SOLVED. Fantasy, time travel, possible YA, read pre-1988 [s]

[Barbara]

I'm looking for information on a (possible) trilogy of books I read when I was in high school. I believe the author's last name began with "M", but I could be completely wrong - I remember finding the books while perusing the shelves near "McKillip". The main plot centered around a number of children in a maritime location. Through the use of some artifact, they travel in time. The artifact is not reliable, though, and does not bring them to predictable points in time. The one adult I remember from the books is the crazy uncle(?) of one of the children.

[D.M.]

Shadow on the Dial has time travel with a crazy great uncle. It's not a trilogy, but she wrote other time travel books like Nick of Time. It's not teen though.

[Barbara]

Thanks for the quick reply! I checked out Lindbergh's page, and while some of the elements of her stories are similar, the books I remember are quite a bit darker than what I saw. More "adult" than "young adult". And the publishing date would have had to have been prior to 1988, so Shadow on the Dial is out.
I think the artifact that brought them back in time was something they could hold in their hands.
I'll probably look into reading her books anyway, they sound interesting.

[Cait]

Are you thinking of Over Sea, Under Stone? Jane, Simon, and Barney Drew and their Great-Uncle Merry are on vacation on the coast of Cornwall when they're drawn into time-travel adventures.

[Barbara]

No, I have the whole Dark is Rising series, and all five books are among my favorites.

[Wkd]

Here's a great list of books set in Cornwall that I found: http://read-warbler.blogspot.com/2009...

I can also recommend "The Little White Horse" & "Smoky House" by Elizabeth Goudge. I read them in about 6th grade.

Have you read "The China Garden" by Liz Berry?

Darn, I got thrown off by the reference to Cornwall in the last post. I then checked another list & got all excited about "Drift House" by Dale Peck but the date is too late (I'm going to add it to my TBR pile, though).

I bookmarked this list as well: http://www.princetonlibrary.org/teens...

Sorry for the rambling post....

[Barbara]

Thanks for your efforts, Wkd, I'm not sure anything has paid off - I still have to check out "The China Garden" - but I did save a copy of the princetonlibrary list, as almost all of those books sounded appealing to me. The book "Drift House" has caught my attention a couple of times, but I don't remember any underwater activity. I was leaning more toward a Nova Scotia type setting rather than Cornwall, but I have had any luck looking that up either. Oh - I had a copy of "The Little White Horse" but I couldn't get into it; it may still be in the library, or I may have passed it on to my nieces.

[Wkd]

Nothing ventured, eh? I think you either love "The Little White Horse" or you don't. It was actually 5th grade & I loved it then but not sure it would survive the test of time.

I tried a variety of tags both on Goodreads & Google.
Good luck! I've been looking for my "lost" book for years.

[CLM]

Could it be Five Children and It?

[Barbara]

Hi CLM, thank you, but that is not it. Barbara

[Barbara]

There is a spoiler about the crazy uncle (or grandfather, or whatever he was) but I'm trying not to reveal it. I believe the children (I think three or four at most) mainly travel to the same fishing village at different points in time.

[Natalie]

A Wrinkle in Time? Author name doesn't match, though: Madeline L'Engle

[Barbara]

Hi Natalie, thank you but that is not it. I read as much of L'Engle's work as I could get my hands on as a kid. I found them unforgettable!

[Natalie]

Barbara wrote: "Hi Natalie, thank you but that is not it. I read as much of L'Engle's work as I could get my hands on as a kid. I found them unforgettable!"

Sorry, just a thought :)

[Lucy]

Hi Barbara, are there any other details that you remember from the book? If you can remember any specific, unique details, such as a particular event, name or scenario, no matter how small, it might help in a search - ie name of one or more of the children? Something odd that a character wore/ ate/ said/ did?

[D.M.]

Yes, you mentioned a spoiler, too. It might help to show it. Unfortunately the amount of books out there are vast, and sometimes we need every bit of info we can get to find them.

Just tossing this out though, Juliet McKenna is probably the SF author who might be next to McKillip on a store shelf. Dunno if she wrote anything close to this.

[Barbara]

Thanks... here goes with the spoiler.

(view spoiler)[The main female character is a teenage girl (guessing 13-16) who for some reason makes the last trip through time alone. While on the trip she meets a boy and they develop deep feelings for each other (I remember it being pretty chaste). When she inevitably gets back to her own time, she discovers that the boy she left behind grew into the "crazy uncle" who became crazy from traveling through time looking for her. (hide spoiler)]

[Lucy]

This site has some books about time travel young adult fiction - might be worth a look. http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/ti...

There is one in particular that is set in Nova Scotia called Fog Magic. Mentions father, not uncle however.

[Barbara]

Thanks Lucy, still no luck. I appreciate everyone's help on this!

[CLM]

Definitely not Fog Magic or the China Garden or Elizabeth Goudge.

[Marilyn]

Wow, this one has me stumped - and I want someone to figure it out so I can read it!

Barbara, do you happen to remember what any of the time periods were the children were taken to? (I realize the uncle storyline would be in the recent past, but did they go back to more distant times as well?) And do you have any sense of when the "present day" was in the story?

[The Elusive]

Spoiler tags: Put < spoiler >Mr. XXX dies at the end < / spoiler > without the spaces around "spoiler" and /.
(view spoiler)[Mr. XXX dies at the end (hide spoiler)]

[Barbara]

Thanks Roberto.

Marilyn, I'm trying to force my brain to remember anything else. So far, no good. The best I can come up with is - I think the "present day" was the 70s or 80s, and the latest time the children visited was in the spoiler above.

[Barbara]

I just submitted this to reddit, and realized one point I left out. In my mind it wasn't a big deal, but may spark something for someone.

I believe that one of the children was local to the area (the one with the crazy uncle), while the other children - possibly siblings - were visiting.

[Marilyn]

Well, I still have no idea. :)

Please let us know if you get an answer from reddit!

[D.M.]

Throwing this out there, but I haven't read it. The Time Bike by Jane Langton is part of a series, and in this book a boy gets a used bike that lets him travel in time. One of the characters in the series is a crazy Uncle Freddy and the present day is set in Concord, MA.

edit: bleah, didn't see that this one was published in 2001-2002.

[Barbara]

...so far, all I've learned from reddit is that Your Time, My Time is not the book I'm looking for...

[Lucy]

Barbara, just wondering if you have any inkling at all what the time-travelling artefact was? Amulet, cup, book, ring, statue, house? I'm still looking - it's driving me crazy!

[Barbara]

Hi Lucy - I'm not sure what the object was, and I feel like if I knew, it would 'crack the case' as it were. My guess is that it was something found on a ship, in keeping with my feeling that the stories took place in a maritime locale.

[Andy]

Could this be the "Astonishing Stereoscope" http://www.amazon.com/Astonishing-Ste...

[Barbara]

Thanks Andy, sorry it took me so long to get back, but it is not "The Astonishing Stereoscope". The book I am looking for was definitely published prior to 1985.

[Andy]

The original publication of the "The Astonishing Stereoscope" and its prequels was the late '60s/early '70s. The 2001 date in the Amazon link is referring to a reprint.

[Kate]

Oh I remember The Swing in the Summerhouse and The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton. It was a great book, and could be the series you're referring to. I never knew there was The Astonishing Stereoscope by the same author.

[Barbara]

I've looked at the descriptions of Jane Langton's books, and I can't find one that fits my memories - ie, maritime location, crazy uncle, dark mood, and especially not the spoiler I posted in March.

Thanks again, Andy & Kate, but I'm pretty sure these are not "my" books.

[Megan]

I feel like I might have read this in Grade 9 English. Is the book Canadian?

[Barbara]

It is possibly Canadian - I cannot remember, but I always thought it had a PEI / Nova Scotia feel.

[Andria]

Could it be A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond? Set in Wales, using an old key as an artifact for time-travel.

[Barbara]

Hmm... No that is not it; I actually thought Another Shore seemed closer to the plot line. However, even that isn't right. Thanks, though, I can't believe I never read any of Nancy Bond's books, and I've added both of the mentioned books to my to read list.

[Megan]

Ok, I've sent the details to people I went to high school with, as well as one of my high school English teachers, and the only book that they can come up with is "Moonfleet" by John Meade Falkner.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75...

I've read a few different synopsis that make me think "Yes" or "NO!", but that's the best I've come up with so far!

[Diana]

Is it possible that it's one of the books in Edward Eager's Tales of Magic series?

[Barbara]

Thanks Megan and Diana, but neither of your suggestions paid off. Moonfleet does not have a female main character, and Eager's books are not "dark" enough. I appreciate your efforts.

[stormhawk]

A Wrinkle in Time by Madelaine L'Engel?

L shelves pretty close to M.

[Barbara]

stormhawk wrote: "A Wrinkle in Time by Madelaine L'Engel?

L shelves pretty close to M."

Thanks stormhawk, this is not it. L'Engle is unforgettable for me; one of my first loves.

[Barbara]

bump

[Barbara]

bump

[Dichotomy Girl]

After reading the spoiler, I had a flash of insight, and it sounds so familiar, but I can't seem to place it. I am coming my books and my memory. But I can say that I've either read it, or something very similar.

[Barbara]

Any help is appreciated - even a free bump!

[Barbara]

I just read The Rushton Inheritance which is not the book I was looking for, so, bump.

[Sarah]

This is probably too young to be what you're looking for, but Mr. Z and the Time Clock by Pryor sounds a bit similar... Although somewhat hampered at the start by trite characterizations and plot devices, this time travel fantasy develops an intriguing plot which sets it apart from many in its genre. Julie and Jerimy, 12-year-old twins, stumble into an antique shop where Julie purchases an old clock from the inscrutable proprietor, Mr. Z. Jerimy, a science whiz, discovers that the clock is (lo and behold) a time machine which they can set for almost any year they wish. The plot definitely thickens as they hear the story told by Mart, from the future, concerning the ban of time machines in that era due to their misuse by a certain Mr. Z. Now, back in their own time, and as they travel to various years in the past, they notice the same Mr. Z. spying upon them. Pryor uses several neat twists of the plot involving the twins' family heritage to solve the mystery of Mr. Z.'s interest in them and their town. The twins' changing relationship with their grandfather, although handled somewhat heavily, supports the time travel theme concerning the link between the past and the present and the importance of family relationships. A good light novel that offers something substantial to think about. Linda Wicher, Lincolnwood Public Library, Ill.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

[Lou]

I found a promising looking series by Betty Levin (summaries taken from Worldcat):

The Sword of Culann

The peculiar bronze object of an old Maine fisherman introduces two twentieth-century children to Iron Age Ireland.

A Griffon's Nest

Two twentieth-century children once again yield to the power of the bronze sword hilt that this time leads them back in time to the Orkney Islands in the seventh and tenth centuries.

The Forespoken

An ancient sword hilt draws fourteen-year-old Claudia back through time to the nineteenth-century Orkney Islands.

The first is from '73, the last '76