ABANDONED. Children's Novel involves an airship that crosses a mountain range into a lost civilization

[Mariah]

Looking for the name of a children's novel I read multiple times when I was young (so, early 1990s). I don't remember much, but the plot involved a young girl protagonist who goes on an adventure in an airship / zeppelin and accidentally ends up crossing into a lost civilization ringed by very high mountains. Part of the plot in the lost world involves tigers? Maybe trained tigers? (I don't think the lost world involves dinosaurs or anything like that.) In the end, she and her group of friends is able to escape the lost world, but she's also sad to leave, I think. At the beginning of the book, I think the girl's mother breaks a champagne bottle on the hull of the airship. (Questionable.) Sorry for so few details. Any leads would be much appreciated!

[Mariah]

Addendum: although I got the book from the library in the early 90s, I don't think that's when it was published -- probably a few decades earlier than that, if I had to guess.

[Cheryl]

Yet another one that will be added to my to-read if we can find it!

[Cheryl]

Well, I'm giving this a bump, cuz I want to read it.
Mariah, are you still looking? We should bump this thread every month or two. :)

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Yeah, only thing I've got that's even a smidgen like that is a dys-fantasy, that's not childrens - nor even YA; no girl protag (boy and older inventor of new airship technology (view spoiler)[who dies while getting over the wall the first time (hide spoiler)]) and not mountains but a magical wall... (view spoiler)[that he eventually brings down. (hide spoiler)]

[Mariah]

Thanks, Cheryl, and thanks for the possible lead, Justanotherbiblophile. Of the few things I'm sure I remember, one is that it had a young female protagonist, and the other is that it was definitely children's lit, since I found it in the children's room of my local library. (Side note: I wonder if there's any way it's still in their system -- it's a small library -- and if so, if there would be any way to track it down that way?)

I'm assuming / maybe partially remembering that it was set in the later half of the 19th century or early half of the 20th, given the airship clue. I wish I could remember more! It was such a favorite; I took it out over and over again. The girl's uncle, who was on the airship, was, I think, one of those British colonial officer types...but I can't swear to any of this.

[Mariah]

Cheryl, by the way, I don't really know how to bump a thread -- does replying to it do the trick?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Yes, any new comment bumps a thread. If you have nothing to say you can just type "bump."

[Justanotherbiblophile]

You should totally call the library. If you're in the same town, stop by. They may have your checkout records, which you could get. Often, librarians stay on the job until they retire/die, and they often know what books they have (or have had) in their libraries, so asking a person can totally help out in a search. Digital records of books they had/have, are also another source. Granted, many libraries are purge-happy, but I don't know if that applies to records as well.

[Cheryl]

:grr: on purge-happy libraries - but I do love that idiom!

[Justanotherbiblophile]

OFF-TOPIC
On the plus-side, purge-happy libraries are gold-mines when you hit the FoL sales. So win-some, lose-some. :\

I understand that they can't keep everything, forever - and that there's limited shelf-space. As well as the need to keep collections current; for keeping and attracting new clientele. However, I do rather deeply resent the rate at which most libraries do purges, especially when given the fact that circulation is much harder on book longevity versus books that sit in an owner's house. They'd be gone soon enough, so why purge early?

In any case, I wish libraries asked patrons whether or not some books should be purged. I'd be willing to pay some money to keep some books on the shelves.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Some libraries purge anything that hasn't been checked out in a year. I remember reading a story about a library where this was happening and there was a big volunteer effort in the community to get in there and check out every single book to prevent this from happening.

[Kitty]

wouldn't be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's the lost world would it?

[Cheryl]

Kitten, no, that was about men doing manly things with dinosaurs...

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Heh, Cheryl, Heh.
But yeah, I was refraining from commenting.

[Mir]

Gosh, this seems like something I would've read but I have no idea!

Definitely not it because it's new, but you may like Emilie and the Hollow World.

[Kate]

Mainspring fits in many ways, except it was published in 2007.

[Kirstin]

This is probably a long shot but all I can think of that would come close would be His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Kirstin wrote: ..."His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman"

Wow, substitute polar bears for tigers, and take out some things re: the airships, and there's quite a bit of overlap. I would've said, "No way..." at first

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Mariah, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Cheryl]

apparently abandoned...