What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. HELP Youth Book From 1970-80's Can't recall name...GRRR [s]
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Did it feel like it was set in the 70's-80's or was it set in the past, like 40's or 50's or earlier?
Do you remember anything about the cover?
Where did you find the book--book store, grocers, druggist?
Also, do you remember whether the popular author was male or female?
Slot cars were a very popular hobby during the 60s, so your book may be a little older than the 70s.Slot cars are electric powered miniature cars than run on a track with grooves that guide them along. The person racing the car could control the speed with a hand held device. In the 60s there were special shops that had very large tracks that could run 8 cars at once and had regular, organized races.
Do an image search for "slot cars" and it will bring up many pictures. They are still raced today.
I seem to recall the name of the book was the boy's name...as in "Huckleberry Finn"The boy was about 11 years-13 years old. I read this book as a boy when i was about 10-12 in the library in our local public school. I think the author was female, but not sure there. I don't recall the cover as i seem to recall the book was well worn and possibly even missing!
I do know that that author was very popular and wrote many books for this age group. Similar to the Mouse and Motorcycle series...
You are correct, this slot car track mentioned in the book had tracks for 6-8 cars, so it may be a 1960's era, good point!
I really want to share this book together with my son.
Could it have been one of the "Henry Reed" books by Keith Robertson?
Checked out the link, they sound like VERY close to what I was looking for, but not it. That being said, thanks for the lead, I am now wanting to share these with my son too! Never heard of these books before, awesome!
I also dont belive that this book was part of a series unfortunately. The author wrote many books, but from what i recall, they were all unique characters.
Rob wrote: "Checked out the link, they sound like VERY close to what I was looking for, but not it. That being said, thanks for the lead, I am now wanting to share these with my son too! Never heard of these b..."I've only read the babysitting one, but it was really fun. Henry's a very enterprising kid, which is what made me think of them for your hunt. I hope you can track them down to share. :)
I'll keep thinking about what your actual request might be too.
Your first post sounds a lot like No Coins, Please by Gordon Korman. A group of boys from Canada and the US are touring and camping across the US, with the one boy constantly slipping off doing those stunts.It doesn't quite line up with some of your later details, though.
Gordon Korman did/does write many other books for children and YA. This is one of my favorites, along with I Want to Go Home! which is about a boy trying to run away from a more traditional camp.
That's it!!! Wow this is awesome thanks again for helping everyone, and great job Rebekah! The key is the pretzel factory near the end. I am going to buy this now and enjoy reliving it with my son who is the same age as the boy in the book. Thanks again!!
Glad to help! I'm sure y'all will have as much fun with it as our family has!
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
No Coins, Please (other topics)I Want to Go Home! (other topics)
youth author during the 1970-80's. (not sure who)
In the book, a young boy is sent to camp by his parents, but escapes and uses
the money intended to pay for his camp stay to buy a slot race track and
takes bets on the races, eventually winning big money. He eventually opens up
a night club called "The Pretzel"before he is tracked down by his parents.
Really cute book. Any ideas?