Trying to remember the names of some children's books
Baerana
a kid. I can only remember bits of the plots. I'm now 27 so these
books would be at least 15 years old. Any help would be greatly
appreciated!!
1) During the Great Depression, a tall, skinny woman is hired to help
out on a farm. She takes care of the kids (I believe it is a son,
daughter, and then two young twins) and does other stuff. She is a
tomboy - doesn't wear dresses, skips stones, plays poker, etc. She's
also a skilled ventriloquist. I believe this is a series.
2) A teenage? boy in England finds a young runaway girl. She was
abused. She lives with him and his mother for awhile - they live near
train tracks. The boy thinks the girl is the first real angel he's ever
met. A few years later she dies trying to rescue a cat - she falls
from a tree and is impaled on a fence. She thinks "God will let me into
heaven for this" I think she has a weird nickname for God, like "the
big guy" or "Big Al" or something...
3) I believe this is a series of at least two books... in the first one
I remember, a girl's mother is hired to be a cook for some rich people
one summer. The girl has to go live on these people's estate with her
mom. She lies to her friends about where she is really going. She
dislikes the daughter of the rich family but then starts to like her
(teaching us all about not judging people). The rich girl owns an amber
horse from an old carousel. In the second book, the former-cook mother
becomes a caterer.
4) A girl is orphaned. She is an excellent piano player. She goes to
live with some relatives. They aren't very nice to her. I believe she
lives with an aunt, and her aunt's two daughters. After a few years,
the aunt has another child - a blind boy.
Again, any help would be much appreciated!
--
-Baerana
Nicholas Young
news:QKqdnRc0dPF...@comcast.com...
> 2) A teenage? boy in England finds a young runaway girl. She was
> abused. She lives with him and his mother for awhile - they live near
> train tracks. The boy thinks the girl is the first real angel he's ever
> met. A few years later she dies trying to rescue a cat - she falls
> from a tree and is impaled on a fence. She thinks "God will let me into
> heaven for this" I think she has a weird nickname for God, like "the
> big guy" or "Big Al" or something...
This one sounds like a slightly garbled version of _Mister God, this is Anna_
by "Fynn". There is no teenage boy - the narrator is an adult, but the rest
sounds roughly right. They live in the East End of London. Anna calls God
"Mister God" and has odd names for Jesus and the Holy Spirit (from memory, the
latter is "Vehrak" but it's several years since I read it). She dies in
exactly the way you describe. Let me know if you need more details to be
sure.
I wouldn't personally describe it as a children's book but of course YMMV. It
is certainly rather extraordinary and made a great impression on me when I
first read it, though there are some inconsistences - it's not at all clear
what the level of education of the narrator is supposed to be, for instance.
Nicholas.
--
"Macbeth" is ... by a playwright who ought, at least on this occasion, to have
written a story, if he had the skill or patience. - JRRT, _On Fairy-Stories_
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removing all occurrences of the letter "v".
Baerana
> "Baerana" <use...@baerana.com> wrote in message
> news:QKqdnRc0dPF...@comcast.com...
>
>
>>2) A teenage? boy in England finds a young runaway girl. She was
>>abused. She lives with him and his mother for awhile - they live near
>>train tracks. The boy thinks the girl is the first real angel he's ever
>>met. A few years later she dies trying to rescue a cat - she falls
>>from a tree and is impaled on a fence. She thinks "God will let me into
>>heaven for this" I think she has a weird nickname for God, like "the
>>big guy" or "Big Al" or something...
>
>
> This one sounds like a slightly garbled version of _Mister God, this is Anna_
> by "Fynn". There is no teenage boy - the narrator is an adult, but the rest
> sounds roughly right. They live in the East End of London. Anna calls God
> "Mister God" and has odd names for Jesus and the Holy Spirit (from memory, the
> latter is "Vehrak" but it's several years since I read it). She dies in
> exactly the way you describe. Let me know if you need more details to be
> sure.
>
> I wouldn't personally describe it as a children's book but of course YMMV. It
> is certainly rather extraordinary and made a great impression on me when I
> first read it, though there are some inconsistences - it's not at all clear
> what the level of education of the narrator is supposed to be, for instance.
YES!!!!!! That's it. I read it when I was about 12 but I read adult
books at that age as well. Thanks so much!!! XOXOXOXOX
--
-Baerana
PSierut
<<1) During the Great Depression, a tall, skinny woman is hired to help
out on a farm. She takes care of the kids (I believe it is a son,
daughter, and then two young twins) and does other stuff. She is a
tomboy - doesn't wear dresses, skips stones, plays poker, etc. She's
also a skilled ventriloquist. I believe this is a series. >>
Could this be IDA EARLY COMES OVER THE MOUNTAIN by Robert Burch? There were at
least one or two other books in the series including, I believe, a Christmas
story.
Peter
bogus address
>> 2) A teenage? boy in England finds a young runaway girl. She was
>> abused. She lives with him and his mother for awhile - they live near
>> train tracks. The boy thinks the girl is the first real angel he's ever
>> met. A few years later she dies trying to rescue a cat - she falls
>> from a tree and is impaled on a fence. She thinks "God will let me into
>> heaven for this" I think she has a weird nickname for God, like "the
>> big guy" or "Big Al" or something...
> This one sounds like a slightly garbled version of _Mister God, this is
> Anna_ by "Fynn". There is no teenage boy - the narrator is an adult,
> but the rest sounds roughly right.
It left me feeling I had been Got At in the same way that C.S. Lewis's
books did.
> It is certainly rather extraordinary and made a great impression on
> me when I first read it, though there are some inconsistences - it's
> not at all clear what the level of education of the narrator is
> supposed to be, for instance.
He was supposed to be an Irish labourer, so probably not very high. The
style says otherwise.
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Cori
> >> 2) A teenage? boy in England finds a young runaway girl. She was
> >> abused. She lives with him and his mother for awhile - they live near
> >> train tracks. The boy thinks the girl is the first real angel he's ever
> >> met. A few years later she dies trying to rescue a cat - she falls
> >> from a tree and is impaled on a fence. She thinks "God will let me into
> >> heaven for this" I think she has a weird nickname for God, like "the
> >> big guy" or "Big Al" or something...
> > This one sounds like a slightly garbled version of _Mister God, this is
> > Anna_ by "Fynn". There is no teenage boy - the narrator is an adult,
> > but the rest sounds roughly right.
>
> It left me feeling I had been Got At in the same way that C.S. Lewis's
> books did.
>
>
> > It is certainly rather extraordinary and made a great impression on
> > me when I first read it, though there are some inconsistences - it's
> > not at all clear what the level of education of the narrator is
> > supposed to be, for instance.
>
> He was supposed to be an Irish labourer, so probably not very high. The
> style says otherwise.
Did this book strike you as being based on fact, or purely fiction?
Cori
Sionnach
"PSierut" about:
> Could this be IDA EARLY COMES OVER THE MOUNTAIN by Robert Burch?
Or possibly "Sarah, Plain and Tall".
Tink
> a kid. I can only remember bits of the plots. I'm now 27 so these
> books would be at least 15 years old. Any help would be greatly
> appreciated!!
>
> 1) During the Great Depression, a tall, skinny woman is hired to help
> out on a farm. She takes care of the kids (I believe it is a son,
> daughter, and then two young twins) and does other stuff. She is a
> tomboy - doesn't wear dresses, skips stones, plays poker, etc. She's
> also a skilled ventriloquist. I believe this is a series.
I know, I know!!
It sounds an awful lot like Ida Early Comes Over The Mountain, by Robert
Burch. I read that one as a child, and only came across another Ida Early
book last year. Are there more than two?
Tina
bogus address
>>> This one sounds like a slightly garbled version of _Mister
>>> God, this is Anna_ by "Fynn". There is no teenage boy - the
>>> narrator is an adult, but the rest sounds roughly right.
>> It left me feeling I had been Got At in the same way that
>> C.S. Lewis's books did.
>>> It is certainly rather extraordinary and made a great impression
>>> on me when I first read it, though there are some inconsistences -
>>> it's not at all clear what the level of education of the narrator
>>> is supposed to be, for instance.
>> He was supposed to be an Irish labourer, so probably not very high.
>> The style says otherwise.
> Did this book strike you as being based on fact, or purely fiction?
Fact, but bent more than a little by wishful hindsight.
There are some Christian writers who don't come across like dodgy
double-glazing salesmen (Adrian Plass, for example) but "Fynn" and
C.S. Lewis aren't among them.
Anna in CA
remember, a girl's mother is hired to be a cook for some rich people one
summer. The girl has to go live on these people's estate with her mom. She
lies to her friends about where she is really going. She dislikes the daughter
of the rich family but then starts to like her (teaching us all about not
judging people). The rich girl owns an amber horse from an old carousel. In
the second book, the former-cook mother becomes a caterer. >>
I didn't recognize this one, but I copied and pasted your query over on
BookSleuth.
Here's the reply:
"This is "The Carousel Horse", which was later reprinted as "The Gift Horse",
by Sheila Hayes. Both show up for sale pretty often - they are the same book.
There is also a sequel called "You've Been Away All Summer". In the first
book, Fran and her mom go to live with the wealthy family while her mother
fills in for the housekeeper for the summer. Fran is both ashamed of her
mother's job and upset about living with the wealthy family's daughter, Andrea,
who is rumored to be a snob. Of course, they become good friends by the end of
the book.
The sequel picks up with Fran's return home to NYC. She finds that a new girl
has moved into the neighborhood and taken up with her best friend, Sarah. Fran
doesn't like the new girl and is hurt that Sarah seems to have dumped her. She
confides in Andrea through letters and during Andrea's visit to the city. She
later finds out that Sarah knew all along where Fran spent the summer, and was
hurt that Fran didn't tell her. Again, the story ends happily, with everyone
learning to get along."
Anna in CA
with some relatives. They aren't very nice to her. I believe she lives with
an aunt, and her aunt's two daughters. After a few years, the aunt has another
child - a blind boy. >>
Another response from BookSleuth, from the same person who solved the previous
query:
"Ohhhh, this is one of my all-time favorites, "Allegra" by Sandy Miller.
Allegra is a musical prodigy, who is orphaned when she's eleven years old and
goes to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. The story goes through her late
teens. Much focus is on her relationship with her piano teacher and her
jealousy of another piano student, who is the first pianist whose talent ever
rivaled her own. Her aunt gives birth to a blind baby, who turns out to be a
musical talent as well. I reread this about once a year!"
Hope these are both correct.
Let us know!