What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
The Wizard of Loneliness
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. Children's/ Middle Grade. Scene where a boy is traveling alone on a train, and another boy steals a $5 bill from him. MC then imagines winning a fight against him, then throwing the crumpled $5 on top of his passed-out opponent. Read mid-1980s. [s]
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Unfortunately, that's the only scene I remember, so I can't say....
Do you remember why the boy was on the train alone?Or who he might have been going to see?
Was it a regular passenger train and not a subway?
I don't remember any context as far as why he was on the train trip. He may not even have been traveling alone - he may have just been on his way to the bathroom, etc., and had an interaction with the bully.In my mind, it was almost certainly an intercity train and not a commuter train, subway/el, etc.
Good idea. I tried a couple of searches on there and they didn't work, but I'll keep trying!
any love on this one?
Just did another search, but came up with zero, zilch, nada.Gotta keep the faith, though. We'll track it down!
I really doubt this is your book, but I'd be remiss not to share what I can...The Box of Delights has young Kay Harper travelling home for Christmas alone on a train, and he suspects two suspicious curates (pastors in training) of stealing half a crown from him in a rigged card game.
He's pretty angry, and there's violence throughout the story, but, again, it's not a match. It's a coin (I think), not a bill.
Capn, that isn't it, but I appreciate you trying! I'll take any lead I can get.Rainbowheart, I'm not sure we'll ever find it using search terms, because the train ride is just one scene in the book. I think we need to get it in front of the eyes of someone who's read the book....or maybe I'll stumble upon it myself at some point. I've been rereading a lot of books from my childhood, so we will see. Thanks for your continued effort!
Agreed. Someone out there must have read it!
I found this!! I had done a Google Books search before, but this time I added the word "crumpled" and it came right up. It's The Wizard of Loneliness.
Oh, yay! Super glad you found it. It was a tricky one for sure.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wizard of Loneliness (other topics)The Box of Delights (other topics)
Come Sing, Jimmy Jo (other topics)
What I remember is that the boy was taking a train alone (so probably age 10 or older) and had some kind of conflict with somebody else on the train, I guess another kid. The other kid may have stolen a $5 bill from the protagonist. The protag then has a revenge fantasy where he fights the other kid and wins, and in the end, he crumples up the $5 bill and tosses it onto the chest of his presumably comatose foe.
I think I remember this so clearly because I was young enough to be shocked by, and not understand, throwing the $5 bill back at the opponent. Five bucks was untold riches to me as a little kid!