SOLVED. The story of colonists who leave Earth, can only take one book. 80s or 90s - kids' chapter book [s]

[Mack]

I'd love help finding a sci-fi book that I read as a kid. I'm not sure if it's children's/MG/YA. I didn't read a lot of children's books, but I know it was a chapter book in the kids' section.

It was about colonists who leave Earth. I don't remember much of the actual leaving-Earth story, except that space aboard the ship was very tight. I think they were all permitted one bag, and they could only bring one book. The 'twist' at the end was that the main character (I think it was a girl, but can't be sure) brought a notebook and wrote the colonists' story during the journey, and that was her one book.

I appreciate any help!

[Sue]

'The Green Book' by Jill Paton Walsh.

[Mack]

Wow, this community is great! Thank you so much! I'm surprised to find an answer so quickly. I've been trying to find that book for years, but not remembering much about the plot, it's been a futile endeavor. Thanks again!

~Solved (Pretty sure - gonna have to buy and reread)~

[Justanotherbiblophile]

If you think there's a good chance that this is your book, you can put this request in the "Possibly Solved" folder, by clicking the 'edit' link next to the subject line / title.

If this turns out to be the book you're looking for, come back and tell us that we were successful in our guesses. We keep the old requests (please don't delete it), so new people who're using a search function can easily find the same book, based on your keywords/description. We move these finished requests to one of the "Solved" folders, the same way as above. (In addition, I like to edit my requests to show the title and author at the top of the original post, so it shows up in google results easily).

If it turns out that this wasn't your book, or you want more suggestions - you can put this query back into the "Unsolved" folder at any time, and bump it (although we ask you to not bump it more than once a month) to put it back to the head of the queue, so it doesn't get buried in the older requests.

[Mack]

Moved as requested. Not sure when I'll be able to pick up a copy, but I'll edit it further once I do. Thanks!

[Kate]

I really think The Green Book is your book. Did you get a copy? It's such a charming story.

[Mack]

Kate wrote: "I really think The Green Book is your book. Did you get a copy? It's such a charming story."

Sadly, I've not gotten a copy yet. We were given five giant boxes of books, and I've resolved not to buy any more until I go through to read & cull what we have. I do think it's the same one after reading the description, though. I really appreciate the help!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Moving to Solved.