What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

The Other Place
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SOLVED: Children's/YA > SOLVED. Middle Grade Fantasy/ SciFi? A giant, angry Moon chasing some kids down a beach. This image on cover. Read before 1993. [s]

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Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Hi guys,

Another vague one for you. I had this book and read it sometime before 1993. It was a middle grade book and the cover had a giant, angry moon chasing a group of kids down a beach.

I can't remember if there was a face drawn on the moon, but I think so. The vibe was angry, lol. I have zero idea what the story was about. Some kind of fantasy or science fiction. I can't remember how many kids were on the cover. At least one girl for sure. She was running away with a shocked and terrified look on her face as the moon pursued her.

Thanks mucho for any help!


message 2: by Florence (new)

Florence | 683 comments For some reason this made me think of meteorite spoon by Philip Ridley? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...


Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Not Meteorite Spoon, but thanks for the suggestion!


Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Nope, sorry, not The Angry Moon, but that's a good guess!

The cover is close, but my book was a child's novel and the illustration was more realistic.


Rainbowheart | 28670 comments If it helps at all, the girl was definitely in the foreground, the moon was looming large right behind her, and the other kids were further back and not as much in focus as the girl.


Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Angry moon bump....


Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Capn suggested Lights Out, and while that's not the book, the cover is very similar and has the exact right vibe!

Lights Out (Fear Street, #12) by R.L. Stine


Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Angry moon bump....


message 10: by Simi (new)

Simi | 147 comments How sure are you that it's a moon?
Perhaps Fright Time 18

Fright Time

Also was it a UK or USA book as such books often had different covers.


message 11: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments I'm positive it was a moon, but the cover is very close. That's exactly the right vibe.

I read it in the US, but my parents did have friends who traveled internationally and sometimes brought me books from the UK and elsewhere. If I had to guess, though, I suspect the book was American.


message 12: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Angry moon bump....


message 13: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Angry moon bump....


message 14: by Simi (new)

Simi | 147 comments Another non moon chasing children suggestion.




The Witch of Lagg



message 15: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Not The Witch of Lagg, but the cover is very, very close!

That's exactly the right vibe.


message 16: by bookel (last edited Apr 10, 2022 02:47PM) (new)

bookel | 4024 comments Seems to be running from a moon in an internal illustration.
https://www.abebooks.com/first-editio...

You don't recall what the book was about (chapter book? Middle grade can mean picture book for older readers too ...)?


message 17: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Thanks, bookel, but not that one. Mine wasn't a picture book.

It was definitely a child's novel/chapter book, around 100 pages or so. Wish I could remember the story! The MC was most likely a girl? I tended to read more books with girl MCs. I remember the cover more than anything else, the girl with the shocked and terrified expression running away from the angry moon.


message 18: by bookel (new)

bookel | 4024 comments Thought of The Halfmen of O but not a match. There are lists of children's horror or creepy covers. But books often reprint with different covers ... you need a list for this specific one with moon-like faces on children's books.


message 19: by Capn (last edited Apr 11, 2022 01:51PM) (new)

Capn | 3506 comments I made these ones awhile back to try to catch it. No luck yet:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Run for Your Life - The Running Scared Cover list

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Selenophobia - A Fear of the Moon

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Man in the Moon? Where the Moon has a Face

and just in case:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Moonlight Silhouette on Cover


message 20: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Thanks, guys!

I've had a look at all the lists, and no dice yet, but I remain hopeful. Thank you for trying it track it down for me. One thing I know for sure is that I will recognize it right away.


message 21: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Angry moon bump....


message 22: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Capn had messaged me Dark Fire as a suggestion.

Dark Fire (Ghostworld, #3) by Barbara Siegel

Which is exactly the right vibe! But alas, not my book.

I wish I could remember more about the mystery book. I know it was some kind of creepy, eerie fantasy or sci fi. I think a girl was probably the main character. I don't know if the book itself actually about the moon, just that the girl was in the foreground, running scared, with the angry moon chasing behind her.


message 23: by Capn (last edited May 16, 2022 08:35AM) (new)

Capn | 3506 comments Nightmare Lake (Twilight Where Darkness Begins #11) by Carl Laymon is a beach, but no running. And no angry moon. But I'm still looking. :)


message 24: by Jordan (new)

Jordan | 1 comments so i'm new to the group what do i do can you guys please help me


message 25: by Capn (last edited May 16, 2022 08:34AM) (new)

Capn | 3506 comments Jordan wrote: "so i'm new to the group what do i do can you guys please help me"

Here, Jordan:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


message 26: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Thanks, Capn!

I appreciate your continued efforts. :)


message 27: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Capn also messaged me The Lake's Revenge.

Camp Zombie III The Lake's Revenge by Megan Stine

It does have the moon hovering in a menacing way in the background, but my book had more urgency in the people fleeing from it.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions!


message 28: by Simi (new)

Simi | 147 comments Yet another non moon chasing children suggestion.




The Howling Ghost



message 29: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Thanks, Simi!

Not the one, this cover looks slightly too bright and mid '90s-ish. My book was darker and more likely '80s or even late '70s.


message 30: by bookel (new)

bookel | 4024 comments Not an exact match but to eliminate.
The night of the scorpion / Horowitz. Magnet ed. Not really running but they kind of look scared. Middle top. Not sure if that is a moon either. https://www.librarything.com/work/778...

The haunted mountain / Hunter. Again not running but looks scared.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Book...


message 31: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Sadly not The Night of the Scorpion or The Haunted Mountain, but good guesses.

Thanks for your continued efforts!


message 32: by Capn (new)

Capn | 3506 comments Here's an odd offering:
The Other Place by Nancy L. Robison


message 33: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Capn, OMG, you found it!!!

Wowsers, well, that cover is a bit different from my memory. There's no beach, but that is definitely the right book. The ominous, menacing moon (no face) and the panic-stricken girl in the foreground fleeing in terror. Now I'm going to have to reread the book to find out what the heck it was even about. What was so foreboding about the valley Elena moved to? Was the moon going around trying to murder people?

Thanks mucho for all your help, and thanks to everyone else who posted suggestions. This one is solved!


message 34: by Capn (new)

Capn | 3506 comments Wow, really?! That was a serendipitous discovery for sure (was looking up something totally unrelated on WorldCat, came to the author's GR page, saw the cover and figured it was worth a mention)! :)

I hope it's good, after all of this! :D


message 35: by Simi (new)

Simi | 147 comments I'm glad it was finally found. Congrats!


message 36: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Thanks, Simi!

And thanks, Capn, that was a huge stroke of luck. After I posted, I looked around a little and it turns out The Other Place has even come up on this group before.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

"Jolene feels there is something strange about their new home, an eerie sense of isolation in the valley-but her father begs her to try it, and she agrees, sensing that he is content for the first time since his wife's death. She is horrified by the fact that all of her neighbors and classmates have jelly-filmed eyes, worried by seeing her father dancing with other people in a midnight ring in the meadow, baffled by the evasiveness of the one friend she makes. The answer: everyone in the valley is from another planet, they are all preparing to depart for their home world, and her father is going along because-he reveals-her mother was one of the aliens. Then Jolene recalls that her mother always wore pink glasses, always had cold hands like the aliens. She begs to go back to the city, to stay with her aunt; she's magically transported there, and she discovers her aunt's eyes are 'glazed over like jelly,' the story ends."

Ok, so the jelly eyes sound very familiar! It turns out the moon isn't chasing the girl, it's the jelly-eyed aliens behind her, lol.


message 37: by Daisy (new) - added it

Daisy (daisyporter) | 1200 comments Wait but is the protag Jolene or Elena? Or maybe Elena is a nickname for Jolene?


message 38: by Rainbowheart (new) - added it

Rainbowheart | 28670 comments Huh, I didn't even notice that! Maybe, lol.


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