good cond, picture cover. $2.50 A Strange Enchantment (Mabel Esther Allan) set in 1939. Girl is assigned to a farm to work for the Women's Land Army during the war. Difficulties, sadness, and eventually, a "strange enchantment." Most of Allan's stories are, as this one, very romantic at their core, but in this one, there are hardships and reality, too. HB, XL, with a very pretty DJ. All in very good condition. $4.50 Drina Dances Alone (Jean Estoril) 1959. You might wonder why I'm listing this book along with Mabel Esther Allan's books -- well, Estoril is one of her pen names, and there are 9 Drina books about a young ballet dancer. I'm not sure how many of them made it into paperback, but this is listed as #3. Fair condition, $1.00 Sometimes Magic: A Collection of Outstanding Stories for the Teenage Girl. Book was put together in 1965, but the stories are collected from many generations! Some are wonderful classics -- chapters by Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Sarah Orne Jewett. Some are humorous -- I laughed very hard over the one by Shirley Jackson. Some of them remind you very much of a Maltshop! A beautiful big book, in very good condition, and with a pretty dust jacket (a dreamy girl, lots of flowers around her!)320 pages, 22 short stories, a foreward to give you an idea of why these particular stories were chosen, and an afterword to explain why all the stories were written by women! HB, DJ, $3.50 Sometimes Magic without the DJ, same collection of really good short stories. HB, $2.50 The Seven Sleuths' Club (Carol Norton) 1928. How can they live up to their club's name if they can't find a mystery to solve? And how will they prove to the snobby new girl, that it's fun to live in a small town and help people? (She is used to having servants do everything for her, and is astonished that these girls actually like to do their own picking-up and errands.) Those are some of the problems that the club members have to solve! And guess what? A mystery DOES come along and they finally find something really special to do. This is one of the very attractive, thick, Saalfield editions, in the "Girls' Detective Series" as it says on the spine. I've made a laser copy of the original DJ. The book is somewhat loose and worn, but not too bad! HB, LDJ, $4.50 Books by Jane D. Abbott. She wrote before the era that we think of as the "Maltshop" years, but if you like those stories, you will really enjoy the cute books by Abbott. She wrote about girls in a variety of situations and settings, but I've liked every one that I've read. They are written for the teens of the early decades of the 20th century, so they are fairly long (you get your money's worth!) but fast reading since you are eager to find out what happens next. For example (and the quotes are from the back cover of one of the books): I hope to have more books by Abbott very soon! Laura Cooper Rendina is the author of the popular Debbie Jones series. She wrote quite a few books about teen girls and their adventures, problems, romances, and mysteries! All with an interesting twist! I'll try to add more books by Rendina, as soon as I can. I think I've mentioned this story before -- but it is amusing to me, so I'll add it to my description of these books. When I was in 6th grade, the first book in the series (Roommates) was extremely popular. One day, a group of the most popular (bossy) 6th-grade girls surrounded me, and demanded that I return "Roommates" to the library, because THEY wanted to read it! I couldn't convince them that I did not have that book out of the library. I guess they thought I was the girl who read the most books, so who else would have borrowed it? That was in the early '50s. BEVERLY CLEARY'S MALTSHOPS are even better than her Ramona books, which are something wonderful themselves. I wish she'd written many more books for older girls, but unfortunately, she only wrote 3 or 4. Try them -- you'll discover books that are as good as Cavanna's early novels, or Emery's best. Fifteen is a true Maltshop classic! I think everyone who loves Cavanna or duJardin or Emery, should read this Cleary if no others. BIG LOT ALERT! -- Here is a set of all 4 of Cleary's Maltshops -- an easy way for you to find out how entertaining and lovely they all are! Believe me, you'll wish she's written as many as Betty Cavanna! The books are all paperbacks, in very good condition, and include The Luckiest Girl, Sister of the Bride, Jean and Johnny, and Fifteen! 4-book set of Beverly Cleary young adult "Maltshops," $6.00 Luckiest girl (Beverly Cleary ) 1958. Highly Recommended! Very enjoyable Maltshop! Over-protected girl spends a school year in California with family friends, finds out what it's like to live with a more casual family, gains independence as well as a bit more appreciation of her family back home. I think, however, that she will decide to move back to CA when she grows up -- I certainly would! One of my favorite Maltshops -- in fact, everyone loves this one! I read it out loud to Dave, and he loved it (takes a good "maltshop" to appeal to a grandfather!) Reading it makes a person feel happy. By the way, we read Cleary's autobiography, and realized that this book paralleled her life in many ways, though her time in CA was during college, rather than high school. Luckiest girl in very good condition PB $2 Luckiest Girl, HB, XL, fairly good condition, but covered by a nice copy of the original dust jacket, showing Shelley wearing the hated pink raincoat and rainhat! $3.50 Sister of the Bride (Beverly Cleary) 1963 Girl plans on being part of a big, fancy wedding when her college-age sister gets married. Sis has other plans! Meantime, what about her own love life? Adorable story! If you love to read about wedding plans, this book will be especially entertaining for you, but the Maltshop atmosphere is strong, too. The HB is illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush, another great thing about this book! And if you've read other Cleary books (who hasn't?) you won't be surprised at the fun and humor in this one. Weddings can be funny, and so can families, especially if Beverly Cleary has something to do with them! Good cond PB $2 and fair copy $1.50 ******************************************************** Maltshoppy books by Phyllis A. Whitney. This author certainly could write well in a number of genres! Mysteries for younger readers, romances for young adults, and of course good novels for adults. In all of her books, there are central problems of family relationships, reactions to changes, and a strong sense of location -- often an unusual setting. All of these things play well in her Maltshop type books -- I'll try to add more Whitney maltshops as soon as I can! The Highest Dream (Whitney) 1956. Girl gets a job at the UN, and figure it'll be her dream come true. Being a career-romance, of course there are complications, but overall, this is a wonderful tribute to the United Nations. and living in New York. PB, good cond except for a little creasing, $2.50 The Highest Dream in reading condition, not bad, but corner-worn, $1.50 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Helen Girvan wrote some of the very best "Maltshop Mysteries." Her settings are always interesting, and her heroines are often trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives. I'm sorry if there aren't any here -- they sell out fast. I hope to have more Girvan books in the near future! Lavinia Davis is one of the best Maltshop authors! She could write about families, horses, mysteries! She writes about teen girls and boys equally expertly. Plenty of humor, but not laid on with a trowel! Her families are funny and interesting -- you'll love the families that she writes about. Nice settings, too. Janey's Fortune (Lavinia Davis) 1957. Things weren't going quite as nicely as she could wish, at home in CT, so it was probably a blessing when the letters were forwarded, inviting her to spend the summer in New Mexico. Her grandfather had died just after he made the plans for her trip, and charged her with trying to find his hidden treasure. "Fortune" had several meanings, a town, a possible bonanza, and Janey's changed outlook for her future. She found new outlook on her future, met quite a cast of interesting people, and, if you look at the beautiful dust jacket picture, she became a true Western girl. There she is, dressed in a western shirt and kerchief, jeans and a 10-gallon hat. Behind her, a ghost-town spread out, and on the other side of the picture, a smiling cowboy in his lively horse. I think Janey has a horse in the picture, too, but it's hard to make it out. Anyway, she's ready to ride! HB, with DJ, both in nearly-new condition. $6.00 Secret of Donkey Island (Lavinia Davis) 1952. Boy is excited about the vacation because his over-achieving older siblings aren't going to be home. If you like loveable donkeys and mysteries, as well as really nice stories, try this book by an author that I really love! By the way, the illustrations in this one (by Jean MacDonald Porter) are something really special. You may know that I love the older, realistic, sweet pictures by artists like Mary Stevens, Paul Frame, and Dorothy Bayley Morse. Well, these aren't exactly the same, of course, but comparable. HB, XL, book is in moderately good cond, but the book is covered with a laser copy of the original DJ, which makes the whole thing a lovely "package." $4.50 Donkey Detectives (Lavinia Davis) 1955. Especially nice illustrations by Jean MacDonald Porter. I didn't even want to read this one, as I'm not a big fan of books about donkeys, but as usual when I start reading a book by a favorite author, even when the subject is sort of off-putting, I ended up liking it very much! The book has the type of appeal that you get from a summer-camp story, but at home on the family farm. There's plenty of mystery, lots of nice people, and other animals besides the donkey, too. There are lots of exceptional skteches of kids, donkeys, and nostalgic home scenes from the 1950s, based on the artist's visit to Lavinia Davis' farm, where there were both her boys and her donkey for the artist to use as models. HB in the usual XL condition, with a Laser copy of our pretty good DJ, $4.00 "Minnow" Vail (Winifred E. Wise) 1962. she's small, she's a wonderful swimmer, she loves everything about the ocean. So of course she's nicknamed "Minnow." When she starts to grow up and wants to be one of the mermaids attending the queen of Carnival Week, she has a lot to learn. Especially when all the boys start to come around the door because her glamorous cousin is visiting. Interesting cover picture shows Minnow as a Gidget-style teenager, and an insert of her as a mermaid. Also attractive ocean-view endpapers. HB, personal copy, PC, Whitman Teen Novel. $4.00 I love BIANCA BRADBURY's writing, and recently, one of my daughters discovered how much she loved Bradbury, too. She read 4 of them during a very short visit with us, and wants to read the others the next time she visits! There are usually several of Bradbury's books in various sections of my sale list. Lots of Love, Lucinda (Bianca Bradbury) 1966. This Bradbury book is definitely a Maltshop, and pretty much also a romance, but with a strong message for a book from the mid-1960's. Lucinda's a poor African American girl from the south, who is chosen to spend her high school years living with a Northern family, in a very affluent Connecticut suburb. It seems to us that the potential problems should be obvious, but to the teen girl in the CT family and her parents, it feels like "something we can DO to help." There are plenty of lighthearted teen moments in the book, and you might be able to look at the growing tension between the girls as something that might happen to 2 sisters in any family, or to a couple of girls when one of them is a foreign exchange student. But there are a few complications that are unique to this situation, in the days when things hadn't changed quite as much as they have today. Thank goodness they have. I imagine people like the nice, average family in this story, helped make those changes happen. PB, very good condition, $2.00 (2 copies available) Lots of Love, lucinda, pb in poor condition, but this is a very good maltshop type book! Free with another book by Bianca Bradbury Love is Never Enough (Bianca Bradbury) 1971. One of my all-time favorite books! It's one of those books that are trying to scare teens out of getting married until they're old enough to make a good living, finish education, etc -- but I believe these books only make the whole situation look romantic and dramatic to teens, don't you think? In this case, the guy is in college, the girl dropped out of HS because she was pregnant, and they live in a little trailer on the college campus, with the baby. Life is very tough. This book was called A New Penny in the hardcover edition, I have no idea why the title was changed. Paperback in very good condition, $3.00 Junior Miss (Sally Benson) early 40s stories.(Sally Benson)1939-1941 I think these stories appeared in magazines before they were put together into a charming maltshoppy type novel about a girl, her friends, her pets, and her family. Very funny, and very sweet. If you haven't read it, it's time you Maltshop fans did read it! Here is a beautiful hardcover copy with a DJ (moderately good cond.) The DJ picture is adorable! Pink, with an overall white flower design, there is a cute freckled girl in a fluffy white prom gown, surrounded by what we used to call "callow youths" mainly in tuxes, all obviously trying to figure out how to get the attention of a girl! Meantime, Judy looks unconcerned, her long hair in what I think was called a bob, and a pouf above her brow -- it's a period-piece for sure. There's a nice list of books "for modern boys and girls" on the back cover. I always love to read those, to figure out what books I "need" next, for my collection. HB, DJ, $4.00 Another HB, PC, good condition, nice cover graphics. $3.00 Another HB copy of Junior Miss, good condition, but the cover has white smudges here and there. HB, $2.00 MILDRED LAWRENCE is one of the unsung Maltshop greats. Some of the settings sound odd but they aren't emphasized to the extent of overshadowing the lighthearted stories. If there are no M Lawrence books at this time, I'll add more as soon as I can. MALTSHOP BOOKS BY JAN NICKERSON Nickerson was one of the finest Maltshop authors, on a par with Marjorie Hall and Betty Cavanna. She starts by exploring a career choice, but includes lots of the best Malty aspects -- dating, family relations, "teen angst" and school situations. I hope to have more of Nickerson's books again soon! Mary Jane (Dorothy Sterling) 1959. Sterling wrote a wide variety of books, including cute ones (Cub Scout and Brownie Scout Mysteries), education ones (Caves, Ferns and Mushrooms) and mysterious ones (Silver Spoon mystery and Old Post-Box Mystery.) Here she writes a semi-Maltshop, semi-dramatic book about a nice young girl who is one of the first to integrate her junior high school. It's a very good book about school, home, and friendship, as well as a poignant story that can help young teens learn that people are all brothers and sisters. HB Copy of Mary Jane, XLibrary with nice dust jacket slightly torn, but over an identical picture cover! Pretty girl looks apprehensive but hopeful, in front of a school. $2.50 Janet Hardy in Hollywood (Ruthe S. Wheeler) 1935. After a series of adventures and a bit of acting experience, 2 High School girls, go to Hollywood to act in a movie directed by the father of one of the girls . How lucky that they're on the spot, when a dangerous real-life mystery intrudes on the filming. EXCITING! HB book is a little worn, but covered by a laser copy of the original DJ, showing the 2 girls, looking quite the Hollywood stars, are mugging in front of a bunch of cameras. LDJ doesn't quite fit the book right, but looks very nice! $3.75 Sycamore Year (Mildred Lee) 1974. A rather dark love story, but very entertaining! Girl's friend has a gorgeous voice, but no confidence and a tough family life. She falls for Mr Wrong. Both girls are impacted by this friend's subsequent pregnancy. Nice family scenes, including little kids. A serious growing-up story. PB copy, $1.25 Rich Boy, Poor Boy (Theodora Dubois) 1961. The title sounds as if it's going to be about a girl who has to make up her mind whether to marry (or date) a rich boy or a poor-but-honest one. Instead, this is about a boy who isn't sure whether he's rich or poor, and who is treated badly by the relatives he has to live with since his parents died. The girl has no trouble making up her mind that she likes him, no matter what his situation. Then he's accused of a crime, and she joins him in figuring out "who-dunnit" which of course isn't this nice boy! It's a mystery, it's a Maltshop, it's part of the Best Loved Girls' Book series! HB, pretty good condition, with a laser copy of the original DJ. $4.50 -------------------------------------- Books by Rosamond Du Jardin -- who is one of the 3 best authors from the Maltshop era of books for teen girls. Her 3 series, about Marcy Rhodes, Pam and Penny Howard, and Tobey and Midge Heydon, have been reprinted beautifully, but I still like to offer these relatively inexpensive vintage paperback editions that many of us bought from Scholastic when we were in school. Terrific family scenes, social life, school, friends -- and just enough serious thinking to satisfy teachers and librarians, but not so much that it even barely starts to get too heavy! Wait for Marcy (du Jardin) 1950. First of the wonderful Marcy Rhodes series. You can read the others without reading this one first, but it's more fun if you can read them in order! Marcy has one romantic problem after another in this series, and there are lots of good family and school scenes, as in all of du Jardin's books. Du Jardin is one of the Big Three or Four or however many we count as the best maltshop writers! a cute small paperback -- $2.50 Practically Seventeen (du Jardin) 1943/1949. First in the Tobey and Midge Heydon series. Simple problems, simpler times, or at least it seems that way from our perspective. Tobey meets all kinds of situations including first romance. The reason for the uncertain publication date is that several of the chapters appeared as magazine stories prior to the full book, which came out in 1949. Practically Seventeen (du Jardin) PB with ugly cover picture, but the same really good story inside. $1.25 (2) Well, I'll try to have more books by duJardin in the future! ----------------------------------------------- ***The Following entries are Whitman Authorized editions. Good, fanciful, often mysterious stories, supposedly about famous actresses or comic strip characters. Some others are about young women who are active in the service or the home front during WWII. Good authors, MALTSHOPPY type stories. Lots of "atmosphere" in most of them. If you've read one of them and liked it, you'll probably like them all. I certainly do like them!!!! Many illustrations, some very artistic and romantic, some done in cartoon style. No DJs unless noted, but the books are in good condition. Some of the pages are a little fragile, due to the wartime paper they used. Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx (Kathryn Heisenfelt, and illustrated by Henry Vallely) 1943. Described as An original story featuring Ann Sheridan, famous motion-picture star as the heroine. Well, maybe so, though I don't remember Ann Sheridan, do you? She is certainly beautiful, as the front cover photo shows, along with the sphinx! You probably remember how much I love the pictures in the books from this series. SO romantic, and I love the dresses, hair styles, and especially the hats. This is a very mysterious story, and some of the characters are really creepy! Heisenfelt was mistress of writing in ways to make things seem strange and dangerous. Very enjoyable book! It has a Dj that isn't perfect, but all of the front cover is there, with that photo of Ann, also 9/10ths of the back cover, and at least that much of the spine. The book is in good condition, and has interesting Egyptian pictures on the endpapers. $4.00 Tillie the Toiler and the Masquerading Duchess, "From the Famous Newspaper Strip by Russ Westover" Inside this book is the original 1943 price of 29 Cents! However, with today's inflation, I'm sorry to say the price is considerably higher, especially in this nice condition, with the original DJ showing some of the characters including the stunning, tall, Tillie, her dumpy and tiny mother, and her strange boyfriend. It's a tale of the workplace, dates, a mortgage that has to be paid OR ELSE, and a lot of mystery and suspense. Plenty of amusing, and sometimes glamorous illustrations. Whitman Authorized edition HB, DJ, $5.00 Blondie and Dagwood's Adventure in Magic ("based on the famous newspaper strip by Chic Young") 1944. And in case you didn't live though the '40s, let me assure you, Dagwood and Blondie were VERY famous indeed! The cover of this Whitman Authorized edition is quite stunning (except for the amusing tiny arithmetic problem that some former owner wrote on the original DJ.) There is a black hat with white rabbit peering out, and along the bottom of the front, sketches of all the Bumstead family including of course, their dog. Adorable endpapers, and numerous pictures through this amusing full-length tale of Dagwood's attempt to become a magician. Book in good-plus condition, with a laser copy of the original good DJ. $5.00 Annie Oakley in Danger at Diablo (Doris Schroeder) Whitman authorized edition, story featuring Annie Oakley "of the Famous Television Show." Actually, it's a very nice story about Annie and a young boy and adventure. Very nice cover picture of Annie in her Western regalia, flourishing a pistol. Back cover picture of a Western town and the boy in a big hurry. HB, PC, pretty good cond for one of these books that were made of cheap materials. $2.00 Patty Duke and Mystery Mansion (Whitman Authorized TV adventure) Good mystery, Beautiful Patty Duke picture cover. HB, not bad condition.$2.00 Patty Duke and the Adventure of the Chinese Junk 1966. (Whitman Authorized TV adventure) "Based on The Patty Duke Show." And I noticed a few days ago, that they're still showing that amusing and adorable show on re-runs. HB PC book in pretty good condition, $2.50 The Munsters: The Last Resort (Authorized TV Adventure) 1966 by William Johnston. What can I say? Cover picture shows all those familiar (aren't they?) and odd characters creeping around. This is a long story, not a cartoon, telling about the "family vacation." HB with picture cover, good condition, some pictures inside. $2.00 Bewitched: The Opposite Uncle. Authorized TV adventure. You know who this one is about! HB, picture cover, pretty good condition, $3.00 Janet Lennon and the Angels ("Singing Star from the Lawrence Welk TV show" as subtitle) Fourth in a 4-book series about Janet and her sisters, who are presented as singers who are not working at the time the books take place. They're on vacation, or visiting friends. They are all mysteries, in the mold of the Schoolgirl Sleuths. In this one, Janet goes to a ranch, where she spends most of her timw with a Mexican-American family, the Angels. Such a beautiful cover picture -- Janet in a colorful and wide skirt with frilly blouse, by a fireplace, and next to a very handsome young man! HB, picture cover, Whitman Authorized TV Edition, good condition. $3.50 Janet Lennon at Camp Calamity -- subtitled, Singing Star from the Lawrence Welk Show, but in this story she is just Janet, a camp counselor at a camp that's NOT really named Calamity, but that's what it turns out to be when a rich camper is kidnapped, and Janet has to help figure out where she can be. Most of us love stories with a summer-camp background, and this is a very good one. Front cover shows Janet helping a girl learn to float in the pool, and back cover shows a dream-come-true log lodge, with many log cabins around, and in the background, trees, green hills, and high, snow-topped mountains. Let's have a PF meeting there very soon! Good cond, which isn't always the case for this series of Whitman Authorized TV Adventures. $3.50 Janet Lennon: Adventure at Two Rivers (1961) The singing girls go on separate vacations. Janet's vacation takes her to a dude ranch belonging to relatives. Too late, she finds that the ranch is decrepit and actually dangerous, and someone is trying to drive her relatives off the land. From the beautiful cover pictures, you can tell that it's not all detecting and danger -- front cover shows Janet on a beautiful horse, and back cover shows square dancing and a darling puppy, as well as another rider, handsome male variety this time. HB, Whitman TV authorized adventure. Nice condition. $3.00 Boots and the Mystery of the Unlucky Vase ("from the famous newspaper strip, Boots and her Buddies, by Edgar Martin") 1943. I'll have to admit that I don't remember Boots, but she sure is a cutie, as you will soon know from the many adorable and amusing illustrations in this book. She was originally a cartoon character, but this is a complex and entertaining mystery, starting out "She couldn't understand her own feelings of trepidation. Was the shadow of events to come, the forecast of a fortune-teller, the exciting yet fearsome adventure of taking a new job, and a conspiracy involving kidnapping, spying, the unlucky vase, and terror, already descending on her?" Well, she goes to the bookcase and takes out "some ponderous tomes" to help herself feel better -- isn't that just what we would do in similar circumstances? Fun, exciting, and beautiful with the very nice laser copy of the original DJ to decorate the old hardcover book. $4.00 April Kane and the Dragon Lady 1942. ("A Terry and the Pirates Adventure") Very exciting, with dramatic illustrations! This comic strip was very popular when I was a girl. NO DJ. OK copy, $2. MORE WHITMAN AUTHORIZED EDITIONS AHEAD Annette books by Doris Schroeder, from 1960 through 1964. These are not really about that popular girl, "Annette" Funicello, from the Mickey Mouse Club, but about a girl based on her character, and her adventures in the Southwest. Whitmen's Authorized Editions used Annette's popularity as a draw to sell books, while giving us a really well-written series of 5 books about this girl. They pretty much follow each other in order, but can certainly be read separately if you want to. The covers are very lovely, each one showing that pretty girl that so many young teen boys had crushes on, in a different situation. Two of them feature horses, one has her in a little sailboat, and there's an Elvis-lookalike on the back cover of the 4th. Each book has a picture cover that wraps all around from front to back. Nice-looking series, though they suffer as all the typical Whitman PC "cello" type books -- with weak bindings and mono-color interior pictures. I'll try to have more Annette books soon! ***End of Whitman authorized editions.*** *********************************** Books in the Whitman Fighters for Freedom Series weren't anything like the grim stories that you might imagine. They are wonderful stories about girls in various aspects of the war effort in the early '40s, something on the line of the Cherry Ames books from that era. There are books about Army Nurse, Canteen Girl, member of the Girl Orchestra, etc. I'll try to have more of this interesting series very soon. *************************************** MARY STOLZ was my favorite author when I was a teen. Very emotional, a bit heavy sometimes! Always extremely well written, realistic and worthwhile. Mary Stolz died, in her late 80s, in December of 2007. The Noonday Friends (Stolz) 1965. I've noticed that this book is often suggested reading on school lists -- though in my mind it's no better than a lot of Stolz's wonderful books. Like all her books, this one has lots of domestic details, the girl thinks seriously about herself and her family and friends, and there is a compelling story line. This was written for a somewhat younger reader than her earlier Maltshop books, so the problems are a tad less serious, and there is the possibility of a very happy ending! HB, XL, with a pretty picture cover. $2.00 Ready or Not (Stolz) 1953. Probably my favorite Stolz book, though The Sea Gulls Woke Me is another candidate for that. This is the story of a family, 3 chidren, and their father who barely makes a living for them. The older girl has to run the home and take care of everyone. Like many of Stolz's books, this one is made up of small, domestic, family scenes, or ordinary activities by the teens -- but always fascinating. Things happen, whether you're ready or not. Including love. Ready or Not, PB, $1.25 Leap before you Look (Mary Stolz) PB $2 (2?) To Tell your love (Mary Stolz) 1950. Stolz's first book has several story lines, some ecstatcally happy and some not so happy. Main characer is a nice teenaged girl who's in love with a charmer, who doesn't always act as charming as he looks! And her close friend is married (very young) with a baby. Really good contrast between their lives (Extremely realistic picture of the young family, by the way, emphasizing that fearful mistake that writers of that era loved to preach against -- a Young Marriage.) Main character has a wonderful family, including a sister who surprises everyone when she falls in love with... well, you don't need to know everything before you read it! I've read it many times, yet when I sat down to write this description, I had to read it again! a Scholastic PB $2 The Edge of Next Year (Mary Stolz)1974 Quite a hard story to read, as it's about a boy whose mother has just died. This is so different from the easy acceptance of parental loss that we see in series books ("her mother had died when she was very young, and a motherly housekeeper took her place...") All of Stolz's books are excellently written, as this one certainly is. XL with PC, also a very good DJ. $3 End of books by Stolz ******************************* Pepper Pot (Barbara Clayton) 1965. Her little sister is an "angel unaware" a term that Dale Evans termed for children with mental disabilities. She's never spoken a word. The girl really wants to learn to help her sister, and have a career in that field. The family moves from Paris with their minister father, to a "secluded New England town" where there's a lot for the girl to get used to. Her peppery temper doesn't help her acceptance in the new town. And just to add to the appeal of this maltshop book, there is a horse and a mystery involved in the story -- plus of course a bit of romance. This was a very, very popular book, based on the condition of this copy from a local library. I've dressed it up considerably with a laser copy of my nice dust jacket. There's a list on the back of this DJ, of Barbara Clayton's other books which you will probably want to read, too. HB, LDJ, $3.00 Light a Single Candle (Beverly Butler) 1962. Teen girl gradually loses more and more of her sight, and finally goes to a School for the Blind. She is NOT a happy camper for a long time. You'll find this a very amazing book, partly due to the fact that the author writes from personal experience. Getting a guide dog is a very nice part of this story. A book that you really shouldn't miss. PB, $2.00 The Charmed Circle (Dorothea J. Snow) 1962. Her long-time best friend moved very far away, so the girl could barely face the new school year. It took a while, and some very mistaken starts, for her to find out what kind of a charmed circle she could build around herself. Nice Whitman Novel for Girls (these books can always be trusted to be Maltshop material!) HB with picture cover, in good cond. $3.50 Make-Believe Daughter ("A Mystery Featuring The Three Matildas") by Laura W. Douglas, 1972. A Whitman Teen Mystery. Would you believe 3 girls of nearly the same age, all officially named Matilda? Luckily they have different nicknames. There are lots of other good characters in this mystery, which makes you wish it really were the first of a series about The Three Matildas, as the cover would lead you to believe. Actually it's a single-title mystery, though it looks like a lot of the Whitman picture-cover books. You'll love the city neighborhood, which is described in detail. 'Tilda's father runs the International Restaurant, and the first picture inside the book is the girl, sitting at a restaurant table doing her homework, with all the condiments and bentwood chairs in sight. A tiny dog plays a big part in this mystery, too. Well, you'll like this book a lot! HB, PC that wraps all around the back, too. Fairly good condition. $4.00 Zoa Sherburne wrote quite a few very readable and entertaining books about somewhat serious subjects. You will be very glad you discovered this author of books from the Maltshop era. I hope to have more books by Sherburne in future lists. A Batch of the Best (Stories for Girls) 1970. Only frustrating part of this collection is that there isn't a list of where the short stores came from originally. Maybe written just for this book. Anyway, they are all GOOD! 12 stories, all could have come from American Girl or Calling All Girls back in the good old days. Careers, dates, jobs, animals, Christmas, sadness, elation, humor. Whitman hardcover with a nice picture cover. Good condition. $3.00 By JANET LAMBERT *************** Even though most of the Lamberts are now available in reprints, some of us still want to hold the old, hardcover, "originals" in our hands and feel the nostalgia that they generate. I've made laser copies of a lot of the Lambert DJs. They make the hardcover books look really nice! Candy Kane (Lambert) 1943. One of the best things about this book is the adorable picture on the DJ. Candy, the main character, is a very cute young teen with braids and bobby-sox, and the background is candy-striped! The spine features the famous locket design with a #4 in the center. The HB, XL book itself is pretty worn, but very sturdy and well-bound, the laser copy of the original DJ is really beautiful! HB, XL, LDJ, $4.50 END of books by Lambert +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Betty Baxter (assumed to be the same writer as Betty Baxter Anderson) wrote quite a few excellent career-romances, mysteries, and nurse novels in the '30s. They all feature girls, many of them in what have been traditionally male positions. I seriously doubt if you'd be disappointed in any of her books! Daughter of the Coast Guard (Betty Baxter) 1938. One of the girls is the daughter of a Coast Guardsman, the other girl's father is a newsman -- so they certainly do have plenty of scope for adventure! Like all of Baxter's stories, this one shows girls being brave, intelligent, and a bit reckless! Lots of fun. HB, fair condition, $2.50 Becky Bryan's Secret (Betty Baxter) 1937. I have to tell you about the DJ picture first. You've never seen anything quite like it before. There's a girl, dressed in the extremely popular sailor middy of the period, but in very, very short shorts, tiptoing along an electric wire from the pole to a rooftop, to rescue a helpless little girl who is crying piteously from the very edge of the roof. Below, several helpless adults are looking on in horror. Beautiful trees, sky and water background. It's a winner! Other than this little adventure, Becky is a normal schoolgirl, with the normal activities like riding her horse, entering school events, helping with the school newspaper, solving mysteries... The HB book is elderly but holding together; the DJ is a laser repro of the original, and makes the book look great! $4.50 High Trail (Vivian Breck) 1948. Breck wrote very good books about the outdoors, for girls who may or may not ever climb a mountain or go white-water boating, but who sort of think maybe they would like it if they ever tried it. Girl is hiking and camping with her father in the wilderness of the Sierra Nevadas, when her father is injured. She has to find her own way out of the forest and get help. And would you believe that she found romance in these trying circumstances? Of course you would -- you are a Maltshop fan, aren't you? HB, personal copy, very good cond, with a dramatic DJ also in good cond. HB, DJ, $5.00 White Water (Vivian Breck) 1958. Girl had an accident and injured her leg, but still, her dream is to shoot the rapids in her foldboat with the others in her outdoors club. Good co-ed camping and boating trip through Colorado (there's a decorative map of their route, too in which the girl starts to change her bitter outlook. There's lots of teen fun, all the things you like in a Maltshop plus the boat trip! HB, XL, good condition, with a nice DJ that has just a few worn spots. $4.00 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOB AND/OR JAN YOUNG, a husband/wife team, wrote wonderful Maltshops. Each book is different from the other, various settings, various problems to be faced, but these writers really know how to grip the reader. Try any or all and you'll be glad (that's not advertising, I just like to introduce Maltshop readers to the best books in the genre!) Janet Randall is the same as Jan Young Run Sheep Run (Bob and Jan Young) 1959. Near pristine copy of this popular book. Title is pretty much illustrated by the interesting cover picture -- a girl in playclothes, running along a beach with her hair flying out-- followed by a group of other teens running just behind her. Driftwood, gulls, waves. Girl's mother is sick, and they move to a secluded beach house so she can recover in peace and quiet. The girl develops a scientific and artistic interest in sea life, which causes her former friends to think she's gone crazy. Why follow the crowd like a sheep? But she still hopes her boyfriend can start to understand her. Then, there's the crisis when her sister goes into labor and no one else is around to help. HB, DJ, all in very, very good condition. $5.00 I'll try to include more books by the Youngs in my next list. they are obviously popular! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MORE MALTSHOP BOOKS COMING UP! All of Hope Dahle Jordan's books could go under "Maltshop Mysteries," but I'm trying them here in the straight Maltshop list, so you can decide which place it fits. They'd fit either place. Haunted Summer (Hope Dahle Jordan) 1967. Girl driver hits a child on a bike, then runs away. This is the story of her summer, full of guilt and dread but hope, too. PB, fair condition, $1.00 Merediths' Ann (Elizabeth Janet Gray) 1927. Cover says "They wished for mystery and adventure -- and found both in the White Mountains." The DJ picture is obviously from a later edition, as the girls and boy have 1940s hair styles and clothes. An interesting contrast, the frontispiece looks VERY 1929, with girls in middy blouses and bobbed hair (at least I think that's what they call bobbed! Very short and slick.) The title page lists the date as 1949, which is confusing, but it's really from the earlier date. However, it's a wonderfully readable book about kids who aren't prim or worried about the upper-class traditions that rule in so many of the girls' books from the '20s. Takes place in small-town New Hampshire, where Ann lives, and the others come for a winter vacation. Full of mystery and warmth. Back cover has an interesting list of "young Moderns, a growing library for modern boys and girls.." that you might like to check to see how many of them you want to search for. XL, HB, with DJ, fair condition, looks really attractive. $3.50 HB copy of Meredith's Ann, good condition, no DJ. $3.00 The S. W. F. Club (Caroline E. Jacobs) 1912. Girls decide that since they can't afford to go away for a summer vacation, they'll See Winton First -- thus the name of the club. They have (quote) "dandy times.. and jolly times..." and find that their home town is not bad at all! Absolutely adorable cover picture, but I have to tell you that the DJ is partially glued down. Probably that's what saved it from being destroyed after all these years. This is a really entertaining story, full of fun -- 250 pages of it! HB, DJ, both in fairly good condition. $3.00 Marty (Elisa Bialk) 1953. Marty wants to be a newspaper reporter, but has a lot to learn! This is the first in a short series about Marty. As in many books about reporters (think: Beverly Gray!) this one includes setbacks AND a mystery. Scholastic PB in fair condition. $1.00 Marty on the Campus (Bialk) 3rd in the 3-book series about Marty. After all her wonderful adventures as a cub reporter with amazingly good luck, she goes back to college to study journalism. PB in fair condition, 1.50 (2) Look to the Mountains (Beth Jacobs) 1963. Unusual book, not really a maltshop, but the kids are the right age and it was written in the right time period. Very poor farmer's daughter wants a college education and wants to get her family off the farm. They move from Colorado to Oregon, and boyfriend's family moves at the same time. Many troubles and misunderstandings. Light romance, growing-up, country setting, outdoorsy story. The cover is a library picture cover, and makes the girl look as if she's a love-sick idiot, but she certainly isn't anything like that. I liked the story very much! XL, PC, worn but firm. $3 Dorothy Gilman Butters is one versatile writer! Her adult mysteries (dropping the "butters" part of her name, are world-famous. She wrote her YA books before starting the adult books, and of course I love them much more. She wrote very good historical books for girls, and only a few cherished Maltshops. Try them all! The Bells of Freedom (Dorothy Gilman Butters) 1774 Boston setting. Boy apprentice is having a terrible time, when he's rescued by a stranger who buys out his term, and gives him the job of a lifetime, in his printing shop. Boy has enough to eat for the first time, and would do anything for his master. As you may guess, he's put to the test. Lovely book by such a talented author. HB Young America Book Club edition. PC. $3.00 For Girls Only (edited by Sylvie Shuman) short stories, mostly from the 1950s, first published in magazines like Seventeen and Co-Ed. Nice maltshoppy titles like Sweet Mystery, and The Class Ring. I re-read these stories every few years -- they make me feel so nostalgic, as if I just got my latest issue of "Seventeen" in the mail, and took a break from studying for my Latin test, to read about LOVE,E-mail us
LOVE, LOVE, instead of Julius Caesar! Nice little Scholastic paperback, in good condition, $2.00 Megan (Iris Noble) 1965. I'm including this in the Maltshop section of the list, because of the publication date, the fact that it's a Scholastic book, that it's about an teenaged girl, and that it will appeal to the same people who love maltshop books. However, it's set in 1902, and is about an orphan girl who travels from her native Wales, to western Canada to work and live on a ranch, and finds more love than she'd ever known before. Scholastic PB, very good condition, $2.00 (2 copies available) Seventeenth Summer (Maureen Daly) 1952. All about the summer after HS graduation, and the girl's first love, or whatever it was -- even she wasn't sure! A misty, beautiful story, really sweet and dreamy. I wonder if most of the other Maltshop books were trying to emulate this early one? There's a "Seventeenth Summer literary competition" that is named after this quintessential Maltshop. Also, this was a prize novel in the Intercollegiate Literary Fellowship. Which leads me to believe that college juries were pretty smart in those days -- choosing a very lovely Maltshop book for their prize-winner. PB, $2 Seventeenth Summer (Daly) a nice hardcover copy with the most romantic picture on the cover -- trees, sky, lake, sailboat, rolling hills, and a couple standing on the shore, all very misty. XL with library PC, nice copy. $4.00 _++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Anne Emery is one of the Big Three of Maltshop writing, and some of us think she was the best! If you haven't read all the Burnaby family stories, for instance, you have the greatest of treats ahead of you. Scarlet Royal (Anne Emery) 1952. One of the best things about this book (and I have a lot of good things to say about it!) is the beautiful DJ picture by Manning DeV. Lee. The picture shows a very pleasant-looking couple, teen girl and boy on horses, with a fence, attractive and prosperous barn in the back- ground, and a frame of scarlet Fall foliage. Scarlet was a beautiful horse, and the girl loved him. But their family finances were in bad shape, and she had to sell the horse to another girl, one that she really hated, and who didn't care that much for the horse. There's a lot more than horses in this book, but if you like horses, it'll be especially wonderful for you. HB book, XL in pretty good condition, with a pretty good DJ. too! $4.50 Scarlet Royal (Emery) pb in fair condition, mended spine. $1.00 Sweet Sixteen (Emery) 1956. "An Exciting, magical year in a young girl's life" is what it says on the cover of this paperback.. but like most teenagers, Jane doesn't really think her life is always exciting and magical. This is the 3rd and last book in the Jane Ellison series, and both true to life, and wonderfully nostalgic. PB, pretty good cond, $2.50 YA Historical novels by Anne Emery -- Bright Horizons (Emery) 1947. set in 1787 in Boston. Boy works in the office of a A Spy in old Detroit (Anne Emery) 1963. When Maltshop author, Emery, turned to young adult historical novels, of cousre she wrote some of the best. This one takes place in 1763, when fighting is tearing apart French, English, and Indians. The book is about a young boy who is in conflict about where his loyalties should lie, with his family divided.At that time, Detroit was at the frontier of the land, and pretty much controlled by whoever could wrest it from the others. Very accessible story, family scenes, beautiful illustrations. Clear and attractive maps and diagrams on the endpapers. Good personal copy of this book, with a good dust jacket. Add to your Emery collection! $4.00 A Spy in Old Philadelphia (Anne Emery) 1958. Takes place in 1776. The spy is a fictional but historically accurate boy of 14, who ends up helping Washington's troops! As all of Emery's historical novels, it's a "comfortable" story, with lots of family scenes as well as his spy missions. Good quality large paperback book, good condition. Nice illustrations, too. $2.00 A Spy in old West Point (Emery) 1965. Boy is 14 in 1779, his father has him mending guns for the Army. In the Hudson Valley, where they live, the family is even afraid of stating their loyalties to their own neighbors. But it's an exciting time for a boy, who can help his new country. Plenty of homey details, but plenty of action. You'll be reading about Benedict Arnold, among other real people, as well as our fictional hero. Good quality paperback in good condition, with some nice illustrations, $2.00 End of books by Anne Emery ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Books by Grace May North -- She wrote at least 2 series in the '20s. Here'e one of her non-series books that would have been a fine additions to any series! Well constructed coherent plot, with interesting characters and attractive settings. I'll try to add more of North's books very soon. Rilla of the Lighthouse (North) 1926. Do NOT read the DJ flap, as it tells far too much about the plot. Unless you don't like any surprises, it's better just to dig in! HB in pretty good condition, except for the almost inevitable separating at the "hinges" front and back. Actually, it's fairly firm anyway. Laser copy of the original DJ shows a boy and girl facing sideways, a common DJ picture for several of North's books, very artistic with a cove or bay in the background. HB, LDJ. $4.50 Jennifer (Zoa Sherburne) 1959. Girl's mother starts drinking after a terrible tragedy, Jennifer can't take friends home -- she doesn't even socialize at school, and is very unhappy. Read about the gradual changes that everyone in the family makes. Lots of family, school, dates, nice romance. PB, good condition, $2.25 Books by Marjory Hall, one of the very, very best Maltshop authors (or would you call her a Career-Romance author?) Her books are all different, but similar in that they deal with a girl who has a lot to learn before she can be thought of as mature, and who is exploring options for her future, in both career and romance. Hall also wrote historical novels for young adults, and these are good reading, too. She also wrote under the name of Carol Morse. I will certainly add more Marjory Hall books when I get them. Historical books by Marjory Hall -- See the Red Sky (Hall) 1963. Takes place in 1777. This is a fictional story of a real girl, Sybil Ludington, who rode in the manner of Paul Revere. Nice printed library picture cover of a girl on horseback, riding wildly along in her skirts and cape. One of the nice things about fictionalizing a footnote in history, is that you can include interesting minor characters, and also romance. HB, XL, PC, all in very good condition. $3.50 The Treasure Tree (Hall, 1964) Quote from inside cover of the book "Based on events of the 1730s, this is a romantic account of newlyweds Eliza and Edward Seaward, who were shipwrecked in the Caribbean and with courage and industry found treasure of many kinds." HB, XL, with nice library printed picture cover (showing a couple on a desert island, under a huge tree.) Good condition. $3.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When I was a teen, I read all the Amelia Elizabeth Walden books that I could get my hands on. She was still writing when I left my teen reading years, but I've renewed my friendship with her books since then. She wrote beautifully, about girls in sports, the theater, and school and home life -- as well as quite a few very engrossing mysteries! Most of her books are appropriate for anyone from good readers in the 6th grade, to adults who appreciate beautifully-written suspense mysteries. In particular, they're recommended Maltshop writing! There are 4 books in the Lisa Clark series -- she works with Jake, but often has to strike out on her own. Where was Everyone When Sabrina Screamed? (Walden) From the Lisa Clark series about the girl detective. She has to work alone after her boss is injured, so she has to solve the mystery of his "accident" as well as the one they'd been working on. Morocco setting PB, $1.75 Valerie Valentine is Missing (Amelia Walden) 1971. A Lisa Clark mystery, takes place in Spain. HB, XL, with colorful picture cover. Very good condition. $3.50 To Catch A Spy (Amelia Elizabeth Walden) 1964 Girl looks just like another girl who was killed during a spy case, so she is coached to take the other girl's place and break into the spy ring. HB, XL, with a good library printed picture cover. Good condition, $3.75 A Spy Case Built for Two (Amelia Walden) 1969 Romance is difficult if you're involved in spying, and these two are really too busy and hard-working, to say nothing of having some very frightening adventures. Lisbon (?) setting. HB, XL, with good library picture cover. Quite good condition. $3.75 The Spy who Talked too Much (Walden) 1968. "Newspaper readers.. would hardly have connected the news item about the CIA, the fashion notice, and the classified ad.." But the men working on a case for the CIA, pick Kim to work undercover for them. Istanbul setting. HB, XLibrary, nice picture cover, good condition, $3.25 The Spy on Danger Island (Walden) 1965. From the author's description -- "This is not the story of a Mata Hari. It is a novel about an impecunious and unsuccessful young actress who was recruited by .. CIA for two reasons: she was notably successful with an unusual hobby, and she was reputed to wear her heart upon her sleeve." How could you resist that??? The special interest, by the way, was scuba diving. West Indies setting. HB, former library book, sturdy, with a slightly smudged library picture cover. $3.00 Heartbreak Tennis (Walden) 1977. Girl is given tennis lessons from a Wimbledon champ, and tries to concentrate on nothing except her game. Romance (of course) rears its head, and complicates everything. If you love tennis, this will be your favorite Walden book. If you don't love tennis, it will be on the list just the same! HB, good condition XL, with a good DJ. $4.00 Three Loves Has Sandy (Walden) 1955. I've just finished reading another book by Walden, and renewed my amazement at her writing -- she knows how to write about teen girls, animals, older people with lots of character (rather than the colorless adults that most authors describe in teen books) and of course, the course of true love, which never does run true! Sandy loves softball! Wyoming Bill loves horses. When they get together, each one teaches the other a lot! Horses, sports, and BOYS. a good paperback copy, $2 Go, Phillips, Go (Amelia E Walden) 1974. Another of those wonderful Walden sports stories about a girl with a boy's name, Pete. She has 7 brothers, and knows how to play basketball -- but something is going wrong this year. Sports, family, romance (of course) and as always, a well-written story. PB, Scholastic, $2.00 ++++++End of books by Walden ++++++++++ The Stolen Blueprints (Ruth Grosby) 1939. From the Barbara Anne series -- a wonderful 4-book series about a high school girl (the late 30s might be my favorite era for nice near-maltshop mysteries.) Book in very good condition, with clear light green cover, pages are uniformly browned from age. $4.00. Senior Trip (Marjorie Holmes) 1962. Senior class vote to take a trip to Washington DC, but that's a long way from Iowa, and they have only $1 in the class treasury. The book takes them through the fund-raising process, and on to Washington! It's a lot of school-related fun, and, being a Maltshop about high school seniors, it's full of gentle but exciting romance, too. PB pretty good condition, $2.00 The American Girl Library is SO good, and SO popular! They rarely stick around on my sale list for more than a day. This series includes short stories originally published in American Girl Magazine in the prime Maltshop years, some from other magazines of those same years, and also several books of advice and other subjects of interest to the teen girl from the 50's (and to us, of course!) They're good-looking books, too. American Girl book of Sports Stories (American Girl Library)10 stories from American Girl Magazine between 1949 and 1965. As you can imagine, there are other interesting themes to all these stories, as well as the sports slant. The stories (as in all the American Girl library books) have a Maltshoppy feeling. Large PB, $2.00 (2) American Girl Book of Horse Stories (American Girl Library) Selected by the editors of American Girl Magazine, and illustrated by famed horse artist, Sam Savitt. These 10 stories first appeared between 1946 and 1963. You've probably heard of many of the authors, including the most well-known, Janet Lambert. Nice large HB with a happy, horse-riding girl on the cover. Inside front and back covers, there is the American Girl Library motif of a charm bracelet, charms showing a dog, pennant, soda (malt) with 2 straws, heart, phone, juke box, jalopy, skate, and a lot more Maltshop era teen symbols. $4.00 (2) Bride at Eighteen (Hila Colman) 1966. Colman wrote some really good Maltshops, although this onw is from the upper end of the Maltshop era. Here's one of my favorite types of stories -- The Young Marriage! The girl figures that once they're married, they will spend all their time together, and share everything. Then her young husband has to study, and there are those peace demonstrations, and all his important friends -- will their marriage make it? The front flap describes this as a story "that deals strightforwardly with the problems of a young marriage," but I think it's more like a story of the problems of a 1960's activist marriage. I don't know whether this couple will stay together to celebrate their 20th anniversary, but it's a very, very interesting and entertaining story! HB, DJ, XL, good condition, $5.00 Denise Cass Brookman wrote several very romantic Maltshop books. I think if she'd written quite a few more, she could be one of the most well-known and best-loved of Maltshop authors. I'll try to have more Brookman books very soon. Jeannette Eyerly, who died last year (if you get Whispered Watchword, you probably read my short eulogy to her) was know for bridging the difference between the Maltshop era and the much more modern, graphic depiction of true tragedies that are typical of teen books from the period following the Maltshops. I have read her books, they are well written and keep your attention. They're just not as comfy as earlier books for teen girls. When died at 100, and there were many complimentary articles about her role as go-between in teen literature. Enough Maltshop elements to make us happy, enough newer elements for those of you who grew up in the '60s and '70s. I'll have more Eyerly books in the future! The Girl Inside (Eyerly) 1968. Girl faces several tragic situations, and has to figure out how to grow out of the frightened and sad girl inside, before she can face her life without depression. PB, $1.25 Cress Delahanty (Jessamyn West) Parts of this book were published earlier, in various magazines including Lady's Home Journal and The New Yorker. It was compiled as a novel about 1953. At the beginning, Cress is 12, and yearning to be a poet. Progress in the next section, when she fights with a boy! Continues (season by season) up to her first year in college. In between, all the sweet, innocent, Maltshop elements. Full of humor of my favorite kind -- subtle, tongue-in-cheek, situational. California ranch setting. This, I think, is a book aimed at adults, but I read it as a teen, and absolutely loved it -- loved it again when I read it as an adult. Author of The Friendly Persuasion, which was made into a movie when I was in love with Pat Boone -- who starred in the movie and sang that beautiful song. But I digress! Dust jacket and chapter head illustrations by Joe Krush. HB, XL, moderately good condition with pretty good DJ, $3.00 Escape from Nowhere (Eyerly) 1969. She comes from a rich family, but they are what we soon started calling "dysfunctional" and the girl doesn't function too well herself, in the face of it all. She goes through a lot before she turns her life around. Berkley Highland PB, $1.25 Have you discovered Elisabeth Friermood? She may have written one book that you could honestly call a Maltshop, but all her books appeal to the same people that love the MS books. Historical settings, mostly within a couple of decades of the turn of the last century, her books all feature plucky girls who either fight for the right to have careers, or just plain work at them. I love several of them very much, especially One of Fred's Girls, which I don't have for sale at this time. But all of them are engrossing, never heavy, full of interesting details and fun. If they took place in mid-20th century, they would be called Maltshops or Career-romances! I will add more Friermood books as soon as I possibly can! Focus the Bright Land (Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood) 1967. Girl goes on a summer trip with her father and brothers, who are traveling photographers. She wants to work with them, but they don't think a female can take pictures! I guess she shows THEM a thing or two! But politely and carefully, as befits a girl in the late 1800's. Another wonderful story by one of the 2 historical-novel-authors that I can't resist (the other is Patricia Beatty) HB, PC, XL, in good condition. $4.00 (2 copies) The Wind Blows Free (Loula Grace Erdman) this could be listed under series book, or malts, but it's really a historical novel as much as either of those things. There are 3 books in the Pierce family series, this is the first, and the story of Melinda, who is 14 at the beginning. The family has just moved to the Texas panhandle, in the 1890s. HB, XL, with a DJ, all in fair condition. $2.50 Pretty Penny Farm (Joanne Hopper) 1987 Not a maltshop, wrong year! But horses, romance, friends, etc. New Hampshire setting. PB $2 TRY A MALTSHOP OR SIMILAR BOOK FOR A DOLLAR! ALL PAPERBACK, ALL IN ONLY "READING COPY" CONDITION, BUT NEVERTHELESS GOOD READING! Some are not quite maltshop types, but will appeal to you if you like MS's Blue Ribbons for Meg (Adele De Leeuw) Quiet girl has to move from sedate Boston, to a Cavalry Post (historical setting.) she hates it until.... PB $1.00 Champions Don't Cry (Nan Gilbert) girl wants to become a tennis champ, but there are problems, like money and her temper. PB $1.00 National Velvet (Enid Bagnold) 1953. The horse story that made Elizabeth Taylor famous, or was it the other way around? Scholastic pb, $1.00 Sister of the Bride (Beverly Cleary) Cleary's maltshops were even better than her "Ramona" books in my opinion! 1962. PB $1 The Borrowers (Mary Norton) Illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush. First in the series that has been extremely popular for a long time (since 1952) and basis for a movie or two. PB in very good condition, $1.00 The Littles Go Exploring (John Peterson) 1978. Something like The Borrowers, but they range far from home. I'm giving a little trial to offering some almost- classic books that were written a bit later than most of my books -- this is one of them. Very good condition PB, $1.00 MORE ONE DOLLAR MALTSHOPS AND OTHER PB'S COMING UP. Lyddie (Katherine Paterson) 1991. I love this story of a girl who leaves the farm to work in a mill in Lowell, MA, in the mid-1800's. Great author, exceptionally good book! PB, very goodc cond, $1.00 Light a Single Candle (Beverly Butler) 1962. Girl has to get used to being blind, deal with too-helpful or too-tough people. She is eventually aided by a guide dog PB in good cond except for a water stain at the bottom of the cover. $1.00 The Wizard in the Tree (Lloyd Alexander) 1975. Another of the childhood favorites, written later than my usual offerings, which I'm offering to see if people want to re-read them now! PB, $1.00 Danger on the Trail (Original title, Prairie Schooners West by Mildred Houghhton Comfort.) 1949. Girl and her family are off to the gold rush. PB, good cond, $1.00 MORE ONE DOLLAR MALTSHOPS AND OTHER SIMILAR BOOKS, COMING UP Going Steady (Anne Emery) 1950. Sally and Scotty are going steady, what a wonderful summer! Then the idea of marriage comes up -- and nothing can be the same any more. Exciting and even a little suspenseful story. Great details! PB $1 (2) Jean and Johnny (Beverly Cleary) 1959. Cleary did Maltshops even better than she did "Ramona!" PB $1 (2 copies available) The Fledgling (Jane Langton) Newbery Honor book from 1980. Girl learns to FLY! Isn't that what all kids dream about? PB, $1.00 To Tell Your Love (Mary Stolz) 1050. From back cover "Three faces of love, and hope, and heartbreak, by a favorite girls' author." Very romantic cover picture! Scholastic PB, I truly loved this book when I was a teenager. Extremely lovely story, about a nice family, a sweet girl, and a sad but very romantic love story. PB $1.00 (2) MORE ONE DOLLAR MALTSHOPS (AND OTHER PAPERBACKS) AHEAD Practically Seventeen (duJardin) Tobey Hayden series. 1943+ Fair condition, but readable -- in fact, many people, including myself, recommend this series highly!!! PB $1 Another "not Maltshop," but nearly so -- Honestly, Katie John! (Mary Calhoun) 1963. You probably read the katie John series when you were a kid -- humorous but realistic and even insightful! This one is about KJ and those terrible things, BOYS! PB, good cond, $1 I'll try to have more "Try a Maltshop for a dollar" soon! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEENS' and CHILDREN'S MYSTERIES Many Excellent Young Adult Mysteries!!!!******** If you have been reading Richard ZainEldeen's articles in The Whispered Watchword for the past few years, you will know about a lot of these old children's mysteries. I love this genre. A lot of them are similar to "maltshops" in that they deal with young people's personalities as well as the actual mysterious happenings. Most of them have a strong sense of setting, interesting locales or situations. SO ... MANY BOOKS IN THE MYSTERY SECTION ARE "MALTSHOP MYSTERIES" THAT WILL PROBABLY APPEAL TO THE SAME PEOPLE AS THE MALTSHOP BOOKS. MOST WERE WRITTEN IN THE APPROXIMATE SAME ERA AS THE MS BOOKS, AND WITH MANY OF THE SAME ELEMENTS. AND THEY WERE WRITTEN FOR TEEN GIRLS, AS THE MALTSHOP BOOKS WERE! I'VE READ MOST OF THEM AND CAN RECOMMEND THEM HIGHLY. THE MALTSHOP MYSTERIES ARE NOT SEPARATE, BUT MIXED WITH THE OTHER MYSTERIES, SINCE THE DIVIDING LINE IS NOT ENTIRELY CLEAR-CUT! PLEASE ENJOY ALL THESE YOUNG ADULT MYSTERIES. What Happened to Amy? (Jane Edwards) 1961. Girl gets a job helping a woman author of of mysteries, and runs into a mystery of her own -- what happened to the author's former secretary? Will the same thing happen to her? Career, mystery, romance! Scholastic PB, $1.50 The Mystery of The Old Merchant's House (written and illustrated by Harriet Evatt)1947. This book isn't in good condition. OK, it's in awful condition! But it's a darling book, takes place in a Maine fishing village where the girl and her twin brother live with their family in a cottage that looks out at a large and mysterious deserted mansion that has a scary reputation. She has the feeling that the house was once a happy place, and wishes she could do something to change its sad outlook. When she starts seeing lights in that place, her curiousity gets the better of her, and she has to investigate. She has quite a surprise when the mystery is finally ironed out. Written for maybe 8-12-year-olds, but it's long enough (226 pages) to get quite involved in! I really loved it, quite a fabulous story, with tons of cute sweet illustrations by the author. too bad it's in sorry condition, but it's perfectly readable and holding together OK. $2.00 MORE MYSTERIES! Copy Cat Mystery (Carol Adorjan) 1990. Cute mystery about a girl who's bored with summer vacation so she starts a cat-sitting business. Aimed at 5th-7th grade readers, but will give any cat-lover a couple of hours of light fun reading (as it did for me!) PB, good cond, $1.50 The Ghost of Five Owl Farm (Wilson Gage) 1966. Boy scares his cousins with ghost stories, but -- could they be true??? Excellent author of YA mysteries, mostly set in the South. "Wilson" is pen name of a woman, actually, and the daughter of beloved YA mystery author Christine Govan. Nice hardcover copy, with illustrations by Paul Galdone -- $2.50 PB copy of Five Owl Farm, $1.25 Mystery at Deer Hill (Virginia Frances Voight) 1958. Wonderful Maine setting! Somewhat spoiled girl has to give up her usual summer at the shore with the smart young set, for a summer deep in the woods that she hates and fears, near Bear Paw, Maine (ed note: as far as I know, this is a totally fictional town!) with her young aunt. This story is a cross between Catherine Woolley's Libby books, and The Seagulls Woke me -- the girl is quickly in love with the woods and the boy next door. But is he involved with illegal activity? The mystery is pretty easy to solve, but the story is excellent. PB, $2.00 (2) Secret of Deer Mountain (E. H. Lansing) 1953. HB title: Deer Mountain Hideaway. As it says on the back cover, all the boys want to do is to build a hut where they can hideaway from the little sister. But -- and now I'm telling the story -- things got a little scary, and if you look at the front cover, you'll see how far they got from little sis, as she is sitting between the 2 boys, looking at a very frightening scene. Written for grade-school age, good reading for people like me, who love kids' mysteries. Don't read it if hunting really upsets you. PB, $1.75 BIG LOT of mysteries featuring the Spotlight Club (Florence Parry Heide and Sylvia Worth Van Clief) These books, from 1979 and 1980, are about 2 boys and a girl who find almost as many mysteries as Nancy Drew, while also editing and printing a weekly neighborhood newspaper. Here are volumes 1-5, small paperbacks, all in very good condition.l The illustrations are very nice, especially the colorful and scary covers. Books include: #1 mystery of the Mummy's Mask #2 Mystery of the Vanishing Visitor #3 Mystery of the Midnight Message #4 mystery of the Whispering Voice #5 Mystery of the Forgotten Island All 5 Spotlight Club mysteries, $7.00 Brains Benton mysteries are funny, fascinating, and usually in very nice shape. Each one has a humorous picture on the cover, and this cover is bright and attractive. Here are a bunch of Brains! Brains Benton #1 -- Missing Message 1959 Good condition! $3.00 Brains Benton #2 -- Case of the Counterfeit Coin 1960. Good condition! $2.00 Brains Benton #3 -- The Case of the Stolen Dummy, 1961. Good condition, bright and clean picture cover. $2.50 Brains Benton #5 -- Case of the Waltzing Mouse --1961. Very good condition! $2.50 Brains Benton #6 -- Painted Dragon -- 1961. Very good condition! $3.00 Indian Ghost Mystery (Bonnie Highsmith Taylor) 1986. Girl's mother is pregnant, the girl and her brother get on her nerves! So they go to their grandparents' farm for the summer, and have quite the adventures. PB, very good cond, $1.50 Candidate for Murder (Joan Lowery Nixon) 1991. "By the three-time Edgar Award Winner" it says on the cover of this PB, and that means that she is a very, very good mystery author. Girl's father is running for governor of TX, and everything changes for her, including a lot of danger. PB in very good cond, $1.50 The Ice Ghost Mystery (Jane Louise Curry) 1972. Takes place in Austria, where the California family's father has mysteriously disappeared. Mother and 2 kids take off for the Alps, to try to find out what has happened to the Professor, who may have "fallen prey to a diabolic scheme that could end the world as we know it." This sounds like sci-fi, but it's really a very good mystery written by an author who wrote a bunch of other YA mysteries. HB, XL, with good and exciting DJ. $3.50 Tree House Island (Scott Corbett) 1959. The 2 men claim to be ornithologists, and keep everyone away from Tree House Island, presumably to keep people from scaring away the rare birds. But why did they work by night, and even more strange, why did they need a gun? Nice map included, and very friendly illustrations. The cover is especially attractive -- if you love tree houses and moon-lit islands. This author wrote a number of other good mysteries including Cutlass Island, involving the same kids that solve the mystery of Tree House Island. HB, XL, good cond, with a good DJ. $3.50 Mystery of Mordach Castle (William MacKellar) 1970. You'll think you've taken a trip to scotland when you're reading this book! This book takes place in modern (1970) times, so it's probably more myth than truth, but it deals with old feuds, old legends, mysterious lights in a castle, and tinkers (gypsies.) Whether it's in the least true, it's a very good story, and I especially like the relationship that develops between the boy who wants to win the biggest race of the year, and the gypsy boy who lives in a tent and has nothing but his nice personality. You'll like the way they team up to figure out what's really going on in the castle! HB book, picture cover, very good condition, $2.50 Mystery at Star Lake (Margaret Goff Clark) 1965. I read this fairly recently, and it made a very good impression on me. Boy goes to join his much older brother, to help remodel a Canadian island cottage their family had bought. He hopes to spend a lot of time photographing nature but the boys reach the cottage just in time to see a "Keep Out" sign (paint still wet) on the door. How could anyone want innocent kids out of a remote island with absolutely nothing special about it? A couple of kids from a neighboring island help with the escalating mystery, but no one is free of suspicion. Clark is a very, very good author of mysteries. This one is a Scholastic pb in very good condition. Cover picture is quite artistic, with heavy seas surrounding the kids in a small rowboat.l $1.25 The Silver Spoon Mystery (Dorothy Sterling) 1958. One of the things that's most fun about this book, is that a lot of the action takes place in an old, classic library building. Silver spoons are stolen from the display case, and the Hill Gang (much nicer than they sound -- they're neighborhood kids) are following the clues. A vintage electric car is important in the story, being driven by lady of about the same vintage as the car. Enjoy this cute book! PB, $2.00 Mysteries by Elizabeth Honness are superb! They usually center around a very interesting subject (care to read about a doll hospital, for instance?) and include both girls and boys. Usually you'll learn something about history while you read these books. No formula-writing, not terribly scary, but compellingly written for kids of maybe 10 to 14. And happily read by me when I crave a really good juvenile mystery. I don't come across them too often, but I'll try to have some more for you very soon. Mystery of the Pirate's Ghost (Elizabeth Honness) 1966. New Haven CT setting. As so many lucky people do in old books, the mother inherits a mansion full of antiques, from a relative who was so far removed that there isn't any grief or guilt at benefitting from their demise. The family moves to the old place, and before long, they run straight into a mystery. Great descriptions of a wonderful old house, full of the requisite secrets. Excellent story, great Beth and Joe Krush pictures. HB, Picture cover, in excellent condition. $4.00 Mystery of the Pirate's Ghost, HB, has all the interior illustrations by Beth and Joe Krush! $3.00 Mystery at High Hedges (Edith Bishop Sherman) 1937. Girl returns to the US after many years in France. She's scornful of what she expects will be a very boring life in a small town. She's actually qutie rude and snobbish to the other young people. Then she meets some peppy kid, and they dig up quite a mystery -- you'll love watch her change, and help the kids solve the mystery. HB,good condition, with a copy of the original dust jacket. The picture is stunning, would make a good Halloween display, blue sky with big yellow moon, and a pitch black house with 2 lighted windows. One of the windows shows an old crone walking up stairs with a candle. Bats flying around. HB, LDJ, $5.00 What Janie Found (Caroline B. Cooney) 2000. Fourth in a very exciting mystery series, which starts with the famous "Face on the Milk Carton." One of the most interesting things about this series is that when you finish each one, you think you've solved the entire story of what happened to Janey and her families. Then there is the "onion-peeling" phenomenon, and you find that there are more layers beneath what you thought was solid ground. Just as Janie found out. Since there hasn't been another book since this one came out 10 years ago, maybe everything is finally straightened out. In any case, I was caught up in each of the books in turn, and this one just as much as the others. HB, XL, with nice DJ, $3.00 Mystery Isle (originally titled The Chinese Puzzle of Shag Island)by Judith St. George 1976. This is yet another Maine Island book -- there are a lot, but I wouldn't mind if there were twice as many, it's such a great setting! Girl and her mother spend a summer on Shag Island with the girl's great-grandfather. Mom has to leave temporarily on business, and really strange things start to happen to the girl and great-grampa. The girl ends up having to take care of herself and the elderly man, and figure out why all these scary things are going on. Fine condition PB with a beautiful cover, $2.50 The Secret of the Old house (hardcover title: The Chinese Puzzle of Shag Island) I don't know why they gave this nice book more than one title, but it's a good story about yet another scary old island house in maine. Girl is staying with her great- grandfather while her mother is on a business trip, and it's a toss-up as to which of these not-too-strong people can protect the other one. The cover picture is really good! Boy and girl taking suitcases off a small boat, a long, long flight of steps up to a rather shabby but huge mansion. PB, good cond, $1.50 Little John of New England (Madeline Brandeis) from the Children of America Stories, 1936. In the guise of a mystery, this is probably more accurately a travelogue of New England sites. I enjoyed it because I've been so many of the places the author tells about, but also because I could concentrate on the odd little mystery that sometimes seems to become a little dangerous, as the parents tool around New England, followed by the mysterious CF. There are very nice map endpapers, and a lot of B/W photos of New England sites, as well as of the boy's Boston Bulldog. HB, PC, fairly good condition, $2.50 The Curse of Ravenscourt (A Samantha Mystery) American Girl book by Sarah Masters Buckey. A Victorian era mystery. These American Girl Mysteries are a lot longer and more involved than the books that come with the dolls -- this one is 173 pages long, involving a dangerous elevator, a possibly fake "medium" and a lot of vaguely possibly supernatural occurances, and of course Samantha does her part in exposing the truth. Historical notes and photos at the end of the text. Very nice paperback copy. $2.00 The Case of the Threatened King (Robert Newman) 1982. Andrew Tilbert has to figure out what could have happened to his friend (and partner in solving many mysteries) Sara Wiggins. She never returned from dancing class, and even Scotland Yard can't seem to find her. Then another girl disappears, and Sara proves that she can work with Andrew even when they aren't together. Political and international intrigue. HB, XL, very good condition, with fine DJ. $3.00 Teen-age Mystery Stories (from the Teen-Age Library) 1948. Most of the stories are by men and about boys, which is the case in almost all of thes books in this so-called "Teen-Age" library. It should be called the Teen-age-BOY's library, because I sometimes feel as if the editors didn't think girls counted. But actually there are a few stories in here that star girls, and all of the stories are about teens who solve the mysteries that adults have trouble with. I especially liked the first one, which mainly took place in a used-book store. And the snowbound story. A good-sized book with 15 short mysteries, which originally appeared in magazines including American Girl and Calling All Girls. HB, $2.50 Dig Here (Gladys Allen) 1937. Maybe it's a pre-Maltshop YA novel, maybe it's a mystery, who cares -- it's a bit of both, and great fun to read. Girl and her boarding school roommate spend the summer with the girl's unknown aunt (her parents are abroad for a long period) in "a New England village." They expect to be bored by a narrow-minded old woman and a quiet town, but life has a few big surprises in store for the girls. Including a mysterious well, a cat, and a switched suitcase, and some teenagers who don't seem to be too repressed by living in a small town! HB, small picture on the cover. fair condition but firm and clean, $2.50 Dig Here (Allen) this copy is in good condition, given its age and originally cheap construction. There's a DJ, almost all there -- 1/3 of back cover is missing) and there are some chips and tiny tears but the pretty front cover and the spine are intact. Excellent story, and looks pretty darned good, too! $4.50 HELEN FULLER ORTON -- When I was in grade school, it was really not too easy for us to find good mysteries in the library (of course they didn't stock Nancy Drew or Judy Bolton in their children's room.) Helen Fuller Orton books were their very best mysteries for young readers, and I read them over and over again, no matter that I knew the endings by heart. Friendly kids from happy homes, but able to help less fortunate people (lonely kids, desperate old folk, neglected animals.) When I need something truly satisfying and simple to read, I still re-read Orton's books. Most of them were illustrated by Robert Doremus, who knew just how to draw the nice children in the stories! I'll add more as soon as I can. Mystery up the Winding Stair (Helen Fuller Orton) 1948. "Four boys and girls in a great country house, with the exciting task of trying to find a mislaid treasure..." as it's described on the former dj flap, which is glued inside the front cover of this XL HB. One of the things I like best, is that up those stairs, there's a full sized log cabin inside the large upstairs room! Former library book with printed picture cover that's nice and bright, with those so-nostalgic clothes and hair styles on the kids! Hinges just a little loose, a tiny bit of crayon "decor" on one blank page inside, otherwise in fairly good cond. $3.50 Mystery of the Secret Drawer (Orton) 1945. Has a historical setting, I'm not sure of the year, but it looks like the early part of the 20th century. Girl loves to play piano, but the family piano is worn out. Boy needs a bike, the house needs a lot of work -- and it all depends on the wheat crop. After a very good season, all the wheat money disappears after it' put into the secret drawer of the desk. That's the mystery, and I'm not giving away a lot, since this is all in the DJ flap (which is glued into the front of this XL book) Lovely story, exceptionally nice pictures. HB, XL, PC, firm and clean though somewhat worn, $3.00 Mystery in the Apple Orchard (Orton) 1954. The children have to cope with a snobby neighbor girl, who makes the mistake of wearing a diamond ring while they're out in the orchard, with the predictable results. Much more to this story, which I liked very much as a child, and even more as an adult! HB, XL, worn but holding up nicely. Picture cover of kids and the Old Apple Tree. $3.50 Mystery in the Old Red Barn (Helen Fuller Orton) 1952. Girl goes to the barn to fill a basket with the apples they store in there, and hears -- a sneeze! No one wants to believe her, but soon enough, other mysterious things happen. No more clues from me, but another mystery is whether the kids will ever get a horse of their own. HB, XL, PC, all in nice condition. $4.00 Mystery up the Chimney (Orton)1947. The cover picture is scarey enough for me, showing a boy standing on a very sloping roof. Distant relatives invite the 2 girls to spend the hot summer with them in the country, but they don't include the boy. One sister has other plans, so the boy goes in her place, much to the annoyance of the stodgy old relatives -- who are upset enough already about the loss of an important item. You can fill in the blanks -- and you'll have a good time getting to the satisfying ending. HB, XL, PC, fairly good condition. $3.50 Mystery in the Pirate Oak (Helen Fuller Orton) 1949. Orton's mysteries are short, sweet and nostalgic. This one stars 2 nice children who try to help an older neighbor find a treasure, and also befriend a lonely boy. Aimed at young readers, but heartening for the rest of us. I love the cover picture, 2 kids in cute clothes from the '50s, up on a platform in the most wonderful old tree that you ever saw! Tree climbing was an obsession with me for many years, and this one would have been a dream come true for me. good condition PB, $2.00. Fair condition pb, $1 (2 copies) Treasure in the Little Trunk (Helen Fuller Orton) 1932. Takes place in the 1820s. Family moves by covered wagon from Vermont to Western NY state. There's mystery, adventure, and some excellent period-looking illustrations. HB, XL, with colorful printed picture cover. $3.00 End of books by Helen Fuller Orton ******************************************* Annette Turngren wrote some of the VERY BEST mysteries for girls. Each one has a different and interesting setting, and includes the elements of a Maltshop as well as a complex mystery story. I'm close to positive that you would really like any of them! I'll include more books by Annette Turngren as soon as I can! Mystery Enters the Hospital (Annette Turngren) 1965. One of those hospital-set books that make you hope you'll never be helpless in hospital! In this case, the young candy-striper is in as much danger as the patients. Intriguing plot, including her traveling to a creepy motherless home to babysit during her Christmas vacation, and fear for the little boy in her charge. But most of the problem is, as the title implies, in the hospital. HB, XL, with a laser copy of the original very good DJ. The book itself has a picture cover, but the LDJ really dresses it up. $5.00 Augusta Huiell Seaman's books have been very favorably reviewed in some recent issues of Whispered Watchword. Her vintage books are always interesting, and were very popular in the 30s through 50s. These vintage mysteries are always interesting!!! Often a nice Carolina shore setting. Sorry if there aren't any Seaman books at this time. I'll list more just as soon as I can get them. Paperback mysteries by Augusta Huiell Seaman. Riddle of the Lonely House (Seaman) original hb title: Strange Pettingill Puzzle. 1935. The Depression is almost a character in this tale. Family lives in a houseboat, though there's an empty mansion that belonged to their ancestors. You know how it is, he didn't leave a will, and no one is allowed to claim the house -- or can this be solved? the boy's friends are eager to do just that, though there seems to be some kind of ghost, or something much more human, wandering around. Very nice book, a Scholatic reprint paperback. $2.50 The Mystery of the Old Violin (Seaman) hardcover title: The Inn of the Twin Anchors 1932. Girl's family runs an Inn in a secluded seaside location. When 2 young people stay with them, the 3 kids have to solve several mysteries. Cute, fun, and has some nice illustrations. PB, $2.25 Snowshoe Mountain Lodge (Lisa Eisenberg) 1987. This is one of a nice series of 3 mysteries about Kate Clancy, who manages to get to some interesting locations like this ski lodge and Cape Cod -- and always runs into mysteries. A veritable Nancy Drew! These books appeal to Nancy's fans including me! PB, good condition, $2.00 A Killing Freeze (Lynn Hall) 1988. Girl is helping her father run a winter carnival with dogsled and ski races, etc. And ice sculpture -- that's important to the story! The fest is marred by deaths and danger, but it's an entertaining story anyway! PB, good condition, $1.00 The Ghost of Follonsbee's Folly (Florence C. Hightower) 1958. Father of 5 kids, buys a Victorian mansion before anyone else in the family sees it -- and what a shock they do get! The kids are pretty sure there must be a ghost in such a place, and before long, you're beginning to wonder, too. Excellent story, kids are well portrayed, father is annoyingly optimistic but he's somewhat amusing, their housekeeper is especially memorable. Pristine pages in this hardcover book with picture cover showing a sketchy drawing of the house. $3.00 The Mystery of the Great Swamp (Marjorie A. Zapf) 1967. Okefenokee swamp setting. Boy explores the swamp in his boat, with his pup. This book might appeal more to boys than girls, but if you enjoy wilderness adventure, wild and tame animals (including a pet alligator!) and a totally unexpected and amazing mystery, this is your book. HB, with a PC, in almost new condition -- $3.00 HB, PC, moderately good condition, $2.50 Mystery of the Great Swamp in a PB, $1.50 MORE MYSTERIES AHEAD -- INCLUDING MORE MALTSHOP MYSTERIES, AND BOOKS BY PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY, RUTH CHEW, AND MANY OTHERS!!! The Mystery of the Merry Magician (Ellery Queen, Jr.) 1961. If there really was an Ellery Queen (instead of a duo of 2 cousins writing under that name) and he'd had a nephew, this series is would be what he'd write! There are quite a few Ellery Queen Junior books, and they're a great deal of fun, sort of in the mold of the Three Investigators. A lot of the action in this one takes place along the NY waterfront, with old vacant warehouses, disappearing dogs, and a couple of boys who substitute for Uncle Ellery in solving a mystery. HB, PC, good condition except that the pages are turning brown with age, $3.50 Green Turtle Mystery (Ellery Queen junior)1944. I have loved these "Queen junior" books forever! The boy is called Djuna (say it!) and that's typical of the sense of humor that pervades the books -- for instance, some of the chapters are headed by quotations from "Ben Franklin Junior's Almanac" and you have to think about what they really are saying! Well, the books are really are good juvenile mysteries, too. Scholastic PB, $2.00 Mystery of the Lobster Thieves (Elaine Macmann Willoughby) 1978. this is a Weekly Reader Children's Book Club edition, written for pre-teens. Nice hardcover copy, with a creepy cover picture of 2 children in a boat, just off the shore of a place that looks like all the lobster villages on the coast of Maine. However, this one takes place a little south of here, on the NH coast. Family moves to a little house on an island, where they have a great time until the lobster thefts start up and the children decide to solve the mystery. HB, PC, $2.00 Three Stuffed Owls (Keith Robertson) 1954. The Carson Street Detective Agency start out to try to find a stolen bicycle, but that was just the beginning! This is a humorous story, but and actually the 2nd in a series about these young people, who "recently" solved the mystery of Burnt Hill. XL HB in good condition, with a very good DJ. $2.50 The Vandals of Treason House (Nancy Veglahn) 1974. 4 CT teens are convicted of vandalism, their reformatory sentence is suspended if they each write a long essay about vandalism, and put in 100 hours of community service repairing the damage they caused. While they're doing it, they learn to appreciate the historical old house they're working on, and when it's going to be torn down for "progress" they work to save it. Most of the sleuthing is historical, but I've never read any other book anything like it. Good story! HB, picture cover, $1.50 Mystery at Redtop Hill (Marjory Schwalje)1965. 3 kids decide they should figure out what's bothering their great friend, Major Clyde. He's morose, and not enjoying his young friends, plus getting visits from a sinister stranger! The Charles Geer pictures (and there are a lot of them!) are a lot of fun, including the map endpapers, something I always find very helpful. Very nice picture cover, whilch wraps around the back, too. HB, good condition, $2.50 Dexter and the Deer Lake Mystery (written and illustrated by Charles Geer) 1965. I've just discovered that Charles Geer lived in Rockland, Maine, where we lived before we moved here (still live less than 25 miles away.) This mystery has a Vermont setting -- summer cottage on a lake (Vt is the only New England state without ocean frontage, but it sure has lakes!) Dexter is a boy, but the story includes both young men and young ladies, who team up to solve the mysteries of the robberies, and eventually much more serious crimes! Geer's illustrations are unmistakable, humorous, and detailed. Good reading for you if you are, like me, addicted to YA mysteries. Quite a large PB, good condition, $2.00 Mystery of the Island Fires (Elaine Macmann Willoughby) 1991. A Weekly Reader Book Club hardcover. Takes place on an island off the NH shore. The kids are excited about getting back to their cottage, but their mother is also about to start an antique shop. Over everything, the unexplained fires that keep cropping up. Short but interesting mystery, HB, PC, $2.00 The Fireball Mystery (Mary Adrian) 1977. Adrian wrote a whole lot of YA mysteries, many with a scientific background, like this one about kids searching for a meteorite that they saw, falling from the sky. Weekly Reader Book Club HB with PC. $2.00 Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones (Mary Adrian) 1965. Three children go to Utah to spend their vacation digging up dinosaurs and mysteries. Even if you know a lot about dinosaurs, and even though this book was written for intermediate readers, you'll still learn a lot. The author wrote very popular mysteries that include nature, science, and very good reading. HB, PC, fair condition, $2.00 Two HB mysteries by Hal G. Evarts. Popular books for boys, good condition for former library books. The titles are "The Secret of the Himalayas" (1962) with a picture cover, and "The Pegleg Mystery" (1972) with a dust jacket. "Fine, fast-paced adventure" according to the description inside the books. 2 mysteries -- $4.50 for both of them. The Eisenbart Mystery (Roger Pilkington) 1963. Mainly for boys, but of course anyone can read it. Boy and family escape from East Germany, after a hard life including other escapes. Complicated plot, lots of adventures and new friendships. HB, XL, $2.00 Mystery Mountain (Florence Laughlin) 1964. Arizona setting. Both girl and boy characters. 2 boys, strangers, look like twins. Lost gold mines, trail rides into the desert, research into the past. HB, exciting PC, nice condition from Young America Book Club. $3.00 The Mysterious Schoolmaster (Anckarsvard) Translated from the Swedish, this book is one of a series that are very popular and enjoyable, mild and "cozy" type of mysteries about a group of school kids. In this one, the girl and boy start to notice things about their physics teacher, who is acting very mysterious and sneaky. They follow him, trying to stay undercover, but eventually get into some real danger. Nice that there are both boy and girl characters! This copy is a former library hardcover, with a nice picture cover showing a boy hiding behind a wall, watching a bicycling dark man, with the ocean in the background. Original Swedish version is from 1955. $3.00 The Mysterious Schoolmaster (Karin Anckarsvard) One of the good stories about the children of Nordvik, Sweeden. As you've guessed, this one centers around the school. We've all had some pretty wierd teachers, but could this one actually be a crook? PB in good condition, $2.00 The Robber Ghost (Karin Anckarsvard) 1955. Continuing the adventures of the same girl and boy that you've met in The Mysterious Schoolmaster, involving them in solving the mysterious disappearance of a large amount of money. And at the same time, the appearance of a ghost. Could these things be related? HB, XL but in great cond, with a very good DJ. $3.50 BIG LOT FROM THE YOUNG READERS BOOKSHELF. Here are 4 books from a very long series of short stories for boys and girls, all from the early 1950s. The stories are predominantly about boys, and the DJ pictures all show boys, but some of the stories are by women, and some of them feature girls. All of them are fun to read; I know because I read them! All 4 of these books are in very good condition, with DJs (one dj is slightly creased.) They would make a nice gift for a 4th or 5th grade reader, or for an animal- or sports- lover. My theory is that the books feature boys because girls are happy to read stories about boys, but boys are prejudiced against reading stories about girls! Just my theory .... Plenty of illustrations in each book. The books are: 1. Young Readers' Mystery Stories (Charles Coombs) 1951. Illustrated by Charles Geer -- you'll recognize his style! There are 6 short mysteries in this book. About 5-6 grade level reading. I don't know if the endpapers have anything to do with the book, I think they are the same for all the books in this series. These illustrations are very attractive, and feature a girl and a boy running through the woods. They're one of the things that lead me to think that these stories are for girls, too. DJ has some folds, but on the whole, it's a sturdy book. 2. Young Readers Dog Stories (edited by A. L. Furman) 9 short stories by well-known dog authors. The book is in nearly new condition, with just an inscription on the 3rd page. Excellent DJ has an adorable picture of a boy and a pup. 3. Young Readers Baseball Stories by Charles Coombs. 5 stories. More than just descriptions of games, there are back-stories about the players and their emotions. Book and DJ in very good condition, 4. Young Readers Football Stories by Charles coombs. 7 stories, similar to the ones I described in the Baseball volume. Again, a good DJ over a very good book. Four Young Readers Bookshelf books, these look wonderful! $9.00 for all 4. Mystery of the Piper's Ghost (Zillah K. MacDonald) 1954. Yes, this author wrote some good career-romances, too, but this one is a very good mystery. Takes place in Nova Scotia, involves a mysterious bag-piper, who rises out of the water of the lake! Two boys don't believe in ghosts -- they suspect this spector has something to do with the possible opening of a gold mine. Good condition PB, $1.50 Mystery of the Bewitched Bookmobile (Florence Parry Heide and Roxanne Heide) 1975. A Spotlight Club mystery (there are quite a few others in the series.) An interesting note -- one of the pre-text pages says "Look at the cover of this book through a piece of red glass, cellophane or red film, and you will find a secret message!" All that on top of a fascinating subject -- a book mobile! I couldn't find any red glass, so if you can find the secret message, please tell me what it is! HB, XL, picture cover, all in good condition. $3.00 The Ghost in the Noonday Sun (Sid Fleischman) 1965. This is more of an adventure story than an actual mystery, but I didn't know where else to put it. If you read it as a kid, you'll love to relive this incredible tale of pirates and other villians, and the boy who outfoxed them all! HB, XL, PC, good cond. $2.00 MYSTERIES BY PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY always involve a girl who goes to an interesting, unusual setting, finds a mystery, and meets a boy. Together they solve the mystery! These aren't romances, but stories of close friendship. These stories are very nice, very friendly and readable. Try one of them, and I'd be very surprised if you didn't want to read more of them right away. I'll try to have more of them very soon! Secret of the Spotted Shell (Phyllis A. Whitney) 1967. Girl travels to the Virgin Islands to stay with cousins that she has never met. In fact, she doesn't meet them when she arrives, either. When she finally finds them with the help of the airline stewardess, the man is missing, and his wife has taken to her bed in shock. No one wants the girl, but she thinks she can figure out where her cousin has gone, and get the family back together. A valuable shell from her cousins's collection is a clue to the mystery. Neighboring boy joins her in the quest, and everyone (including the reader) learns a lot about shells while solving the mystery. HB, XL, DJ, all in very good condition. I really liked this story, as I guess I could say about all Whitney's YA mysteries. $5.00 Mystery of the Angry Idol (Whitney) 1965. "An ancient Chinese idol helps Jan solve an old family mystery." Girl has to move from CA to Mystic, CT to stay with her almost unknown grandmother and totally unknown great-grandmother for a year. If you've ever visited Mystic Seaport, you'll know that this isn't going to be a hardship, but you wouldn't have to contend with the cast of odd characters she lives with, and a scary mystery. Plus homesickness. HB, XL, pretty good condition, with a very good dust jacket. Nice illustrations, too. $5.00 End of mysteries by Phyllis A. Whitney ************************************** Wylly Folk St John mysteries -- if you haven't tried them, I highly recommend them! Set in various locations in the South, most are aimed at about 8-10 graders, very well written, a bit of the Maltshop appeal to them, though the dates are a little too late. By the way, I had wondered whether Wylly was a female or male name -- just read a short bio of the author, and she's a "she." I'll try to list more Wylly Folk St. John mysteries in my next sale! MYSTERIES ABOUT JED, LIZA AND BILL, WRITTEN BY PEGGY PARISH. Peggy Parish wrote the Amelia Bedelia books, but she's more than a humorous writer about a maid who takes everything literally! This nice mystery series is about 3 children and various mysteries they solve while spending the summers at their grandparents' summer home on an island Some of the mysteries that they solve had puzzled their own father and his siblings when they were kids in the same area. Beautiful Paul Frame illustrations (he did the art for some of the Trixie books!) Key to the Treasure (Peggy Parish)1966. first the series. A nice hardback, with picture cover by Paul Frame -- $3 Key to the Treasure (Parish) XL HB with a very nice DJ. $3.00 Clues in the Woods (Peggy Parish) 1968. Paul Frame illustrations. In August, the kids are getting a little bored, after solving the original mystery. First they pick out a puppy for their grandparents (or for themselves?) and then they find another mystery to solve before they have to go home at the end of the summer. HB, XL, PC, $2.00 Pirate Island Adventure (Parish) 1975. Paul Frame illustrations. This summer, Liza, Bill and Jed are going with their grandparents, to Pirate Island! When they get there, Grampa gies them a clue to an old mystery, and they have to go all over the island to solve it. South Carolina setting. PB, good condition, $1.75 Haunted House (Peggy Parish) 1971. Very nice condition Collier Books paperback. Family buys their dream house, big place in the country -- but it turns out to be haunted! Or is it some sinister plot? The kids know how to follow clues and break codes, so they love this challenge. This edition does not have the Paul Frame illustrations, but I've hardly ever seen nicer paper in a pb book. $2.00 ------------------------------------------ Mystery of the Haunted Hut (Mary Graham Bonner) 1950. Scholastic. Children spend the winter vacation in the small town where they usually go just for the summer -- they find crime and mystery! Good for boys and girls, as both figure in the story. Also good for adults, at least me! I have always liked this vintage book, since before it was "vintage!" very good copy, $2.00 fair copy, $1 The Secret Raft (Hazel Krantz) Both boys and girls rafting and camping to solve a mystery on the water. Spies, etc. 1965. Aimed at about junior high reader, but I enjoyed it, too! Very good cond. PC $3 Mystery in Little Tokyo (Frank Bonham) Takes place in the Japanese business district of Los Angeles, 1966. Nice gift-shop setting! HB, PC, 2.00 Mystery of the Red Tide (Frank Bonham) California shore setting. Someone is trying to make trouble for Uncle Mike, a marine biologist. Can the kids figure out this mystery and help their beloved relative? Caves, interesting marine life, a couple of teen boys who might or might not be the trouble-makers -- or possibly just interested in what's going on. Lots of fun, featuring very smart boys and an even smarter (of course!) girl, 1966 XL DJ $2 Mystery of the Red Tide (Bonham) paperback copy, very good condition, $1.50 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TEENS' AND CHILDREN'S NONFICTION Dancing Star: The Story of Anna Pavlova (Gladys Malvern) 1942. This book inspired a generation of ballet-dancing girls! Starts when she's 8, and her mother manages to save up the money to take her to Sleeping Beauty ballet. According to this story, she made up her mind right then, that she'd dance that role some day. HB, XL, picture cover, a very nice biography for teen readers. $2.50 Louisa May: The World and Works of Louisa May Alcott (Norma Johnston) This biography kept me reading avidly. Author has written numerous YA fiction books, and in the introduction she says that Alcott's stories were very influential in her life. She thought the Alcott family was perfect, and longed for her own family to be just like them -- until she started probling deeper, and found the darker side of the life that Louisa May lived. This is so fascinating! HB, XL, in very good condition, with a good DJ, too. $2.50 Martha, Daughter of Virginia (Marguerite Vance)1947. A very nice book by an author who also wrote quite a few other bio's of women, all written for young adults. Hooray for her, in an era when women weren't thought to be nearly as important as their husbands! This is the story of Martha Washington, and it's beautifully and respectfully done. The illustrations are especially lovely; have you heard of Nedda Walker? I hadn't, but I do like these pictures a lot. Nice biography. HB, XL, good condition, with a DJ that has only a couple of very small missing pieces. I think they're where the former library stickers were, and someone cut them out. Otherwise, a very good dust jacket with a picture of a sprightly, energetic-looking young woman on horseback. $3.00 Forest Fire! (Frances Judge) illustrated by Jo Polseno. 1962. Author lived with her ranger husband and their kids, in National Forests and parks, so she knows what she's writing about. The HB book is in very good condition, with a very good condition DJ. History of fire, fire prevention and fire fighting, safety rules, reforestation. Lots of nice drawings, quite a few photos (including Smokey the Bear as a cute cub.) Good reference book for middle-grade homeschoolers or anyone who wants to write a report -- or learn about forest fires. 1st ed. $2.50 Breakthrough to the Big League: The Story of Jackie Robinson by Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett, a Breakthrough Book 1965. Written for junior and senior high school age, full of photos and the difficult but wonderful story of Jackie Robinson. HB, nice picture cover, good condition, $2.50 The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (Maria Augusta Trapp) This is the original book that the movie "Sound of Music" was based on. Much more detail of Maria's life before, during and after the events in the movie. There's a lot about their life after coming to America, which is even more interesting to me than the Austrian scenes. By the way, there isn't a scary chase scene in an Abbey, but lots more about their family music-making, which was much more interesting to me. I LOVE their music, as I heard it on records "in the old days" and tapes in the slightly less old days. Nice cover picture of the entire family. Large PB book, good cond, $2.50 Homesick: My Own Story (Jean Fritz) 1982. Author of many fine books for young readers, tells about her early years as she grew up in China while homesick for America. She's won many awards for her writing of both fiction and non-fict. XL, Good cond, with nice DJ. $3.00 MORE NONFICTION BOOKS TO FOLLOW! *********************** To Dance, To Dream (Maxine Drury) a nice Whitman book, 1965, with true stories of great dancers from early times to the present. Nice line-illustrations. Pretty picture on the cover, a ballerina and a dreaming girl. Fairly good cond HB, $1.50 Gonna Sing my Head Off! American Folk Songs for Children. The songs were collected and arranged by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Allen Garns. The book has an introduction by -- Ta Da -- Arlo Gurhrie! That's enough for this musician to hear, and I know I'll love the book. There are 62 songs, John Henry, Hush Little Baby, cowboy songs, lullabies, This Land is Your Land (of course) and all kinds of American folk songs from nearly every state. There are guitar chords noted, very simple ones for children, but there's also an accompaniment for each song, for the young pianist. And tons of funny or beautiful pictures. Super music book for kids! HB, XL, DJ, large size, good condition. $3.75 Songs the children Love to Sing: subtitled A collection of More Than Three Hundred Songs for Mothers and For Children of all Ages. Copyright 1916, but this particular copy must be a bit newer than that, as it's in pretty good condition! It's a big, big paperback book, with a very decorative front cover picture, and tons and tons of songs inside. Each one has the words and full accompaniment (they are simple, or at least they are simple for me, at about 2nd-grade piano level.) You'll know many of them, and there are plenty of new songs about all kinds of things that appeal to children like kittens, nursery rhymes, a snow man (not Frosty!)food, holidays. Many of them are activity songs with instructions included. This book is appealing for nostalgia value, or for practical purposes, teaching or having fun with your own kids. Large PB, good condition. $3.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FICTION BOOKS OF MANY KINDS, INCLUDING: A FEW BIG LOTS HISTORICAL NOVELS, MUSIC AND POETRY BOOKS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN FOLK STORIES, ANIMAL STORIES SOME BOOKS WRITTEN FOR ADULTS, BUT APPROPRIATE FOR OLDER CHILDREN AND LOTS OF OTHER TYPES OF FICTION BOOKS!! Kobi, a Boy of Switzerland (Mary Marsh Buff and Conrad Buff) 1939. Large and quite beautifully illustrated book. Right near the very beginning of the story there's a lovely picture of the chalet-style house where Kobi lives, mountain in the back yard, goats nibbling grass in front; you will want to move right in. Kobi had plenty of adventures, even though he lives up in the remote mountains, and he learns a lot about the world while having tons of fun. There are full-page color pictures, double-page color pics, small illustrations in both b/w and color. It's quite a book, including some folk tales and some modern life, too. HB, XL, cover isn't too beautiful, but the interior is good. $2.00 The Tomahawk Family (Natalie Savage Carlson) 1960. 2 Sioux children live in a log house in South Dakota. The little girl is eager to learn everything about life outside the reservation, so begins to scorn the ancestral ways as she goes to school. The boy wants nothing to do with the rest of the world. This is a very sweet story about kids who live between the old and the new ways. They watch TV shows, along with ancient ceremonies. Nice pictures! HB, PC, $2.00 The Echo Song (written and illustrated by Rosalie Fry) 1962. Very musical Welsh family -- except for one girl, who doesn't seem to have any musical talent at all. Her parents and the other kids are immersed in choirs, musical competitions, etc, but she mainly loves to wander in the wilds, show her younger siblings the place where they could hear the amazing echo, do a spot of bird-watching with her brothers. Until the song-writing contest was announced! This is a nice family story, lots of the domestic details that I always like, and of course lots of music, which I LOVE! Fry's pictures are wonderful -- can you imagine having two such fine talents? HB, XL library picture cover, good condition, $2.50 The Story of A Nurnberg Stove and A Dog of Flanders (both by Louise De La Rame) 1931. A sweet little book, old favorite, with a few nostalgic illustrations, and a very decorative dust jacket. $1.50 The Good Master (Kate Seredy) the Newbery honor book about a girl who spends time at her uncle's country home, and surely needs the loving but firm hand of The Good Master (her uncle.) Set in Hungary, Seredy's country of origin, it has a sequel, The Singing Tree. Beautiful Seredy illustrations throughout, but for some reason, not on the cover. PB good condition, #1.50 Holiday Storybook (Complied by the Child Study Association of America.) beautifully and nostalgically illustrated by Phoebe Erikson. This large book has stories for just about every holiday and special day in the year, from New Year on. The Christian and Jewish religious holidays are included, also United Nations Day, birthdays, Arbor Day, and a lot more! Poems, stories, wonderful authors like Carolyn Haywood, Catherine Woolley, and Carol Ryrie Brink. Titles like "Christmas Eve in the Used Car Lot," and "Juan Brings a Valentine." Good resource for a teacher or librarian, this one is vintage for sure (1952) but who cares? Very large HB, XL, some wear but still firm and complete -- with a picture cover. $3.00 Rasmus and the Vagabond (Astrid Lindgren) 1960. Yes, the author of the Pippi books wrote this also amusning book -- this time about a boy. He ran away from an orphanage to see the world and seek his fortune. Winner of the Hans Christian Anderson medal in 1958. HB, XL, with DJ -- all in fairly good shape. $2.00 Up a Road Slowly (Irene Hunt) 1966 Newbery Award winner. Nice second printing of this near-classic. Says it's for "Ages 12 and up" and I mean UP, including adults. HB, DJ, very good condition, with the Newbery medal on the front cover. $3.00 The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (Karen Cushman) 1996. Girl hates the idea of moving with her family from New England to gold country of California. I love this author! Dave and I read "Katherine, called Birdy" and "The Midwife's Apprentice" and really like everything she has written. HB, XL, DJ, all in very good cond. $2.50 The Village that Learned to Read (Tarshis) 1941. A gentle, very loveable book about a boy who lives in a very remote Mexican village, when they get their very first school. if everyone learns to read, they'll get a good prize, but this boy, the mayor's son, rebels and refuses to learn to read. Many adventures and festivals follow, and then... I just finished this book, and even though it's about another country and culture, and features a boy, I liked it a lot! HB, XL, pretty good cond. $2.00 4 complete novels -- 3 are by Grace Livingston Hill, who was wildly popular with woman readers (and doubtless their husbands) in the '30s and '40s. This is a very thick paperback, the stories are "Aunt Crete's Emancipation," "A Daily Rate," and "The Girl From MOntana." The 4th novel is "Mara' by Isabella Alden, who was Grace's aunt. Modern edition of these romantic oldies. PB, pretty cover! $2.00 Poems for Seasons and Celebrations (edited by William Cole) 1961. This would be a good resource for a teacher or anyone who works with kids, especially if they are giving programs honoring various holidays. Many holidays and special occasions are covered, from New Year's Day through Ground-hog Day, to Christmas, including all the seasons, Flag Day, and tons more. Large book, cute illustrations, a nice dust jacket with symbols of many holidays in a border around the title. HB, XL, DJ, all in good condition. $4.00 The Diary of the Strawbridge Place (Helen Pierce Jacob) 1978. Described inside the book as being about "a family of Quakers operating a station on the Underground Railroad, who spirit slaves from Astabula, Ohio, across Lake Erie to freedom." The back flap indicates that there's another story about them, The Secret of the Strawbridge Place. Adventure, humor, danger. Written for middle grade readers, maybe grade 5-10. HB, personal copy, with a pretty dust jacket. $2.50 Helen's Babies, subtitled "With some account of their ways: innocent, crafty, angelic, impish, witching and repulsive. Also a partial record of their actions during ten days of their existence." Whew! from 1876. A sister asks her brother to stay in the home while she and her husband take a little trip. No problem, there will be a nanny and other servants in the house, but it's SO much better to have a man about the house. Well, of course nothing works out quite the way it's supposed to, and the young uncle learns more about children than he'd dreamed he ever would. Lots of baby-talk that might slow you down, but it's amazingly adventurous. I can imagine our great-grandparents laughing at this book when our great-great grandparents read it to them. Cover shows 2 little boys trying to get a billy-goat to pull a little cart, and the expressions on their faces are priceless! I don't know when this book was printed, but it's in better condition than it would be if it was really over 140 years old! Large HB, picture cover. $3.50 Roller Skates (Ruth Sawyer) 1936 Newbery Award book. Maine Author, but this one is about a year in New York City, in the 1890s, when girls went verywhere on roller skates! Sequel (The Year of Jubilo) does take place in Maine. PB in good condition, $1.25 Little By Little: A Writer's Education (Jean Little.) 1987. Great title, isn't it! This wonderful Canadian author's autobiography. She was nearly blind from birth, and did write about a blind girl in at least one of her many books. But actually, this book is about becoming a successful author, and the variety of things that influenced her -- not just blindness. I loved the anecdote about her playing in a basketball game, to save her school team from losing by default because they didn't have enough girls on the team. They figured out a strategy to keep her surrounded and confuse the other team. Did they win? Read this humorous and very intresting bio. HB, XL, with nice DJ -- pictures of Jean Little as a darling baby and as a beautiful teen. Lots of photos through the text. $3.00 The World's Best Fairy Tales, a Reader's Digest Anthology (from 1967.) You probably know that REader's Digest has been putting out collections of all kinds of music and writings, for a long time. I love their nostalgic tapes and CDs, music from the '40s stuff like that. This is a book, a large and very attractive one, with a whole lot of well-known and less well-known tales plus quite a few full-page color illustrations. You will find Three LIttle Pigs, Hansel and Gretel, Jack the Giant Killer, and some tear-jerkers like Little Match girl, about 35 in all. Knowing these tales is part of what kids need to know in order to understand so many literary references, I really think, as well as just for enjoyment! Book in good cond except for cracked inside spine (all pages attached and spine firm.) $2.00 Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm. This is alarge and fairly recent (as Grimms' Fairy Tales go) hardcover book with both B/W and full color pictures and chapter headings. Illustrated by Allen Atkinson. Maroon leathery-look cover, with gilt lettering and a fancy cover picuture of perhaps a king, fairies, enchanted forest, etc. This a Julian Messner book, from 1982. Very nice condition. 3 dozen tales, including the all the old favorites! $2.00 Calico Captive (Elizabeth George Speare) 1957. Takes place in 1754 in New Hampshire. Girl is part of the forced march to Montreal, and thinks she'll never see her family again. Based on a real diary, but made into exciting and suspenseful fiction. good HB, with a good DJ, personal copy. $3.00 Books by Charlene Joy Talbot, an author I've gotten acquainted with and really like! An Orphan for Nebraska (Charlene Joy Talbot) 1979. Irish boy arrives in NY after a long ocean trip, during which his mother had died. He figures that his uncle would be easy to find, but unfortunately Uncle Mike was in jail! The boy lives from hand to mouth for a while, then ends up going west on a Orphan Train, and finding a life that he'd never dreamed of. Not a road paved with gold, but in some ways, better! HB, XL, with DJ. Page block is split, but the pages are firmly stuck together, and the story is good enough to overlook this flaw! Nice otherwise. $2.00 Tomas Takes Charge (Charlene Joy Talbot) 1966. Same book, different title, as "Children in Hiding." A book that will make a big impression on you, or at least it did for me. 11-year-old boy has to take care of his younger sister when their father doesn't come home. After a neighbor says they'll have to go to the children's shelter, hey hide out in an abandoned building, search for food after the farmer's market closes, anything to bide their time until their father comes back (as they keep thinking will happen.) There is a sequel to this beautiful story, A Home with Aunt Flory, I think is the name. PB, good cond, $1.75 Granny was a Buffer Girl (Berlie Doherty) This book won a lot of prizes, like Young Adult Editors' Choice, and the 1986 CArnegie Medal -- but don't let that scare you off! It's sort of a family history, plus current romance, and very enjoyable. Girl is going off college and wants to shed all her family history so she can be independent. But the relatives start to tell their stories, and some of them are pretty amazing! By the way, a buffer girl buffs metal at the steel plant, but I'm not sure of the details! It makes for an interesting title, anyway. British setting. pb, good cond, $2.00 Call of the Mountain (Cornelia Meigs) 1940. This is a book that catches your eye before you even start to look through it. Bound in a burlap fabric, it has brown outline illustrations on the front and back covers. It's a large book, and the paper is of a quality you don't see any more. I would have thought it was a new printing of the book, but it's a first edition. There are lots of illustrations, some of them 2-color full-page, some of them smaller, black and white sketches. Set in Vermont in the 1830s, a wilderness adventure story among other themes like friendship and love, ard work, survival. It's a true classic, and this is a very good copy of the book. HB, PC, all in good condition, $3.00 Rifka Bangs the Teakettle (Chaya M. Burstein) 1970. An adorable story of a little Russian Jewish girl who loved her home and her life, but wanted an education, too. set in 1902, it "portrays... a loving family living in the shadow of a hostile society." Many of the old customs and lots of fun. I can't help thinking of Fiddler on the Roof, but this one was written for middle-school readers. XL HB in very nice condition, with a beautiful DJ also in very good condition. $3.00 Little Navajo Bluebird (Ann Nolan Clark) illustrated by the wonderfully talented Paul Lantz. Everyday life of a little Navajo girl, whose Big Brother has gone away to School (that's the way these words are written.) Now her big sister has to go away to school, too, and she is heartbroken. Then several incredible things happened, and she began to see that she, too, might be ready to go to the school, and her brother and sister weren't lost to the family. Beautiful book, in every way, the story, the art, the nice quality of paper. HB, XL (but no external library markings) with picture cover on front and back. $2.50 The Blue Door (Ann Rinaldi) Very exciting story that takes place in 1840 in Lowell, MA, when girls worked long and arduous hours in textile mills. This is the 3rd book from Rinaldi's Quilt Trilogy, which follows a family through 3 New England generations. HB, XL, excellent condition, with a very good dust jacket. $2.50 The Magic Mitt (Helen Kay) 1959. A vintage book, for kids just over the picture-book age, About a boy who wanted to play baseball, but was afraid of getting hit by the ball! The best things about this book are the illustrations. Evem if you aren't a baseball fan (isn't everybody???) you'll enjoy the action sketches of this small boy and his friends, his obviously Converse sneakers, their baseball caps, and his wonderful expression when things finally work out for him. HB, PC, XL with some wear, $2.00 Next, here's a big lot of fiction books! 5 books by EDWARD EAGER , who kept us amused and entertained with fantasy and magic when I was a kid! My favorite was Half Magic. The 5 PBs in this set are in wonderful condition, almost new, and they have new and funny cover pictures, plus lots of internal illustrations by N. M. Bodecker. Fun! The books include: Half Magic (1954) Knight's Castle (1956) Magic by the Lake (1957) Magic or Not? (1959) The Well-wishers (1960) 5 beautiful paperback books by Edward Eager -- $8 for the set of 5 books! If you don't want to spring for the entire 3 Edward Eager books, try just one, and it's myfavorite of them, since it takes place in a summer cottage by a lake. Don't you love to read about rustic summer cottages? In fact, I'd like to live in one all year around! HB, XL, with a picture cover. The paperbacks are more beautiful, but this is a HB, so take your choice! $2.00 Books by Noel Streatfeild (some are fiction, a couple are actually non-fiction, but this is MY list, so I'm putting them here!) Ballet Shoes (Streatfeild, 1937, I think it's her first and I know it's her most famous!) PB edition, formerly in a library, but good cond. $1.50 Theater Shoes (Streatfeild) 1945. I don't think this one needs any introduction, except to say that the cover has the sharp-nosed style, which I guess must have pleased someone somewhere. PB, $2.00 Theatre Shoes by Noel Streafeild, 1945. Dell Yearling Book says "A companion to Ballet Shoes" pb in good condition, 2 copies available, $1.50 each Dancing Shoes (Noel Streatfeild) Yes, another wonderful Streatfeild story of orphans who learn to dance -- and some of them are even quite talented! Plenty of problems but plenty of wonderful fun. PB, in good condition, $2.00 (2) The First Book of the Ballet (Noel Streatfeild) This is one of the long series of
"First Books" -- I think they're from the 1950s (there isn't a date in this one.) It's beautiful, even though someone used a crayon on a few of the pages. If I had a little girl who was starting ballet lessons, I would love to read this one with her, as it has really nice, soft illustrations by Moses Soyer, and every bit of information that a dancer would like. All of this is presented as a fictional story of a girl starting ballet classes, which makes it fun to read even if you aren't a big ballet fan. HB, PC, $2.50 End of books by Streatfeild A Jewish Holiday Boxed Set (Jane Breskin Zalben) 1991. Characters are a nice family of bears, who have adventures surrounding the Jewish holidays. The slipcase is a little worn, as slipcases often become, but the little picture books are in very good condition. Titles include: Beni's First Chanukah Happy Passover, Rosie Goldie's Purim Leo and Blossom's Sukkah Slipcase with 4 picture books -- $2.50 The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis) Includes The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair. Nice hardcover edition, in good condition, with lots of black-and-white illustrations. $3.50 Tressa's Dream (Priscilla Holton Neff) 1965. Her dream is a horse with a white star on its forehead. What she gets is a goat that pulls a wagon. And eventually a horse -- but is it her dream come true? It's really quite a darling story, with more to it than horse-horse-horse. Friendship, family, growing up. Written for perhaps middle grades, the cover is especially pretty, nice friendly-looking girl and a line-up of animals looking on. HB, $2.00 Snow Treasure (Marie McSwigan) 1942. From the foreword: "This story is based on an actual happening. .. Freighter Bomma reached Baltimore with a cargo of gold bullion worth $9,000,000... the gold, it was learned, had been slipped past Nazi sentries by Norwegian children who had pulled it on their sleds to... Norway's coast." But this (deliberately disguised) story of how the children saved Norway's gold for after the war, is fictionalized, and has been a very, very popular book with children for all these years. Written for maybe middle grades, it reads like an adventure or mystery. It doesn't downplay the danger of what was going on in that part of the world. Who can be trusted? What is the mysterious disease that spreads through the schools? Lovely illustrations, they're almost the best part of the book. HB, XL, both in fairly good condition $3.00 Miss Hickory (Carolyn Sherwin Bailey) 1946. Newbery Award Winning book. Poor Miss Hickory, she's only made of twigs and nuts, but she has to survive a serious New Hampshire winter in her flimsy corncob house. Here's the story of how she managed, with the help of her animal friends, who are beautifully illustrated by artist Ruth Gannett. Something lovely happens to her in the spring! Not a picture book, exactly, since it's mostly words, and over 120 pages long, but the pictures are as good as the tale. This was a favorite book when I was young. HB, XL, both book and DJ in pretty good condition, with a few dents, small tears and smudges to show that the book was loved. $2.50 MORE NOVELS COMING UP AFTER A LITTLE CHRISTMAS SECTION! ********************************************************* Christmas is over for 2010, but you probably are like me, and love to read about it all year long! Here are some Christmas-themed books that are good reading any time of the year. Bear and Katie in "A Day at Nestlenook Farm" (A Special Christmas) 2004. written and autographed by Loni R. Burchett. These 2 black lab dogs live in Maine, but in this story they travel to New Hampshire to a farm resort, and play in the snow just before Christmas. The pictures (by Patricia Sweet-MacDonald) are precious. If you like to read about New England, winter, dogs, Christmas-time, and aren't averse to a book written for little kids AND adults, you'll get a big kick out of this one. The preface states that these books were written to teach children about the environment, wild-life, geographical locations, etc. Published by a small-press, Black Lab Publishing. Tall, good-quality paperback, $2.50 The Christmas Carol Miracle (Luise Putcamp, Jr.) 1954. Will the orphans EVER win the prestigeous and valuable Christmas carol contest? Not with little Christopher, and his frog-like voice. Sweet story, small hardcover XL in excellent condition, with a very good dust jacket. $2.00 The Legend of Holly Claus (Brittney Ryan) 2004. I haven't read this yet, but it seems like something that fantasy-lovers wouldn't want to miss. This extremely thick PB has a beautiful cover picture and quite a few illustrations. It's from the Julie Andrews Collection (that sounds as if it will be lovely, doesn't it?) Back cover has a quote from Publishers Weekly "A lush and leisurely Yuletide read" and indicates that it's appropriate for ages 9 and up. Holly Claus is Santa's and Mrs. Santa's daughter, and this is her life story, taking place in Victorian times. Full of fairies, magical friends, and adventures. PB, $2.50 ************** End of Christmas books, back to assorted Fiction books ****************** Eight Nursery Tales (edited by Watty Piper) the only dates listed in this book are 1932 and 1938. I'm not trying to say this copy is that old, since it's very clean and crisp looking. But who knows, it might be! The DJ shows the controversial Little Black Sambo, looking happy and proud leading a parade of animals and children from nursery tales like Chicken Little, Gingerbread Boy, and Little Red Hen. There is a slight musty odor to this book. HB, DJ with some pieces missing from the very bottom, $3.00 The Creep (Susan Dodson) 1979. I recently read this book, on a night when I couldn't sleep all night due to a noisy environment. I didn't really mind too much, as I was so wrapped up in this story. A teen-age babysitter feels guilty that she hadn't listened well enough to her little charge, who said some man tried to make her get into a car. Later the young one was kidnapped and almost attacked (the babysitter rescued her.) The guilt over the incident caused the babysitter to offer herself to the police as bait for the serial molester. All this is on the front flap, so I'm not giving away the bulk of the really suspenseful story. Family dynanamics, police work, very, very interesting although quite suspenseful enough for anyone. Listed to be for ages 12 and up. HB, XL, DJ, very good condition, $3.00 The New Boy (Mary Urmston) 1950. Author of very popular children's mysteries and good career-romances for teens, shows another side of her talents with this book about a 9-yr-old boy and his family, who have to adjust to a new town and school. Very, very cute. HB, XL $2.00 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ANIMAL BOOKS There are lots of animal stories other places, too, but here are a few especially nice ones Lassie -- The Secret of the Smelters' Cave (Steve Frazee) 1968. Adorable Whitman Authorized TV book, hardcover, starring everyone's favorite collie. Fairly good condition HB. $2.00 Wyoming Summer (Mary O'Hara) 1963. O'Hara wrote a 3-book series, beginning with My Friend Flicka. But this is a "documentary novel" is about life on the real ranch where those stories were set. There are horses and a lot of other animals, and a group of kids who are attending a summer camp there! And more! HB, good condition, with pretty good DJ. Personal copy. $4.00 Flash of Phantom Canyon (Agnes V. Ranney) 1963. Much more than an animal story, but the dear little colt on the cover plays a big part. Native American boy -- or is he a white boy? He wants to discover his own past, who his parents were, where he belongs. Friendly, easy story, not grim or heavy but just nice! Historical setting in the Northwest when it was the frontier, Good PB. $1.50 Pepper (Barbara Leonard Renolds) illustrations by Barbara Cooney --1964. Very good story of a boy and his pet raccoon. HB, good condition, picture cover, $2.00 The Black Stallion Mystery (Farley) PB good condition! $1.50 _______---------------___________----------------______________--------------
PAPERBACKS OF MANY KINDS! ++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Shy One (Dorothy Nathan) 1966. Girl's almost-grown-up uncle comes from Russia and is put into her own 5th grade class, to her embarassment (He can't speak English but he's very outgoing!) And she was just starting to make friends! Takes place in 1921. PB, $1.00 (2) Escape from Warsaw (Ian Serraillier)I don't know the original date, but this Scholastic edition is from 1966. PB $1 Julie's Heritage (Catherine Marshall) 1957 PB $1 Boys' Books Flying to the Rescue, a Ted Scott Flying Story, by Franklin W. Dixon, the same name as the purported author of the Hardy Boy stories. 13th in the series, possibly last? Ted usually flys an airplane, but in this one, he's in a giant dirigible. You can see how "giant" it really is, by checking out the frontispiece, which shows it just above an airplane. Adventure in the air. HB in very good condition for one of these oldies (has pencil scribbling on front and back endpapers) -- $3.00 Hot Rod Road (Carl Henry Rathjen) 1968. Whitman edition with picture cover showing a hot rod race on both front and back of the cover. Not my kind of book, I will admit, but I'm sure there are people who would love this "classic" Whitman book, which is in very good condition, hinges undamaged, spine clear, pages not badly brown. There's a vague spot indicating where the original price sticker was, but it's not torn or sticky, just a slightly different color. $2.00 Club Team (James R. Richard) 1950. Beautiful copy, like new, of a book for boys, ages 12 to 16, according to the DJ flap. Tommy joins the Boys' Club baseball team, and makes a name for himself The DJ cover is enough to make you love this book, if you're a baseball fan -- and who would admit not being a one? Boy's hands gripping a bat, with the ball nearly to the bat, green field below, a shadowy suggestion of the bleachers in the background. HB, personal copy, with DJ, all in very good condition. From the Sports Stories for Boys series. $2.00 Frank Merriwell series by Burt L. Standish. Here are 3 books in this vintage (1902 and 1903) series. One of the things that tickle me about them, is the picture of Frank in his knickers on the front covers! Like all boys who are the heroes of series books, Frank was a sportsman, and had a good many adventures. Three of the adventures (and associated sports) are described in these books -- Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour, Frank Merriwell's Trip West, and Frank Merriwell's Races. The books are sturdy and tightly bound, but I can't truthfully call them beautiful. Good reading anyway! All three books for $5.00 Mercer Boys series by Capwell Wyckoff. Here are 3 of the Mercer books, all with very nice picture covers (they are in different colors, and look as if they were made of wood.) The boys are cadets at the woodcrest Military Academy, but spend more time solving dangerous and important mysteries, than in studying. Fascinating plots. The books are all dated 1948, and the titles are Mercer Boys at Woodcrest Mercer Boys on a Treasure Hunt Mercer Boys Mystery Case 3 hardcover Mercer Boys books with picture covers, $7.00 Teen-Age Outdoor Stories (edited by Frank Owen, from the Teen-Age Library.) 1947. The title doesn't specify this is for boys, but the cover picture has only a boy (Ok, and a pack of wolves) in the picture, and the authors of the 14 short stories all have male names. There's an occasional minor female character, but the editor must have thought that only boys could have outdoor adventures. Still, you'll love reading these stories of sports, camping, horses, dogs, danger, mystery. This is from a very long series, the "Teen-Age Library," which includes books of short stories about sports, scouting, history, aviation, and much more. Large HB in very good condition, with DJ in good condition (showing that scary DJ picture that I described!) $4.00 Set of 3 books from the Boys' Life Library (From Boys' Life Magazine, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America.) 2 of these books are filled with stories from vintage Boys' Life Magazines, mostly from the 1940s and 1950s. The third is also a publication of Boys' Life, but is a sci-fi adventure. Each of these HB books is in very good condition, with colorful picture covers, good bindings, and nice clean pages. These matching books look GOOD! Included are: The Boys' Life Book of Football Stories The Boys' Life bok of World War II Stories Mutiny in the Time Machine, a Boys' Life Library Book (1963) Set of 3 Boys' Life Library HB books, $9.00 Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Book #1, Stand My For Mars -- 1952. Has a picture cover, and I must say, Tom Corbett is a very good-looking guy, even inside a glass space helmet. Some pages are a little smudged, there's wear to the corners and edges of the cover, but cover picture is clean and the binding is firm. $4.00 Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Book 7 -- Sabotage in Space. Has a picture cover, very dramatic! The book's in moderately good cond, a little warped but nothing too bad. $2.50 Forest Fire Mystery (Troy Nesbit) 1962. A very nice copy of this mystery that takes place in the Colorado Rockies. Billed as a boys' book, it has plenty of room for his sister, Liz, and the Dew Drop Inn that their father runs. Quite a few nice 2-color pictures in this Whitman book with a wrap PC. I think you'll like it! HB, PC, $2.00 Chip Hilton Series (very popular sports series for boys!) Championship Ball -- Chip Hilton #2. This one has a DJ, though it's not perfect. DJ has a small triangle chip out of the bottom of the front cover, and a gummy place near the top, where some vandal stuck a price sticker! Other than that, not bad at all. The book itself is pretty good, in reddish tweed covers. $3.00 Dugout Jinx -- Chip #8. This is a nice copy with a picture cover, only thing I can see is that it has slight separation of the page block from the spine in one interior area. Not a complete separation. It was apparently bound that way. Otherwise, clean and nice. $5.50 Backboard Fever -- Chip #10 Beautiful copy with a nice picture cover and the original price sticker on the front! $8.00 Fence Busters (Chip Hilton #11) with a pretty good dust jacket. In fact, the DJ is really good except for one small place at the very top of the front, where there is a piece that was loose, and I tried very carefully to put it back in place. You might be able to do an even better job, but the nice thing about it is that otherwise, the DJ is very good. $10.00 Triple-Threat Trouble -- Chip #18. Very good copy, only the slightest signs of wear on the covers, corners almost mint, etc. $15.00 Ten Seconds to Play -- Chip Hilton # 12. HB in fair condition. Former school library copy has good binding, good front cover, and clean pages. The outside spine is quite scuffed, especially at top and bottom. corners have quite a bit of wear. HB, tweed cover, $5.00 Tournament Crisis -- chip #14. Good tweed copy, no DJ. It's square, corners are pretty sharp, and pages are clean. $3.50 Pay-off Pitch -- Chip #16. Fairly good tweed copy, Worn at corners and along edges of spine, good binding, but a little bit of play can be noticed. Pages are mostly very clean, with a bit of browning along the front edges when the book is closed. HB, $5.00 Hardcourt Upset -- Chip #15. Nice picture cover copy, with original $1.25 price sticker still on the front cover. a bit of wear in the usual places, and the binding isn't 100% perfect. But not too bad, and holding together nicely. HB with PC, $7.50 Bronc Burnett -- Flying Tackle -- picture cover. Very small area at top right corner has the color torn off due to a price tag someone apparently pulled off. Exterior corners are somewhat rubbed, but interior is very clean and tight. $4.00 END OF BOOK SALE LIST