What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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Home from Far
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. Little girl named Hulda and her brother move in with religious Christian family. [s]
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I remembered some more about the plot in case it helps anyone. I do think death was a larger part of the story than I previously recalled. Hulda and her brother had a dead mother, but I believe the family they moved to had previously experienced the death of a child.I want to say the dead child was a boy, but don't quote me on that. The children in the family were having a hard time with the death and resented these two outsiders joining the family. I think at least one of the kids, likely the older girl, felt the parents were trying to replace their dead brother with these two kids.
I believe the fire may have happened earlier in the book than I originally thought. I think the children's playhouse caught fire because of something the kids did. They may have strung an extension cord improperly. Not sure if it was the new kids or the original children, but at least one child was trapped by the fire and had to jump down from a loft.
I believe the play the kids put on happened later in the book and one of the children in the family with the dead brother may have felt guilty for having fun. I can't recall how this child died, but I believe it may have been an accident. Probably not a fire, maybe a car accident or a drowning.
With regards to church, this was not a Christian book, but the family was Christian. The older boy complains about having to go to church, but the father in the family makes him and says that their alcoholic dad is "pleased" the kids are going to church. Hulda may not have minded church or even looked forward to it, but the boy did not want to go.
I remembered another scene with Hulda and her brother. The children sit down to one of their first meals with the family. Hulda does not finish her dinner. The mother in the family "smiles sweetly" and says it is perfectly all right not to finish what's on her plate. Then when dessert is brought out, the mother says, "now don't you wish you'd finished your dinner?" Hulda is shocked and upset at being denied dessert. The older brother watches this scene with full awareness of what's going on, and pities Hulda for not realizing what the mother in the family means. I believe Hulda may throw a tantrum, or at least she pouts and sulks, but she does not get dessert.
I hope the name Hulda is not throwing people off. I think it was Hulda, but it could also have been Helga, Hilda, Hortense, Henrietta, or another very old-fashioned name that starts with "H." The older brother had a much more normal name, as did the other children in the family.Hulda and her brother were delivered to the family by a social worker. I remembered one other scene when the alcoholic father comes to visit, Hulda has become used to the family and calls them Mom and Dad. The older brother is very quick to assure his father that he doesn't call them Mom and Dad.
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
Mod
There's also the Elizabeth Gail series by Hilda Stahl, which has a girl in a Christian foster family - just in case you were misremembering the source of the Hilda....
Mod
Ready-Made Family
The girl's name is HEDWIG. It's way older than 1991, but fits a lot of your details. One review even mentioned picnics by the lake.
Thanks, Andria!For some reason, I didn't see the notifications here. It doesn't seem to be any of these, although Ready-Made Family is definitely closest. Hedwig is the exact sort of name the little girl had.
One major difference, in my book, there were definitely only two kids, Hulda and her brother. She was also the youngest one, nowhere close to 12. I would say 6 or 7. And the family had other children. But otherwise, it is close. My book could have been from the '50s perhaps, maybe with updated cover art. It did have a more old-fashioned feel.
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Sorry. The description did ring a bell, but I was thinking of Ready-Made Family. Some boys, including the brother, used matches in their club house, which was against the rules, so they had to take the hut down as a punishment.
It's close! Even down to the weird "H" name.
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
I need to check up on this. I may know this book. Let me do some research, and I'll get back with you.
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
Bump for Hulda and the religious Christians....
Bump for Hulda and her religious family....
OMG, Paige, you found it!!!Wow, Home from Far is definitely the right book. I think I had seen the default cover around before, but it never rung a bell at all. The paperback is the one I read.
The little girl is named Hildy, and the boy is named Mike. I didn't remember the rest of the character names, but it's all coming back to me now.
Thanks mucho for your help!
So happy to see you got one of your long-term hunts solved!
Thanks, guys!This gives me hope for some of my other long-term mysteries, lol.
What's the Name of That Book???
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Hope this one is easier to track down than some of my others. I remember quite a lot about it. It was a paperback book published no later than 1991 or thereabouts. I think the cover was green and had children seated on some front steps.
The story was about a little girl named Hulda or Helga or some other god-awful name like that. It started with an "H" for certain. I don't recall the brother's name. Hulda was about 7 or 8 years old, and her brother was older. Their father was a drunk, so they had to go live with another family. I don't know if it was a foster family or a long-lost relative type of deal.
The family they moved to was religious and made the children go to church, even though they didn't want to. I remember Hulda best, but the older brother and children in the family may have also had chapters told from their perspectives. They were closer to 11 or 12 years old. The brother was convinced their alcoholic father would come for them. I believe he did show up in one chapter and proved himself to be just as unreliable as ever.
Other scenes I remember, the family went on a picnic and went swimming. A child may have briefly disappeared (or not) and was found safe. A child may have been punished by being spanked, although I could be confusing that with another book. There had been a death in one of the families, and either Hulda or the girl in the family had a hard time dealing with it.
One memorable scene that I remember clearly is that the children in the family along with Hulda and her brother put on a play in their backyard. I believe they built a set for it, and somehow or other the set caught fire and nearly burned down the house and killed people. This was the catalyst (I believe) for the children to accept their place in the new family.
Thanks mucho for any help!