What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
Query abandoned by poster
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ABANDONED. Children's book, plot sort of similar to Ember
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Idgie
(new)
Jan 06, 2013 10:38AM
There's a book I read as a kid, but I can't find anymore because I don't remember the title, nor the author. It was about an underground society (à la Ember, sort of) and a man from the outside world who somehow ended up there, showing them the existance of it. I remember that the protagonist was a little girl, her grandma was some kind of herbalist-doctor, her parents were dead and in a pauper grave, and she met the man from the above world near some kind of machine which had the purpose of reusing any sort of cloth left around, or at least it was something like that. I'm italian, so there may be different editions from the one I had, but the cover showed a manhole in the middle of a grass plain, and there was a blonde girl looking outside. People from the outside world were called "The Ones" and the outside world was "The Above-World", or at least that's the literal translation of what I recall. Anyone knows?
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Or possibly either the same book that also was the solution to the following query, or one of the alternate suggestions there:http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Could be either of them, I'll check! Thanks a lot, everyone :)
Please come back and let us know if you find the book so we can shelve it and mark it solved!
I think it's one of these! Feel free to mark it solved, I'll go to the library in town and see what I can find. Thanks a bunch again :>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/82...
Mod
There's actually a 'possibly solved' folder, which I've used (still waiting to find the book to see if it's the correct one).
It's not Downsiders, and I can't find the other two in the library. I'll try to see if I can order them :)
Mod
This Time of Darkness or
I Feel Like the Morning Star.
Was your book either of those? If so we can move this from Possibly Solved to Solved.
Lobstergirl wrote: "Idgie, you narrowed this down to This Time of Darkness or
I Feel Like the Morning Star.
Was your book either of those? If so we can move this from Possibly Solved to ..."
Hello, I'm the OP of this post, I lost my login info for that account. I asked the same question on Reddit and someone found this thread again, so just letting you know I've confirmed it wasn't either of those books :c
Mod
What year did you read this book?Was it more magical fantasy or dystopian science fiction?
Rainbowheart wrote: "What year did you read this book?Was it more magical fantasy or dystopian science fiction?"
I was in primary school so anywhere between 2002/2006, it could have been an older book but I'm not certain? Also I read it in Italian but I don't know if it was the original language or just a translation, so there's no narrowing the search down with that.
I'd say more dystopian, I don't think there were any fantasy elements- I think possibly a post-apocalyptic setting? I remember that at the end they get outside and find it's empty and silent (granted, it happens at nighttime, but still) but I'm pretty sure it's described as beautiful, with green grass and running water etc (not a wasteland, is what I'm saying) so I'm thinking maybe a long while after [insert apocalypse] when nature has already reclaimed the land?
@Lobstergirl is it okay if I link my Reddit post here? There have been a lot of suggestions there that I've already confirmed to be wrong.
Do you remember how old the girl was? Was she a teenager or a younger child?Might also have a look at these lists if you haven't already....
Underground Cities
Middle Grade Dystopias
Hi! I haven't been on here in a minute but yes, still looking! Outside made me hope for a minute but I can't seem to find any italian edition of it, so I don't think it's the one. I think I'm going to try making a mock-up of the cover art to find this, and hopefully someone will recognize it.
https://pasteboard.co/w6gvRK4wWMnI.pngIt's ugly as hell but here it is. I remember it having this really peculiar artstyle with the wide head and large eyes. I once found an artist who I thought might have been the one to draw the cover, but I can't seem to find him again :( I'll update if I do
Is it any of these books?Underground/dome to outside - children's/young adult science fictionhttps://www.librarything.com/list/588...#
Doesn't look like it sadly. The ones that sound closest don't turn up in my search for an italian edition, no luck :(
I just searched Google Books Advanced Search forunderground "science fiction"
Tools-Any time-Custom range 1950-2002.
Look at the first result.
Downsiders
Neal Shusterman · 1999
Fourteen-year-old Talon, a member of the Downsiders, a race of beings living in the tunnels under New York City's subways, finds himself drawn to the forbidden world of the above-ground world when he befriends a lonely Topsider named ...
https://www.google.com.au/books/editi...
The cover reminded me of the cover you did.
The Italian edition according to worldcat is from 2001.
Downsiders
Author: Neal Shusterman; Marco Martis; Giancarlo Carlotti
Publisher: Casale Monferrato : Piemme Junior, 2001.
Series: Il battello a vapore
Edition/Format: Print book : ItalianView all editions and formats
Subjects
Avventura
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
That cover got my hopes up but no dice. I'm starting to think I hallucinated this book because what the hell 😭I don't think this will matter at all but I'm 99% sure my parents bought it in an Autogrill? I'm trying to squeeze my brain for more details but I'm coming up short
https://www.lafeltrinelli.it/teseo-ar...Similar artstyle to the one I remember, except the eyes here are small while on the cover they were really large. Face was also a wide oval while this one is long
Benjamin Lacombe's works also REALLY remind me of it, though I can't seem to find the exact cover so he's probably not the right artist either 🥲
Mod
Bee have you tried asking a children's librarian at a public library in Italy? Other suggestions would be try multiple forums. LibraryThing has Name that Book. Abebooks.com has Booksleuth.
Any chance this is the same Italian dystopian book(s) that Sara and Giulio were looking for here?https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
@bookel I live in Germany right now but that's a pretty good tip- I next have vacation in July so I might try hitting up some libraries when I go home! In the meantime I'll have a look at those forums you mentioned, thanks so much!@Rainbowheart neither of them sound familiar :( I think they might be looking for the same book, but I don't think it's mine too
I have asked a librarian in another country some years ago via their website about a book and they were quite helpful. I knew title and author then, but you never know.
Mod
Idgie (OP) last posted in the group in January 2013.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
Outside (other topics)This Time of Darkness (other topics)
I Feel Like the Morning Star (other topics)
This Time of Darkness (other topics)
I Feel Like the Morning Star (other topics)
