Holly’s Comments (group member since Oct 13, 2013)

Holly’s comments from the What's the Name of That Book??? group.

Kristi, do you remember where you saw the blurb about it?

Do you remember when the book was set? Did it have a historical setting or did it take place during the 1990s/2000s?

This list possibly might have it!

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Just going to second Knight's Castle! Edward Eager was really influenced by E. Nesbit, so her book The Magic City is very similar, if you want to read more like it.

Do you know approximately when the book was published? Like, do you think it was contemporary with Anne of Green Gables, or was it published more recently?

Thanks bookel, that is certainly it :]

This book just randomly popped into my head recently and now I want to know what it is :]

I believe I read it somewhere between 1997 to 2000. It was possibly older than that, but I think it was from the 90s (though, again, it definitely could have been older than that). It was a children's or YA book. I think my dad checked it out from the library for me. It's about a group of school kids (possibly late elementary or middle school) who have to pretend to be pioneers for a school project. I don't remember much, but I think they had to do this for an extended amount of time, maybe weeks or longer.

Thanks for your help!

Could it possibly be Steal Away Home? A lot of details are different, but certain things you describe are like this book. The modern main character reads an old diary and the viewpoint of the story goes between the past & the present. There's definitely a big mystery element in this book and it's definitely about slavery.

That story sounds vaguely familiar. Could it possibly have been by James Thurber?

Do you think the stories were written around 1992, or do you think they were older stories that were just now being collected into one volume?

You might have luck looking through this list! https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

Could it be Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner?

You might want to check out some listopia lists like these:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

Good luck finding your book!

It's not Victoria Holt's On the Night of the Seventh Moon, is it? It's not meant for kids, obviously, but it is about a young women who visits the Black Forest and there are supernatural elements and it has a purple cover. Doesn't sound like there's a grandfather in the book, but I thought it would be worth a mention anyway.

The first book is called Shadowland.

I just want to chime in and say that the book you're looking for is almost certainly Shadow Castle. The plot you're describing is indeed the framing story for Shadow Castle.

Here's the plot description from Amazon:
"In the middle of a deep forest is an enchanted valley and a castle where only shadows live, shadows of kings and queens who have waited for hundreds of years for the spell cast upon them to be broken. One day, a girl named Lucy follows a little dog through a tunnel into the valley and meets the mysterious red-haired Michael, who takes her into the shadow world to meet Prince Mika and his mortal wife Gloria, their children and their children's children, and learn the magic that will lift the spell."

That sounds like Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. It came out in 1998, but she's a really popular author so it's always been easy to find. Wikipedia has a better plot description than Goodreads. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Someone_...

Here are the parts of the plot description that sound like what you wrote:

"Going back to school on the first day, Scarlett states she feels ill. Halley goes to class and finds her new schedule is wrong so she goes to the guidance counselors office to sort it out. There she gets talking to Macon who jokes around with her and teaches her the "Jedi Mind Trick". She is a bit surprised by his sudden friendliness. Later that day, she finds out they have P.E together and from then on, she develops a crush on him as he fascinates her with his unpredictable and wild lifestyle.

When Halley decides to have sex with Macon at a New Year's Eve party, Scarlett tries to convince her not do it and they get into a major argument that leaves them not speaking. Halley gets drunk before she can do it. When she throws up and leaves, Macon is furious because he thought she was just leading him on. While he is driving her home, he is too busy shouting at her to watch the road and they get into a major car accident. Before going into the emergency room, Macon holds Halley's hand tightly and says, "I love you." Halley is seriously injured and taken to hospital. Macon didn't visit. Her mother is disappointed in her because she does not know the truth about what really happened.
After Halley gets out of the hospital, Macon comes to see her at her window. Halley having had enough breaks up with him which breaks his heart because he then realizes he's in love with her."

Could it be The City of Ember?

So I'm sure I'm really off-base here, but reading your description made something click in my head. Magic for Marigold

Granted, this is a very old book, and it sounds like you're talking about a much more recent book. But there is definitely a chapter in this book where the main character's cousin comes to visit and her perfect half moon nails are described.

""Gwendolen has such lovely white half-moons at the base of her nails." Now, Marigold had no half-moons. "In short"--though it never really was in short with Aunt Josephine--"Gwendolen is a perfect little lady.""

"They met. Gwendolen stiffly put out a slender immaculate hand. Marigold glanced apprehensively at her own nails--thank goodness they were clean, even if they had no half-moons. And oh, Gwendolen was just as beautiful--and just as ladylike--and just as faultless as Aunt Josephine had painted her. Not one comforting, consoling defect anywhere.
There were the famous nut-brown curls falling around her delicate, spiritual face--there were the large, mild, dewy blue eyes and the exquisitely arched brows--there were the pearly teeth and the straight Grecian nose, the rosebud mouth, the shell-pink ears that lay back so nicely against her head, the cherubic expression, the sweet voice--very sweet. Marigold wondered if it was jealousy that made her think it was a little too sweet."

Anyway, I hope you find the book you're looking for!