Alice's Books for Sale
OUR LATEST REVISED LIST -- JULY 2010
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BILLHEIMERS' BOOK SALE LIST FOR JULY 2010 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 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 Jean Nielsen -- Walk Under the Trees good hardcover with DJ of Fair Exchange SOME BOOKS BY RUBY RADFORD 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 (Elizabeth 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 Triumph Clear by Lorraine Beim 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, THESE 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! FIRST, 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! Lighthouses of Maine (Bill Caldwell) 1986. Need I say more than what the title says? Descriptions, pictures, stories, of all the lighthouses along the coast. Caldwell wrote a number of very good books about Maine, in general, and about islands, rivers, and history. This one is a very large paperback with lovely cover picture, all in good condition, $3.00 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 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 Understood Betsy (Dorothy Canfield) This is a Vermont book, but a lot like a Maine setting. It's something of a classic, having been reprinted many times since it was written nearly a century ago (1916.) According to the copyright page, it was revised to some extent in the 1940s. The present copy is a hardback, XL, with a very cute picture on the excellent dust jacket (the book itself is somewhat more worn than the DJ.) Betsy is being brought up by her aunts, who are very careful to understand her and make sure she never has to worry about anything. However, they have to be away for a while, and Betsy goes to live with her uncle on a farm, where life is much less gentle, and she has to learn to DO things! A very loveable book about nice characters and appealing situations. $2.50 Understood Betsy, pb copy, same wonderful story! $1.50 Golden Tales of New England (May Lamberton Becker, editor, illustrated by Lois Lenski) Hardcover reissue of a 1931 original. 17 stories by famous New England authors over the years. Hawthorne, Thoreau, Sarah Orne Jewett, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and so many more. Adorable chapter decorations by Lenski (cover is absolutely beautiful, but it's by Currier and Ives, not Lenski.) There are introductions to each of the stories, with information about the authors, what else was going on when the story was written, and anecdotes. Altogether lovely, a book full of lots of good reading, packaged very attractively. HB, personal copy, very good condition with a very good DJ. $2.00 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! Mystery of the Pilgrim Trading Post (Molloy) 1964. 3 cousins are spending time -- as little time as they can manage -- with their much older cousin Mary, in "this town far down the maine coast: the next stop is across the Canadian border." City snobs, all of them, they hate the town, as well as each other. Cousin Mary is a druggist, and runs her own shop, so they are free to get to know each other and solve the mystery that's threatening the town, and especially Mary. Strangely enough, the kids eventually forget that they were going to leave ASAP. Super mystery! Very good writing and plot. Good food, including lobsters. HB, PC, $3.00 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!) ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. 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 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 Lost on a Mountain in Maine (Donn Fendler) 1939. This story is very famous in Maine. All the school kids read it, and the author has often visited schools to talk about his ordeal on Mt Katahdin when he was 12. He wandered around the wilderness for 2 weeks, after losing the rest of his party in the fog. READ IT, I'M QUITE SURE YOU WILL GET A KICK OUT OF THIS BOOK! PB, fair condition, $1.00 YET MORE MAINE BOOKS! 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. 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, and escaping to his "secret" island hidout. Things 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, very nice condition. $3.50 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 One Man's Meat (E. B. White) ... is another man's poison, but this series of essays is one of my favorite books, extremely readable and clever, telling a lot about what the world was like just before and during WWII. Don't look for heavy analysis of political situations, but you'll get the idea of what people were thinking (White's writing is something like Mark Twain's and Will Rogers' in that way.) I've said before that my favorite 2 essays in the book are the ones about living in a trailer park in Florida (that hasn't changed much in the intervening 65 years!) and the one about how people just don't understand how horrible "just hay fever" can be! PB, $1.25 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 adjacent to the one where we live. About a girl and boy who try lobstering to help the family. Here's a 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! paperback in good condition $2.50 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. Star Island Boy (Rich) 1968. Foster child is assigned to a family on a Maine island, where people make a living from lobsters and other fish. This sad boy can't believe that he's really wanted anywhere, and besides, why are so many kids being sent to this island all at the same time? Wonderful story, and there's a sequel, 3 of a Kind (AKA Sally.) HB, XL, good condition, with a really good DJ. $3.75 Summer at High Kingdom (Rich) 1975. At first I was going to say that this book isn't much like Rich's other books, but then I realized that it really is! In fact, we lived through something very much like this when we first moved to Maine, and lived in a small, inbred type of community. Dave was principal and taught 2 grades in a 3-room grade school, and next door, on a farm, a group of "hippies" lived. Some of the community thought they were a great addition to the town, volunteering to do all sorts of unpopular jobs and welcoming kids to see the animals and crops. Others were deeply suspicious of these odd-looking outsiders. Now, this is JUST what Summer at High Kingdom is about! The clash of tradition and fascination, including several generations (and you can't predict which generations are on which side!) Through it all, inland Maine summer is perfectly portrayed. All of our family loved this book back when we were living through the same time period, and it's still very real to us. Nice HB, XL, with very good DJ (look at that VW bus with the Peace symbols on it! $4.50 --------------------------------- 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 -- isn't he 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 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! The Noble Doll (Coatsworth) illustrated by Leo Politi, 1961. Written for just above the picture book years. Mexican setting, nice girl, Christmas time, a beautiful doll. Wonderful, imaginative illustrations by a well-known artist. Hardcover book in very good condition, with a dust jacket that has frayed edges, but the front cover is complete, no holes at all. $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 Chimney Farm Bedtime Stories (Henry Beston and Elizabeth Coatsworth, husband and wife.) Originally illustrated by Maurice Day, a local artist at the time this book was written. He was very well-known for his amusing and friendly animal pictures. This paperback copy of the book does not have the original picture, but the interior pictures are the originals. You'll like these little stories, and so will your kids -- at bedtime! PB, good condition, $1.50 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 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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! 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 (Ladd) 1961. The first book in the Meg series. She lives with her older brother on his fishing boat, but her adult cousins feel she needs to live in a stable home and go to school. Wow, Meg isn't at all happy with this arrangement! Neither do her crow or her black cat, but off they all go. Predictable trouble ensues. Mystery, too. Nice, very satisfying story, with Mary Stevens' incredibly suitable and darling illustrations. If you can resist Ladd's Meg stories, I'll be very amazed. HB, XL, worn book, clean and tight inside. $2.50 A Mystery for Meg (Ladd) illustrated by Mary Stevens. 1962. Meg gets to spend a vacation with her brother, helping fix up an old house on an island. Things turn out to be very mysterious and even dangerous out there. Meg, Crow and Repulsive (the cat) help to solve the horrible mystery! And there's a lovely ending. "Down East Quality Reprint" which is a large paperback, in great condition. $2.75. Meg's Mysterious Island (Ladd) 1963. Another mysterious island! Meg and her brother want to get away from townspeople's threats to send her to an orphanage, so they set up housekeeping on a deserted island. But it's not all that deserted, is it! Danger as well as some cozy scenes depicted by Mary Stevens' illustrations that are so wonderful that you wish you, too, could live on a deserted island in an old beat-up house heated by a wood stove. Wonderful ending!!! PB, with nice Mary Stevens picture! $3.50 Trouble on Heron's Neck (Ladd) 1966. Meg and her cousin Kit meet Marty, while searching for Meg's pet crow, and things start to happen. Ladd teaches conservation along with her exciting stories, in a very natural way. Animals and birds are always woven into her plots. HB, XL, very good condition, with a very good DJ. $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 isloated 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 Marty Runs Away to Sea (Ladd) 1968. One of the nicest things about this book is the joyous girl in the picture on the DJ. Not illustrated by Mary Stevens (she had died just a few years earlier, much to our sorrow) but this cover is quite special, too. In this book, Marty, from Treasure on Heron's Neck, has to live with her bossy aunt, after her father is injured. She does run away, though it's not on a whaler, as in former generations, it's on a tourist boat, where she gets a job by lying about her age! If you like the same books I do, you will like this one a lot! Nice copy, XL but in very good condition, with a good DJ. $5.00 Ironbound Island (Ladd) 1965. Boy wants to help out at home, so 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 a really good picture of Maine island life a few generations ago. Very humorous pictures and plenty of fun as well as adventure. HB, XL, fairly good condition, with good condition DJ. $4.50 The Indians on the Bonnet (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 "bad guys" and fun, to touch on the subject of prejudice against Native Americans. I love reading anything by Ladd, always the nicest of girls as her heroines, as well as a setting that can't miss. But this one, while worth reading for sure, also makes you think, and isn't quite as cozy as her other books. HB, XL, in very good condition inside and out, $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 Welcome Home, Or Someplace like it (Charlotte Agell) 2003. Yes, it's nearly new, not a vintage book like most of my offerings. But it is definitely a Maine book! The girl and her brother are essentially dropped off at their elderly grandfather's home in a tiny Maine village, while their mother goes somewhere to soak up atmostphere for her latest best-selling romance writing. Grampa is odd, but eventually girl realizes that he's just what she needs in her life. Wonderful small-town details, diary entries, sketches that are supposedly by the teen girl, and very realistic (though fascinating) characters. I am very picky about what "modern" books I read, but this one had me hooked in a hurry. Add the fact that it's a HB in nearly new condition, with a pretty dust jacket in similar great cond. HB, personal copy, DJ, $2.50 2-book set written and illustrated by Maine's own Robert McCloskey. This set includes Homer Price (1943) and More Homer Price (1952.) These droll tales of a boy in a small town, are as entertaining now as they were 50 or 60 years ago. I know this, because I read them when they were relatively new, and just finished reading them again today! The pictures are at least half the fun of the books, but the stories are beyond funny, right into classic. Remember the donut machine? Eversomuch more-so? If your grade-school children haven't read them, they ought to eat them up! And you will have fun along with them. 2 largish paperbacks in good condition, $4.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 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 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, $2.50 END OF BOOKS BY MARY C JANE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOOKS BY MAINE'S FAMOUS ELISABETH OGILVIE -- for both adults and young adults My 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. Oglivie, who recently died, 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. High Tide at Noon (Ogilvie) 1944. "This is a story of Maine and its lobstermen -- of the lusty Bennett family and of one girl's love for a small piece of land and the sea surrounding it..." Is this Ogilvie's first book? At least one of the first. It's a library edition, but very sturdy and a second printing, from 1944. Rebound in a bright red cover. $2.50 Paperback novels for adults, set in Maine, by Elisabeth Ogilvie. I've included the blurbs that are on the covers, but remember that these are the paperback editions, which are always described as more dramatic than the stories really are! I think you'll love these, and find that they truly give you the feeling of living in small towns and islands in Maine. PB Ogilvie books -- $2 each Rowan Head (cover says "a job as companion brought Miriam to the small coastal town where she found hersef involved with three passionate men..." No Evil Angel (cover says "Christine had given Ross the love he needed, but needs often change, as life itself changes...") Where the Lost Aprils Are (cover says "The haunting story of a bittersweet love that unlocked the secrets of a town and its past...") A Theme for Reason (cover says "without Shane, Alix was alone, but life had more to offer than solitude...") whatever that means! 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 The Strange Case of Baby H (Kathryn Reiss) An American Girl History Mystery, takes place in 1906. Girl finds an abandoned baby on the family doorstep after the San Francisco earthquake. This book is a lot of fun, and very suspenseful! I really did like it! Nice historical notes and pictures at the end of the story. Fair condition (pretty good except for the bottom corners of the last few pages, which are curled.) $1.50 Christmas After all (Dear America book) Subtitle, The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932. by Katherine Lasky. Have you read any of these Dear America books? I've read quite a few, and have never found one that wasn't truly wonderful. Fiction book, but the authors of these books did a lot of research, and you could imagine that everything was written by real people. This is one of my very favorites, since I like the ones from the mid-20th century the best. Beautiful cover picture, cameo of a nice girl, surrounded by holly and ivy, with snow-covered trees and a church steeple in the background. Things got worse and worse and worse for the Swifts, as they did for so many people in those days. Christmas is supposed to be special, but they almost wanted to forget it. Then... HB, beautiful condition, a real treat. $2.50 Black Duck (Janet Taylor-Lisle) 2006. A recent book but mostly taking place in 1929. A present-day high school boy wants to become a newspaper writer, so he interviews an old gent who has the story of a lifetime, which has never been told before. All about a little coastal Rhode Island town during Prohibition. If even half of it is true to what life was really like at that time, I'm pretty glad I didn't live through it. It's a sort of mystery, sort of romance, sort of continuing serial story. It kept me glued to the book at hours when I would have been better occupied in sleeping (we were visiting my family, and our days were filled with activity, so I had to do my reading after everyone else was asleep.) This book would be great for a boy to read (late grade school through middle school) but I think you would like it if you are looking for an adventure story. PB, $2.00 Here are some more of Alice's picks: 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 The Island Keeper: A Tale of Courage and Survival (Harry Mazer) 1981. This book is one of the "new discoveries" for my Alice's Picks category. I just read it and thought it would appeal to others who, like me, are fascinated to read about people who survive in very difficult situations. First, the girl has a terrible loss, but her father and grandmother are extremely cold and unfeeling, putting her down constantly. She runs away to the Canadian island where she and her sister were the happiest, a few years ago. Things conspire to keep her there much longer than she expected to stay, and she has to improvise constantly in order to stay alive -- which of course has a big impact on her sad self-image. HB, XL, in wonderful condition, with a very good DJ. $2.00 Penny in Hawaii (Ella Mae Charlton) 1964. Despite the date, I can't stretch this one to list it in the maltshops, as it's written for younger readers, maybe about 6th grade. Here's another story of a girl who has to move to a place most of us only dream of seeing, Hawaii! She misses her friends from Oklahoma, and really doesn't want to get to know new friends, who aren't at all friendly, or so she thinks. There's a nice glossary and pronounciation guide to Hawaiian words, which Penny learns to use and appreciate, along with the wonderful people she meets. Nice book, about 120 pages, cute illustrations, darling dust jacket picture. I really like this book, and it certainly didn't change my mind about how much I would love to see Hawaii! HB, DJ, both in fairly good condition, $3.00 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! Melinda Takes a Hand. From the DJ (showing 3 messy girls dashing along while trying to hold back a big dog on a leash) you can surmise that it's a book full of adventure and energy. Set in Colorado in 1893. I won't even try to tell you the plot; it's too complicated, but everything fits together, and eventually Melinda solves everybody's problems, including her own sister's, which was what started the adventure in the first place! The characters and situations are wild, and they seem improbable, but the author's notes at the end of the book, assure you that she based everything on historical records. If that's true, I wouldn't have minded living through those days! HB, XL, super condition, with a very good DJ over a picture cover! $4.50 Jayhawker (Patricia Beatty) I haven't read this one yet, but I really like her other books, and I have another copy for myself. According to the DJ flap, it's about a Kansas boy whose family are abolitionists. When his father is killed, he becomes a spy for the Union in 1858. The book is XL, HB, in very good condition and with a very good DJ. If you like spy and adventure stories, I'm sure this would be a very good one, since the author is excellent. $3.50 Turn Homeward, HAnnalee (Patricia Beatty) Girl is separated from her family by the Civil War. She has a lot of adventures and dangers while trying to return home. Wonderful family story, plenty of unhappiness, plenty of love and joy. PB, $2.00 Well, I didn't get them on the list in time, but anyway, here are a few CHRISTMAS books! Two books about Ida Early (Robert Burch) These wonderful stories are from 1980 and 1983. First, "Ida Early Comes over the Mountain" -- Ida appears just when these motherless children need someone to bring interest and love into their lives -- but she's more of an oddity than a housekeeper! Did the kids drive her away when they made fun of her? Ends at Thanksgiving time. The other book starts where the first one ends, and tells about "Christmas with Ida Early." This one is something to be thankful for, too! There's a slight "incident" with the new preacher, after which Ida helps with the church Christmas show! There is humor but also what I dare to call pathos, in these stories of backwoods children in the Depression, and a tall maverick of a woman. Both of the books are former library hardcovers, in very nice condition, with very good DJs. Both of them together for $4.00 EVEN MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS! The Trolley Car Family (Eleanor Clymer) 1947. Illustrated by Ursula Koering (one of my long-time favorite "Jack and Jill artists." J and J magazine had what you might call a stable of artists that contributed very often. I learned my love of kids' book illustration from studying their works when I was a girl of maybe 6 to 12 years old.) This book has been a favorite of mine pretty much since it first came out. I think my fascination with travel-trailer living must have started with this story of a family whose father lost his job as a trolley car driver when busses took over the route, and accepted his old trolley car, set up at the very end of his former route, as a home for his family. This started an amazing train of events (unintended pun!) that I've always loved. Best thing -- the 2-page spread of the floor plan of the trolley car house. I used to pore over it, and try to imagine it in reality. PB in wonderful condition, $2.00 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 Freddy and the Space Ship (Walter R. Brooks) illustrated by Kurt Wiese. originally from 1953. Freddy the Pig is another character that brings back memories of childhood for me, and probably for you! There were a lot of these books, and this one captures the mania of that decade, just before space travel became something of a reality. HB, XL, with picture cover, all in pretty good condition! $2.50 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 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 Little Women (Alcott) in an especially pretty edition by the John C. Winston Company, from 1926. There's a paste-down front cover picture, a color frontispiece, some b/w interior illustrations (Clara Burd) There's an introductin about the book, and an especially pretty picture on the interior of the front and back covers, showing the Alcott Home in Concord Ma. The former owner's name is written inside, and a nice presentation showing that it was given to Joanna on Christmas of 1939. HB, PC, fairly good condition, $3.00 The Silver Pencil (Alice Dalgliesh) 1944. As I've mentioned before, this was my favorite book for quite a few years, when I was in my early and middle teens. Though I didn't know it at the time, it's autobiographical fiction, as it parallels the author's life. Starts in colonial Trinidad, continues in England, and ends up with the girl going to college in America, becoming a teacher and author. She buys a vacation house in Canada, and finds a touch of romance, which is continued in the sequel, Along Janet's Road, which I'd like to find for everyone, but it was never reprinted in pb, as this one was. This book has sold, but I'm not deleting the description: I hope to find more copies and share the book with everyone. PB reprint of Silver Pencil, from the Puffin Newbery Library. New front cover picture, but the original interior decorations and illustrations. Good condition. $1.75 Mr. Twigg's Mistake (written and illustrated by Robert Lawson) 1947. This is one of those books that i remember from childhood. It made a big impression on me! Now that I look back on it, the dry humor is what strikes me, but when I was a little girl, the story just fascinated me! To quote the apologia at the beginning of the story, "The breakfast food herein mentioned is entirely fictious. Any resemblance of "Bities" to any actual cereal, living or dead, is just unfortunate." Mr Twigg thought of himself as a scientist, for after all, wasn't he the only one at the factory who had been through high school, and wore a white coat (even if it wasn't exactly spotless!) One day he put far too much vitamin X into that day's batch of Bities cereal, so when Arthur started to feed it to his new pet mole, De Gaulle, the mole started to grow mammoth! Hilarious developments, wonderful pictures, and -- what will happen when that batch of Bities runs out?? I am making more of this story than it probably deserves, but if you want a good laugh, here's your book! Large, good cond PB, $2.25 A FEW OF ALICE'S PICKS THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU! Here's a Tom Swift, Junior books that's harder to find than most of this series. In very good condition, with picture covers of rather amazing machines and activities! Tom Swift #29, Captive Planetoid. It was apparently formerly a library copy, but there are only a few indications of this -- the crossed-out library stamp on the top of the page block (very discreet), a crossed-out stamp and a "discard" stamp on one of the first pages, and the fact that the first inside page has been cut out very neatly. Colorless tape on a very small section at the bottom of the spine. In general, I would rate this book as in very, very good condition. $22.00 MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS! 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 nice gift to a little girl, if you want to 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 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 Sunday Doll (Mary Francis Shura) 1988. Girl turns 13, and is appalled to get a doll for her birthday. It's an Amish doll without facial features, and it gives her the creeps. But it's that doll which helps her through several crises in her teen life. PB, $1.00 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 Finding Walter (Ann Turner) 1997. The dolls have to solve a mystery -- where has the little brother doll disappeared to? The human children have to help, though it takes them a while to figure out what's happening! This book is in nearly new condition, with a nice Dj (pictures of the dolls, of course!) and a clever, interesting story. Written for middle-grade readers. $1.50 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. If you've read 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. ++++++++++++++End of Lenski Books ++++++++++++++++++ Adult book -- not YA. Ghost Girl (Torey Hayden) 1991. Have you read any of Hayden's books? She's a special education teacher, who specializes in the most difficult children in the world, abused, mute, destructive, extremely sad. She writes about her children in a downright, but absolutely riviting manner. This is one of the most amazing of all, and I've read many of her books. PB, $1.50 Because of Winn-Dixie (Kate DiCamillo) 2000. A cute little book that we first picked up because of the trailer-camp picture on the cover, then loved it for the very nice story inside. Girl lives with her loving but inattentive father, and is adopted by a rather nondescript dog that follows her from the grocery store. Newbery Honor book, and this is one of the times that I fully agree with their committee! PB, rather square (an unusual size and shape,) Good condition $2.00 (2) 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 Return to Gone-Away (Enright) 1961. Lots more amazing discoveries in the abandoned village, as the family has bought one of the houses, and they're restoring it to its former grandeur. This PB unfortunately has a new (and purists like myself think, inappropriate) cover picture, but the interior art is the original by Beth and Joe Krush. PB, good condition, $1.50 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) The Year of the Dream (Jane collier) 1962. Nice family wants a boat, so they all work together for a whole year to earn the money for it. Lots of interesting money-making schemes! PB, $1.50 Baby Island (Carol Ryrie Brink) 1937. A dream come true for a girl who loves babies! 2 sisters are shipwrecked on a desert island with 4 assorted babies. All the details of providing for their charges plus a bit of mystery -- of course! This is the perfect book for a long read in front of the fire on a freezing winter day. Treats a very serious subject with the lightest of touches, and such happiness! PB $1.50 Books by Lenora Mattingly Weber. These have recently been reissued in beautiful PB editions Image Cascade publishing, but die-hard fans like to own the "actual" HB book that we read as teens. Now it's a lot cheaper to do just that, since the reprints have come out and the market for the originals has dropped! 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 entirely 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. Being quite different from many of the big series, it's about a group of children, probably aged about 12 to 14, who seem to be part of an educational experiment -- they live together in a lovely environment and learn by doing things themselves (with expert supervision.) They are enthusiastic and cooperative, and it isn't until well into the series that they start to solve mysteries! The latter books in the series are nearly impossible to find, or at least at prices that most of us can afford. I love the series myself, and 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. 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. I didn't know where to put this one, but it's pretty and in good condition, as well as being potentially interesting, so here it is! It's in German, I think. Der Trotzkopf -- Eine Geschichte fur junge madchen. Looks like a German Maltshop to me, as the cover picture shows a sort of cute girl, though it does look as if she's peeking through a crack in a door! Author seems to be Emmy v. Rhoden. Hardcover book in good condition. If you read German, give it a try! $2.00 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 =================================== 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 and the mystery Doll (Woolley) 1960. it's an antique doll, which appears and disappears in this wonderful Cape Cod setting. PB, good cond, $2.00 Another PB copy of Mystery Doll in fair cond, $1.25 Ginnie's Baby-Sitting Service (Woolley) 1963. She doesn't know all the things that can happen when you set up a sort of playschool, day-care service for little children! But she learns, and you will love her experiences! PB, good cond, $2.00 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 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You might guess from my email address (which incorporates Trixie Belden's name, and my cat, who is Trixie -- 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 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! HB, slightly torn DJ, $5.00 The Gatehouse Mystery, Trixie #3. This is the Whitman "cellophane" edition, a very fragile printing of the series. As usual, the spine is separating from the front and back covers, but otherwise, it's pretty sturdy. The cover picture is by Mary Stevens (as well as the interior illustrations) and the cover shows Trixie and Honey looking just the way I envision them at the start of the series, cute little pre-teens. And the back cover shows the Gatehouse (later Clubhouse) looking absolutely adorable, all covered with vines, small-paned windows, stone walls, plenty of trees around it, a red chimney. HB, fair condition, $1.50 Trixie Belden #5, Mystery off Glen Road. The Bob-Whites finish their clubhouse, only to have it damaged by a late-season hurricane. They need to earn money to fix it, and Trixie has a clever, if strange, idea! A wedding and Thanksgiving are celebrated in this funny, mysterious, very entertaining book. This is the Deluxe edition, tall hardcover with Paul Frame illustrations, and a nice picture of Trixie carrying a saddle, on the front cover. Small picture of Trixie and Honey riding horses through the woods, on the back. Good condition. $5.00 Trixie Belden #6 Mystery in Arizona. Trixie and the Bob-Whites are invited to Di's Uncle Monty's dude ranch for the Christmas vacation, but poor Trixie is flunking math -- will she be able to go with them? Of course! But their troubles are just starting -- when they got there, the help has left without notice, and the Bob-Whites offer to take over for them. But where have they gone? Will they return? Trixie will try to solve that mystery, between her math studies and setting tables! Wonderful story that presents the best of the Trixie books (they help wherever they are needed, cooperate, solve mysteries, and have a wonderful time!) Old "cello" version, with the wonderful Mary Stevens illustratsions including the wrap-around picture cover that I love so much, and darling internal illustrations. Typical condition for this edition, fair binding, but everything is holding together, $2.75 Trixie #6 in the paperback edition, very good condition, $2.75 Trixie #6 (Arizona) in the very recent HB reprint edition. This wonderful book has the original Mary Stevens illustrations along with a new cover (quite good!)The book and cover are in extremely good condition. $3.00 Trixie and the Mysterious Code #7 in series. This is the small-Whitman format, HB, with picture cover that extends around the back. The Bob-White club has been going for a while, when the school demands that they disband, thinking they may be a troublemaking gang. They have to prove that they are just the opposite -- helping people and doing good things. They decide to have an antiques show and sale to raise money for UNICEF -- that'll show 'em! Of course antiques are always good for a mystery when they disappear: have they been stolen or lost? HB, PC, $3.00 The Black Jacket Mystery (Trixie #8.) A very important book in the ongoing Trixie saga, since the Bob-Whites meet Dan in this story. At first, they can't stand him, and suspect him of all kinds of trouble. Then -- well, read it and find out! I'll just say that he appears in nearly all the other books in the long series, and some people like him the best of all the characters in the series. PB, oval cover picture, good condition, $2.50 Trixie and The Happy Valley Mystery (#9 in the series)Bob-Whites visit the Belden uncle's farm in Iowa, and they don't have to wait very long before they encounter mystery and danger along with the sheep on the farm. Exciting adventures! PB, $2.00 (2) 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. PB, oval picture, $2.00 Trixie and the Mystery of the Emeralds -- #14 in the series. I especially love this book because it's the one that taught us to say "rabbit, rabbit" last thing at night on the last day of the month, and first thing in the morning on the 1st day of the new month, for luck or to make your wish come true. Trixie did just that, and look where she ended up -- as usual, in trouble! Maybe I'd better re-think "rabbit, rabbit," but on the other hand, Trixie always comes out wonderfully in the end. HB, small Whitman edition, good condition, $3.00 Mystery on the Mississippi (Trixie #15) Trixie and the BobWhites take a trip down the Mississippi on a towboat, but much as they are enjoying the trip, things keep happening to scare them mightily. Is Honey's father involved in something dangerous or suspicious? PB, good condition, $3.00 Trixie and the Mystery of the Missing Heiress -- #16 in series. One of the best mystery topics, amnesia. In this book, you pretty much guess what's going on, but you are helpless, of course, to do anything about it until the clues add up for Trixie and her followers. The villian is so charming that he or she (I won't give it away) gets away with a lot before being uncovered. I often wonder why the villians in so many of these mysteries ACT so unpleasant, when everyone knows that a mean or rude person in a YA mystery, is usually the culprit. They ought to act nicer, and fool us as this person fooled the Bob Whites for a while. HB, small Whitman edition, good condition. $3.00 Reading copy of Trixie #16 (missing heiress.) If you just want to read this fascinating story, and you aren't an avid collector or hoarder, this is the copy for you. Give it away when you are finished! PB, Fair condition, perfectly readable. $1.00 Trixie #20, Mystery off Old Telegraph Road. The Bob Whites are running a bike-a-thon to raise money for the art department at the high school. Nice details about planning the event, and the fun when all those bikes take the same route. But apparently someone is against the whole thing, and the torment heats up after Trixie finds a mysterious burned bill at one of the rest stops along the bike route. PB, good condition, $3.00 Trixie Belden #21 Mystery of the Castaway Children -- One of my favorite Trixies (though I say that about a lot of them!) This one revolves around a clever gimmick, which is discovered in the end. But meanwhile, it covers some serious territory, including eviction, possible child abuse, and kidnapping. The Bob-Whites take on all these problems, and once again, help people who really need help. Very nice PB copy! $4.00 Mystery at Mead's Mountain (Trixie #22) Mr Wheeler is thinking of investing in a ski resort, and sends the Bob Whites there for a week, to figure out what is causing a lot of unfortunate incidents. The front cover shows a person in a frightening ski mask, with the young people on skis just beyond him. Fun and danger on the slopes! PB, good condition, $3.00 Mystery of the Headless Horseman (Trixie #26) Trixie and Honey encounter a horse and headless rider, right at dusk, on a lonely road. Not that Trixie believes it could really be true! But someone is trying to frighten a very kind old lady, and something terrible has happened to a nice man. All right at the same time that the Bob Whites are planning a huge bazaar to benefit UNICEF. Isn't that enough to pique your interest??!! PB, with "special! Trixie T-shirt offer" flag in one corner of the cover. Don't I wish I'd ordered 10 of them when they were still available. That's one of the reasons I haunt used clothes stores, hoping to come across one some day. PB, good condition, $3.00 Trixie Belden #31 Mystery at Maypenny's -- this one is very interesting, as it bases the mystery on the environmental movement that was just getting very popular when the book was written (1980.) Someone is doing terrible things to the deer and ducks in Maypenny's game preserve. And people are trying to buy up the Wheeler's property to build -- gasp -- a factory. The town is in conflict, jobs vs the great outdoors, town meetings, crimes. Trixie and the Bob-Whites on the job! PB, very good cond, $5.00 Trixie Belden #34 Mystery of the Missing Millionaire. When a rich man disappears, and his loving daughter asks for help finding him, Trixie is eager to help. She is even more excited when a "real" detective joins the search. Why don't things seem to be adding up right? Even the Wheelers are involved in this convoluted mystery, and Trixie has to sort things out for everybody. PB, very good condition, $6.50 ********************************************************************************** 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! 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 quite a few Judy Bolton stories -- these are old books, some in fairly good condition, some kind of worn out, but all 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 these 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! #2 The Haunted Attic -- After the big flood, Judy and Horace and their parents move to a house that will be the scene of several mysterious happenings over the years! In this book, we begin to see Judy's role as defender of people who are victims of prejudice, as well as victims of crime. Very dear story! Laser copy of the DJ, by Pelagie Doane, shows Judy and Horace in the messy attic, trying to figure out what's causing the menacing noises and sightings. good cond HB, LDJ, $5.00 #3 The Invisible Chimes -- Judy and her brother Horace meet lifelong friend Honey, and they start to unravel the story of her background. Book in fair condition, outer covering of spine is missing. Looks good in especially attractive dust jacket (a laser copy of it.) $4.00 $3 Invisible Chimes, green cover, good condition, $3.00 #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, LDJ, $5.00 Another copy of Seven STrange Clues 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 Seven Strange Clues, red cover, fair condition, nice reading copy to give to someone if you want to introduce Judy to a friend, or a reasonable copy for you if you still aren't convinced to love our Judy! $3.00 #5 The Ghost Parade -- A wonderful camp story! After the HS burns down, the students have an extra-long vacation, so Judy and her friends take a trip to the Thousand Island Camp. Blackberry the cat goes along with them, and it's a good thing he did! What he did for them, is the basis for his future reputation as a very smart kitty. You'll love the picture on the laser copy of the original DJ which I put on this book. A bunch of really scary masks on a deep red background, stunning! Dark green cover on the book, fairly good condition, with a small light stain on the front cover and age-darkened pages. The LDJ really makes this book look good. HB, LDJ, $5.50 #6 -- The Yellow Phantom -- most of the action is in NY city. One friend gets a job, another meets her hero and gets engaged while Judy solves several mysteries! It has the newer DJ picture of the laser copy of the newer DJ picture by Pelagie Doane. Red tweed book in fair condition, but looks good with the laser copy of the DJ! $5.00 #15 Judy Bolton -- The Mark on the Mirror. Starts out with Judy getting ready for her bridal shower! Shortly before the shower starts, Blackberry (the cat) kills a bird, which makes Judy upset and superstitious. This is only a small part of the very wonderful story in this book. Here's Judy doing what she does best, helping families and especially children. The book's in pretty good condition, and I've covered it with a laser copy of the original dust jacket ( I'm not sure it's exactly the right format of the DJ, but it fits and looks great!) The DJ picture is wonderful, showing Judy and Blackberry, reflected in a mirror, with a beautiful grandfather clock beside them. Book and LDJ, $6.50 Now here are more Judy Boltons!!! #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 #2 Haunted Attic, red tweed thin edition, with original DJ -- book in really nice condition, DJ has a big piece out of the lower right front cover, but Judy's picture is all there, and the rest of the cover is complete. $4.00 #4 Seven Strange Clues. Judy and her friends find more of the secrets that lurk in the house that the Boltons moved into after the flood. Old green-covered book, nice laser copy of the original dust jacket. Pages uniformly brown with age. Book plus LDJ, $10.00 #5 Ghost Parade, red tweed cover, corners of spine rubbed and bumped, interior very nice. $5.00 #7 Mystic Ball -- thick green covers, spine is sunned, pages are age-darkened, but the book is in overall pretty good condition. Judy and Peter try to expose a phony fortune-teller who has frightened their superstitious friends, especially Irene. Great story! $4.50 #14 Patchwork Quilt -- thick green covers, pretty darn good condition! The Christmas present inscription dates it in 1941, which is the year the book was published. So it might be a first edition, if that means anything to you. Judy inherits a quilt from her grandmother, not long before she is to be married to Peter. The quilt l leads her into a mystery, involving family secrets that her grandmother had taken to the grave with her. Lovely story, and of course a great mystery! $4.00 ____________________________________________________________________________ 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! Here is a list of 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 book from the Boy Scout Explorers series! (Written by Wirt, under the name of Don Palmer.) The Boy Scout Explorers at Treasure Mountain (Wirt) 1955. This one was illustrated by someone whose name I can't quite read, but it looks like E. R. Scharriz or almost anything similar to that. Anyway, he or she was a genius at making the cover picture look very exciting! A Boy Scout in full uniform with gaiters and canteens, is being accosted by a person dressed in a very scary costume and mask with huge teeth and horns. The book takes place "in the mountains of Peru." Book is in very good condition, laser DJ shows that my copy had a few tiny chips out of the corners, but the cover picture is nearly perfect. $8.00 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.) Cub Scout books -- and apparently it was OK to write for Cubs under Wirt's own (female) name, rather than Dan Palmer as the Boy Scout books were attributed to. Dan Carter and the Money Box (Wirt) 1950. These Cub mysteries make really good reading! Well, of course they do, our Mildred Wirt wrote them all! In this one, the boys are working to help raise money for a cause, when Dan finds a strongbox filled with money. Nothing comes easy, of course, and the money box starts them on a wild adventure. The book is in moderately good condition (firm and clean, but the covers have a few stains on them.) Laser copy of the original DJ is in lovely condition, with a picture of 3 Cubs in uniform, with their helpful Boy Scout troop helper, all gathered around a small metal box presumably filled with $20 bills. $7.00 Dan Carter and the Great Carved Face (Wirt) 1952. Very attractive cover picture shows a Scout Leader, a Boy Scout, and Dan himself, in full Cub regalia, all wading, hip-deep, through an underground stream. The book is in fairly good condition, and the DJ is the original "real" one, in fairly good condition, too. Inch square piece is missing from the spine of the DJ. $6.50 End of Wirt's Scout books, and on to any other Mildred Wirt books that are available. 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, every bit 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 -- $35.00 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! Marjorie Dean, High-School Junior (Pauline Lester) 1917. Fair condition -- cute picture cover -- $1.50 Drina's Dancing Year (Drina #2) Jean Estoril -- who is really that wonderful author, Mabel Esther Allan. originally published in 1958, was reissued in PB with the Estoril author's name. Drina is a little English girl who wants nothing more than to become a dancer. PB in good condition, $1.50 The Page Twins Series by Dorothy Whitehill. There are 13 books in this series, dating from 1920 through 1932. It's the old, old story -- and I'm not giving away anything you won't learn by the end of the first few chapters. The girls didn't know of each other's existence until they are teenagers, and then they have a lot of catching up to do! That's what you'll be doing with them during the course of this series, as well as enjoying some romance (even marriages) and a bit of travel. They often help people who are less fortunate than they are, which always appeals to me! Here are several of the Twins books -- hardcover books with frontispieces and a few internal illustrations. I'll try to have some Twins books very soon. Joy and Gypsy Joe (Dorothy Whitehill) In some ways, this is a lot like other series from the '20s, lots of parties, school scenes, clothes, etc. But it's unusual in that the girl is very friendly with a gypsy group. When she was a little girl, and her life was difficult, she'd run away with the gypsies, and never forgot her life with them. First in the series, HB, firm and clean interior, though the covers are slightly discolored. $3 Joy and Her Chums (Dorothy Whitehill) 1928. There are still some Gypsy happenings in this, the 3rd book in the Joy series, but it's obvious from the DJ picture, that most of Joy's "chums" are non-Gypsies, teen boys and girls who look as if they are about to go to high school classes. School, parties, projects, trips, mystery. Very, very colorful DJ picture, book and DJ in very good condition, $5.00 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 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 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 indicate what edition these are. 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.) 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. Grace harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School(subtitled The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics.) The book is old, no getting around it. But there is a cover picture showing a girl playing some racquet sport (tennis?) in a long skirt, pointy shoes and a high-necked blouse. Hot? I should say so! The books, by the way, are written by Jessie Graham Flower,A.M. Anyone know what AM stands for? Anyway, it isn't the author's real name, but authors seemed not to be too hurt by that, 100 years ago. Pages are brown, but the book is sturdy. $3.00 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 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 There is also a reading copy of Polly and Eleanor -- it's worn and loose, but readable. You could read this one (cheaply!) and find out if you'd like to read the rest of the series. HB, $1.00 Polly and her Friends Abroad 1922 (Polly Brewster #4.) In this story, the girls get interested in antiques and decorating, and in later books, they actually go into business as decorators and dealers. HB, cover looks tatty, but the binding is tight, and the pages are clean. There are several nice glossy internal illustrations. $3.00 Nancy Brandon's Mystery (Lilian Garis) 1925 This is the 2nd in a really nice 2-book series by Garis. In the first one, Nancy, a young teen, runs a business of her own and also learns to do household chores. In the 2nd, she stays with relatives whle her mother is on a long trip. Her cousin is selfish and devious, as well as just plain mysterious. Nancy has her work cut out for herself, trying to reform her cousin, as well as figuring out what's bothering her so much! HB, fair cond, with taped binding, though the red cover is clean and bright. $3.00 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 it 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. 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! Watch for a Tall White Sail (Margaret E. Bell) 1948. This is the first in a 4-book series about the fictional Monroe family, who settled in Alaska in 1887. There's romance, but also plenty of challenges and hardship -- and fun and new experiences! The books are mostly about the teen-aged girl in the family. PB, $2.00 Love is Forever (Margaret E. Bell) Florence is married at 17, and has to adjust to living in the wilderness of Alaska. 3rd in the Monroe family series. HB, XL, with a very beautiful DJ (showing the wedding) $4.00 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!) Betsy-Tacy (Lovelace) 60th anniversary edition paperback. Inlcudes quite a bit of nice historical material and photographs at the end of the text. PB in very good condition. Nice cover picture. $2.00 Betsy-Tacy and Tib (Lovelace) Includes a foreword by Ann M. Martin, and informational material and photos at the end of the text. PB in very good condition (cute cover) $2.00 Betsy and Tacy Go over the Big Hill (Lovelace) Includes foreward by Judy Blume, and nice historical information and photos at the end of the text. PB with pretty cover, all in very good condition. $2.25 Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (Lovelace) 1942. This is a hardcover with dust jacket. Former library copy, this book is very slightly musty. Otherwise, this is a good-looking book, with the nice Lois Lenski DJ and interior illustrations, and good condition interior pages. Fun to own! $7.00 Heaven to Betsy (Lovelace) 1945. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. You wouldn't believe how much they're trying to get for the Lovelace hardcovers with DJs, on ABE books! I know that if they are still there, they haven't sold! So I thought maybe I wouldn't sound greedy if I asked about half as much as their cheapest copies. I hope you agree! If I don't sell them this month, I'll take reasonable offers! This is the story of Betsy's freshman year in HS. Vera Neville illustrations. The book is a former library copy, obviously not brand new, but not bad at all. The DJ was protected by the library's transparent cover, so it's in quite nice condition. I've re-covered it in new mylar. Heaven to Betsy, HB with DJ, $25.00 MORE BETSY-TACY BOOKS Betsy-Tacy (Lovelace) 1940. This is a nice pb (Harper Trophy) with the original Lenski art on the cover as well as interior. Sweet little story for sweet little girls, about sweet little girls. Very good condition. $2.00 (2) Another copy of Betsy-Tacy in fair but perfectly readable condition, $1.00 Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (Lovelace) 1942. Lenski illustrations except for the cover, which has the "grotesque" newer illustration. Harper Trophy PB. $1.50 Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill with the Lenski cover $2.00 End of Betsy-Tacy books +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Beany Malone series -- OK, I'll say it again, this is one of my all-time favorite series, from the time I was a high school girl myself. Correction -- it is NOT a series, it's the story of a real person (isn't it?) 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 that feeling! I certainly hope to add more Beany books in the near future! 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! Cherry Ames, student nurse. There are dozens of books about student nurses, but this is the model for all of them -- and the first in the famous and beloved long series about Cherry. Familiar red "tweed" covers. Fairly good condition, except for crack in the interior spine, about halfway through the pages. Everything's holding together OK. Pages are clean. Good reading copy. $2.00 Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse, #2 in series. tweed cover, fair condition, with some wear to the corners and extremities of the spines. $2.00 Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse, #4 in the series. tweed cover, very good condition with very tight binding. HB, clean and sturdy, $3.50 Cherry Ames #12, Mountaineer Nurse. Cherry goes off to Heartbreak Hollow, Kentucky, to work with the mountain people in their homes and in a clinic. Picture Cover edition, in fair condition -- binding is OK, the pages are all there and tight, and the front cover looks good, but the spine has a sort of crack or fold down the center. HB, PC, #4.00 Cherry at Hilton Hospital (#20 in series) Cherry returns home to Hilton! She solves the mystery of a patient with amnesia -- one of my favorite kinds of mystery! Nice condition with picture cover that really does have a medical flavor -- hospital bed with confused (handsome)patient, white-coated presumably doctor at his side, and particularly pretty picture of Cherry in uniform and hat. HB, PC, good cond, $6.50 Cherry Ames, The Case of the Forgetful Patient, which is the paperback title of Cherry Ames at Hilton Hospital. This is a small hardcover version of the pb edition, done up as a romantic mystery (gothic) but the text is the original one. A collector's item. $3.00 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 Hardy Boys #111, Three-Ring Terror (yes, it's about the circus!) PB $2.00 BOOKS BY HARRIET PYNE GROVE -- unlikely name, was it a pen name? -- but 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 become very good friends, and everyone is amazed at how much they look like each other! Nice condition Saalfield book with a good DJ! $4.50 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! Amy and Laura (Marilyn Sachs) 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. MORE SERIES BOOKS! 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 (Emerson) #1 in series. As in most of the series, this one provides the basis for the rest of the books, and introduces most of the characters that you'll read about in future books. Fairly nice condition, though the pages are brown from age. $3.00 Ruth Fielding at Sunrise Farm, or What happened to the Raby Orphans. #7, 1915. Don't you love the old stories about finding great homes for poor orphans? This is a wild and crazy story about Ruth and all her friends, spending a summer vacation at the wonderful estate farm where the family of one of those friends lives. Say, you ought to read this book just before the Fourth of July! You'll know why when you read it! HB, pretty good condition for one of these oldies. $3.50 Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures, #9 in the series. Subtitle: Helping the Dormatory Fund. In the typical condition of these old series (this one has an inscription dating it to Christmas of 1928.) Solid and firm, anyway. $3.00 (2) Ruth Fielding at College, or The Missing Examination Papers. 1917. #11 in series. Fairly good condition, quite firm, more modern picture on the PC. $3.50 BIG, BIG LOT OF HAPPY HOLLISTER BOOKS. Written by Jerry West, illustrated by Helen S. Hamilton. "Hollisters" is one of my favorite series for young readers. These 5 children have a number of amazing adventures, solve mysteries, and have a wonderful family that includes quite a few pets. Dated from the mid-1950s through early 1960s, each book also teaches the readers (very painlessly!) about some subject, location, or activity. The introductions to the books often give credit to a person or organization that helped with the subject in the book. But mostly, the books are entertaining, especially for young readers of maybe 3rd or 4th grade. Most of these books are in good condition (a few loose bindings, but not bad at all.) 4 of the books have nice dust jackets: in fact, I think the cover pictures are one of the best things about this series. The dust jackets are not perfect, but they look good. Simple, but clever and colorful. There are interior pictures, one color per picture. By the way, I like the look of these books so much that I have them lined up on my livingroom shelf. Books include: Happy Hollisters (first in series) Mystery of the Totem Faces -- with DJ Ghost Horse Mystery -- has DJ At Circus Island -- this book is worn, but has a nice DJ Mystery of the LIttle Mermaid (takes place in Denmark) has a nice DJ At Snowflake Camp Trading Post Mystery Castle Rock Mystery At Mystery Mountain 9 Happy Hollister books, $22.00 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! 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 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. Marjorie's New Friend (Wells) 1909. #3 in series. This book includes Christmas, and if you've read many of these old series books, you'd know what lavish holidays they used to celebrate! This certainly is one of those big festivities, including the probably oh-so-welcome "not quite new" presents for the local poor family. I loved reading about their Christmas! HB, $2.50 Marjorie in Command (Wells) #4 in the series. 1910 Mother isn't feeling quite up to par, so she and Father take a 6-week trip to the South, leaving the children with a lady with 'delicate nerves." Probably not a good choice! Marjorie ends up in charge most of the time, and things get out of hand before they get much better. Pretty good condition except for a little piece out of the very top of the exterior spine. $3.00 Marjorie's Maytime (Wells) 1911. May Party and a few other wonderful parties, trips, and of course exciting adventures. HB, firm condition, some wear (these are OLD books!) # 5 in the series. $3.00 MORE SERIES BOOKS! 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! Ginny Gordon and the Disappearing Candlesticks, 1948. They open a Swap Shop (I'd call it a thrift shop, I guess.) Valuable things disappear. HB, small picture on cover, fairly good cond, $3.00 Ginny Gordon and the Missing Heirloom (Julie Campbell, 1950) More about the Swap Shop, and valuable antiques! Picture on the cover shows a pile of discarded "treasures" waiting to be discovered by the kids, and turned into cash. There are quite a few humorous illustrations, especially the one on page 154, showing Ginny's friend on the floor of the back seat of a car, with books falling all around her. Sounds like something that would happen to me! I also like the endpaper pictures of a shop full of antiques, and customers examining them. HB, good condition, small printed picture on the cover. $3.00 Jane Allen, Center (Edith Bancroft) 1920. From the Jane Allen series, about a girl who is very active in basketball, but has a lot of other interests, too. This is a college series, and the present book could be called Jane Allen, Sophomore. She befriends a foreign student, and both of them become targets of mean rumors and teasing. Fortunately this is a series book, so you know things will come out pretty well in the end. Nice story, and long enough to get your teeth into! HB, with laser copy of the original DJ (girl in attractive rather modern outfit, holding a basketball, in front of a very large megaphone. Quite decorative.) $4.50 "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 has many experiences as she advances in the theater world. There are even simple mysteries in most of the books All series book collectors ought to have them! They're especially fun to read if you're interested in the theater. But entertaining if you aren't a theater fan! 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, Senior (Clair Blank) 1934. Finally, the girls are seniors, and of course all that silly girlish adventuring and partying are things of the past -- NOT! This copy is one of those that has a disclaimer about being produced under wartime conditions, which means that the pages are somewhat brown and brittle. But they are holding up OK, no rips or marks. Cover has some wear and signs of age, too. Better than a reading copy, less than perfect! $2.75 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 Girls of Central High on Track and Field (Gertrude Morrison) #5 in series, 1914. The girls in this series are certainly energetic! The stories are full of sports and outdoors activities. as well as mysteries. Ths copy is in pretty good condition, givin its extreme age (there is a handwritten date inside the front cover, 1926.) Cover has printed picture of 3 girls on the HS steps, one with oar, one with paddle or racquet, and one with something, who knows what, maybe you can figure it out! Might be a rolled-up diploma, since they also go to school between games and mysteries. Nice old series of 7 books, have fun looking for the rest! $2.50 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 Wins her Wings (Dorothy Wayne) 1933. Dorothy meets the famous aviator, Bill Bolton, who has a series of his own, and soon is involved in an adventure with him. Soon she decides to learn to fly. All this in the first chapter! This book is cheery, readable, and slangy (to use the phrase they were always using to criticise youths!) This book is in as good condition as you're likely to find any D Dixons, and has a prtty good "real" DJ. $4.25 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 will hope to have more to offer soon! 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! 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! 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 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 Anne of Avonlea (L.M. Montgomery) Very nice hardcover, from the Grosset and Dunlap Anne of Green Gables Series. Light green cover, oval picture of Anne (doesn't look like my vision of Anne, but she does have lovely red hair.) Very nice condition HB, $2.00 Anne of Windy Poplars (Montgomery) Grosset and Dunlap edition, orange cover with slight white stain. no DJ. Spine separation at front interior, but otherwise nice cond. $2.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 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! Pollyanna's Golden Horseshoe (Elizabeth Borton) 1939. #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 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 First, a Donna Parker "starter set" to give you a wonderful sample of this very interesting series. These are in fairly good condition, not perfect, for sure, but holding together and very colorful These books were published between 1957 and 1961. Things happen to Donna -- she doesn't just solve mysteries, but helps people, goes through traumas, and learns from her experiences. A very special 7-book series, so try these 4, and you'll want to look for the other 3! Books in this set include At Cherrydale (camp) A Spring to Remember On Her Own In Hollywood Donna Parker 4-book starter set -- $7.50 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 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) Another copy of A Spring to remember, OK condition $2.00 Donna Parker, Special Agent. Even if you aren't a Donna Parker fan, you will love the kitchen on this cover. Well, the thug in the picture isn't too good-looking, but the old refrig, stove, etc, are pure 1957! So is Donna's flowered circle-skirt and her rolled-sleeve "camp shirt." Donna and her friends are mixed up in fairly dangerous plot -- someone is trying to steal government secrets. HB with the older edition of the picture cover. $3.00 Donna Parker On Her Own. Donna thinks her parents don't trust her to be responsible. Then the parents have a chance for a trip to India for at least a month, and they hire a single woman teacher to stay with the children. Guess who turns out to be the more responsible person? Great story! Nice cover picture of Donna in front of her house, and back cover picture of her in evening wraps, beside a fire-engine-red car, and walking with a good-looking young man wearing a bow tie. HB, good cond, with PC, $2.50 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 the moderately good condition that you often find the old Saalfield editions, since the paper is thick, but turns brittle and brown. Otherwise, no real problems except the pesky weak bindings (it's holding together OK.) There is a beautiful laser copy of the original DJ, showing a couple of girls from way later than the date of the book, probably in the 1930s or 40s, saddle shoes, short skirts, and bobby sox. Cooking over a great outdoors fireplace, and looking very, very happy. Strong colors, really decorative. HB with LDJ, $5.00 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.) Book in fair condition, with a nice printed picture cover, girls in amazing camp outfits, tents, a cook fire, etc. 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. Bobbsey Twins in the Country, Whitman Picture Cover edition, in god condition for once! HB, PC, $2.00 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! 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 #2, taller (Wanderer) PB edition, original text, title, and numbering. The Clue on the Desert Trail. Shows Linda on Chica d'or, riding madly through a canyon, with 3 riders looking down from the top of a mountain or butte. PB, fairly good condition, $1.75 Linda Craig #3 in the taller pb numbering, Secret of Rancho Del Sol. It was a library book, but is in good condition, with clear tape along the spine to protect it. PB, $2.00 Linda Craig #7 (new numbering, new 1989 edition) A Horse for Jackie. The new editions have Linda riding a newly-named horse, Amber. Who is Jackie, why does she want so badly to learn to ride, and other questions about this obviously super-rich girl? PB, excellent condition, $2.00 Linda Craig #8 (new numbering) A Star in the Saddle. A soap opera is filming an episode at the next ranch, so Linda and her friends and their horses want to sign on as extras! PB, excellent condition, $2.00 Linda Craig #10 (new numbering) Anything for Kelly. PB, excellent cond. $2 The Caboose Club (Adele and Cateau De Leeuw) 1957 OK, it isn't exactly a Girl's Series Book, but it's the 2nd in a very cute series. First book is called The Expandable Browns, and I really enjoyed it a great deal. This one has a lot of information about model railroads, which might be very appealing to a young reader who has the same tastes as my grandson! As for myself, I liked the parts about the family (the Browns,) their friends and their pets, and the interplay among the kids in the train club. There are some great parts about trying to raise money for their clubhouse. HB, XL with a good picture cover reminiscent of the Boxcar Children books (kids, a train car, a dog, but no tracks in sight.) Interesting and unusual book. $3.00 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! Silver wings for Vicki (#1 in series) nice condition, blue tweed covers. Read it, and you'll certainly want to read the rest of the series!!! $3.00 ----------------------------------------- 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! 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 -- The Treasure Nobody Saw PB in poor condition (free with another Meg book when I have any for sale) Meg #3, The treasure nobody saw. This is in better condition than the free one, by far! But it isn't free, so take your choice. Meg loves storms, and while she is watching this one from her window, she sees something mysterious happening at the creepy old house on the hill near home. She can't convince anyone that something is wrong up there, so she has to investigate. Like our other favorite detective, Trixie, it would have been smart for people to believe her. Oh well, if they did that, we wouldn't have half as many mysteries to read. HB, $2.00 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 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. Fair condition -- $2 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! Mimi Hammond -- there are only 3 books in this mini-series, but they are cute and worth collecting and reading! The covers are all the same except for the titles, and there aren't any descriptions on the DJ flaps. The Girls' Series Companion even adds that they were printed on poor quality paper. However, quite a few of them survived to this day, browned paper and all. Mimi at Sheridan School (Anne Pence Davis) 1935. 2nd in series about a girl with a penchant for adventure and fun. The intro mentions that there's never a dull moment when Mimi's around! And that she's a tomboy which I guess was not quite the thing then -- though I hope the term is out of favor nowadays! I have 2 copies in fairly good condition for books in this series, which wasn't very good quality to start with, and is nearly 70 years old now! One sturdy copy $3, another a little better, $3.50 On the Way Home: Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri in 1894, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, with a setting by Rose Wilder Lane (daughter of Laura and Almanzo) Illustrated with vintage and modern photos of spots dear to fans of the Little House books. HB, XL, with nice DJ over a library picture cover. Good condition all around. $2.50 Farmer Boy (laura Ingalls Wilder) Until I found this book, I didn't know there was a very attractive new PB edition of the Little House books. There's a nice cover picture of a boy and a horse, and the back cover has a wood-look that's very good-looking. The book includes a recipe, song, short bio of Laura Wilder, and a bit of the history of the times. Apparently the entire series has been reprinted in this format, and the pictures of the books (inside front cover) look quite attractive, too. PB book in very good condition, $1.50 NANCY DREW BOOKS (including a few special $2 Nancy's!) Nancy Drew Hardcovers, all in great condition! New edition shiny yellowbacks in fine cond -- $25 Ghost of Blackwood Hall (one of my favorite covers, Nancy is so beautiful on this one! $2.00 #33 Witch Tree Symbol, $2.00 Nancy Drew Paperbacks $2 each -- fairly good to good condition #92 -- Ghost of Craven Cove (takes place in Maine) #110 -- Nutcracker Ballet Mystery (Christmas-time setting, of course) #111 -- Secret of Solaire (Tucson AZ setting) #116 -- Case of the Twin Teddy Bears (another Christmas story) #141 -- Wild Cat crime (about baby cougars stolen from a zoo) #165 -- Crime Lab Case (especially good reading if you like Forensic Files on TV) 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 Nancy Drew Scrapbook (Karen Plunkett-Powell) subtitled: 60 Years of America's Favorite Teenage Sleuth. A beautiful, very large, paperback book, telling a whole bunch of things about the history of the Nancy Drew phenomenon! On the back cover it lists: The real authors behind the Carolyn Keen pseudonym. Nancy Through the Years. Nancy's family, friends, and love interest. Nancy on Stage and Screen. How to start or enhance your collection of Nancy Drew books and memorabilia. And lots more. Lots of beautiful illustrations from the books, movies, games, etc. In wonderful condition. $3.50 Nancy Drew #29, Mystery at the Ski Jump. This is a moderately OK copy of the blue tweed hardback edition, with a moderately OK dust jacket (some small pieces missing, one goodly tear, some tape marks, front flap missing. Call it whatever condition sounds right to you...) I want to mention that this copy was my own for many years, and certainly better than no DJ copy. Then I came into possession of an upgrade this week, so I'm kissing my old copy goodbye, and maybe it can make an acceptable copy for your shelf until you, too, are lucky enough to find an upgrade! Please don't buy this is you want a pristine copy of this book. By the way, the frnt DJ picture is almost totally complete. Shows an obviously frightened Nancy being stalked by a man holding a scarf, looking avidly at Nancys neck. HB with DJ, $4.00 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 Dreew PB #66, Race Against Time -- All kinds of themes in this wonderful story from 1982. Horse racing (always a great subject for sinister stories!) and moving-making. PB in good condition -- with Paul Frame illustrations! $2.00 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. On becoming a Woman (Williams and Kane) 1958. What every young woman should know. Very popular book from the Maltshop age. Some of the subjects -- and you can probably guess what the authors had to say about these sugjects -- are kissing, drugs, smoking, crushes, acne, petting, how to get boys interested, etc. Small Dell paperback, pensive girl on the cover. $1.00 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 Girls: A History of Growing UP Female in America (Penny Colman) 2000. Large and beautiful book, Scholastic publication, full of wonderful stories and pictures (on the page that I happened to turn to while writing this, there is a picture of the front cover of a Betty Gordon series book, stating "by the author of Ruth Fielding.") For instance! Oh, there's a 1920s Girl scout -- and there is Shirley Temple! But this is a real reference book aimed at young teen girls. And aimed at people like me, who love to learn things by reading entertaining material and looking at very well-selected pictures. HB with DJ, both in nearly new condition. $3.00 Telling Tommy: About Days we Celebrate (Paul Pim) 1941. Tommy asks lots of questions of his uncle, aunt, mother and father, questions about holidays and the calendar. And "Don't forget! There are 41 full pages of vivid illustrations!" Says the front flap. They are actually more like cartoons than illustrations, so were probably very popular with kids in the early 1940s as they would be now. All the common holidays, some that we don't celebrate any more (if anyone ever did, like Bird Day and Pan-American Day)and Christian and Jewish religious holidays. Historical background and origins of customs. Picture-book size HB, pretty good DJ. $2.50 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 Boys in your Life (Jean Condit and Claudia Hatch) 1972. Another of those little Scholastic books that were read so eagerly by teens who wanted to know how to attract and keep boyfriends! This one is fun, as each section begins with a supposed letter asking for help with a problem, and the rest of the section giving friendly advice to the letter-writer. PB in well-read condition (imagine the girls who looked for some answers from this book!) $1.00 Anna Sewell and Black Beauty (Margaret J. Baker) 1957. A cute little book, telling the story of how one of the most popular books ever written, and about the life of the author. XL HB with small picture printed on the cover, $1.00 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 The Complete Book of Children's Theater (Vernon Howard) Various dates between 1955 and 1969. This is an enormous book! When it says complete, it means COMPLETE! There are complete courses in all kinds of theater, puppet, monologue, charades, humor, skits -- lots of exercises, jokes and games to help kids learn how to act. Toward the end of the book, there are 12 short plays that use the techniques that the kids have learned from the rest of the book. 550 pages full of everything children need to know about acting! HB, XL, good DJ, $4.00 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 The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators: Anita Silvey, editor 2002. This is a HUGE book. We found it very interesting to read, both for what it included and for what it left out. I will be interested to hear what someone else thinks about it. I'll wait until you write to me about it, before I give you my opinions. The editor is a very well-respected editor and publisher of children's books and former editor of Horn Book, the best-known resource magazine for children's librarians and readers. This tall and fat paperback has 540 pages, thousands of entries, occasional illustrations from the books that it talks about, and includes an incredible range from Aesop to Charlotte Zolotow and beyond. Check it out and then we'll have fun talking about it! PB, very large, good condition, $3.50 The Puffin Song Book (compiled by Leslie Woodgate) 1956. Wonderful vintage pb, with songs for children (and adults like me, who love singing and music.) About 100 songs, with very simple accompaniments, duets for both voice and piano, rounds, some that suggest the use of recorders, violin or bells, a musical play, some in languages other than English, in short, a lovely book for sharing your love of music with children. Vintage-look to the cover, but in pretty good condition! $2.50 Living Aboard Your Recreational Vehicle: A Guide to the Fulltime LIfe on Wheels (Gordon and Janet Groene) This is the kind of book that Dave and I pored over for years before we retired, and did spend 4 years "full-timing" or at least "half-timing" in our trailer. Even if you realistically never will do anything like that, books like this are good for dreaming over. Chapters like "How to retire Before 40" (fat chance these days!) How to choose and equip your RV, Mail on the Trail, Your 4-legged Family, Making a Living on the Go -- we studied and dreamed over this sort of thing, and when we did travel, we were fairly well prepared. This book isn't recent (about 20 years old) but most of what it tells about, is still applicable. Fun! large PB, $2.00 Writing Books for Children (Jane Yolen) 1988 edition. Yes, it's getting up in years, but lots of helpful information from a writer whose books seem to number in the high 70s, according to the list inside the front cover. So she must have a very good idea of how to do it right! And this book itself is an example of very readable non-fiction! It's short and snappy, but full of really good suggestions about what kind of writing sells, and where to sell it. Plus some jokes and anecdotes about writing, so you can't get bored reading it. The book quotes a Betty Cavanna and a Nan Gilbert Maltshop, but unfortunately as examples of how fast slang dates a book. Just what we series-and-Maltshop readers love, but if you decide to write for today's teens, take her advice, and stay away from "neat" and "swell." Good condition, Big PB, $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 Boy Scout Handbook from 1977. This seems to be a near-mint book, with a very colorful cover and myriad gorgeous illustrations. If you don't have any intention of becoming a Boy Scout (or if you're not eligible since you are more the Girl Scout type) you still would benefit from all the instruction on camping, swimming, outdoors cooking, citizenship, first aid, etc etc. Good collectible or good guidebook! Large PB, $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 Date Talk -- How to Talk to a Boy... To a Girl (R.N.Lawrence)1967. Cute little Scholastic book. The cover couple certainly look as if they need some advice, each one looking as if he/she has lost a best friend. Well, never fear, this book will solve their problems! Rules, little demonstration conversations, and some quizzes, which are mostly all filled out, but you didn't need them anyway, did you? Humorous illustrations (except for that cover picture.) The book is in fair condition. $1.25 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 Used Book Lover's Guide to the South Atlantic States (1999 edition) Stores come and go, I know, but you can probably use this book to find some stores in areas where you live or travel through. Almost 1000 book dealers listed by state and town, as well as a list of stores' specialties (such as children's books!) Maryland to Florida. The most interesting thing about this book is the commentary on many of the stores. The authors visited the shops, and are open in their opinions of the stores, their stock, and the sales personnel in the stores. Large PB in almost new condition. $2.50 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 Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, 2002. Yes, it's out of date, but you can get some interesting ideas for a lot less than the $24 that this cost even back a few years ago. Very large PB, and includes not just lists and addresses, but lots of articles, instructions about writing and illustrating kids' books, and getting them published. Our own PFriend, Linda Joy Singleton, wrote the chapter on Ebooks! This is a huge book, with many pictures, lists of publishers and magazines, lots more. Postage will be calculated along with the rest of your order, but won't be as low as most paperbacks! PB -- $3.00 Boys in Your Life (Jean Condit and Claudia Hatch) 1972 Scholastic paperback. Nice small book with friendly answers to junior-high level questions about much more than just dating life. $1.50 Hi, there, High School! ("Gay Head") high school advice from 1953. From the back of this Scholastic PB, "Hundreds of tips on finding friends, party etiquette, study habits... a blueprint to poise and personality, written especially for teen-agers." It was THE little book for teens who wanted to know what to do to be "in," when I was in HS. PB in Fair cond $1 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 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 THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE BY BETTY CAVANNA: Hardback unless noted 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! Petey (Cavanna)1973. Illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush (think: Gone-Away Lake!) Story of a boy and his Great Dane. Cavanna wrote lots of books about dogs, and obviously is a dog-lover! Written for middle-grade readers, will be enjoyed by all dog-lovers and Cavanna fans. HB, PC, $2.00 You Can't Take 20 Dogs on a date (Cavanna) 1977. This is "a major revision of the publication entitled She's My Girl, 1949, Elizabeth Headley." as it says at the beginning of the book. Headley is Cavanna, and this book is about one of her favorite subjects, dogs. The girl needs to earn money for college, and starts a boarding kennel at her home. This causes problems with her boyfriend (a male chauvinist if you ever met one) but is quite a fascinating project involving her whole family. HB, XL, fairly good condition, $3.00 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 Spurs for Suzanna (Cavanna) -- see description above! Here's a beautiful hardcover copy with a dust jacket (picture of Suzanna, a boy and another girl, all on fine horses, jumping a fence!) XL but book and DJ are both in great condition. $4.50 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 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! 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: 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. They were written for adults, but they are similar to nurse or doctor books written for teens in the same era. Books by Elizabeth Seifert, all XL HBs, all with DJs. $2.50 each 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!! 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. First Love "14 Warm and Glowing Stories selected by Gay Head" Mostly from the 1960s and from a number of magazines of the era. Some of the authors are familiar to me, Maltshop writers like Arlene Hale, Maureen Daly, Laura Nelson Baker. Small Scholastic paperback in good condition, $2.50 Sometimes Magic: A Collection of Outstanding Stories for the Teenage Girl. Book was put together in 1965, but the stories are from over the years. Some are pretty much classics -- Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Sarah Orne Jewett. Some are humorous -- I laughed very hard over the one by Shirley Jackson. Some of them give you the feeling that a Maltshop does. A beautiful big book, in very good condition, and with a pretty dust jacket (a dreamy girl, lots of flowers a la the 1960s) HB, DJ, $3.50 Teen-Age Tales, Book 2 (edited by Strang and Roberts) 1959. The 27 stories are from a lot of sources, teen and adult magazines and a variety of books from 1939 through the late '50s. A lot of the stories are about boys, but they are all appealing to girls, too. It's a text-book: I would imagine that it's supplimentary reading for high schoolers, so there are study questions and discussion subjects, but it's mostly very good stories from the Maltshop era. A good many of them include mild romance! HB, Picture cover, good condition, $3.25 The Paris Hat (Mary Cunningham) 1958. Here's a chance to read this amazing book for a rather cheap price, and all that's wrong with it is that it was slightly chewed by someone's pet! The pages are totally clean and bright, it's just the very edges that are gnawed. Girl wants to be a ballet dancer more than anything, but everything conspires to keep her from having even that very first lesson! Even though the ballet teacher (male) is so dreamy, she can't stand it! She is responsible for keeping her slightly nutty family from getting in trouble, her only help is from too-dependable old "boy next door" who always turns up at the right time, and what on earth is the meaning of the elegant Paris hat that's delivered to her older sister? Plenty of mystery, with all the Maltshop elements you could ask for, and a sort of career crisis -- does she really have any interest in learning to dance? HB, fair cond, $2.00 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! Aprilly (Abbott) 1921. "The charming story of a young girl, child of the circus, and her unusual adventures." Not much about the circus in the book, however, as it takes place mostly in Blossom, Maine, when she ran away FROM the circus! And became a hired girl of sorts, after which .... you read it! Vintage looking book, pretty outline picture on the cover, and several glossy full-page internals. $3.50 Another copy of Aprilly, outside covers are stained, but there is a beautiful picture inside the front and back cover, and the pages are clean. $2.25 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. I'll have more Cleary Maltshops very soon. Fifteen (Beverly Cleary) 1956. I love the beginning of this book "Today I'm going to meet a boy, Jane Purdy told herself..." and guess what? She DID! A nice first-love story, very true to life while showing Cleary's terrific sense of humor. PB, $1.25 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, hardcover, XL in very good condition, with a very good DJ. $4.00 Luckiest girl in very good condition PB $2 (2 copies) 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 (Phyllis A. Whitney) 1956. pretty much this is a Career-Romance, about a girl who gets a job at the United Nations. "Falling in love is no part of Lisa's plans ... but it happens!" Says the back cover. Nice friendly and very popular tale of working for peace and good international relations while having her time of her life. PB, pretty good condition, $2.25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. Hobby Horse Hill (Lavinia Davis) 1939. Girl spends the summer with her horse-mad cousins. She feels left out but eventually learns how wonderful it is to be part of a family. Some mystery, lots of family life, and of course, horses. As all of Davis's books, this one is a very nice story. PB, $2.00 (2) 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 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! HB, 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 Jane, Stewardess of the Air Lines (Ruthe S. Wheeler) 1934. The ad for this book says "we feel positive that this book is going to be the best girl's story we have ever published." (Goldsmith publishing Company.) About a girl who learns to be a stewardess years before Vicki Barr. But she, too, has wonderful adventures and a few mysteries. Book in fair condition, with clear taping over spine. Good interior pages. HB, $2.00 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 (2) Nursing Stories -- edited by Ann Currah. 1979. This is a good-sized hardcover book (with DJ!) containing about 25 short stories about nurses. Some are fiction, some biographical or non-fiction essays. I'm impressed that the first story is from Sue Barton, Student Nurse, and that one of the essays is a chapter from a book that I've read several times -- Miracle At Carville by Betty Martin. Stories by Kipling, P. D. James, Tolstoy, Hemingway, and several less heavy writers! However, be warned that this is NOT a book for early-or-mid-teen girls. It looks a lot like a Scholastic or Teen-aged-Book-Club collection, but includes some material that is more likely aimed at adults (and some that's just fine for teens.) Really big hardcover book with a dust jacket. An occasional nice illustration. $3.00 -------------------------------------- Books by Rosamond Du Jardin 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 (2) Practically Seventeen (du Jardin) 1943 to 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 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. Joyce of the Secret Squadron: A Captain Midnight Adventure. 1942. By R. R. Winterbotham. "Based on the Famous Radio Series, 'Captain Midnight'" The cover shows "Joyce Ryan, As she appears in the Radio Series" though how radio listeners would know that, I can't imagine! Anyway, she is stunning, and so is the rest of the cover, which shows a menacing-looking airplane, the outline of an airplane hanger, and a figure in Black, Captain Midnight. "These were not ordinary times. These were days of war..." The Secret Squadron is centered on a small island which is not to be found on every-day maps! The members of this squadron are, of course, embarking on a super-secret mission, filled with plots and deception. Whew! You'll love it (these books are aimed at young teens, so they aren't too complex and nasty!) There are many pictures of beautiful women and stern-faced men, including the black-suited Capt Midnight. Beautiful laser repro of the original DJ, over a HB book in fairly decent condition. Nice all around! $5.00 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 ("a Terry and the Pirates adventure, based on Milton Caniff's Famous Newspaper Strip.") 1942. I don't know whether they called these comic-strip books "authorized" or not, but they are Whitman editions, and quite showy! This one has a cover picture with a cameo in the center (mean woman frowning at a crying girl) and 4 smaller portraits flanking this center. There is a variety of lettering on the cover, and the whole thing is very decorative. Inside, there are many full-page illustrations, and a story that I won't attempt to summarize. Just to say that it's quite complex and imaginative. The spine is loose, as they usually are in these very old, originally cheap editions, but other than that, it's in good condition. I've added a laser copy of the original DJ, and the whole thing looks really nice. $6.00 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. 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! Annette and the Mystery at Smugglers' Cove (Doris Schroeder) 1963. Nice copy of this book, which is a combination of a Gidget-style beach and sailing story, and a mystery, all starring an Annette who vaguely resembles the one who appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club. Colorful cover picture and some internal sketches. Lots of danger and adventure, fun and friendship. Have fun! $2.50 Annette: Sierra Summer. (Doris Schroeder) 1960. Incredible cover picture -- on the front is the idol of The Mickey Mouse Club, Annette, surrounded by stars. On the back, a deer looking as if it's about to demolish a convertible with those famous tailfins of the era, an old prospector pointing to what might be The Lost Whatever Mine, and an Elvis-lookalike. On the spine, a gorgeous hunk with swim goggles, and Annette in a bathing suit! Not a Sierra in sight, but the book is set in the foothills, and is a wonderful mystery. Whitman HB, good condition, $2.25 Annette: The Desert Inn Mystery 1961 (Doris Schroeder) These Annette books are all really good, well-written, not concentrating on the "real" Annette's star part in the Mickey Mouse Show, but featuring her as a young teen with friends and adventures. One of the best parts of this book is the beautiful picture of Annette on the cover. No 1950s to 1960s nostalgia collector should be without it! There are also 2 snappy convertables on the cover, never mind that one of them is smashing into the back of the other one. Back cover shows just what a dangerous cliff they are nearly falling over, plus a beautiful desert vista. HB, PC, fairly good condition, $2.50 ***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. We recently found out that Mary Stolz died, in her late 80s, in December of 2007. 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. HB, XL, well worn book, with a DJ in good condition. $3.50 Ready or Not, PB, $1.25 Who Wants Music on Monday? (Stolz) 1963. A well-worn premise, the girl only cares for studying and learning (does all her weekend homework on Friday afternoon) while her sister is stunningly beautiful and vain. They have to share a room, and keep a string across the middle. BUT -- being Stolz, the familiar theme very soon veers off in a very unfamiliar direction. Even their parents come to new understanding of themselves. Excellent story. HB, XL, quite worn but with a picture cover that will make you laugh -- it's so typically '60s, long necks, sloping shoulders, small features. $2.50 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 ******************************* 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 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. Books by Gene Stratton-Porter -- Give them a try! They were very popular for many years, and never have gone out of print. I think some of us could revive them. Girl of The Limberlost (Gene Stratton-Porter) This edition doesn't have the original date anywhere, but a good friend told me it is 1909 -- thanks! Here's a nice Dell Yearling book, quite thick, with a very pretty cover picture. The back cover says "it has been called one of the most popular American novels ever published." There's a very nice afterword by Patricia Reilly Giff, a very fine author of young adult novels herself. There's something of the Maltshop in this story, which is why I put it here (plus I didn't know quite where else to put it.) Girl goes to HS and finds herself to be very different from other girls, and an an object of ridicule. She has to earn money for books and clothes, which leads to her many forays into the forest and explorations of nature. Very lovely book. Appropriate for young teens through adults. Large PB,$2.00 Freckles (Gene Stratton-Porter) 1904. Very pretty edition of this classic story for girls! There's a full-color frontispiece, and numerous internal sketches and pictures by E. Stetson Crawford. Front cover has a paste-down color picture, very attractive. HB, PC, $3.00 The Harvester (Gene Stratton-Porter) 1911. Beautiful edition of this story by the author of very popular stories a century ago. This particular book is dedicated to Henry David Thoreau, so you can see that nature and the outdoors life plays a big part in her books. There is a wonderful frontispiece illustration, a man in shadow, seeing what appears to be a vision of a lovely young woman. There's a faithful dog at his feet, and shadowy trees around the edges of the picture. The same picture is on a pasted-down square on the front cover, though it's less detailed there. The book's cover has embossed vines around the picture. Binding is a little loose. $2.50 The Dorrance Domain (Carolyn Wells) is a single-title book by Wells, who wrote so many series books. A pretty old book (1905) but the theme is timeless -- a bunch of kids who have inherited a hotel (this plot has been popular through the ages, think of No Children No Pets, The Pink Motel, and quite a few maltshop and series books.) Here, from the first decade of the last century, are 4 children and their grandmother who are in bad financial straits, when they have the amazing idea of leaving their cith boarding house and moving to the "Domain" that their late grandfather had bought as an investment. They don't even know where it is, or anything about it -- but when they arrive there, that situation quickly changes! House was untenanted for years, unrentable without lots of repair and cleaning, but these kids are energetic and cooperative. Jolly story, just look at the cute DJ, by our wonderful Pelagie Doane (think: Judy Bolton.) A horse and wagon, loaded with cute teens and pre-teens, setting out for the adventure of their lives. HB in very good condition, with a very nice DJ, which, by the way, is obviously newer than the story, as the kids look as if they're dressed in mid-century clothes. $5.00 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 could make you laser copies of almost any Lambert DJs, for an extra $2.50. They make the older books look really nice! Star-Spangled Summer (Lambert) 1941. The very first Lambert, and of course the first in the Parrish/Jordan series. I wonder if Janet Lambert had the slightest idea of how popular her books would become, or if she dreamed that she would end up writing over 50 books! You'll have a good idea of how this happened, when you read this first story. PB copy of Star-Spangled Summer, this one is a Tempo books edition, with a vintage-looking cover picture, girl in pink formal, white flower in her hair, boy in white tux with black bow-tie, and misty dancers and musicians in the background. Nice edition! PB. $3.00 2-book set, "Candy Kane" and "Whoa, Matilda" both about Candy. Early Lambert (1943 and 1944) there are 2 other books in this cute series, following these 2. Set of 2 HB Lambert books, $4.50. By the way, "Matilda" is a jalopy. Whoa, Matilda (Lambert) by itself, 1944. Read about cute Candy and her jalopy, Matilda, very good copy (Locket edition with grey tweedy cover.) $3.00 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 You will really like books by Nancy Hartwell, who wrote a lot of young adult books in the 1950s and 1960s. All of them wonderful stories, and quite akin to career-romances. I'll certainly try to offer more of Hartwell's books in future lists. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 I'll try to include books by the Youngs in my next list. they are obviously popular! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MORE MALTSHOP BOOKS COMING UP! 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 Big Doc's Girl (Mary Medearis) 1942. Arkansas setting, girl is 16 when story starts. Father is a doctor for the back-woods people, mother is piano teacher until she gets TB, and has to go to the sanitorium for a while. This means huge changes in the family. Teen girl has huge responsibilities, and can't study at a music conservatory as she has planned. Wonderful story, probably originally for adults, but almost a Maltshop and just as fascinating. HB, nice condition, $2.00 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 Ten Leagues to Boston Town (Butters) Girl and her brother have to try to get to Boston to join their parents. What a lot of adventures they have in such a short distance! And will she find love, now that she's all of 16 years old and her mother thinks she's old enough to get married? I don't know exactly what year this takes place, but it was very early in this country's history. HB, library printed PC, $2.50 Nice copy of Ten Leagues to Boston Town (Butters) with a good DJ. $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 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? PB, $2.00 _++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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, you have the greatest of treats ahead of you. Senior Year (Anne Emery) 1949. Sally Burnaby story -- You'll meet the Burnaby family, and Scotty, who is so important to the rest of the stories in this absolutely perfect series! PB, very good condition, $2.50 Going Steady (Anne Emery) 1950. It was one of the hot-button issues of that decade, should high schoolers go steady? If they could have foreseen the chaos of the next generation, they might not have been so concerned, but they couldn't. And here is the very best story of a very close relationship that has all the emotions that go with early teen romances. It's the story of the summer when Sally Burnaby and Scott go steady, play tennis, sip sodas at the Maltshop, dance. And think some serious thoughts about the future. I read all of this series to Dave a few years ago, and it evoked a lot of memories, and great deal of enjoyment. Going Steady, PB with vintage cover, very good condition, $2.00 Campus Melody (Emery) 1955. I really like the cover of this paperback edition, showing an ivy-covered college campus in the fall (makes me nostalgic, and sometimes I think it actually was set at Oberlin, where I also went to study music, like Jean in this story.) In this, the 5th in the absolutely wonderful Burnaby family series, Jean is off to college, and of course almost immediately falls for the man that you can instantly identify as Mr. Wrong. But she doesn't have our perspective, and what 18-year-old wouldn't fall for a handsome, popular, big shot who seems to be in love with her? You ache for Scotty, back at home. PB, moderately good condition, $2.00 Mountain Laurel (Emery) 1948. Girl from the Smoky Mountains, is accepted to nursing school, but can't go due to her mother's sudden death: she has to stay home and keep house for a big family. She learns to appreciate the mountain arts and crafts, and some new friends show her a way to achieve her goals. A romantic but very realistic story. I'm pretty sure that you'll LOVE this Anne Emery book, even though it's not really a Maltshop book! excellent condition PB $2.50 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. Nan of the Gypsies (Grace May North) 1926. Nan is happy being a gypsy, but a good lady decides to "civilize" her. It's very interesting to read about whether and/or how this succeeds. This book must have been very popular, as I've run across several editions of it. This one is one of those attractive, large Saalfield YA editions, brown cover with nice no-nonsense black letters in the title. The pages have turned brown with age, but they aren't brittle, and are firmly set in the binding. $3.00 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 add more Marjory Hall books when I get them. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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! Recommended Maltshop writing. A Girl called Hank (Walden) 1951. This was a very popular book when I was a young teen! Girl has 4 brothers, so of course they form a basketball team. Soon she's playing and starring on her high school team, and of course she has no time for boys, much though she loves her own boyish nickname. Well, things can change, and they do! Nice DJ picture of a stunning-looking girl throwing a basket, while a photographer is obviously looking for his chance to snap the winning basket. HB, Best Loved Girls' Books edition, personal copy, good condition, $4.50 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. PB, $1.75 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. Saturday Night (Marjorie Holmes) 1959. From the back cover: "Donny Keller ... has turned from Carly to his next love. All Carly's friends, her family, everyone who knows Donny have been expecting this. Only Carly has hoped for the impossible." From the back cover of the other edition: "A Tender, understanding novel about a girl whose first love was for the wrong boy." One of the classics, very touching story -- Saturday Night (Holmes) poor condition, but still good reading, free with a hardcover Maltshop. More of the Best: Stories for Girls. 1978 (stories from the previous decades.) There are 11 fairly lengthy short stories in this paperback, most of them of the Maltshop variety. Young love, awkward situations, pets, family complications. The book doesn't list where these stories originated, but they are very much like the ones in the American Girl or Calling All Girls magazines from the 40s through 50s. Nice cover picture of a girl writing someone's name in the sand, with a sort of dreamy collage above her head, a boy's face, a couple holding hands, a couple of fanciful birds! Addicting stories, I know from experience. PB, good cond, $2.25 Christy (Carole Bolton)1960. A very-sweet-16 love story. She's in love with an older man, (I guess you might call it a crush) and for a while she throws away all her old life and enjoyments. Haven't we all been there at one point? paperback edition, with a very cute cover picture (Tempo book ed.) $2 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 some of the authors, including the most well-known, Janet Lambert. Nice large HB with a happy, horse-riding girl on the cover. $4.00 Where Love Begins (Carol Beach York) 1936, Scholastic reprint edition from 1969. Girl falls in love with a boy that her family sees as totally wrong for her. Unusual, very romantic story. PB good condition, $1.00 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. That Certain Girl (Dorothea J. Snow) 1964. Girl and her family move to a wonderful new house, in "an upscale neighborhood," as the ads say. BUT she will never be too high and mighty to forget her old friends, will she! She has a party that makes her friends wonder where that certain girl has disappeared to. Folk music helps her to realize what's happening to her. Whitman Novel for Girls with picture cover, in very good condition, but with a slightly musty aura. HB, PC, $2.50 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! Focus the Bright Land (Friermood) Girl is sure that women can be photographers, though her father and brothers scoff at her. She brings new ideas to their business when she is allowed to go on a summer photographing tour with them about 1885. HB, PC, in nice cond. $4.00 Pretty Penny Farm (Joanne Hopper) 1987 Not a maltshop, wrong year! But horses, romance, friends, etc. New Hampshire setting. PB $2 TRY A MALTSHOP FOR A DOLLAR! ALL PAPERBACK, ALL IN ONLY "READING COPY" CONDITION, BUT NEVERTHELESS GOOD READING! A few are not quite maltshop types, but will appeal to you if you like MS's Sister of the Bride (Beverly Cleary) 1962. PB $1 National Velvet (Enid Bagnold) 1953. Famous for being made into a movie with Elizabeth Taylor, it's the story of a girl and her horse, and winning the Grand National race. Cover says "a girl, a family, and a thriller you'll never forget." This copy is in wonderful condition. $1.00 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) 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) Jeannette Eyerly, who died this year (if you get Whispered Watchword, you probably read my short eulogy to her.)She 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! 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 The Girl Inside (Eyerly) 1968. She has very sad problems, and is pretty much unable to cope with them. It could be a totally depressing book, but there are plenty of redeeming features, like a bit of romance and some good school scenes. PB $1.00 Practically Seventeen (duJardin) Tobey Hayden series. 1943+ Fair condition, but readable -- in fact, many people, including myself, recommend this series highly!!! PB $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 THIS 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. 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 The Enchanter's Wheel (Helen Oakley) interesting and clever illustrations by Charles Geer. 1962. Set in West Virginia, where the girl goes to spend the summer on her uncle's farm. This is more of a horse-story-adventure, but there is plenty of mystery when the girl is exploring in the woods, and finds what she thinks may be the mysterious Enchanter's Wheel that has supernatural powers. Of course this is wishful thinking, but it does lead to a mystery and might get the girl closer to her goal of owning her own horse. HB book in very good condition, personal copy, with a lovely DJ. $2.50 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 some Girvan books in the near future! The Mysterious Christmas Shell (Eleanor Cameron) 1961. Illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush. Children arrive at their aunts' home for the usual Christmas festivities, and find that there's something terribly wrong -- the family house is going to be sold and a developer is going to put up a whole lot of houses on the land where the children -- and the adults -- have explored and loved for so long. Can the children change things? Yes, if they can find that rare shell -- or the long-lost will that had left the house to the aunts outright. Nice California oceanfront setting, plenty of Christmas cheer even in the face of sadness, and a beautiful black cat. HB, XL, nice library printed picture cover, all in good condition. $3.50 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, 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 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. Nice 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 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. PB, $2.00 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! Paperback mysteries by Augusta Huiell Seaman. Seaman has been reviewed in some recent issues of Whispered Watchword. Her vintage books are always interesting, and were very popular in the 30s through 50s. Sorry if there aren't any Seaman books at this time. More as soon as I can get them. 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!!! Mystery of the Silent Friends (Robin Gottlieb) 1964. The "Friends" are antique dolls. And they're in danger! Gottleib wrote quite a few mysteries for younger teen girls, all of them very well written, full of comfortable details while also being quite mysterious. Her subjects are especially interesting to us, or at least to me -- I can barely resist reading anything that deals with dolls! PB, very good condition, $2.00 (2) Secret of the Old Post Box (Dorothy Sterling) a much-loved favorite mystery from 1960. Boys and girls work together to try to find a treasure that's supposed to be hidden in a pre-revolutionary house in the neighborhood. The girl had just moved to the small town after living in NYC all her life, and is thrilled to join her new friends in this wildly exciting project. There's a clever code to figure out, and a chapter with the appealing title of "I care about old Books!" Don't we all! I hope you don't mind learning a little history, painlessly! By the way, inside the book, the title is spelled "secret of the old Post-Box." Take your choice! HB, fair condition, with a laser repro copy of the very, very good dust jacket. $3.50 It's a Mystery! Stories of Suspense (Mildred Bingham)1965. Short mysteries about girls, short mysteries about boys, good selection, lots of nice pictures, a very appealing book. Whitman HB with a picture cover showing girls (yea!) in a scarey situation. HB, PC, $1.50 The Secret of the Simple Code (Nancy Faulkner) 1965. Boy was hurt in a car accident, and has a lame leg, plus other medical problems, so he's spending the summer in the country with his aunt, who runs a boarding house. When the Professor comes to stay with them, the boy is sure he's going to be an awful bore, but things start to heat up considerably! And there are all those odd things happening around the town. And rock collecting takes on a new fascination! Then, there's the miserably unhappy boy who lives nearby. I recently read this book, and really loved it. HB, with a good picture cover and a few library markings inside. $2.50 S. S. Shamrock Mystery (Norvin Pallas) a Ted Wilford Mystery -- 1966. Popular series, Ted is a reporter and college student who loves to find mysteries to follow for his articles! HB, XL, with nice picture cover -- $5.00 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. PB, $1.25 The Riddle of Raven Hollow (Mary Francis Shura) 1975. Ghosts in the Hollow? Well, maybe not, but some really odd things come out of the gulch (original title of this book was Riddle of Raven's Gulch, but I guess "Hollow" sounded better.) The main character is a boy, but a girl steals the show in the end! PB, $1.00 The Drugged Cornet and other mystery Stories (chosen by Susan Dickinson)1972. A very good book to introduce readers, young or not so young, to great names in mystery writing like Dorothy Sayers, G. K. Chesterton, Ngaio Marsh, etc. There are 15 short (but not too short) stories in this book, all appropriate for teen readers, though many of them were originally written for adult readers. You'll like the title story, which is about a teen boy whose sister has a big crush on a jazz cornet player who has a few secrets! HB, XL, PC, good condition, $2.50 The Perrely Plight, A Mystery at Sturbridge (Peter John Stephens) 1965. The previous book is about Sturbridge today, while this one is about Sturbridge in the old days. Kids in 1836 were apparently as interested in solving mysteries as today's kids, and there was plenty of mystery in Sturbridge back then. Missing money, a burned barn, and a mysterious house! Excellent illustrations help you to understand life in that era. HB, XL, nice DJ, $2.50 Mystery at Old Strubrige Village (Julia C. Mahon) 1964. Contemporary girls wander around historic village and try to find a missing will. You will become very familiar with the wonderful reconstructed village, but the travelogue-details don't detract from the mystery story. There are some good illustations of village landmarks. XL HB, with good library printed picture cover. $2.50 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 Mystery of the Spanish Cave (Geoffrey Household) 1936. A Scholastic PB reprint. Boy is out fishing when he finds a human skull near the cave, where even the best of fishermen avoid sailing. There's a girl in this story, but it's really a boy's sort of tale, with lots of adventure, danger and political intrigue! PB, $1.00 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 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 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. Margaret Goff Clark's mysteries are really good, and in the semi-maltshop genre! Mystery of the Missing Stamps (Margaret Goff Clark) 1967. You can tell from the front cover of this book, that it's about a girl a well as a couple of boys. Lots of info about stamp collecting, Stamps provide a fertile ground for YA mysteries, almost as valuable as jewels or hard cash. Plenty of danger and adventure in this story, which is a Weekly Reader Book Club edition with a nice picture cover. $3.00 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 (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 Young Readers' Mystery Stories (Charles Coombs) 1951. Illustrated by Charles Geer -- you will recognize his style! There are 6 short mysteries in this book. I'll have to admit that they are mostly about boys, but I had fun with them, too. 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 (Young Reader's Horse, Cowboy, etc, stories) These illustrations are very attractive, and feature a girl and a boy running through the woods, which leads me to think that these stories are supposed to be for girls, too. My theory is that they feature boys because girls are happy to read stories about boys, but boys are too prejudiced to read stories about girls! Just my theory .... HB, cover has some folds, but on the whole, a sturdy book. $2.00 Mysteries by Ruth Chew -- (my kids loved these magical mysteries, early grade level) Ruth Chew illustrated her own books, and I can't decide whether she's a better author or artist. Her pictures are warm and fuzzy, adorable, a little creepy! Like her books. Most of these books are in very good condition. I'll try to have more Ruth Chew books very soon! 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 a very 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! If you haven't tried St. John's mysteries, give them a try! 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 some 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 ------------------------------------------ Mystery of the Haunted Hut (Mary Graham Bonner) 1950. Scholastic Children spend the winter vacation in the small town where they usually go for the summer, where 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! $1 (2) 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 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TEENS' AND CHILDREN'S NONFICTION Science Catches The criminal (Wyatt Blassingame)1975. Yes, outdated, but interesting as it is mainly historical -- fingerprints, blood groups, poison, codes, etc. Lots of recent and historical case histories, entirely readable and fun. For young adults. HB, Dj, great condition. $1.50 Great Crime Busters (Alan Hynd) 1967. A Boy Scouts publication. Inspiring stories about adults and kids (mainly Boy Scouts) who help law officers catch the criminals! I really enjoyed the contents and easy style of these stories. HB, XL, $2.00 The Tale of Beatrix Potter: A Biography by Margaret Lane. British book, from 1946, revised in 1968. If you only know Potter from "Peter Rabbit" and her other animal books and art, you really have to read this book. Her life was cruelly sad in many ways, and astonishingly unusual. It could only have happened in Victorian times, I believe. Very good book, many photos and of course some of her own art as illustrations. There are prints of some of her manuscripts and diary pages, and more. Absorbing, as biographies so often are. HB, very nice quality and good condition, $3.50 Maria (Autobiography of Maria Von Trapp) 1972. Goes way back further than "Sound of Music" into her childhood, talks about her marriage and children, and of course music. HB, with a section of lovely color photographs. $2.50 Modern Medical Discoveries (Irmengarde Eberle) 1968. I know, it doesn't sound "Modern" to us, but this book really fascinated me. It gives the background of discoveries that even the most up-to-date procedures are based on. Discovery of antibiotics, vaccines, vitamins, blood grouping, fantastic machines. I read right through it as if it were a novel. Written for high school, so I understood it even though I was anything but a science scholar (almost flunked Physics, never even took Chem.) HB, XL, with DJ. $2.00 Anne M. Martin, The Story of the author of The Baby-Sitters Club (Margot Becker R. with Ann M. Martin 1993.) Even if you aren't a fan of the Baby-Sitters Club, this book will be interesting, as it gives a glimpse into the life of an suthor who writes series books for young readers. Lots of pictures, and lists of the books up to that point. Scholastic PB, $2.00 The Road Not Taken: An introduction to Robert Frost, subtitled A Selection of Robert Frost's Poems, with a Bilgraphical Preface and Running Commentary by Louis Untermeyer. A large hardcover book, full of poems and excellent drawings by John O'Hara Cosgrave II, and and a lot of interpretive and explanatory writing by the famous poetry expert. HB, XL, good condition, $2.00 The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children (Katherine Paterson) 2001. This is a wonderful book! Mostly made up of talks and speeches made by Mrs. Paterson over the years, acceptance speeches for her many awards, lectures, and readings. These are even more intersting than her books themselves, at least to me! You'll learn a lot about what goes on in the mind of an extremely well-known and highly acclaimed author. HB, XL with a DJ, all in excellent condition. $2.00 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 END OF SPECIAL AUTHOR-BIOGRAPHY SECTION ******************************************** MORE NONFICTION BOOKS TO FOLLOW! *********************** Lives of Girls Who Became Famous (Sarah K. Bolton) several dates listed for the publication of this book. The "girls" include 22 wonderful women who should be inspirations for all of us -- Marion Anderson, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller, and so many others. This is a long book, 343 pages, but not in the least "heavy" in content. Nice attractive pencil sketches of each of the subjects, and quite a bit of information about each woman's childhood. HB, XL, really nice condition, with a very good DJ. $3.00 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 Princess Margaret: the Story of a Royal Romance (Alice Hope) 1955 and 1961. Actually this is a bio of Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, from birth to her wedding. It comes from the era when Royals were treated with some dignity and respect, thank goodness. Nice photos. Book in reading condition, with taped spine and a few other condition issues. $1.00 Scott Joplin, A Life in Ragtime (Steven Otfinoski)The story of Joplin's life and successes, the many years when he was forgotten, and the revival of his works (including his opera.) Lots of photos. HB with DJ, all in very good condition, $2.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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!! 2-book set of Borrowers (Mary Norton) You probably have, or at least have read, the first Borrowers book, so here are 2 more, in wonderful condition, hardcover books with nice dust jackets. The illustrations are by Beth and Jo Krush, so you know they'll be imaginative and detailed. The books are "Borrowers Afield" from 1955, and "Borrowers Avenged" from 1982. Get them for your kids, grandchildren, or yourself -- these books look great, and they're so much fun! 2 HBs, with very good DJs, $4 for both of them. BIG LOT OF MISHMASH STORIES BY MOLLY CONE Here's a big lot of 5 PB books about Mishmash, a "big black dog" and his boy, Pete. Hint -- Molly Cone wrote several Maltshop books, too. These are NOT MS books, but every dog lover ought to read them! These books are illustated by Leonard Shortall, who drew pictures for a great number of good books for kids! The books are really fun, the type of book that you'll enjoy reading to a little kid, because they're fun for yourselves. How can you help loving a dog who "consumed a rhubarb pie, a peanut butter sandwich, 6 cupcakes, 4 bananas, 2 candy bars, half a chicken, a package of bologna, 3 apples, a waffle, and the plastic rose on my bedside table... then ... the dog began to snore..." About 90-120 pages per book, former library copies, some with plastic covers to protect the books. Books include (all preceded by "Mishmash and the ... " Substitute Teacher Robot Sauerkraut mystery Uncle Looey Big Fat Problem 5 Mishmash books, pb, XL, $3.00 for all The Mallory Burn (Pete Pomery) 1971. It's a sort of career book (not a career-romance though.) A boy is living the dream of my younger years -- living in a fire tower for the summer. And yet he is bored and resentful! He promised his father that he'd stay through the summer, but he absolutely does NOT want to go to college afterwards! The summer is almost over, and absolutely nothing has happened. He wants to get back to his city life and the friends that his father wanted to get him away from. Now, after a terrible electric storm, suddenly something IS happening, and it changes his life. This is mainly an adventure story, but there are flashbacks to show how his attitude changes. HB, XL, DJ, all in excellent condition. $1.50 The Enchanted Book, "Tales of enchanted princes and princesses, of animals that became human beings, and humans turned into animals.... from France, Russia, China Spain and other lands..." Edited and selected by Alice Dalgliesh. Includes stories from Anderson, Andrew Lang, Grimm brothers, Arthur Ransome, and from folk tradition. Amazing pictures, both b/w and 2-page spreads in color. Some of the pictures are "enchanted" and some are humorous. This is a former library copy, that looks good, but has just a very few flaws, a stained page, a slightly torn page, maybe a very few other things, nothing major, just wanted to be truthful! The pictures are all clean and bright as far as I can see! Large hb, with very pretty picture on the cover. $3.00 The Wee Scotch Piper (Madeline Brandeis) from The Children of All Lands series. 1929. The book's in good condition, with a 2-color picture cover. DJ has a few rips and missing bits around the edges, but the very nice cover picture is whole showing the little bag-piper in kilt and all the rest of the regalia, with a darling sheep farm, hills and vales in the background. $2.50 Witch-Cat (Joan Carris) 1984. It looks like an ordinary enough cat on the cover, but it's anything but! A girl has The Powers, but she doesn't believe it, and the cat has to teach her the truth about herself. It's not as easy as you might think, and this story will appeal to cat lovers, girls who like to read about magic, and nice family stories. HB, XL, DJ -- good condition. $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 Little Boat Boy (Jean Bothwell) 1945. Set in Kashmir, more than 65 years ago, so this is of historic interest, though it was written as a contemporary story at the time. Young boy and his family live on a houseboat, where they have good times, less happy ones, all fascinating to us, looking at them from this time and place. Lovely illustrations by Margaret Ayer. HB book in lovely condition, with excellent DJ. $3.00 Peter on the Min (Dorothy Clark) 1942. illustrated by Weda Yap. A very attractive and interesting book. The first thing you'll learn is how to write the numbers from 1 to 10 in Chinese. The chapter headings are then listed beside the correct numeral. American boy has lived in China for 4 years, and joins in the local activities. I assume this is the author's way of teaching children about a locale that certainly does seem exotic to me. But the story is exciting and varied enough that maybe it's just supposed to be entertaining! Lovely illustrations, pictures of old China, always with Peter amid the Chinese children and adults, relishing every adventure. I love the picture of him, flying beautiful kites. There's a lovely picture of him with a Chinese boy, surrounded by tall bamboo stalks, and caring for the tiniest puppy you've ever seen. Amusing stories, very readable for you or for a child. HB book is covered in textured beige material, and the title looks as if it, too, is outlined in bamboo. Unusual and beautiful book. $3.00 The Last Silk Dress (Ann Rinaldi) 1988. This story takes place in 1861 and 1862,near Richmond. Silk dresses were being collected to make spy balloons for the Confederacy. The author, in her notes, admits that this might have been some kind of myth, though there were various references to the situation in letters. She liked the idea enough to write a novel with that premise, and also the belief that girls and women had a great part in all efforts during the Civil War. It sounds heavy, but one review on the back cover calls it "A light, enjoyable historical romance," so don't be discouraged by the 350 pages. If you love history and romance, you'll be happy that this YA book is that long! HB, XL in very good condition, with wonderful DJ. $3.00 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 Constance, A Story of Early Plymouth (Patricia Clapp) 1968. Written in the form of a diary or journal, by a 14-year-old girl who arrived in the Mayflower. This is a very entertaining way to learn about the lives of our far-distant ancestors -- especially the everyday life of a girl (you know most of the history you can read, deals with the men, politics, etc.) The journal covers 6 years of her early life, up to the time of her marriage. HB, XL, with printed library cover picture. $2.50 At Paddy the Beaver's Pond (Thornton Burgess) 1950. First edition of this "Book of Nature Stories." It's a former library copy, with a nearly complete DJ which has a very cute picture by Harrison Cady, Burgess's illustrator. Lots of internal illustrations, too, of all kinds of animals. HB in fair condition, with DJ, $2.50 Carolina Hurricane (Marian Rumsey) 1977. I think a lot of people, like me, are fascinated by the strength and horror of hurricanes. This is the story of a boy who was just trying to take in his family's crab traps before the hurricane was due to hit, but he ended up facing the storm in his boat, and trying to keep himself and his dog from practically certain death. An amazing story, full of Carolina nature and a lot of warm family details. Lovely illustrations, too, by Ted Lewin, who also illustrated this author's other books. I'm going to look for them, for sure. XL HB in very good condition, with a very good DJ. $2.50 Six Stories told by Katharine Hepburn: World of Stories. I was quite surprised when I came across this one! I had no idea Hepburn had written a children's book. Some of the 6 stories are familiar (Emperor's New Clothes, for instance) and some are new to me. There are several different artists, each one appropriate to the story being illustrated. There's supposed to be a CD with this book, but it's missing, so you will have to read the stories yourself! HB, with nice picture cover, good condition, $2.00 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! 3 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 3 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) 3 beautiful paperback books by Edward Eager -- $5 for the set 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 (Noel Streatfeild) originally from 1937, this is a very large more modern reprint, hardcover with a dust jacket. This book has remained popular since it was first written, and even though I'm not truly happy about the Diane Goode cover illustration, I must say that this edition is a great tribute to a wonderful book that probably gave 100,000 little girls the ambition to become ballet dancers, while telling a wonderful "poor orphans make good" story to those of us who have 2 left feet. Good HB, DJ in moderately good condition. $2.50 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 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, fairly good condition, $2.00 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 On Fortune's Wheel (Cynthia Voigt)1990. By the Newbery-winning author of the very good series about Dicey and her family, this is a very different kind of book. It's a historical novel, set in some very early age, about a girl who escapes marrying a man she doesn't want, and goes off with a thief that she's just caught stealing their boat. I understand that it's a sort of sequel to Jackaroo, one of Voigt's earlier romantic and historical books. HB, very good condition, personal copy, with a very good DJ. $3.00 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 Catherine, Called Birdy (Karen Cushman) A Newbery Honor book from 1994. I've talked with people who don't like this book, and I will have to agree with them that it might not be totally historically accurate. I'm not a historian, so Dave and I thought it was really good! Funny, instructive, full of those "gross" details that kids love to read about (people weren't quite as fussy about hygiene in 1290 as they are now!) Girl keeps a diary during her 14th year, during which she is promised in marriage to a man that she figures would be a horrible husband. And a whole lot of other things, good and not so good, happen to her. Every day's date is prefaced by the saint or martyr of that day, which is sometimes quite appropriate. I won't go on about it, but I think most people will get quite a kick out of this book. Personal copy, HB, with DJ, in very good condition. $3.00 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 Island Boy, A Story of Ancient Hawaii (Robert R. Harry, Sr.) 1956. The description says "In this delightful tale, the leading character, Paulo, says Aloha to American children, and shares with them the poetry and wisdom of everyday life in old Hawaii. Very attractive HB book with a good DJ. $2.50 Trout Summer (Jane Leslie Conly) 1995. I've been reading some of the PB YA's that I've collected over the years. Sometimes I can't get through more than a few pages, other times I am caught up within a few sentences, and this is one of the latter. I love the near- wilderness setting, the kids who live there all day while their mother is at work, the cabin that they pretty much resurrect from being torn down, the mysterious man who shows up and gradually makes friends with them. Nice picture on the cover, too -- 2 kids in a canoe, looking as if they were about to go over the falls. PB, $1.50 Tomas Takes Charge (Charlene Joy Talbot) 1966. 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 Snow Treasure in HB, XL, no DJ, pretty good condition, $2.00 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 this year, but it's still fun to read about it. Here are a few Christmas-themed books that are good any time of year. Christmas (edited by Alice Dalgliesh and illustrated by Hildegard Woodward.) I mention the illustrator, since that's one of the best parts of this book, all the b/w prints of children and animals. Pretty much all of them are worthy of being framed. The cover is especially nice, red background, beautiful lettering and a green circle in the center showing 2 children singing, darling faces, dear little hoods, big red mittens. The endpapers are pictures of wood grain. It's a lovely book (though this one is Xlibrary, and has seen some wear.) Stories by authors we love, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dickens, Alice Dalgliesh herself, Kenneth Graham, Hans Christian Andersen, and a whole lot more, some known, some new to me. Large HB, XL, PC. $3.00 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 The Long Christmas (Ruth Sawyer) with illustrations by Valenti Angelo, 1941. A beautiful book full of stories chosen by Sawyer, who wrote a respected book on story-reading. Christmas tales from around the world, a few modern tales, and a poem for each story. High quality paper and covers, a really nice HB book. $3.50 ************** 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 NEXT, A FEW REALLY OLD NOVELS, WITH PRETTY COVERS!!! Good condition. The Young Mutineers (L. T. Meade, I think it's the same person as MRS L. T. Meade) 1903. The cover of this book is enchanting -- a girl in a blue dress with pink parasol and fancy hat. Sitting on a rustic fence in some kind of orchard. I think the artist's name is E. Vernon, though the title page lists Gordon Browne. He may have illustrated the original book, as I think this a reprint from no more than a century ago. HB, PC, $3.00 END OF VERY OLD AND FANCY BOOKS! BACK TO GENERAL FICTION BOOKS! Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (Kate Douglas Wiggin) origially from 1903. I don't know anything about first editions of classics, but this one must be from quite a long time ago. The cover pictures are adorable, though not too farm-like. One shows a nice house surrounded by flowers and trees, the other is a winding road going off into the distance, or maybe it's a river, going through a field into a romantic horizon. Exterior spine has flower and vine decorations. Grosset and Dunlap. If you collect interesting and pretty old books, you might like this one very much. Not perfect cond, but sturdy and clean except a few small stains on corners and back of the cover. Clear-taped spine. $2.50 Follow My Leader (James Garfield) 1957. Boy is blinded after playing with fireworks. Of course he has a terrible time adjusting to this, and so do his friends -- until he gets a guide dog. Then things start to turn around. VERY good reading, serious but not tragic. Boy Scout connection, too! HB, good cond, $2.00 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 Stories from Animal Land (Annie E. Chase) 1891. Want to see what you would have been reading to your children more than a century ago? Educational but entertaining little stories for young children. Many of the stories have a simple moral (be kind to animals, for instance.) Nearly 200 pages. Sweet pictures (b/w line drawings) Nice condition for a very old book. HB $3.00 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ANIMAL BOOKS There are lots of animal stories other places, too, but here are a few especially nice ones 3-book GYPSY horse series by Sharon Wagner. This is the entire series, and these large paperbacks are very, very attractive. The covers have checked backgrounds, and very appealing horse pictures in a square in the middle. Evan the back covers have attractive horse pictures. The books are in good condition, making a pretty line-up of books that have been popular with horse-loving kids for a generation or more. They tell the story of Wendy and Gypsy, both of whom had sad backgrounds, and needed each other to break the bonds of the past. Gypsy from Nowhere (1972) Gypsy and Nimblefoot (1973) Gypsy and the Moonstone Stallion (1980) 3 large paperbacks, $5.00 for all 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 Sorrel Stallion: The horse that Came Home (David Grew) 1932. Bills itself as the American Black Beauty. Grosset and Dunlap Famous Horse Stories series. good condition book with a partial DJ. Front has about 1/3 missing, but the 2 beautiful horses and a mountain background are still there. Bottom half of spine is missing, but back cover is all there... Interior of book is very good, with lots of horse pictures by famous Paul Brown. $3.00 Trumper (Hetty Burlingame Beatty) 1963. Boy and horse, plus quite a few other animals and 4-H. XL $2 The Black Stallion Mystery (Farley) PB good condition! $1.50 _______---------------___________----------------______________--------------
PAPERBACKS OF MANY KINDS! ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hearts of Fire: Great Women of American Lore and Legend (Kemp Battle) This huge paperback book looks new, and is filled with hundreds of tales of real American women, doing great and small things to inspire you or a girl of your acquaintance. Nearly 450 very large pages, arranged into sections like Birth, Family LIfe, Frontier Journeys, Bad Girls, Courtship, Marriage, etc etc. Starts way back in the 1700s and goes right up to today. You know about some of these women, Ameila Earhart, Marian Anderson, Carry Nation, Helen Keller, Clara Barton -- but some of these wonderful women are anonymous and getting their first recognition in this book. Some are amusing "A Guideline for Female Schoolteachers, 1907," headed by 'Do Not Get Married.' Some are very, very touching. You can hardly stop reading the little stories. And it's pretty much a gift-quality book. Large PB, $2.75 Across America on an Emigrant Train (Jim Murphy) 1993. Large (tall) paperback with a dramatic cover picture, tells about the rugged experiences of emigrants who came to America in the 2nd half of the 1800s, and traveled to California by train. Uses the journals of Robert Louis Stevenson to tell this story. Scholastic PB, full of photos mostly taken at that time, and artists' sketches. $2.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Waltons (Robert Weverka) 1974. Front cover says "The first novel about America's Favorite TV family) cover picture shows the entire Walton clan sitting in front of the very familiar house. PB $1 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 The Case of the Painted Dragon, a Brains Benton Mystery (George Wyatt) 1961. This is #6 in the series -- I think it's the last in the series. Nice copy, with an exciting and very colorful cover picture. The book's in nice condition, with just a bit of wear at the middle and the bottom of the spine. $2.00 The Secret of Skeleton Island (Ken Holt mystery, #1, by Bruce Campbell) Brown tweedy covered book, fairly good condition. $2.00 The Riddle of the Stone Elephant (Ken Holt mystery #2, by Bruce Campbell) Nice creepy mystery series! Brown covered book, in fairly good condition, $2.00 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 Harmon and the Great Gridiron Plot (Jay Dender) 1946. This is a beautiful book! DJ has a framed picture of the famous football hero, Tom Harmon, plus a colorful picture of 2 men running across the field in full football outfits and helmets. The story is fiction, as it's a 1946 Whitman Authorized Edition supposed to be about the adventures of the football star. Illustrated by Henry E. Vallely, who really knew how to draw heroic sports figures, both on the field, and relaxing (He drew glamorous women, too, you may remember.) And if you aren't a football fan, there is a bit of college life in this story, too. HB, DJ, good condition. $3.00 Tom Swift Jr #17, Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X. 1961. Another incredible looking machine and a wildly dangerous-looking background! Moderate condition. $3.50 Tom Swift, Jr. #18. The electronic Hydrolung. Good copy, formerly in a library, but with only slight library markings. $6.00 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 Bruce Larkin, Air Force Cadet (Jack Pearl) 1962. This book follows Bruce through his first yeart at the air force academy, learning about duty and loyalty, and solving the many problems and mysteries that he encounters! PB, good condition, $1.50 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 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 Garry Grayson's Double Signals (Elmer A. Dawson) This is another book with a stunning DJ. Especially if you like football pictures! Angular men in yellow or blue jerseys, dashing up the field, with a stylish ref and cheering crowds in the background. Both book and DJ in good condition. (I'd almost say very good condition.) $6.00 Over The Line (Harold M. Sherman) 1929. Another book with a very good DJ, football players tripping all over each other, lots of earthy colors, and a fizzy background of grandstands and spectators.Book is firm and sturdy but has age-related browning. DJ is good, the only problem being a few slight tears at the edges. Goldsmith edition. $3.00 Lost City of Uranus (Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventure #6) 1962. Fair condition copy. It would be good cond except for one corner of the cover, which has the outer, colored layer of paper rubbed off for about 1". Otherwise, quite a good condition book. Pages uniformly brown, but clean. Nice picture cover. I think it's the last book in this series. Copies on ABE books seem to run in the $25+ range. My price is $8.00 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