MESSAGE BOARD

Apparently my previous message board has evaporated so I’ll just leave this as a free-for-all – got a question ?, a favorite book ,a favorite series , or a great comparison – like is it just me or does Beth’s funky hair-do
remind you of Sunni Gummi’s flippy hairdo? Let me know. P.S. If you’re question doesn’t show up right away don’t dispair – I’m not always on the internet and it has to be cleared – plus this gives me a bit of time to seek out an answer! Thanks for stopping by!

428 thoughts on “MESSAGE BOARD”

    1. Are you sure you don’t mean Swept Away by Eileen Goudge? It’s from the
      80’s and it’s in my a-z guide. It was about a girl who had a computer
      program that could send classmates – girls of course, back to whenever-
      fifties , sixties , the way west for a couple days and a fast romance.

  1. There was a series of books, and for the life of me all that comes to mind is her boyfriend was killed in a car crash and she was hurt….. I want to say her name was Christy, but I’m not positive. Do you have any ideas??

    1. Hi , the series is the Christy series under the Wildfire logo , by Maud Johnson. There are four books in the series I’m Christy , Christy’s Choice , Christy’s Love , and Christy’s Senior Year. Christy’s Love is the book with the accident , I think.

      1. I can’t believe it. I believe this was the series I was looking as well! I thought it would be one in a million chance that I would ever find it. I was trolling through your site hoping to find something that rang a bell. It was a series that really stuck with even after all of the years and hundred of thousands of romance novels I read since i was a preteen! It probably has the same effect on me as another person’s memory of her first kiss. Your barely remember the details but you do remember how special it was. Now I just hope I can read them all over again. Thank you, thank you so much!

    1. Hi , I finally decided to post Electric High, after finding a cover and discovering a little bit about the series. Little bit is right – if I messed up the description – please someone let me know!

    1. I’m working on it – I found an ad in the back of a book describing the series , with their titles ( but any added information would be very appreciated! ) and just found a cover pic – so it should be up within a few days. Thanks!

    2. Got Roots of Love up – but it’s a little bare – if anyone has any information – characters names, plots, please let me know!

    1. Good idea! I was going to add this plus some others – two interactives called Heartquest and Confidentially Yours and an alien comes to earth series called Out of this World by Marilyn Kaye. Unfortunately I only have some title list information but this link helps thanks, I should ,probably do a few horror series – Twilight , Dark Forces , Private School. Anyone with any information about them ( in fact any of these series ) it would be a big help! Thanks again!

      1. Just FYI, I have started collecting Dark Forces and have four of the 15 (for covers) and could probably send you more info if you’re interested in that!

  2. I’m not sure if it qualifies as a teen series, but do you remember The Worst Witch books? I think the main character was named Mildred Hubble. I’d love to find any of those now…

    1. I’ve never read any of these nor really heard of them though oddly enough , I do recall the t.v special with Fairuza Balk which I watched and found incredibley bizarre – now I only faintly remember it. I could definitely add them to the list as I’m working on a few others. Ebay has some aditions of the books but no lots – that’s the best when you can find the books in one big lot. I hate purchasing books one by one especially when your paying for shipping. Thanks for the input!

  3. Amazing memories. I love this site… Wow! Lots of reminiscing. How can I get my hands on Zodiac Club, Stepsisters, Homeroom serie? Thanks for all the reminders. There is one called sunset hearts or something with a band and sunset beach which I wasn’t into.

    Ly

    1. Thanks! All I can suggest is Abe.com and Amazon which are great but unfortunately thats buying them one by one – sometimes on ebay you can find them in lots which I always keep my eyes peeled for – I managed to snag Chrystal Falls the entire series for five bucks!

  4. I’m hoping you might be able to help me. I have a book that I read in the mid-80’s in my brain and it is driving me NUTS because I can’t remember it. The sad thing is that it’s really not that great of a book. 🙂

    A girl visits London (I think) and meets a rock star and they have a romance. She also picks out lace for a tailor made shirt for him.

    That’s all I can really remember.

    1. This is going to be tough – but I’ll check it out – I’m thinking it might be Mirrors – To London with love – heres a LINK that describes the series and shows a cover. I’ll dig it out and see if she makes him a lace shirt.

    2. Hey , I checked it out – it is Mirrors series – To London with Love! The rocker’s name is Winston and he thinks his band would look hot in leather pants and lace shirts! The heroine is Amanda whose gone to London with her Aunt to find some antique lace for a star’s chic wedding.

  5. HOLY SMOKES! You are AWESOME. That’s totally it. I could remember the cover, but I could not remember much of anything else.

  6. My parents recently started unloading all my old books on me, and as an avid reader and a major collector of series books, I’m discovering that, well…I have a lot of these series you mention (or at least parts of them in the boxes I’ve received thus far). I found your blog by typing in various titles, just to see if there was still interest in these books. Some I plan to keep, but some I’ll likely pass on to a new generation of readers (are they out there?). But I wondered if you could use more images for some of the pages before I decide to send them on their way via Half.com or the local book exchange. The box I’m working on currently has a bunch of the Twilight series (no, not the NEW one…LOL!), and samples of Dawn of Love, Sweet Valley High (early first editions), Swept Away, and some other random kitsch. Makes me lament not having as much time for reading anymore. Good times!

    1. Hi, I would love some cover pics! I have Dawn of Love #6 but I think that’s it , I need Swept Away #1 , 5, 6, 8. Twilight 2-6.
      And I’m really hoping for anyone with the end books of Roommates series – I have 1-12 but am missing 13-20. Any Caprice would
      be fabulous and I’m missing Melanie Edwards , Super Kisser – the only Fabulous Five I don’t have and have never read. Wah!
      Here’s my email ignore the one on my Peacharino symbol it hasn’t be updated yet – peachaisno1@gmail.com. I know , I know slighly
      arrogant but I thought it’d be a hoot. Thanks!

  7. I’ve been looking for clues about a book that I read in the 80’s. I know one of the characters names was Mama Tubelle and it was a teen romance novel that turned a little dark, as Mama Tubelle was into black magic and trying to thwart the romance. Can anyone help?!

  8. Hi, I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember a book I read when I was 12 or 13 (’88 or ’89) but the book could have been published a fews years before that. All that I can remember is that it’s about a boys boarding school and one of the characters was a bit of an outcast. It was pretty light fare. Any ideas?

    1. Could be This can’t be Happening at MacDonald Hall by Gordon Korman ( which is the first of several in a non-numbered series involving Bruno & Boots and their adventures at boarding school ) or Boy by Roald Dahl or Little Men by Louisa May Alcott.

  9. Wow…you’re good! This is the book! My sister just reminded me about it too! I stumbled across your blog and it has been a revelation! I forgot about the Sleepover Friends series until I saw the book cover!

  10. I remember when I was around 11, there was a group of Barbie-like dolls where the main girl was called Star. She had curly blonde hair and a small record came with each doll. She was in high school and had a boyfriend and I think about three other friends.

    A little paper was included with pictures of the dolls positioned I think at school, at the park, ect. I haven’t been able to find anything about it! Please someone tell me they remember this doll! Thanks!

    1. I’ll look around. I came across a little miss make-up rip off doll called Make me up Darlings Sally Star and she has stars on her cheek and pinkish hair. Here’s a LINK to a totally cool Jem sight advertising the dolls…. I’ve looked around a bit and I think this probably isn’t the doll. I think it was a Mattell doll called Starr and her friends here’s a LINK to a photobucket picture of the dolls. They came out in 1980 and were very popular – her friends included Kelly , Tracy and boyfriend Shaun and they went to a fictitious highschool called Springfield and were dressed up to reveal their interests – cheerleader , homecoming queen , journalism etc. Here’s another LINK to ebay if you want to see them in their boxes – one even advertizes comes with a free record.

  11. Thank you sooo much!! That is her! It’s amazing to see that after soo many years. I appreciate all of your help!! You’ve made my day! : )

    Also, how do you post a link on here? I’m obviously new and would like to know in case I can ever help someone else with info.

    HAVE A GREAT DAY!

    1. I’m not quite sure myself – Even though I’m blogging and stuff – things are getting done mainly by accident! – you can ad a link within your comment using the a href code – if you don’t know this let me know, or if you have a nostalgia site I can ad it to my blog roll. Thanks!

  12. Hi Peacherino,
    I thought I remembered a post you made about some of the cover models who went on to become actresses, but I can’t find it.
    I was editing some Sweet Dreams photos for my website & my now adult daughter picked that the cover model for Sweet Dreams 50 Lights, Camera, Love by Gailanne Maravel is Courtney Thorne Smith. I think the only show I ever saw her in was Ally MacBeal & I didn’t really watch that much of it. What do you think? My daughter says it was the eyes that made her realise as she used to watch The World According To Jim.
    Also, is that really Michael Jackson on the cover of #79 Starstruck by Shannon Blair? I saw a listing somewhere a few weeks ago, Amazon I think, that said it was, but I doubt it. He was already famous by then & didn’t need modelling money, surely.

    1. Hi , the article is over on Cliquey pizza 1 here’s the LINK
      . I have the cover of Light’s Camera Love and I didn’t think it was Courtney Thorne Smith , maybe I missed it but I’ve seen her in a movie Welcome to 18 where she wears a dark wig and I don’t know – she always seemed to have really big cheeks – my brother and I used to call her chipmunk cheeks when she was on Melrose Place. When she smiled it was huge. But like I said I could’ve missed it – I need to update the article because of some new pics I’ve found – Yasmine Bleeth is on a couple! and a reader has alerted me of a soap star on a cover of Sweet Dreams. I don’t think that was Michael Jackson on the cover just a model impersonating him – those red jackets were everywhere!

  13. I never saw Courtney in anything when she was younger. Contrary to what a lot of Aussies thought back then, we didn’t really get every single TV show or made for TV movie that was made in America. I saw a few minutes of Melrose before deciding I liked Star Trek The Next Generation a whole lot more. 🙂
    The SD book listing I saw was basically hyping that it was MJ on the cover to justify a higher price the seller had on it. From memory it was somewhere around $50 to $60. We have a saying here in Australia that’s a line from a popular & quirky local movie – tell ’em they’re dreaming. Basically means that whatever high price something is being sold for, the seller is delusional to think they’ll get it.

    1. Wowsers , 50 bucks for a Sweet Dreams book just because of the cover! That’s pretty bad – though I’ve browsed some of the prices on Abe.com and Amazon for some vintage series books and nearly passed out. Are some of these people joking! On your site – Sweetheart Romances the prices are always resonable. I came across several books that were up to 600 dollars! – I was tempted to email and ask if it was a typo. I agree with your saying, I sold lots of stuff on Ebay – and the bidders could get a little crazy – but then again on the flipside I was a buyer myself – though I never
      actually got crazy and never paid more than anything was actually worth.

  14. I’ve been checking out sites like Amazon, Abe & Alibris to see if I can find some higher numbered Sweet Dreams books for a few buyers that are looking for them. The higher numbers are harder to find here unfortunately. While these sites might have the books for OK prices their postage/shipping costs are way beyond what it really costs. That’s where they make their money. I did manage to get one from Amazon UK at a good price & the seller’s shipping was a little lower than Amazon quoted. I checked that seller’s listings on Abe & the same title they had listed there for $44 was gone, must have been the one I got on Amzn for under $3. Somebody slipped up there. 🙂
    I find some books I’m interested in on Ebay USA but a lot of sellers don’t ship internationally. Our dollar is stronger than the US one & the British pound at the moment so it’s easier for me to afford buying from your ebay & Amzn, etc. Don’t know how long it will last, but I’ll do it while I can.

    Last night when I went to bed Ally MacBeal was on TV & I laughed out loud. And I really looked at Courtney Thorne Smith & saw what your brother meant about chipmunk cheeks. Don’t have animals like that here, but Chip & Dale were my fave Disney cartoon characters when I was young. 😀

    1. I know what you mean about shipping! The strangest thing is people from America are even hostile about shipping to Canada , I mean c’mon! I got hassled for trying to buy from Buffalo – I could’ve probably rode my bike to the sellers house and picked it up and yet they wouldn’t ship it – I don’t know how we got to be delegated International. I miss the early days of Ebay when everything was cheap , you could send money orders and everyone shipped everywhere! Even Amazon and Abe’s shipping has skyrocketed to compensate their 5 cent books. Have you tried Kijiji for the
      books? – The good thing about Kijiji is you can list a want – I notice Australia has one called Gumtree.

  15. I want to get a copy of Susannah from the Sunfire Girls Book series. Does anyone know where I can get one?

    1. Hi, depending on wether or not you want to pay for shipping abe.com and Amazon have some copies and there is of course ebay. Right now they even have the entire series up for auction! It’s a tad pricey though. You could also try Sweetheart romances on my blog roll or Kijiji. However if you don’t want to pay for shipping , make sure you try where you’re located – used clothing stores , used book stores , flea markets can be a fount for vintage books.

  16. Loves your Website. You’re genius on figuring out book titles with very few clues so how about… I keep thinking about this book I read when I was in the seventh or eighth grade (so this would be between 1984 and 1986). The only key detail I can recall is that it was in paperback and was about a teenage girl who moves in with her boyfriend. I can’t remember if she was in college, but for some reason I think she was h.s. age. Let me know if this rings a bell. Thanks!

    1. Hi , Thanks! I think your book is Someone to Love by Norma Fox Mazer – the characters names are Mitch and Nina. Here’s alink to the book on ebay but there were other covers – I have one that is completely different

  17. hi! i am loving this site so much. the covers are taking me back in time to all those scholastic order forms i pored through with intesity. class of ’88 & ’89 stick out like a sore thumb. ahhh, pre-puberty!

    there is a book i have been trying to find. i read it during the summer of’86 while in the Philippines with my mom and brother. i left it there too. it was called I, Amy or I, Cassie. something to that effect and the girl on the cover had long curly hair. it was really 80s looking, of course. in it, she wrote in her journal in the first person a lot. do you have any idea what book i am trying to remember? thanks! great, great site!

    1. Hi , Thanks! I’m gonna take a guess – the name Cassie threw me for a bit – I was thinking of the Sisters series by Marilyn Kaye in which one book is called Cassie – only there is nothing about a diary in it , then I was thinking Cass from Baby Sister , then as I was getting off the internet yesterday – my computer was shutting down I was like Noooo , I’ve got it wait! Too late. I’m positive it’s The Secret Diary of Katie Dinkerhoff by Lila Perl. Here’s the totally cool 80’s cover. Love the side-swept hair and the quilt!

      Is this you're book Jackie?
  18. Hey Peacharino, I think I’ve said it before, but I love this blog . You are awesome!
    Just curious, is there an old YA novel/series that you would love to get your hands on but is too expensive or hard to find anywhere? For me, that would have to be the third installment of the Jesse/Michael Skye romance books called Now or Never by Bruce Carole Hart. You are probably too young to remember, but the first book was made into a tv movie called “Sooner or Later” just like the book. “Now or Never” came out in 1991 and goes for about $70 minimum USED on Amazon.

    1. You’re right I don’t remember any show – I do know the series and have two books out of it – not the one you’re looking for I guess it really is hard to find! – Sometimes I overlook things – I have shelves and shelves of books and boxes and boxes of books! and though I try to be organized things can go missing , or get forgotten ( just recently I put a larger paperback over a smaller one and the spine flopped over the smaller spine hiding it. I spent two hours looking for it. I should put the Hart series up sometimes I fall behind in my goals for the website , though – I had been wanting to add some 90’s series for months but haven’t gotten around to it. The one book I’ve been trying to get but is very rare is Hearts and Diamonds – the Four Jessicas – I would love to have that book! When I started collecting the series I was shopping at this terrific used book store nearby in Fort Erie Ontario , and they had three books out of the four book series all for a dollar! I was ecstatic unfortunatly I wished one of them would’ve been the more rare Four Jessicas! When it’s available it’s expensive – that is when , it’s available.

      1. Interesting! I’ve never heard of the Hearts and Diamonds series, other than what you’ve written about it in your guide. I will keep an eye out for The Four Jessicas next time I go book hunting. 🙂

        1. Excellent! I will keep my eye peeled for Now or Never by Bruce and Carole Hart – I checked out the cover on Amazon. That model looks familiar….hmm can’t place her , but I look through a lot of old magazines and maybe I ran into her before.

  19. I hope you can help me with this because I have been searching like crazy to find any info on this series. It is a series of Christian books from the 80’s where the title of each book is a girls name. In the books the title character is either a prostitute, a drug addict, alcoholic etc… And of course in each book the title character gets saved literally and figuratively. Thanks.

    1. Hi, I have been meaning to put this series up – I know , I know , I say that a lot but I was never too , sure wether or not it was aimed at teens. It’s called the Living Hope series by John Benton – I’m going to hopefully assemble an accurate list – I have a few books I’ve picked up over the years ( I love the covers! ) Here’s a sample.

  20. Thank you so much!!! That was driving me crazy. You are amazing. Oh, and yes the books are for teens as I always found them in the YA section of the bookstore. I look forward to your list.

  21. I was just searching around on Abe to check out prices for some Sweet Dreams books. Came across a real WTF price for PS I Love You by Barbara Conklin. Check it out, I don’t want to stop any coffee or Pepsi Max splurting. 🙂
    http://bit.ly/f2JoTt
    How do they honestly expect it to sell at that price? My mind is well & truly boggled.

    1. Wow – I guess this is where the expression Holy Toledo comes from ( guess where the seller’s from! ) even if the book was signed by the author I still don’t think you could justify the price. And the seller doesn’t even try to beef up the description! At least string us along with an OOP ( out of Print.) I’m tempted to send an email inquiring if they’ve misplaced a decimal point or are they serious.

  22. Hello! Great blog, I love the memories with all of these books!

    Back in the 80s there was a book about a girl with very strict parents and her urge to sort of jump out of the nest. I remember little except the following details: she talked about their pristine white kitchen and how someday she wanted a warmer kitchen with wood. She starts dating a surfer tracks sand into the house and upsets her parents. She ends up asking him out to the Sadie Hawkins dance. I remember this one scene where she’s eating carrots and imagines a trial about how her mother always makes the carrots too crunchy.

    Weird things to recall, but I do. Anyone know the title or author?

  23. Wonderful blog; wonderful memories!

    My questions:
    -How about the Girl Talk book series?
    -A book that I’ve been trying to conjure up the author/title of for years with no success: I read it as a paperback. It was about a girl who had had issues with drinking and drugs, and she was going to some kind of alternative high school. Typical of the lingo used in the book: ‘He was good-lookin’ in a dropout kinds way’. Can anybody help with this?

    Thanks so much!

    1. I’m pooling a few series I’ve missed, Girl Talk is one of them – I want to add them, however right now I’m sort of out of the loop , transportation to the city has been out for a while squashing any research at my usual spots. I’m praying for a new vehicle! But I’ll check the internet for your book – so far it doesn’t ring any bells.

    2. Sparkler22–could the book you’re asking about be “Crazy Eights” by Barbara Dana? It’s about a girl named Thelma who has “delinquent” problems, feeds Oreos to her dog (who is about the only thing she loves, or gets love from), and then gets sent to an “alternative” school in Vermont.

  24. First of all, this site is amazing! Thanks for doing it!

    Okay, I have been trying to find two books from the 80’s that I loved as a tween. The first one had a main character named Valentine, and she would often say, “Cut to the chase.” She was a cool teen. The other book I’m looking for was all about a teen ice skater. The book had a blue cover, and had a photo of the ice skater. Inside, there were photos that went along with the story. I would appreciate any help/direction you could give me.

    On another note, I run an online magazine called Celebrity Parents, and we have a column called Take Me Back to the 80’s With…. I would love to feature you and your site, as I imagine there must be so many people like me looking for books from their childhood, and you have helped so many. Feel free to email me at jennifer@celebrityparentsmag.com. Thanks so much!!!

    Best,
    Jennifer

    1. Hi, just to let everyone know I got back to Jennifer via an email , I thought her books were – Ice Castles a movie tie in novel by Leonore Fleischer and
      the other possibly Ender Game by Orson Scott Card or the Casey Valentine series by Patricia Reilly Giff.

    2. Valentine was the main character in Lovecrazy, by Judy Feiffer. It’s a standalone, AFAIK. And it was Val’s mother who said “Cut to the chase,” because she was a script reader for a movie studio. The whole thing was pretty creepy: two teen girls trying to seduce each others’ father (?!?!?!). And funnily enough, it references early 1980s “Ryan O’Neal pawing Farrah Fawcett; Woody Allen huddling with Mia Farrow.”

  25. Hi,
    I am looking for a comic book series that was released sometime in the mid-late 80’s : sugar and spice – its about these 2 toddlers and their adventures! can’t seem to find them any where on the net – would be great if you could help.
    Thx.

    1. Hi , I was going through one of my plastic tubs of junk the other day trying to sort it out and found this slide-a-tile puzzle that was of Sugar and Spice – two strawberry shortcake rip off characters – one had a cupcake on his head it could be the one you’re looking for if Sugar and Spike isn’t the one. I would’ve taken a picture of it but I couldn’t slide all the pieces to properly form the picture! Here’s a COLORFORM SIGHT to click to if you want to check out the characters!

  26. Can anyone remember title of YA 80s mystery — Driving me crazy I can’t remember title of this, loved it back then, would love to read it again.

    A high school girl moves back to the hometown where she went to middle school. All excited to hook back up with her former best friend and boyfriend. RIght before school her best friend dies under mysterious circumstances. Best friend had been worried and acting weird. Girl goes to high school where no one remembers her and decides to investigate best friend’s death. Joins popular clique who are druggies, ditches ex-boyfriend by pretending she has changed and gotten into drugs. Hangs out with popuar group, she suspects them. WHen they hang out they listen to Fleetwood Mac all the time. Turns out popular guy she’s pretending to like to infiltrate group is one who killed her best friend because best friend was going to reveal drug dealing.

  27. I am looking for a book; I’m 35 now so about the 1980’s is when it was published. Anyway, it was a young girl who starts out with a crush on a boy, but later on down the line she finds out who he is. He is the son of the Mother who was drunk driving, and the day it rained, her sister went out on her bike, and his mother was driving drunk, and struck her sister and killed her, but she was falling in love with him, even though they knew atleast her parents would never agree. I can’t seem to find it online, at a bookstore, or anywhere. I have more details in my head, but its even harder to put them down on here… I’d be here all day. I just hope this is a start, and maybe someone can really help me on finding this book, so I can buy it.

    1. Marcia, I think your book is When We First Met by Norma Fox Mazer. Rob’s mother killed Jenny’s sister. If you do a google image search, you’ll find several covers, so hopefully one of them will ring a bell for you.

  28. I am looking for a teen tennis romance involving a teen girl who plays on the boys tennis team and the new guy she ends up playing doubles with. Can’t remember name or author and I know it’s not Love Match, but similar. I have been looking form months and can’t find very many results. It may be a late 80’s or early 90’s book. I read it around 1990-1992 when I was in school. THANKS!
    marcia

    1. Hi Marcia. Your description rang bells for me as I often have to type out the blurbs for the books on my website due to not finding them anywhere on the web. It sounds like it would be either The Boy Barrier by Jesse DuKore in the Wildfire series, or a stand alone novel Fifteen Love by Helane Zeiger. Links below so you check the covers as i may just be wrong. Has been known to happen. 🙂
      http://sweetheartsromancebooks.com/wildfire-teen-romance-books/prod_1294.html
      http://sweetheartsromancebooks.com/helane-zeiger-fifteen-love/prod_1074.html

      Regards,
      Carmel

      1. I was thinking it might be Fifteen Love too – but I’d forgotten about the Boy Barrier by Jesse Dukore! I was so focused on thinking it was a Sweet Dreams – I was going through my copies and looking at descriptions that I’d overlooked Wildfire’s – Now I want to go home and skim through my copy to see if you’re right. Thanks!

    2. Hi , it turned out to be Wildfire’s The Boy Barrier by Jesse Dukore! I checked out my copy at home. If you want to buy it , Sweetheart Romances ( the link above ) has a copy for $3.50! Thanks Carmel!

    1. Hi, I’ve been trying to work on a series Girl Talk to make a list and a general summary – unfortunately I’ve only got two books and it’s a little bare. Most of the series I’ve neglected – I can only add as reference lists – because I don’t know much about them not having a copy of even one of their books. I’ve been working on doing the lists for CLIQUEY PIZZA 3 which has been time consuming. I’m hoping that by next Tuesday I’ll have something up – a fashion show spoofing the characters on covers vs – fashion layouts and such – you can see a hint of this on my face book page Peacha Lulu It’s probably easier to subscribe to the blog and get emailed when I post. Right now each post is a stretch but I hope to get up to several posts a week.

  29. I currently have gotten my hands on the Fifteen Love By Helaine Zeiger & it’s not it. I hope it’s The Boy Barrier. If not I think I can come up with some more details from memory that might help you guys pinpoint it. Thanks for your help with everything so far.
    Marcia

  30. Hey guys, it’s me Marcia – Thanks for all your help on the tennis romance stories, but, unfortunately – it’s not either The Boy Barrier by Jesse DuKore in the Wildfire series, or a stand alone novel Fifteen Love by Helane Zeiger.

    Going off my memory, I think her name was Jennifer – she and the boy are roughly the same age. The girl is the youngest of maybe 4 or 5 kids, (all older brothers) all are into tennis, she has her own home court and I think her dad is a tennis coach.
    I’m not sure that it is part of any series. More likely a stand-alone and most likely not a real popular one. I thought it might be from the late 80’s, but maybe it’s a early 90’s.
    Any help would be appreciated, thanks to all who read this.
    Marcia

  31. Hey guys, it’s me Marcia – Thanks for all your help on the tennis romance stories, but, unfortunately – it’s not either The Boy Barrier by Jesse DuKore in the Wildfire series, or a stand alone novel Fifteen Love by Helane Zeiger.

    Going off my memory, I think her name was Jennifer – she and the boy are roughly the same age. The girl is the youngest of maybe 4 or 5 kids, (all older brothers) all are into tennis, she has her own home court and I think her dad is a tennis coach.
    I’m not sure that it is part of any series. More likely a stand-alone and most likely not a real popular one. I thought it might be from the late 80’s, but maybe it’s a early 90’s.
    Any help would be appreciated, thanks to all who read this.
    Marcia

    PS – Thanks to all for the previous assistance as well!

    1. That’s too bad – I was positive it was the Boy Barrier – Time to scope out the non series books. I probably won’t find it right away but ventually I might bump into it – especially since I’m still working on the a-z guide which will in future will include write ups!

  32. Can someone help me remember the name of this book…. I can remember a few details…… it was mid to late 80’s, I’m pretty sure it was one of the Crossfire/Keepsake books but it could have been a First Love. Here is what I remember of the story: The female lead (who I’m sorry I can’t remember her name) and her parents get everything ready for who they think is daughter of a friend of mom’s. It turns out that the it is a son. His name is Windam but he is called Windy (which is why they thought it was a girl). He is very wealthy, particular about his clothes, drives a bright yellow sports car. He gets involved with the “popular girl”. Popular girl disappears. Female lead writes a story about an Italian vampire killing a girl. This vampire just so happens to resemble Windy. Everyone starts thinking Windy did something to popular girl. It has a happy ever after ending for female lead and Windy (of course). This is driving me crazy… any ideas as to what the name of this book is?

    1. Hi , doesn’t ring any bells but I’ll check around , you could try asking at Sweethearts Romances ( there’s a link in my blogroll ) – they sell series fiction and write out descriptions as well – they’ve been very helpful and friendly to me. The Windam thing sounds familiar ….unfortunately I’m missing some of the descriptions in my First Love , Keepsake and Crosswinds ultimate page descriptions.

    2. Hi , just came across your book! – I was in one of my folders , working on trying to find pics for some new series I’m adding and came across a picture featuring a jumble of first love’s they were selling on ebay – on one of the covers was a yellow car! I looked up the description and it’s your book – It’s called With Love from Rome by Janice Harrell.

  33. Hi, I can’t remember the name of a book about a girl who loses weight and becomes more outgoing. One of the events I do remember is a Halloween party at school where she dresses up (I don’t remember as what) and her classmates and this boy she thinks is cute doesn’t recognnize her. The author writes 1 or 2 more books with the same character. The second book the girl is a waittress and i think has a love interest but I’m not sure about anything else. I think this book was written before 1993 but once again I’m not definite about that.

    1. There are two series that come to mind – The first series is the Fat Glenda books by Lila Perl which you can see a brief description in my A-Z series guide. There is also another series by Barbara Wersba about a character named Rita Formica- The first book is called Fat: A love Story 2. Love is a Crooked Thing and 3. Beautiful Losers. I’m pretty sure though your books are Fat Glenda books because in book 3 – Fat Glenda’s Summer Romance she takes a job as a waitress at an inn and romances a boy named Justin.

  34. Hi Peachy. Just came across another extremely overpriced Sweet Dreams book on eBay UK. http://bit.ly/nfwqpw That’s over $170 Australian! The big sellers use listing programmes that search the net for prices & set the price according to what they find. So someone somewhere has the same title listed for just as high. I think this same seller had a copy of a hard to find Aussie children’s birthday cake recipe (sells for around $100 here) listed for over $2,000. Lots of eye rolling was done on the ebay book forum in Australia.

    1. Hi , don’t worry I’m notorious for leaving out words or printing in the wrong ones! Great link ! If you want to see how crazy this price padding can get ( or you want a good laugh ) go to abe.com , search by highest price first and then fill in the advanced search requirements ( like publishers Bantam , Dell , Scholastic ) – I found Princess Who? a girls of Canby Hall book for over 500! bucksCLICK HERE– and the same Wrong way Romance book for $998! Even crazier there were Svh’s in the hundreds! Insanity!

      1. I see what you mean! Abe has always had high prices but since Amazon bought them it’s got out of hand. Makes me wonder if the sellers can honestly expect to sell at the inflated prices. Not to mention the typos they all list with for a few titles. Sweet Dreams Dreamstake instead of Dreamskate is one I see often, always from the mega listers in the UK & USA.
        I realised a few hours after making my post why I left a word out. Doing silly typing mistakes seems to be the latest indication I’m going to get a migraine. It’s been saying things the wrong way (inside out & upside down sometimes, lol) for years, now I type them as well. *rolls eyes*

        1. Amazon bought abe?! I didn’t know that – yikes I hope the shipping hasn’t doubled. I tried to buy some books on Amazon a while back , they were all nicely priced ( under fifty cents ) but by the time it was added up with the shipping 3 books came to forty dollars! I could’ve cried instead I decided not to buy the books.

  35. Thanks to winter ills I haven’t checked here for a couple of weeks, so sorry for the late reply.

    Amazon bought Abe 2 or 3 years ago I think. In the last month Amazon has also bought The Book Depository in the UK. They’ve realised that TBD is having huge success selling to markets like Australia which have stronger economies thanks to our stronger dollar. Aussies have been buying from Amz & TBD big time, so much so that our postal service announced last week that they are making a loss on delivering parcels from overseas due to the sheer volume of them. They want the government to look into some sort of tweaking of international mail delivery arrangements. I read an article today that shows how American mail forwarding services are doing very well out of shipping to Australia.

    1. Hi , no prob. And thanks for the info – I had no idea Australia was so big into buying books! I would think the shipping costs would be awful – even in bulk!

  36. The Book Depository has had free shipping worldwide for a couple of years & is very popular in Australia. The company that owned the Borders franchise here, RedGroup, went broke early this year. So around 20 Borders stores in Australia & New Zealand closed down and a chain that started as a publisher in Australia around 150 years ago also went as they were now owned by the same investment company. So in less than 12 months somewhere over 200 bookstores have closed down in Australia. The stores that are left are getting some increase in customers and independent bookshops are getting more customers than they’ve had in years, but more & more people are buying online. Which is likely where Amazon comes in. Amz UK offer free shipping to Australia on some things, namely those supplied by them. While they don’t want to go to the expense of actually building a base down here and in the process muscling out the locals, they can take some advantage from the popularity of TBD. They are like those big multinational companies who buy up all the smaller competition and run big monopolies. Sorry, bit of a hobby horse of mine. Give me a couple of beers & I’ll talk for hours on the subject. 🙂

  37. Love your site, It’s great to see some of the old books I use to read on here. There was a book about a girl who was kidnapped by native americans and ended up in love with a warrioe after she saves his life. It was around 1986 or 1987 when I read it. I think it was called Summer something. I have been trying to find it for years now…maybe you can help!

  38. I went to a grade school where many of the classrooms were run by teachers who taught since the 80’s and before or a former teacher left books there. The classroom libraries were filled with gems from old, not so well known series from the 80’s that were waiting to be read. I saw some series I recognized, and some I’d like to read. However, I noticed one series you may have missed: the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. This series follows a girl named Alice as she goes from 6th grade to age 60. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has not stopped publishing them yet. The last book in the series is going to be published in 2013. There are also three prequels which take place when Alice is in 3rd-5th grade. The first book was published in 1985.

    1. That’s one to miss isn’t it! The author is destined to crop up on my Cliquey Pizza 3 list – probably when I start on the n’s which is next in line , and where I’ve actually been bumping into a lot more series to add to the a-z series guide. I tend to fall behind in my goals ( due to coming up fruitless in finding copies of books in order to make a judicial assesment of the series ) but I’ve opened a new series folder for research and anything I can find on the net , helps – so I will definitely add the Alice books , thanks!

  39. Hi, Peacharino! I think I left this question on one of your posts a long while back, but maybe someone else will read it here and come up with the title. The book I’m looking for was most likely part of the Sweet Dreams or First Love from Silhouette series because those were the ones I read most often. The lead character had a crush on a teacher, and somehow she got talked into serving punch at a school dance (she didn’t have a date and wasn’t going to attend). The only thing I remember was a conversation she had in a hallway with the teacher, and he kissed her (chastely, of course). There’s no way that book would get written today! Anyway, does anyone have any ideas about the title?

    1. I think the book is a Wildfire – I’ve Got a Crush on You by Carol Stanley – here’s the LINK to my Wildfire Ultimate page – so you can check out the cover and description. I can probably check out the story tonight to see if the punch scene is in it. I read it this book a long time ago and the only scene I can recall is one where teacher and student run into each other at a grocery store and I do remember the teacher kissing the student – very risque – especially for a series book!

      1. Wow, thanks SO much! It has been driving me bonkers! I did read some Wildfire titles, now that I think about it. Thank you for your website…I love going down memory lane.

      1. Thanks! I’ve been to that site before – but forgot that, they’d reviewed that particular book ( I try not to circulate too many book sites especially ones featuring 80’s books – don’t want to copy anyone ,even unintentionally – but they do some really interesting reviews! )

      2. Kim, thanks for the confirmation and the link. Loved your recap…I’d forgotten all the poetry stuff and the ER/car scene. That kissing scene was burned into my memory, too, but it was sitting in my subconscious for 15 years until I started working at the public library. One day I saw some Sweet Dreams books get checked out and couldn’t believe we still had them. Then I remembered the teacher kissing scene and, as an adult, just shuddered. I’ve been obsessed with finding the book again to see if it was as bad as I thought. Thanks to your recap, I’ve discovered it was worse than I remembered! Thanks again…looking forward to reading more of your recaps.

      3. Agh! is Bitches boys and Benetton your sight Kim? – had no idea! Great work! did you get that amazing haul of books from one location – I saw the price tag Book Market and looked it up. I so want to go there, unfortunately the nearest location is like hours away.

  40. Hi! Just found your site and I love it! It’s really bringing back some memories. 🙂 I’ve been looking for two books that are fairly obscure, I think, and wouldn’t have been “trendy”. I have no idea who the authors are. I’ve tried amazon, ebay and searching it with every combination of search terms I can think of. I’m hoping you might have some ideas!

    1. Book title is “Reckless”. Was about two teens falling in love (of course) but the boy was from the “wrong side of town”. His name was an easy, short name I think, like Jake or Max – something of that nature. I remember he rode a motorcycle. If I remember correctly, I think it had a sad ending.

    2. Book title is either “Randy” or “Randi”. This one would have been more controversial. The main girl is Randy and she runs away from home to New York. She gets caught up by the typical things you always hear/heard about happening to girls – pimp gets her straight off the bus, drugs, etc. and she ends up pregnant and going home eventually.

    Oh- also, if you have any idea on this one. There was a time travel trilogy about two or three kids that stepped through a mirror to travel through time or go to a parallel dimension or something. I know at least one of the books involved traveling into the future. For some reason I’m thinking either the word unicorn was in the titles, on the cover or in the books.

    Btw – haven’t seen the Christopher Pike books mentioned yet! Of course, I haven’t gone through everything yet, so I may have just missed them. Love the site!

    1. Thanks! I think your first book is Reckless by Jeanette Mines – check out the cover on my Cliquey Pizza 3 site – the description at Amazon is pretty bland – on her first day of high school Jeannie Tanger meets Sam Benson, a handsome troublemaker and decides that she can change him. The second book – Randy , Randi is a bit of a puzzler – I think it’s actually a John Benton book – check out the John Benton series HERE however there is no actual Randi book – but the stories all have names like that – Candi , Lori , Jackie , Vicki etc. I can check the books I have in the series to hopefully find the one where a girl gets pregnant. As for the trilogy – Check out Madeleine L’Engle’s wikipedia page – a Swiftly Tilting Planet is part of a time traveling series and contains a flying unicorn.

  41. Thanks so much! Reckless by Jeanette Mines is it! I’m so excited to find that one! It is actually the book that inspired me to start trying to write romance. Though Amazon shows it as being published in 1989 and I swear it was well before then, because I was in middle school at the time. I also never knew that there was a sequel to it. Now I’m going to have to buy them. 🙂

    I’m pretty sure that the John Benton series isn’t it for the other one. I don’t remember there being any underlying religious message or the halfway house that’s mentioned. And A Swiftly Tilting Planet isn’t it either. I’ll just have to keep looking for those.

    Thank you so much for your help! You’re awesome!

    1. Hi , I think I found your Randy Book! – one of my facebook friends runs a site called Teen Pulp ( see my blog roll ) and sells books. I saved one of the covers cause it was so cool and cheesey! I was going through my pictures the other day sorting things out , and the cover jogged my memory, that someone ( you ) asked about a book with the title Randy! Here’s a link to the cover http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=Randy+jack+w+thomas&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&biw=1280&bih=603&tbm=isch&tbnid=DwF2DaVWjEZRHM:&imgrefurl=http://www.geocities.ws/jackwthomas/&docid=Uj163xClmyyiaM&imgurl=http://www.geocities.ws/jackwthomas/randy.jpg&w=146&h=240&ei=cuiyTp2sI8br0gHfkf2SBA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=765&sig=115354358748030566360&page=1&tbnh=131&tbnw=80&start=0&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=13&ty=45 – Let me know if it’s the right one.

  42. Looking for a book series from the mid-late 80’s. Set in a boarding school. Was horror genre I believe. Students were attacked by werewolves in one of the books I think. I think was along the line of Goosebumps but I know that was not it.

  43. Hi, sorry for the late response – yes, that’s it! I can’t believe you found it (Randy) just on the little information I gave you. You are awesome – thanks!

  44. Hi, great website! I’m in need of your help. I’m searching for a fictional book or books that is about a girl, possibly named Maggie, that has diabetes. I recall a scene in which she faints while running a race/track and someone offers her a lifesaver. Unfortunately, I don’t remember a title, but I remember reading one or two books of the same series and character. Thanks for all you do.

    1. Thanks , I think your book(s) could be the Vonnie books in First Love From Silhouette , by Dorothy Francis. It’s a series within a series. First book is Special Girl – FLFS #8 , FLFS #135 Bid for Romance , FLFS #171 Write On! , FLFS #185 Stop Thief! , ( There could be others as I don’t have all the descriptions for every Dorothy Brenner book in First Love – but I think this is pretty accurate. ) She continued the Vonnie books in Crosswinds Keepsake ( an evolution of First Love )with – #1 The Right kind of Girl , #7 Vonnie and Monique , ( and a reprinted issue Special Girl #16 ) , Check out this link to read description and see covers. If it’s not familiar let me know and I’ll keep looking. I’m in a coffee shop now but I can skim through my copies later and see if the lifesaver scene is familiar.

  45. I’m looking for a book, Scholastic for sure, possibly a Wildfire title. It would have been published somewhere between 79-81, I think. I remember the girl’s dad had taken a new job and worked a lot, but was still stressed about money. The girl and her mom had gone to the mall, bought a bunch of clothes, and even though they were on sale, they were afraid to tell dad. I think the dad eventually went back to his old job to get rid of the stress he felt. The only other detail i remember was the girl had been real sick with a flu or cold, finally felt well enough to shower and get dressed in her warmest sweater before the guy she liked came to her house . That is all I really remember,but I would love to know the title of this book! Any ideas?

    1. Could be Secrets by Deborah Aydt – check out my link which shows all the covers adn some descriptions. I looked through the book – the father looses his job – he’s an excellent cook which doesn’t impress the heroine. She does get the flu , but I didn’t notice the father flipping out due to a shopping spree – instead he’s angry at the mother whose secretly going out to work as a restaurant hostess. The girl has to give up a fancy school and go to a public school which she prefers. If this doesn’t sound like the right one – let me know I’ll keep looking.

  46. Secrets doesn’t really ring a bell. That said, it’s been a long time since I have read it, so possibly. BUT, I looked at the covers and for some reason, I think it might be Superflirt by Helen Cavanaugh. What do you think?

  47. What a fun discovery! I love the pizza stickers, the abundance of cheesy book covers, and I love the peach sticker. Reminds me of those stickers teachers used to put on our papers in grade school. They were scented in peach and strawberry. Thanks for the fun blog!

  48. Looking for a series that had three kids touch a meteor in a mall. They developed special powers afterwards. Might have had a few follow on books and even a brief TV Show.

    1. Hi, your series is called the PSI patrol here’s a LINK to one of the covers – there are only 3 books to the series. Max’s book , Hendra’s Book and Sal’s Book. It was released in 1985 under the Point scholastic logo.

  49. Hi there, I’m trying to remember a Sweet Dreams (teen romance) book where one scene had the protaganist being a human chess piece. She started out as a pawn but as the game progessed she got to be Queen.
    Would someone be able to help me with the title of this book I’m talking about?
    Thanks!

    1. I’m at a coffee shop now but I’ll check out my stock at home right now it’s not ringing any bells. But if anyone else knows it – jump right in!

    2. I think your book is Sweet Dreams #110 – Playing Games by Eileen Hehl. In the book the heroine is a go-between passing off chess moves between her brother and soon to be boyfriend.

  50. This site is really awesome. Thanks so much for putting it up. Like everyone else it sometimes seems – I’m trying to find a book and was wondering if you might be able to help.

    It was a hardcover, the kind that doesn’t have a dust jacket but instead has the art printed directly on the cover. I think it had a fuschia or magenta background. I think the back blurb might have been designed to look like it was written on notebook paper, an index card, or a legal pad.

    It was about a girl who lives in California. She was a high school student. Maybe a senior? Definitely old enough to drive.

    The main character highlights her hair despite being forbidden to do so by her parents. Then she gets caught because the highlighting kit used bleach or peroxide and the highlights become very obvious after she spends time in the sun.

    Near the end her house is threatened by wildfire. (Or maybe just a normal house fire, but I’m pretty sure it was wildfire.) She worries about a photo album or scrapbook when she tries to go home and is stopped by a police or fire department cordon, because of the fire.

    Things I’m not sure about: the main character might have been a photographer. She might have been named Brenda. It might have been a first person story. I think the cover used a photograph instead of a typical painting/illustration. Probably from the early 90s or late 80s.

    I appreciate any help that anyone can offer!

    1. Let me know if this isn’t the right one – I think it’s an Epecially for Girls book however a lot of books were printed outside of these hardback editions. Could be Corey’s Fire by Lee Wardlaw – Here’s a LINK to his site which shows you a cover and a bit of the description.

  51. Unfortunately that isn’t it. In the book I’m thinking of the fire happened near the end. I think the main character’s house ended up being safe, but I’m not sure. The fire wasn’t the main point, it’s just a detail that I remember for some reason.

    This is embarrassing but I’m not quite sure what the main plot was! I just remember the stuff that I have mentioned – I wish I could remember more! Thank you for trying to help!

    1. It could be a little time consuming but if you want to look around and hope a cover jogs your memory – you could try typing in Especially for girls in ebay.com children’s books. Meanwhile , I’ll keep my eye out for it.

      1. I think I found it! The Boy on the Cover, by Phoebe Matthews. You can see a picture here – it’s at the bottom left corner.

        My library actually still has a copy in the system, so I’m checking it out to make sure. And the author has apparently recovered the rights and released it as an ebook on Amazon. I’m not sure which of these amazes me more.

          1. Hope it works out – I was thinking it might possibley be that one cause you had mentioned a fuschia cover however , I’d never read the book and didn’t want to steer you wrong.

  52. I forgot to add – pointing me to the Especially for Girls series is a huge help. I’ll start looking at those.

  53. I’ve found a few Especially For Girls books here in Australia, but they are all originally Sweet Dreams titles. Was this common practice with EFG books, to publish some titles from other series?

    1. Yes , I think they did do that – I’m possitive I’ve seen a few Sweet Valley High that were put out with the Epecially for Girls logo under hardback covers. I don’t recall Sweet Dreams though , but if they were doing it for SVH , why not SD. I noticed also and should update that Magic Moments romances were also called Lightning romances.

      1. I just today found the Especially For Girls books I have & only 1 is a Sweet Dreams. It’s number 195 Comedy Of Errors by Diane Michelle Crawford. There’s a Marjorie Sharmat, an Anne Reit (probably a Wildfire or whatever was published by Dell) and even a Janet Quin-Harkin that’s not a Sweet Dreams or any other title of hers I’ve seen before. I have no idea if they were ever sold here in Australia, the ones I found were possibly brought here by visiting Americans or Canadians and left behind. 🙂

        1. I have no idea – could be – I’ve come across some British editions of the Babysitters Club which are probably left over from travelers or newcomers to Canada.
          I tried to look up some info about the Especially for Girls logo , it’s actually Gulliver but they don’t say much cause it was a division of Harcourt ( three divisions! ) which has now absorbed it! I wish some of these companies would dish out a bit more on their history. Even offer some reference lists for collectors.

          1. The ones I have all have Pacer Books from Putnam Publishing, no mention of Gulliver. Jacket Flap has Pacer as publishing books for 13 yrs & over. Here’s a mention of Pacer that came up in a search. It’s in a book called Young Adult Literature: From Romance To Realism by Michael Cart. The page is here http://bit.ly/HQiCFO
            Maybe I should try to find a copy, lol. Here’s some covers on Good Reads, I have a few of them. http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/especially-for-girls

            Maybe I won’t get that book. Hooley dooley, a book site I love here in Aus has it for nearly $100!! Brand new book. Wow. American site ALA has it for $60US. Would be an interesting read. I just bookmarked the google books page, lol. I can afford to read that one. 🙂

            1. Hmm – not Gulliver odd. I’ve heard of Pacer – A logo I forgot to add to my Cliquey Pizza 3 blog – but I’ve also got to touch up that article having discovered Vagabond is a division of Scholastic!
              The Michael Cart book looks like a good one – I always love nabbing books on children’s literature – especially if they’re dated!
              The especially for Girls covers were great – I have Cassie which oddly belongs to a series called sisters which I forgot and am going to add it to a list of all the series I missed ( I’ve been working steadily on it for the last month! )
              Where do these sellers get their outrageous prices from?!

  54. There is a book that I’ve been searching for. I can’t remember the name or author. The story is about a girl that moves in a new neighborhood and she has a secret. That secret is she has seizures. She starts hanging out with this group of girls that go exploring in the sewage pipes and that is when she has a seizure and her secret is found out. Can you help me remember this book? Thanks!

  55. Hi there, Ever heard of a book called “the popluarity club”? I have searched high and low and cannot find it. I am pretty sure thats waht it was called. It was about several girls and basically a new girl comes in and lives with a foster family but no one knows this at first, until she is seen wearing the same clothes and there are a few people i remember specifically. Cheryl(Sheryl?) she is a loner lives w her dad, she is overweight and ends up comitting suicide . Cant remember the popluasr girls name but of course her family is loaded …any help would be appreciated

    1. I think you’re jamming two books together but I’m not possitive – There’s a book called the Popularity Secret – POPULARITY SECRET which is about a girl who enters a foster home filled with ‘handicapped’ children – her school is integrated with ‘handicapped’ kids and she has to decide whether she wants to hang out with them or with the popular crowd. Then there is Ann M Martin’s Slam Book SLAM BOOK which has an overweight girl named Cheryl who lives with her alcoholic father and in the end of the book a confrontation with a drunken cool kid pushes her over the edge and she commits suicide. Let me know if these ring any bells.

  56. Hi, I am cutting and pasting this query for another member on the Abebooks forum:

    “I’m wracking my poor brain trying to locate a novel I read in high school written in either the 1970s or early 1980s about the lives of some teenagers in a high school, including a cheerleader, her football player boyfriend and a Jewish girl named Amy (Silver? Silverman?) who gets a nose job to try to fit in. In one scene toward the end of the book, the football player gets in an accident and winds up in the hospital, where Amy visits him and he doesn’t recognize her with her new nose. There’s a picture of the football player and cheerleader on the front cover wearing the red school colors (he has his jersey, she has her cheerleading uniform), and both are smiling. The girl, who’s standing in front of the boy, has blond hair. It’s possible the title includes the word “seniors”, but I can’t remember. If anyone can help me out, I’d be most appreciative!!!”

    This seemed like the perfect site to post this query! Thanks in advance for any information you may be able to provide.

    1. Not too sure but I’ll look around – could be Supercouple by Mary Towne – the cover looks like what you’re describing. The main girls name in it is Binky. I’ve never read it though. Have you checked my other site , Cliquey Pizza 3 and glanced over the covers?

      1. Hi peacharino! I am awed by your fabulous website. You helped me find Hearts and Diamonds even though I didn’t remember the title or the author. I’m hoping you can help me track down a couple more half remembered nostalgic treasures…the first one features a pampered princessy type girl who has a fancy pink bedroom and spends a lot of time grooming her appearance. For some reason she has to go on a river rafting trip over the summer. No hairdryer, eating instant meals over a campfire, this is torture for her, but of course a hot boy (maybe the guide or second in command on the trip?) falls in love with her anyway.

        1. The other romance I’m desperate to identify was about 2 teen models. One is a superstar who’s never had a normal life. The other is a regular high school girl with a boyfriend. She models in a TV commercial kissing a boy and of course everyone at school loses their tiny little minds and Superstar is her only friend. At the end of the book she decides to quit modeling and try to get her normal life back while Superstar is lonely at the top. Thank you so much Peacharino!

    2. OMG!!! I have been searching for this book for YEARS. The only positive hit I have had is this post. I don’t believe it is that Super Couple book – that one was published in 1984, and the one I am looking for seemed like it was written in the ’60s or ’70s. It is so frustrating that I can’t find anything on the internet about it! I was beginning to think I dreamed it. LOL!

  57. Looking for an 80s YA novel read about a girl who loves to watch Casablanca, and falls for her brother’s friend (who it turns out has a secret crush on her). That’s all I remember! Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

  58. Hello, I’m looking for a ya novel, probably published in the 1980s. I don’t remember much, except that the main character is a girl who often visits the community pool, and she falls for an ultra-cool lifeguard who wears zinc oxide on his nose. The main character *may* be the younger sister of an older, cooler, girl. As the story progresses, the girl and the lifeguard become acquainted, and the lifeguard takes her on a horseback ride, and they stop for a picnic lunch at a watering hole. I think the setting of the novel is California. My memory is imperfect, but if you have any clues to help me identify the book, I’d love to find it and read it again. Thanks!

  59. I am really really hoping you can help me find a book about a girl who took a summer job as a babysitter in a coastal town. The mom was an artist. Her first baby died, so she was nervous about letting her second child out of her sight. The love interest in the book was a local boy who worked at a kite shop. I remember a scene where he spelled out “I love you” with the tails of the kite they were flying. Ring any bells? I have been trying for literally years to figure this one out! Thanks so much!

    1. This sounds very familiar – I’ll check around. The kite scene doesn’t jog my memory but the idea of the woman being nervous about her child does.

    2. I’m pretty sure your book is Baby Snatcher by Susan Terris – although she’s babysitting for a man , a sculptor and the kite scene could be a dream sequence – not sure if it actually becomes a real event. I skimmed through my copy last night. CLICK HERE FOR COVER

    3. Hi Teriann,
      Not sure if anyone answered but I got excited when I saw your post. I love that book! It’s Sister in the Shadow by Anne Warren Smith.

  60. I read this in early 90s and have no idea what it is called! Book took place in 1980/90s New Orleans. Mystery with female heroine. Father was a film director on location. She brought her own hot chocolate/cocoa with her to restaurants, and as a baby liked the noise of the sound editing her father did in films, and she fell asleep to the backwards talking. There was a love interest, and a man who said he was a Director of Photography, which she knew meant he was “just a camera man.” I think the mystery was that someone was sabotaging the film.

    I think the book was part of a detective series, but I have had no luck googling it for years. The cover had a film strip around the border. Help!!

        1. YES!!!!!! Found your post about the book just tonight–ordered it immediately from a used bookstore online. You are my hero! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. I think they’re conch belts , short for choncho belts. They come in all different styles – I think they’re called that because of the round shell shape of the leather. I could be mistaken though. But that’s my guess. I loved the white leather ones – they looked so cool with jeans and matching cowboy boots!

  61. I’m looking for a book that was not part of a series, it was a stand-alone, and I don’t think it was Silhouette or Harlequin.

    The hero is a misunderstood (not really) bad boy who couldn’t read and maybe had dyslexia. His name was Colin. The girl helped tutor him. I *think* there was a drama program involved, and that it was set in Boston.

    I thought it was an early Caroline B. Cooney but I actually emailed her and she was kind enough to respond and say it was not one of hers.

    Any thoughts?

    1. I’ll look around – it’s not ringing any bells. Was it 80’s , early 80’s, late 80s or early 90’s. Do have any ideas on the cover was it a photo cover or artwork? Sometimes this helps pinpoint a publisher.

      1. I think the book you are talking about is called Romance is a Wonderful Thing, by Ellen Emerson White. The main characters are Trish and Colin.

  62. Hey- I’m looking for a book I read as a kid. It was a little lame, but I’m interested in knowing what it was anyway. lol. I don’t remember much about it, but the girl plays like a saxophone or something. I want to say her name is Cheryl and she’s a little chubby, but I’m not sure. She lives alone with her dad. I seem to remember a part where her dad gets mad at her for asking him if he’d like to spark a joint with her, but she didn’t know what that meant. She just heard it off one of her dad’s friends. I think her dad likes to party and drink a lot or something and possibly he’s a musican or something too. Ummm.. and I think she goes on some quest to meet this jazz musician or she befriends some jazz musician or something? Anybody here know what I’m talking about? What I remember most is the cover. It shows the girl sitting cross-legged on the floor wearing a red t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers holding her saxophone. And I think she had like braids in her hair. If anyone knows, that’d be super cool! Thanks in advance.

  63. Hello! I was wondering if you could help me find a book i read as a kid. I dont remember the author or the name of the series. I remember there was a character named Maria who was very intelligent who ended up getting raped by a jock named rafe or leif or something like that. I also remember there was an asian girl who was dating a motorcycle riding white guy who her mother didnt approve of. The guy ended up dying in a bike accident and she found out she was pregnant after he died. Im not sure if that will help.

  64. I need your help desperately please! There’s this book (almost positive it’s from the 80’s) that I somehow got my hands on when I was about 10 and it traumatized me. Now I’m obsessed with finding it again. Here’s the plot: A young boy spends his time over his friends’ house and is not allowed to say what goes on there. The boy’s friend and his mother have a little girl staying with them (not sure why or she might be the little sister) but they bully this little girl and torture her. Eventually, the mother makes her young son rape the girl and she tried to get his friend to do the same but he won’t. Finally, the mother burns this little girl with a hot poker (down there) and the little girl dies. At this point, when it’s too late, the little boy tells his father what’s been going on and they come and arrest the mother and her son. The boy is there during the arrest and he pushes the mom down the basement stairs, killing her.
    I feel like the cover of the book had a creepy girl on it, perhaps a skeleton cheerleader. It was one of those trashy books my mom never would have let me read.

    1. Nevermind, someone on another site found it for me. “The Girl Next Door” by Jack Ketchum. Worst thing I’ve ever read. Great site you have here, thanks!

      1. I was thinking it was Jack Ketchum – but that’s definitely not 80’s – I read the book too. Didn’t like it at all. Wanted to strangle the main character for not doing anything! There’s two other books like it – although I don’t think they end as bad – Let’s go Play at the Adams. And the Child Keeper by Sol Stein. I think they were both better – not as gruesome.

  65. I need help if someone can. I am looking for a book I read when I was about 16 so it was a long time ago. Sometime around 1984 – 1986. I can’t remember the book series all I can remember was in the book the teenage couple got lost on an island and they were mismatched and they of course fell in love. I remember most vividly that there was a scene written where she sprained her ankle pretty badly and then another one where they argue then kiss in the rain. That’s about it. I would appreciate any help on this.

    1. Mmm – I’m thinking the book could be Just a Little Bit Lost by Laurel Trivelpiece – the heroine’s name was Bennet ( always loved that name after reading this! ) Or it could be Lovebirds – A Sweet Dreams novel by Janet Quin-Harkin which takes place in Australia. If it’s not either let me know and I’ll keep looking

  66. Thanks so much for looking!! Unfortunately neither one of those books is the right one. The teenagers actually get shipwrecked in the U.S.A. If you could keep looking that would be great!!! I’ll keep looking too!!

  67. Great site! I’m looking for help on a series from the early 80’s, hardcover. Group of kids solving mysteries but they are deceased, so ghost detectives. Ring a bell? Thanks.

  68. My friend is driving me crazy trying to find this book she read as a girl. She is 27, so she would have read it in the 90’s. It is about a kid named Francis (Frances?) and a pair of a pair of twins, Simon and Martin, one of whom had killed the other. And there was something about a moonstone as well.
    If you can figure this out, we both will be super happy. Her, because she made the book an audiotape and has lost it, so wants to read it again. Me, because I want to read it now! It sounds super intriguing.
    Thank you!

  69. Hello, I really hope you can help me, I read these books when I was around 10, I don’t remember the author or the exact titles. The titles were female names like Jennifer or Jenny. One book is about a girl who meets or interviews a hockey player and he falls for her but she wants to wait for marriage. Her name is the title, I think. I’m pretty sure they are Christian books. Please help, I’m going nuts.

    1. Hi – forget to add this this one – it’s called the Jennifer series – I don’t know where there is an exact
      list but the books are by Jane Sorenson – if you type in Jane Sorenson or Jane B Sorenson in Paperback swap
      or Advanced Book exchange – you can find them.

        1. I looked at the Jennifer series but I think I described it wrong. I think there were like five books and each was about a different girl and the title of each book is the name of the main character. I think the women in them were in their 20s, they all had a little romance. I remember the one about the hockey player the best. I might just be explaining the books wrong, I wish I could remember more about them.

  70. hello I am trying to recall an cartoon film i use to watch when i was very young i was born in the 90s so assuming that would be when the film was showing cause that when i watched it lol. if anyone could me rediscover this children film i will be over the moon! i only remember very little! but here goes 🙂
    -a girl with blond hair tied back. wearing a blue dress with apron.
    -the girl sits on a wooden chair or a wooden rocking chair. as she sits down on chair or about to get up from the wooden chair the chair itself straps all the girls limps down so she cant escape.
    -i defo remember at one point of the film (sure it was near the beginning of the film) it was raining and the girl is running or walking on a bridge of some sort.
    -i remember seeing a little house or a cottage with a beautiful garden
    -there was another odd character. all i remember of this one was he was not human i think he was made out of wood? and he was very hyper/loud i think i remember could be wrong but the odd character was against a tree in the beautiful garden .
    hope this can help to rediscover my childhood movie 🙂 x

  71. hi! through your sites i have found about 50 forgotten favourite books, including a few that have been rattling like mysteries around in my head. you’ve done an amazing job here, what a fabulous resource this group of websites is! thank you so much for doing this for us ya fans! there is ONE left that i cannot find, and i barely remember anything about it, but i remember this:

    at some point, possibly nearing the climax of the book, the main character’s(a girl) best friend (a boy) runs away. no one knows where he went. she then spills what i think was honeysuckle powder (i think like bath powder?) and it reminds her of a place the used to go when they were young. the boy’s family may have had a cabin there that they sold? the place is called _____ falls (i can’t remember, but i know the town was called something fals). the girl has a collection of i think silver dollars or half dollars etc that she is given by family for every birthday or holiday. they are very near and dear to her. she takes that money and buys a bus ticket to the town where she thinks her friend is. i think she bought a small amount of junk food too. she gets to the town and hikes up to where her friend might be and finds him. at some point, adults find them there.

    that is all i remember and it is making me crazy! does this sound familiar to anyone? it may have been released in the late 70′s or anytime in the 80′s up to the very early part of the 90′s (stopped reading most YA when i went to uni! started again at 32).

    if you or anyone can find this for me, i’ll be so so grateful! otherwise, maybe i imagined it? thank you so much for your time! cheers!

  72. I hope someone knows about this one…I read a book about a popular girl who gave up her popularity when she fell in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. From what I remember she found the popular kids vapid but they disliked her new boyfriend. I also remember some sort of shooting accident. Please tell me this triggers someone’s memory!

    1. i don’t remember a shooting incident but I found an old copy of The Wrong Boy recently that almost seems to fit? The girl is a cheerleader who starts becoming disillusioned with the rest of the popular crowd and falls in love with a very strange quirky guy who everyone hates. He does get beat up pretty bad near the end of the book…

  73. Hi!
    I’m looking for a book that I got sometime in 1998. I believe it may have been published in the 80’s or early 90’s. If my memory serves me well it had a pink-border on the cover with a picture of a babysitter with magenta hair with a girl. The story was about the girl who gets an unusual babysitter who uses magic to turn the girl’s life around. I believe the main character was responsible for home coming where the babysitter used her magic to make it a successful event. I can’t remember the author nor the book title. Its been so long since I’ve seen or read it.

      1. I think that’s a Todd Strasser (the Drive Me Crazy author) Here comes Heavenly. Titles listed on Amazon include Dance Magic and Spell Danger. Hope that helps.

  74. I’m looking for an 80s teen romance book but don’t know the title, author or series. In the book, a smart but frumpy teen becomes friends with a beautiful girl who she assumed was a snob but turned out not to be one. I think the friend’s name might have been Suzanne. Anyway they became friends and the pretty one helps her friend change her image through exercise (mostly jogging) and a radical makeover including cutting her hair extremely short. Thus the frumpy one begins to break out of her self-imposed shell a bit and finally has a romance with someone she had a crush on. It was lightweight, of course, but also sweet because the friendship was actually supportive and not negative, at least that’s how I remember it. Any ideas?

  75. Hi — hoping you can help! I’m looking for a book (probably late 1980s-mid 1990s), young adult romance. I think it was part of a series of some kind like wildfire but couldn’t find it in any of the descriptions. It was a girl who I think was new to high school, maybe moved in with her cousin or something. She keeps getting harassed by this creepy guy at the school so her cousin’s friend (I think he was a jock of some kind, maybe football) offers to fake date her so the other guy will leave her alone. Of course the jock is totally into her, but she’s oblivious until they fake “break up” and she realizes she likes him too….I’ve been doing digging online but no luck so far! Any help would be awesome — thanks!

    1. I think but I’m not sure but this could be a First Kiss book – The Perfect Couple by Helen Santori. I remember reading it a long time ago when it first came out. But I can’t find my copy to check. There’s a description in google books.

      1. I found it! It was actually Wrong-Way Romance. I went through all your book covers and as soon as I saw it, I knew! Thanks for the amazing site. It’s hilarious how many of these I remember. =)

        By any chance do you remember a sort-of-series about teen dramas (very lurlene McDaniels-style), I feel like it was more 1990s. But the one book I remember the most was a girl who is bulimic gets caught shoplifting laxatives. Her parents sent her to treatment. She ends up rooming with one of the most popular girls at school who is anorexic. At first she’s mean to her but then they become friends and eventually hatch a plan to escape. The popular girl spends her time exercising and the main character binges and purges. She ends up getting really really sick and the other girl has to go for help…Every time I google I get mainly current stuff so I’m at a loss….

  76. Love this website!! I’m looking for a book that I read in middle school probably 86-89. That was about a girl that moves to new town and meets kids that are interested in witchcraft. They create a coven I think. They may have been a special piece of jewelry and it was part of a series.

  77. I’ve just stumbled across your website after scouring the web for a book that has been haunting me for the last two years or so. Anyway, cut to the chase…
    It was a series of books (I only remember reading 3 of them) but they all had a number in them such as “14 and…..”, “15 and….” 16 and….” But the two main characters were two young (perhaps pre-teen) girls that went to school together. They had a secret hideout on the playground- a tunnel they made in bushes. One of the main girls had a tree house she was building with her dad. And I seem to remember something about her using old encyclopedias for a school report. One of the covers had a girl sitting on a school bench in a school…Any help with this would be appreciated, as it is driving me NUTS not being able to figure this out! (And why oh why didn’t I keep all my childhood books, beside all my babysitters club and SVH books).

    1. Nevermind I found it on your site! That and soooo many more books I had totally forgotten about!!! Awesome site!

  78. Hi Peachy, long time no post on your blog. 🙂
    I was just doing a search for Sweet Dreams books on an Aussie auction site & came across one that had ”Sandra Bullock cover” in the sub-title line. It’s Sweet Dreams 85 The Boy She Left Behind by Suzanne Rand. I’ve tried to find photos of Sandra as a teen, with no luck. I’ve looked at the 2 copies I have on my website, there are some similarities. The book was written in 1985, she would have been about 19 or 20 then so it’s a possibility. I can’t find anything that says whether she ever did modelling, just waitressing, bartending & similar. So frustrating when you get a bee in your bonnet about something & google doesn’t deliver. 🙂

    1. Yeah, i went to wickipedia and it doesn’t say anything about Sandra being a model. I think at the beginning of the movie the Proposal or is it Two Weeks Notice? they show old pics of Sandra and I don’t think it’s the same girl as on the cover. Maybe the seller was trying to create a buzz? Especially knowing it’s something that can’t really be disputed.

  79. Agree with you on the buzz thing. Maybe someone said ”gee that looks like a young Sandra Bulloock” and the seller went with that. Not many are as easy to recognise as the Courtney Cox cover. I like being able to add ”**** cover” to the keywords for SEO purposes, just in case it helps. Not sure it does help though, lol.

    1. Thanks for tracking that down Laura. Doesn’t look like her on the SD cover to me either, now that I’ve seen that photo. Some of the photos on the older teen romance books often have me thinking they remind me of someone & I never work out who. Probably just my eyesight as I get older. 😀

  80. Hi! I was wondering if you could help me find a book…I think it was published in the late 80’s, early 90’s. It is about a girl that has a “perfect” boyfriend but he actually turns out to be really creepy and abusive. Her mother thinks he is perfect, though, and so does everyone else. She breaks up with him (?) and gets with another guy, who is super-nice but not as attractive. Her ex then stalks/harasses her. I particularly remember that the new guy she was with had a scar, that he got from falling off of a tricycle when he was little. I also think he may have had red hair. Sorry for the vagueness. 🙂 If you could help me out in finding this book, I would be so grateful! I’ve been searching for it FOREVER!

  81. I’m trying to find a series (well actually only 2 or 3 books were published I think) about two sisters who lived on a horse farm. I’m guessing the first one was published in the late 80s/early 90s and definitely was not the Saddle Club. I vaguely recall that the sisters were adopted or separated from each other or their parents – something like that. Any ideas?

    1. I’ll check around there are a few horse series around that time the trouble is people on the internet don’t ofer very good descriptions about the books. Right off the top of the head I can think of Horse Crazy by Virginia Vail. Animal Rescue Farm, The Galloping Detective by Lucy Hill. Do you know if it’s a young adult series or more teen series?

  82. I’m looking for a young adult (possible older kids?) book about a boy who was stranded in the woods with some escaped gorillas, and they communicated through sign language. There was a glossary of signs in the back of the book.
    I read it in the 80s, and can’t remember the title or the author. All of my googling is coming up empty – any leads would be greatly appreciated!

      1. Sadly, no, but thank you!
        I’m wondering now if it was more of an older kids book rather than YA. I remember it as a slim paperback. There was definitely no romantic theme, and I think I remember that the boy and the gorillas were pretty much the only characters in the book. And I think it was set in North America, probably the US. There was a car crash, I think, that led to both the boy and the gorillas being lost/stranded in the woods; I think they helped each other survive.

  83. I am trying to remember 2 books I read as a child. One was about a girl, and I think she went away for the summer and her family friend owned some sort of Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum and there was a vampire/murder mystery scenario.
    The second book was also a YA murder mystery, I think the girl worked/volunteered at a library and when she figured out who the killer was, he was already about to kill her Anna Karenina style. Thanks in advance for the help, love your site!

  84. I think this is a long shot, but I’ll try… 80s or early 90s and all I really remember is the cover. It had a girl sitting on a tennis court (I believe with a raquet) and she had on a white skirt and coral colored sweater. I know it’s a love/romance of some sort, but I don’t really remember the details of the story.

    1. I thought “Love Match” sounded famliar for a title, but the Sweet Dreams cover and description were not familiar.

      1. This could be a wildfire book – The Boy Barrier – look on my Wildfire Ultimate page. The girl is wearing a pink sweater. If it’s not the one let me know and I’ll keep looking.

    1. Hi Molly. I have a teen romance book website here in Australia & your description rang a bell as I haven’t found many of the older teen romance books with a tennis theme. Could it be Fifteen Love by Helane Zeiger? It’s not part of a series, just a stand alone novel. Here’s a link to the listing. My photo of the cover has the top looking as a pale pink colour & white tennis skirt. http://sweetheartsromancebooks.com/helane-zeiger-fifteen-love.html
      I hope that’s the one you’re trying to remember, cos Peachy has already mentioned the other 2 I would have thought of. 🙂

  85. I hope you can help me with this book because I am going crazy trying to find it. It’s a long shot but here we go!
    Late 80’s or early 90’s book about a teen boy who has a crush on this beautiful red headed girl, only there is something strange about her – she doesn’t speak, she walks kind of funny, and she seems to have her own personal wind surrounding her. He eventually finds out that the person she lives with (an uncle? grandpa?) is turning her into a zombie through powder he puts in her socks, and he works to free her.
    I can’t find the name of this book anywhere!!!! Thank you!

  86. I don’t know if anyone can help with this or not, but I’ve been searching for a certain book for years now and I cannot find it – I’m desperate! I don’t remember a lot about it which is part of the problem. I think the basic story-line involves a girl who become suspicious of her neighbor and the neighbor carves tons of Jack o’ Lanterns every year for Halloween and puts them on his porch. He does this in memory of his deceased wife I think. There may be a killer on the loose in the town and the girl thinks it is the neighbor but at the end he ends up saving her. The cover is what I remember most vividly though. It is basically a girl looking through a window or seen through a window on a house porch surrounded by glowing Jack o’ Lanterns. If anyone has any idea what this book is, it would just make me the happiest. Thanks so much!

  87. Hi Peachy. I’m doing some research tonight (7.15pm Saturday here in eastern Australia) for a page or similar of lists that I want to do for my website. I came across a page in a book through google books that mentions a couple of Names for Sweet Dreams cover models. Janet Quin-Harkin’s The Two Of Us has Jennifer Connelly & Follow That Boy has Lisa Whelchel who played Blair Warner in the Facts Of Life TV series. Did you have these on your famous faces list? I hope this shows as a link to the book page. http://bit.ly/10jcqiL I checked my copies of Two Of Us & it is Jennifer. 🙂 I never watched Facts Of Life when it aired here, so don’t know the other one.

  88. This website is amazing — I can’t believe how many of these books I had forgotten about! I’m looking for one and I can only remember the cover: It was a guy and 2 girls (maybe one other guy?) sitting in a pizza booth. It was kind of dimly lit. I know that’s not much to go on but man did I have a crush on one of those illustrated boys! Thank you!

  89. I’m looking for books that I read back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The first one is about a an Italian family, she’s come to Italy to work for the family restaurant and she likes a boy but they argue and he has sisters that he has to take care of.

    The second one deals with white water rafting with a boy and girl trapped on the boat and has to make it down the rapids together. She likes him but she’s a bit over weight and self conscious about it. She’s a tom boy, involves a school trip, paint ball and jealous girls.She falls into the pool and he rescues her her making the others jealous.

    I know not much to go on but I’m racking my brain to remember. Any help would be great.

    Thanks,
    Karen

  90. I love this site …..so excited to come upon it! I am big into the 80’s and have dozens of stickers including the puffy, wacky packages, and and the stickers by the yard (ones you pull off rolls). I have thousands and hope to have time to reference them one day (and post). Thank you for sharing your collection!

  91. Im looking for a cartoon, from the 80’s i believe that used to be on before or after the railway dragon and brave little toaster, it has little alien things with suction cup feet, a time machine., and there was a 3 headed dragon in it and the aliens or monster things rode on a rollercoaster at night

  92. I’m looking for a book from around 1981 or 1982, the only thing i remember is the cover, somewhat…there is a girl on a bed, on her side, she is wearing blue jeans, white shirt, several buttons are open at the bottom of her shirt, black socks. i believe there is a boy on the bed, on his side, his head is at her feet, and her head is at his feet…i believe she was a brunette, can’t remember the story, title, or author…Does this book/cover ring a bell? Thank you!

  93. Hello! Since everybody else is using this thread to help them find long-lost books, here’s mine:

    Mid-80s, almost definitely a Sweet Dreams book, something about a girl who was either in the record club at her high school, or she was a dj for the school radio station, can’t remember. Anyway the cover was a picture of a girl carrying a bunch of vinyl! records!

    Any clues at all would be much appreciated.

  94. What a great website! It’s brought back so many memories of the 80s, curled up with whatever next-book-in-the-series I could get my hands on. I’ve been thinking about one book and I think it was a Sweet Dreams- a girl goes on a cross-country bike tour. She has to fly somewhere to the start of the tour and in the beginning, she can’t keep up with the group. Of course, the leader is a cute guy who will wait for her to catch up before they camp each night. Any thoughts? Once I started thinking about it, I can’t get it out of my mind and I went through the titles but couldn’t find one that rang any bells.
    Thanks!

    1. I found it- Ten Speed Summer. I don’t know how I missed it when I went through the list the first time. Plus, I found a couple of others I had been thinking about. Thanks for listing so many great books!

      1. I posted this shortly after my original post, but it still says awaiting moderation:
        I found it- Ten Speed Summer. I don’t know how I missed it when I went through the list the first time. Plus, I found a couple of others I had been thinking about. Thanks for listing so many great books!

      1. I think it’s Riding High by Marilyn Youngblood but I’m not sure. I skimmed through my copy and it’s a rather odd story – it goes back and forth between pov – one chapter it’s from the girls pov one chapter it’s the boys. 60 pages are spent trying to ensure their bike trip happens as something happens to their chaperone.

  95. Wow, I’ve enjoyed your website so much. I’ve been trying to remember a book for years and thought you might be able to help. I don’t think it was part of a series, but I purchased it in the YA section, probably in 1982 or 1983. It was about a girl who fell in love with her best friend’s brother, and it was a little spicy. The girl went to spend the night with her friend, but ended up staying with the brother and it caused problems in their friendship. Thanks so much!
    MC

  96. this is AMAZING. my childhood basically consisted of going to the library, checking out huge stacks of these books, and one time getting weird looks from some other snot nosed kid who i think was dragged to the library against his will. anyway, i suddenly remembered the plot of a book i REALLY liked as a kid but can’t exactly recall the name. i thought it was “go to the head of the class” but a google search gave me nothing relevant. i just know it definitely involved kids competing about knowledge and one of the huge recurring questions in the book was “where was the starting point of the oregon trail?” HELP i hope this isn’t just a lost book that i will never know of again

  97. Love your page! I’m a 70s and 80s kid myself, and read a lot of Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary growing up. I also started working at a public library in 1988, where I saw a lot of the books that are on your page. I didn’t read many of them, as they were mostly “chick lit,” but the artwork was always priceless!

    Hope you’ll come see my page at http://www.thewidewale.blogspot.com. You might like some of the stuff there, unless you’re openly hostile to preppy. 🙂

  98. Just checked it out today! Great stuff…I just got a copy of Stephanie Tolan’s “Last of Eden” off Ebay thanks to your inspiration. I think it might make a good volume to report to my readers on. 🙂

    You might have seen this already, but here are three posts on my page that might be of particular interest. The images on the one with the multiple covers were scanned from books at my library, but at least one of the others has artwork I think I might have stolen from you.

    http://thewidewale.blogspot.com/2011/08/preppy-young-adult-book-covers-of-1980s.html

    http://thewidewale.blogspot.com/2012/07/decision-88.html

    http://thewidewale.blogspot.com/2013/05/1982-smart-indeed.html

    1. Cool site! My brother would love your heading – he’s a boat shoe nut. Loved the Grease girl cover – I’ve been so guilty of the scarf and ponytail thing back in the 80’s it was all that damn 50’s nostaglia with Stand By Me and those hits of the fifties sock hop commercials. Oh and Woolcos pushing those neon chiffon scarfs! Lol.

  99. peacharino,
    I have been looking for a book, I think from the late 80s, early 90s. Its a YA tennis romance, it is not love match. Its about a girl tennis star, who I think is in a country club?? and she falls for another tennis player, Jamie, I think she described him as having blonde hair?. He either isn’t rich, or doesn’t act rich. I think the cover art was a real picture of a tennis court with the net and a ball and racket. Sadly I can’t remember much else about the book, except that I liked it a lot when I was about 12. I don’t know if its possible to figure it out from that. I thought the title was love Match but I don’t think it is. It is not the book by Janet quin-harkin, it was newer than that.

    1. Hi this could be a Willowisp book called Love Match by Barbara Steiner – type it into google images and you’ll get a
      glimpse of the cover. I’ve got the back description and this is what it says – Cassidy is more comfortable in holey sweats than the rows of expensive tennis dresses her mother buys and hangs in her closet. She doesn’t want to go to the private snob school her mother picked out. And she doesn’t want to meet that ‘nice Jim Vanhorn.’ But Jim’s a great tennis player and there’s something about him. Is it possible for them to get together…in spite of her mother?

  100. Please help! I’m looking for a late-80s teen romance book; the cover has a girl with long blond hair, wearing a typical late-80s getup including big earrings and a shiny vest. The story was about the blond (named Carry) and her boyfriend (“Cash”) and their friends, and included a pregnancy scare. The couple was referred to as “Cash and Carry” by their friends. Thank you!

  101. I’m looking for a book about a girl who is in high school and has a popular twin sister( I think her twin’s name is cathy who is a cheerleader) and she ends up joining the debate team. I don’t remember much other than she’s told by a guy she likes that he’s liked her since he first saw her lost in the hallway and she and her sister throw a party. Other than that I’m not sure (the guy might be named todd).

    1. Jacky, we may be looking for the same book. I remember the sisters being twins. The unpopular twin was liked by a boy, who I think was said to have a photographic memory. The cheerleader sister had a boyfriend, possibly named Bobby, that she described as being like a velvet steamroller. I read this book back in 1990-91, when I was in middle school. Out of all the books I have managed to rediscover, this one eludes me.

    2. I originally replied to this post some time ago, as it seemed we were looking for the same book –the post never got published 😦 . Here’s to hoping this one does because I finally had the pleasure of solving this mystery. The book we both remember is called “8th Grade Changes Everything” by Ellen Steiber. It was published in 1992 as a part of the short-lived Midway Jr. High series written by various authors. This book features twins Kerry and Kathy. Kerry is having a hard time adjusting to her sister, Kathy’s new found popularity as cheerleader. Kathy has the handsome Bobby for a boyfriend, while Kerry is stuck on the debate team with How-Weird Hopkins crushing on her. The boy that Kerry likes is actually named Tim.

      I hope this message gets published, and you are able to get your hand on the book. I purchased a clean used copy through thriftbooks. Good luck!

  102. I am looking for a book (fiction) about a teenage girl and her mom (from the U.S.) who take a trip to Morocco. I think the book could have been published between 1980 and 1996. I don’t know the author’s name or the book title. I open to the idea that they could have been travelling to Algeria or elsewhere, but I know that they went somewhere in North Africa. Does anyone remember any plot line similar to this?

  103. I’m looking for a book and can’t remember the title. Its the summer before 6th or 7th grade, the main character is a tennis player named Skye and she has a brother. Story opens up with her having a slumber party and ends with a slumber party. Anyone have any idea?

  104. Maybe you can help me… I’m looking for a 90s teen book series about new models who are recruited to a modeling agency. Each book followed a different girl (I think there were 5-6 books) the only one I remember clearly was about a Russian girl named Kate, whose grandma calls her Katya and tries to set up with a boy named Sasha who end up being the boy Alex she was crushing on… I think the book covers were their respective head shots. Any idea?

    1. I know the books you’re talking about I’ve seen them in the used book store I frequent ( I just can’t think of their name. )
      Check back in – I’ll look in a series book I have where it might be listed ( right now I’m at a coffee shop. Or I’ll try the used bookstore on Friday. )

  105. Hi there, recently picked up a box of Apple paperbacks at a yard sale and came across a couple that I was unfamiliar with and haven’t been able to locate on your site but perhaps you are aware of them. As far as I know, there may only be 2 in the series, but possibly more were intended. It is called ‘Not For Blondes Only’ by sister co-authors Betsy and Karen Lifton, published in the early 90s. #1 is called ‘Five’s A Crowd’ and #2 is called ‘Show Time!’ I have attached a link to a photo of the books that I found on eBay:
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NOT-FOR-BLONDES-ONLY-by-Betsy-Karen-Lifton-1-Fives-A-Crowd-2-Show-Time-/281142773364?nma=true&si=Tv3PfxGXSBp8NBAepw2V%252BoAec6c%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

  106. What was the first (or one of the first) teen fiction to feature a punk rocker or similar kind of girl from alternative culture as a main character? I think it was Sandra Scoppettone’s Long Time Between Kisses, but I wanted to see if I missed any others. Thanks!

  107. Hoping you can help-I’m looking for a series (I think, I only read the first one) from the late 80’s, maybe early 90’s about teens that worked on a soap opera. I remember the cover had two girls and a guy on it (love triangle). I think it came out around the same time as the Satin Slippers series-which I was more into because I was into ballet then!

  108. I just came across your website it’s incredible! I’ve been looking for a book, but can’t seem to find it anywhere! I don’t know the title or the author. The book is about a sister that reads her older sisters diary. It’s sort of a funny book. I think the title might be ” How to read your sisters diary” but I’m not positive. I don’t think it was a very popular book, but I would love to find it!

  109. Do you know of a Teen Book Called Baby Blue’s I read it when I was in Grade 8 I’m 25 now. I can’t remember the author name. But I think its from the 80’s maybe 90’s I’ve looked and looked. I think it was a whole series about teen problem, like rape drugs pregnancy, all different stuff

  110. Hi 🙂
    Please help! I’ve been trying to find a book i read in the 90’s about a group of teens that go in a ski trip but wind up stuck in a house or mansion that’s haunted by a woman..I’m going crazy looking for it!

  111. Hi Peachy. Hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas. It wasn’t too warm in my part of Oz, 30 deg celsius is just right for Xmas Day in my opinion. First time here in a while & I see you must be busy elsewhere too. 🙂
    I’m hoping you can help. I’ve had someone ask a question on my website’s Facebook page (the first ever question, lol). Here’s the question I’m hoping you or any of your other readers might know the answer to or can at least give some sort of clue on. Actually, now I see the question again it looks more like it’s about 2 books & not 1.

    Hello I have a question there is a book I’m looking for the Lead character is named Lacey she is from Texas she loves horses her & her father & her brothers move to California after the death of her Mother would love to find this book!! And there was this book about this girl young rich,red hair freckles only child who get’s kidnapped with her best friend a guy while there out fishing on a bridge with her new fishing rod. If you could help thanks!!

    Hoping someone can help. Have a great New Year. As for me, I bet I’m asleep before 11pm, unless the tennis on TV is interesting. 🙂

    1. I’m going to jump in because I have been looking for this one for eons. It’s Far from Home by Jill Ross Klevin, and it’s a Wishing Star. I loved this book SO much.

      1. Thanks for that Kim. I found the blurb for it here on Cliquey Pizza & it definitely sounds like the right book. I’ve just let the lady know & found a few copies on Amazon & Alibris. They only showed after I left the Ross of the name search though, silly to have it be like that.
        I’ve given her a link to the Wishing Star Ultimate Page on here too. Another Cliquey Pizza fan will be initiated. 🙂

    2. Hi thanks! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too. Sorry, I haven’t been around. I did nanowrite month, then entered a short story contest which left little time for the site – the questions have piled up and I’m going to try to go through them. Your books don’t ring a bell but I’ll look around!

  112. Hi, I’ve been looking for a book about a private school that had a fire and the kids were channeling talents from spirits. Thats all I can remember so I’m not sure if that will ring a bell. Thanks!

    1. This answer is a year late, but that one is definitely Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan That was one of my absolute favorites, super creepy to me at the time!

  113. I posted a question about a missing book that I was trying to find. However, it seems to have disappeared. I thought I posted here, although, it could be someplace else. Sci/Fi Fantasy Book.

  114. Hi
    These titles bring back memories! There was a book I’ve looked every where for
    It was called REMEMBER TO LOVE , Ithink the title character was named Linda . The cover had a dark haired boy taking a picture of a pretty blonde girl. The story was about a teenage girl who finds out she has aplastic anemia, and has only a little while to live.. Has anyone seen this book?

  115. Hi, I’m searching for an old favorite I reread many times when I was about 11 ( would love to give a copy to my almost 11year old daughter). I think it was a sweet dreams – the girl used to go skiing up the mountain on the weekends and there is a moral about not looking to others as there are always others who are better and worse than you. Of course their was a cute guy but I really can’t remember much more. Maybe the main girls best friend was African American?
    Don’t suppose that rings any bells? Loved it so and reread it so many times j can ‘t believe I don’t remember more story.
    Cheers

  116. Please help! Searching for a teen series (perhaps 3-4 books) starring a female protagonist set in the world of movies/the cinema.

    Other clues:
    1. The titles are probably film-industry terms, possibly film industry puns.
    2. The lead is the daughter of a director (I think). She grew up in the movie business and there are lots of helpful facts and tips about film-making scattered in the narrative.
    3. First-person narrator.
    4. More mystery/adventure than romance.
    5. At least some of the action takes place on film sets and film locations.

    1. Well, I’ve been looking around – this is really had to go on as I don’t have an time angle, most of the stuff I collect
      is very 80’s including pictures and sometimes people forget and ask me stuff more in the 90’s. But I did run into something which title alone suggests what your looking for. I don’t have these books though, and I can’t seem to find one write up about them. The title is the Spotlight Club by Florence Parry Heide & usually another author. There’s a list at library thing and a cover on ebay – here’s the LINK to the cover. Let me know if it’s not the book!

  117. Peacharino–you are awesome and thanks but it’s not Spotlight Club. It’s def. an 80s series (didn’t include that because I thought it was a given here) and I think I’m searching for the same series as Anne who posted this above:

    anne says:
    July 23, 2012 at 5:55 pm
    I read this in early 90s and have no idea what it is called! Book took place in 1980/90s New Orleans. Mystery with female heroine. Father was a film director on location. She brought her own hot chocolate/cocoa with her to restaurants, and as a baby liked the noise of the sound editing her father did in films, and she fell asleep to the backwards talking. There was a love interest, and a man who said he was a Director of Photography, which she knew meant he was “just a camera man.” I think the mystery was that someone was sabotaging the film.

    I think the book was part of a detective series, but I have had no luck googling it for years. The cover had a film strip around the border. Help!!
    ———-
    I think it was a series set in the film industry, and no later than 1990 or 1991 at most.

    1. Wow! That’s the quickest reply ever. I’ll keep looking. Usually I browse Ebay and have to stumble across something. Or I get blessed and type the right thing in on Google.

  118. You are my only hope, Obi Wan Kenobi 🙂 Your site is awesome; I spent hours browsing last night. I’m 34 and loved seeing all these great books again!

  119. Hi,

    I’ve posted several times and my paltry question about what my book might be keeps going unanswered.

    Sci/fi Fantasy with zodiac characters. A good magician and two children trying to right an evil. The kingdom of the pisceans/merfolk are in danger of being destroyed. There is a male mer and a female mer. I remember the front of the book showed two children in a sailboat on a river with the two mer characters (white ones) in the water looking up at them. It could be part of an anthology or from a British author. Does anyone have any clue? It would really mean a lot to me.

    Thank you so much,
    Laura

  120. I’m looking for help with an authors name from books I read in the late 1980s. I’m pretty sure it was a female author and she wrote several stand alone books concerning teen romances and adult situations. If remember correctly, some of the story lines were a little graphic for the teen reader. Any ideas ? I think I had about four or five books from the same author.

  121. Hi! I’m desperate to share with my daughter a book that I read the summer after my 6th grade year (1984). It was about a teenage girl who went (somewhat unwillingly) to a co-ed wilderness camp for the summer. The camp taught all kinds of outdoor survival skills and culminated with a required multi-day, solo adventure. Any thoughts?

  122. Hi,
    I remember a book in the mid 80’s. I believe it was called Christy but she dates a guy I believe last name Skye who is a musician. He writes a song for her and it becomes a hit. He goes on tour and the book basically ends there. I have heard there was a 2nd book but I can’t remember the author’s name. It’s not from the Wildfire series.

  123. ok, long shot. Is there any way to find short stories from Seventeen and Teen magazine from way back? I think the one I’m thinking of was in one of these. About a girl who has a sister who turns to liquid. I think they keep her in a salad dressing bottle or something? It really freaked me out when I was young.
    Love the site!

  124. Hi all – I am in search of three books, and I’m hoping you can help. Full disclosure: I haven’t been able to go through all the lists and comments on this awesome website, so if they have already been listed, my apologies!
    1.) A YA series, done either in the 80s or 90s, about a group of friends that includes: a blind guy named Benjamin (?), who is dating a cold girl named Clare (?). Clare’s little sister (whose name escapes me) is really in love with Benjamin. Clare has a widow’s walk off her bedroom. Also, Benjamin’s sister, who might actually be the main character, sleeps in a Boston Bruins shirt.
    2.) A book that may be middle grade about a boy who learns how to play the spoons and has to spend the summer in a cabin with his family. Also has an older cousin who teases him a lot.
    3.) A book (again, 80s or 90s YA) about 3 girlfriends who are the “nerds” in class, who hatch a plan to become “cool”. One girl is chubby, so the friends all start working out together to help her lose weight. Another girl is a tomboy who undergoes a makeover and becomes beautiful and gets a modeling job. The tomboy-turned-model faints on set due to hunger (she refused to eat to lose the last 2 pounds or whatever) and drinks chocolate milk after she’s revived.
    Sorry I don’t have much to give you, but I hope I can jog some memories!

    1. 3. I think is the Makeover Club series which you can find a link on the side to have a gander at the cover and description. The other two hopefully someone else might know.

  125. Hi looking for a book from late 80 early 90 about a girl who’s “parent” dies in the beginning and she starts crying and it starts to rain towards the end she goes into a coma and a huge hurricane develops with her as the eye book was called something like eye of the hurricane thanks in advance

  126. Like many who’ve found your page, I’ve been racking my brain trying to find this teen book I took out from the library 15+ years ago.

    It’s a series about a girl who lives in Washington Heights — a working class neighborhood. She goes to her local school but manages to pass a city-wide exam and enter an exclusive all-girls school. The new friends she makes live in the Upper East Side. The books deal with her adjustment to her new school. Googling doesn’t help so I hope someone remembers this set of books — they were really fun to read and I’ve love to find them again.

    1. Wow, I just ordered these a couple of months ago and reread them. I think you are talking about the Linda Series by Linda Lewis. The first book was “We hate everything but Boys”, and the second is “Is there Life After Boys?” (The Events you describe happen in parts of both of the books)

  127. Looking for a book written in the early 80s about a teenage couple. The front cover has a car on it, if I recall. I know the boy was killed in an accident (can’t remember if it was a drunk driver, car crash, or bike crash). She may have found out that she was pregnant. It wasn’t part of a series (I don’t think). It’s not Christy’s Love or Supercouple or When We First Met.

    1. And I don’t think it’s the same book Krys was looking for back on August 24, 2012. I just remember the one teenage couple. When I see the cover of the book, I think I’ll know it.

  128. I had posted this before but don’t see it. The title of the book I am looking for was something like Why Does Love Hurt So Bad or Why Does Love Have to Hurt. The girl in the book moves with her mother from the city to a town where she becomes the popular girl. Her clothes are edgier and I think she has multiple ear piercings. She dates the most popular guy in school. She also befriends an old lady who lives in a house that everyone thinks is haunted. A new girl moves into town who becomes the popular girl because of the way she dresses, replacing the first girl. I was in third grade and it was the first YA I read. Thanks for your help!

  129. Trying to remember a book title & author. Paperback apx between the years 1986-91. Was in a paperback display in the HS library. YA Romance, Soldier and girl maybe from WW2 perhaps. Girl gets in a car with him he’s smoking a cigarette… I thought it was a Flare but could have been something else. I want to say the title was something to do with sunset or sun(something)

  130. I’m searching for a book – the main character’s name is Linden – she doesn’t like her name. She falls for the quarterback of the school football team… I’m guessing late 70’s/early 80’s…

  131. I am looking for a book about a girl that moves to Mexico and high school and falls on love. The name of the book had to do with the girls name.

  132. Hello, I am looking for a book that was published either in the 80s or ear;y 90s. The storyline is that there are two sisters, one is dying of cancer and wants to see the beach one last time. So her sister sneaks her out of her care facility and takes her to Florida. Any ideas?

  133. I just finished the Merivale Mall books, and I wanted to know if anyone else who read them was completely SHOCKED that Jana Ellis suddenly and randomly destroyed the two romantic relationships that were the core of the whole series…I mean the last four books had me thinking “WTF???!!!” That’s like trying to kill off your own series! (and I guess that’s exactly what happened) Ugh…why is it that so many writers mess up good series with inexplicable/bizarre/anticlimactic plot twists?
    (BTW I love this site…I am just starting to get into ’80s teen series and I discovered Merivale Mall here!)

  134. Hi everyone,
    I’ve been looking for a book for years and haven’t been able to find it. I read it probably in the early 90’s but I think it was from my older sister’s especially for girls book club in the late 80’s. It had a light purple cover with a sullen looking blonde girl on it. I’m pretty sure it was about twin girls (definitely not a Sweet Valley book though) and the main girl liked to write poetry and didn’t have any friends. I think her twin was good at math and hated writing. I don’t really remember anything else about it except I think the main girl makes a friend on a school trip and they talk about writing together. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Sorry I don’t remember more details!

  135. I have a double question – I am looking for two books! I apologize for my sparse details of both!

    One is about a girl surrounded by boys (brothers in her family and their friends in the neighborhood) and her problems with dealing with that. I remember the cover is of her in the foreground with straight brown hair. In the background, a bunch of boys are working on/fixing/repairing a blue car (or truck, but I think it is a car). … ….that’s all I got! : /

    The other one is about a girl who suddenly learns she is a princess. She travels to a fictional country to live in the castle and learn about being a princess. For some reason, I remember one scene where she is flying in an airplane looking down at her country/castle, but I’m not even sure if that really happened in that book or another one! Again, so sorry….but that’s all I remember about that one too!

    Thanks so much for the great memories I recalled while reading your blog – Gummi Bears, Pen Pals books….ok I won’t list everything but you had me grinning!

  136. Looking for a book that is like a choose your own adventure/path book with multiple endings. It’s about a boy who foes into a castle with a moat and encounters various people (scientist, etc) there. Does anyone remember this and know the title?

  137. Book from the 80’s about a teen girl who goes on a first date with an older boy to a party where he gets drunk and they get into an accident.

  138. I’m looking for a book, may have been part of a series, late 80s early 90s, about a girl, I believe her name was Kim. She talked alot about feeling average and not so special. Her family owned a business (don’t remember what kind) but she use to have to work in the business and would spend her time painting rocks. I remember she has plus size friend who the most popular boy in school fell in love with. Does anyone have any idea what this book might be or where I might be able to find it?

  139. I put this in the forum, but i’m not sure if there’s anyone reading those comments. I’m looking for a non-fiction book, so I don’t know if you were that into them.

    I’m trying to find a book…it was given to me by an older neighbor when she was a teen, so I would have been around 9, putting this book as having been published in the late 80s. I want to say there was a picture of a girl on the front, but the book was non-fiction and contained letters that you could use in all these different kinds of situations, like if another girl stole the guy you liked, etc. They were pretty mean letters, very snarky and sassy. Anyone have an idea what this could be?

  140. I am looking for an short old toon and it’s driving me nuts!! The setting is sometime in a distant future where Earth must be producing so much waste that we end up using another planet or a moon as a landfill. In the opening sequence a dump-truck-space ship dumps rubbish and a dangling electric cable brings some trash to life. That becomes the premise as the robots become autonomous and start interacting. Please help

  141. I’m looking for a book & hoping you can help me. It was a Christian fiction novel about a girl who gets pregnant. She ends up moving into a families home. They have a son (the girls age) & a young daughter. The pregnant girl & boy become friends & eventually fall in love. It’s winter time & she loves ice skating. One night the little girl gets sick with a high fever in the middle of the night. I can’t remember if she dies. anyway the teenage girl gives up her baby to the family. It was a baby girl. Does anyone remember this book?? Thanks so much!

  142. First things first; awesome site! I searched through your A-Z list but couldn’t find the series i was looking for. Maybe you can help. I’m trying to find the series of teen books that had two parts. It started with a girl in her preteens and then part two jumped in time to continue her story as a 17 year old. The stories often showed that things the girl protagonist worried about didn’t matter by the time she was 17 or something like that. And there was a romantic interest in the second half of the book. Any thoughts? Thanks!

  143. Hi Peacharino,

    Have you ever read the book ‘Are You In The House Alone?’ Do you think you would ever do a review of that one here on Cliqueypizza?

    1. Hi Carolyn. I read this book back in April this year. I thought it was an OK book and fairly realistic for the times. What did you think?

  144. Many years ago … about 24 – 25-ish I was at my grandmothers watching TV. A bizarre cartoon came on and we proceeded to watch it. The main characters looked similar to Lemmings (the video game). It started with one of them brushing his teeth. His eyes then turned black. He walked to a temple in the middle of his village and proceeded to walk into a room containing a large black hole. He then threw himself in. As he fell he became wrapped in a cocoon, still falling. Eventually he fell out of the bottom of the planet. At this point the cocoon opened and he had changed into a large pink bird type creature. It later turns out the lemming type people hunted these birds on flying boats / ships and harpoon them for food. Today I saw a trailer for the film “The Leviathan” and I was amazed, it looks almost identical but brought up to date. I have been trying to find this cartoon for a LONG time with no success. Can you help? (This is English TV btw …. either BBC / ITV I cannot remember.)

  145. I love this site! So many wonderful memories! I hope you can help me find a book. I read it in the late 80’s, a sort of you d adult romance. The main character is taken from her home by native Americans. These are the plot points I can remember-
    -she leaves pieces of her shirt along the trail to help her family find her
    – when she arrives at the village she sees another Caucasian boy there dressed in tribal clothing, he’s standing bareback on a horse when she sees him
    -she befriends the chief’s daughter
    -the Chiefs daughter has a badly infected cut on her hand and the main character cauterizes it with a hot knife
    – she tells the chief’s daughter about kissing
    – the Chiefs daughter is in love with a boy from the village but promised to the son of another tribe
    – I think there is a wildfire at some point
    – when she finally returns home her Indian husband/boyfriend comes with her, they are married, and he takes her last name.

    It is ridiculous that I can remember all that and not the name of the book. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  146. I’m not crazy! Was there ever a cartoon (maybe only one episode) group of kids inherent powers somehow. Their dog becomes green with an atom floating over its head and a hammer in their toolbox becomes a being. The face is on the pell of the hammer?

  147. I am looking for a book that came out in the 80s or early 90s. It’s about a boy and girl. The girl plays tennis and at one point the fix dinner at his place and he says that she should tear the lettuce because using a knife makes the lettuce taste metallic. The girl is also walking funny and the boy notices and she tells him that it is because another boy at school commented on her walk and said she walked like a virgin. Not a lot to go on does anyone else remember this book?

  148. Hello! I just found your site and I love it. I used to read a lot of teen mystery books like ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. Maybe you can help? I don’t remember the titles or really anything that would help. Thanks!

  149. Can anyone help me track down this book? I can’t remember the author/title and have searched everywhere online, with no luck! It was a fantasy/sci-fi type childrens/YA book I checked out from my church library, and I believe it was part of a Christian series or books for Young Adult readers. It would’ve been written/published sometime before 1989 I think. The plot was about some kids in a small town where weird things were going on, a giant snake came out of the ground and became a tornado (or something like that? that’s my strongest-imagery memory!) And it was like these one or two kids (siblings) against the whole school + rest of the town – only the 2 kids saw the evil that was going on, and no one else did. Can anyone else remember this series of books?!?!? Please help!

  150. Hi Peacharino,

    Have you read Dear Mom, You’re Ruining My Life by Jean Van Leeuwen or A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry. Both pretty good books.

  151. Hi! I am looking for the title of a book about two tennis players falling for each other. Doing a search of this forum, that seems a common plot in 80’s teen romance, ha! The story I’m thinking of introduced us to two tennis players whose coaches paired them together as doubles partners. Naturally, they hated each other on first sight! They were in some foreign country (I think!) to play a tournament and ended up getting lost while taking a hike through… a rain forest-ish area, maybe? Hahaha! I don’t know! I think I remember them listening to a kookaburra, which I suppose would place them in Australia, but I could be making that entire bit up! Anyway, they bond on this hiking adventure, and then probably win their match, though who can recall as apparently all I remember is the kookaburras! Any idea? Thanks for this site!!

  152. Hi I think I left an email on the wrong message board, sorry.

    If you can help, I’m after two books I got through Scholastic before 1985. That ages me….

    All i can remember abouth book 1:

    Green cover, with blonde girl in pink dress being overlooked by blonder guy.
    Set on Mackinac Island. She’s helping care for an elderly frail man, a relative-of-a-relative?
    Plays tennis. Is youngest child and only daughter in largish family. Sporty, dresses tomboyishly through necessity – all those outgrown jeans, sports clothes, t shirts etc.
    She decides to spend the summer reinventing herself as feminine and appealing.
    Meets a brunet guy while playing tennis but is intrigued by blond “Boy With The Horses”
    Some mystery involved; the two boys go to the same prep school and the blond is hiding on the Island in his family’s house as he is suspected (wrongly, of course!) of criminal activity / cheating or something. Brunet boy is looking for him.
    Elderly Frail Man is unintenionally poisoned by her – I think asthma attack triggered by food allergy? – and big dramamtic medical rescue happens. No engined traffic on Mackinac Island.
    All is resolved and blonde and blond head off to college together at end of summer.

    Book 2:

    I think the cover had a girl holding a bead neacklace – pearls? shaped gems? – and looking really worried.
    Our Heroine and her Mum have had to relocate and alter lifestyle after Dad died several years before book starts.
    A much richer friend from “before” called Gretchen makes contact for the first time in years, and Narrator is invited to spend some time at Gretchen’s family’s country estate. Mum talks her into it as it’s convenient for her too as I remember.
    Gretchen has an older brother called Hunter.
    Narrator realises Gretchen is not just different due to different life experiences and both being 17 and not 13, but is actually really scared. Several weird and potentially serious “accidents” have happened to Gretchen, who is soon to be 18 and will inheirit a trust fund (?).
    Narrator falls for Hunter who is a prime suspect.
    I remember a really weird Stepmother / Aunt who collects crystal animals and a forest fire.

    Any help identifying either of these would be really appreciated.
    Thank you.

  153. Looking for a YA novel, 1980s, title and author unknown. About a girl living with a neglectful/abusive mother. In one scene, her mom leaves her alone in the house for days with no food (may or may not have locked her in) and when she comes home, tosses some groceries at the girl, who opens a can of spaghettios (or similar food) and the girl eats the contents of the can ravenously while the mom calls her an animal. I think the girl takes up painting (with watercolors?) under the tutelage of a neighbor. Title might include words like house (of)…, child (of)…, glass, light.

  154. Hi I wonder if any one can help me find a book I don’t the name but I do have description:
    its about a girl who had really strict parents, one day she ran away, along the way she get hassle by car full of boys she then gets pick up by an older couple who is relegouis they take her to bus station then while leaving the bus station they are killed. She take the bus to new York while on the bus she meet another kid who later on, wants her to take nude pictures for him. She makes it back home eventually. its a series written by author in Flordia who also was or is counseler. Can anybody help please?

  155. Hi Peacharino –
    I’ve been thinking of a character in a teen book and can’t for the life of me remember any names or what the book was called. The only thing that I remember making a huge impression on me was the book was about teen girls (in the 80’s) and one of the girls was a trendsetter and she wore her v neck sweaters backwards with hoop earrings. I know that’s not a lot to go on but it’s driving me crazy trying to remember what this book is! I read it probably around 84-86. I read a ton of Judy Blume, Sweet Valley High etc. I want to say this book is about going into middle school and problems with popularity, cliques etc.

  156. Looking for a book about a teenage girl who’s being stalked by a vampire. She’s really scared and no one apart from this guy believes her. At one point in the book she’s standing at her window and this vampire or something is watching her and she feels like she’s being watched. I think she has a sister and lives with her family. This guy who believes her is trying to help her and she begins to fall for him but in a car crash he dies whilst she lives and that thing that’s after her takes her. I think she’s in a cave and escapes but there’s no marks on her body. The grandmother of this boy who died was someone she was supposed to meet and I think she does.
    I read this as a teenager and it’s bugging me because I never found out what happened in the end and I have to find out what it was after her and why hahah

  157. I am looking for a book about a mom and daughter who were killed by a drunk driver the boy was a swimmer and lived with best friend believe it had sparrow in the title please help

  158. I just found your blog when looking for a complete listing of M.E. Cooper’s Couples series. I love it!!! I was born in 1971 and came of age in the ’80s, and I’ve been a bookworm all my life. For the past ten years, I’ve been trying to track down my old childhood favorites, and it’s kind of morphed into a collecting thing like yours. This blog has reminded me of several books I’d forgotten. Four series you might be missing: Seniors, by Eileen Goudge; Roommates, which started being written by Susan Blake and finished being written by Alison Blair; Going For It, written by various authors; and Sunfire, a historical romance series also written by various authors. I won’t even tell you how much money I’ve spent collecting each of these in their entirety. Keep up the awesome blog!!!!

  159. Hi
    I’m trying to find a book from late 80s. It centered around a teenage girl sent to Europe/Mediterranean for summer holidays to stay with people she hadn’t met. Meets a boy who instantly hates but over time falls madly in love with. After a day a beach he becomes sick with terrible headaches etc. Dr thinks it heat stroke but turns out to be meningitis and he dies. She returns a few summers later and never forgets him. Any ideas what it’s called?

  160. Hello! I hope this isn’t a bother to you but I’ve been looking for a Sweet Dreams book that contains a scene in a cave in its first part. I didn’t get to finish the book and it’s the only part I could remember, I wish to finish it though. I found it five years ago in our high school library and had never found it again. Thank you.

  161. I’m trying to find I book I read in the 80’s maybe early 90’s. It was about a teen girl that moved to a new house that has a tower (which she uses as her bedroom) and a vampire (I think that’s what it was) visits her. I don’t think it’s part of the point horror collection but I could be wrong. Thanks.

  162. Novels from around 1983. I’m looking for any of the books from a guy who wrote about troubled teen girls on the street, A religious guy finds them and puts them on the right path. Each book is about just one girl and the title is simply her name. Help please!

  163. I love your website!
    I’m hoping you can help me find a book I can’t seem to find. I’ve googled every possible way but can’t find it.
    A girl and I think she had a little brother, move in with their father (I don’t know why). The father is a good cook and ends up opening a restaurant. He has a girlfriend in which the young girl doesn’t get along with (jealousy maybe). One day the dad accidentally cuts off his finger with a meat slicer and his girlfriend puts the piece of finger in ice and takes him to the hospital. They were able to save his finger, thanks to his girlfriend. The girl was grateful and started opening up to her dad’s gf.

    I should add that there was a boy neighbor the that the girl is kind of mean to at the beginning, towards the end when things settle down, they go on a date. That’s all i have. I hope you or someone can help me.

    1. The Pig-out Inn by Lois Ruby? Not sure though as I haven’t read it in ages. They open a greasy road side restaurant and the mc has a pig collection hence the name of the diner.

      1. Hello thank you for the reply, I wish it was it but it’s not. The father starts a restaurant towards the end of the story. I’m still hopeful that someday I’ll find it 🙂

  164. Ok, this one is RANDOM……….I’m looking for a YA book (I think it was published in the 80s and it might have been by a UK author; yet somehow this book landed in my local library in the Pittsburgh burbs) about a girl (I think her name was Tracy?) who lived in England and went on a ferry/biking trip with her friends to Holland. There was a mix-up and the protagonist was blamed for having drugs in her possession. They were also admonished by a Dutch woman for hanging their underwear on a balcony to dry after a wash.

  165. Hi! Another long-shot cartoon description. I’ve looked at all three of your 80s cartoon pages plus scanned through comments to try not to be repetitive – but I don’t think anyone has asked about these (both were on very late at night in the mid or late 80s and I think they may have been Japanese; my memories are vague but here goes):

    1) A girl with extremely long blond hair travels through time or helps someone else to. I think she might also be reincarnated (kind of like the impossible girl on dw). I always think “millenium” is part of the name of it but I’ve run that search many times with no luck.

    2) A little cute white unicorn with a tuft of pink hair and a little yellow horn turns into a gorgeous white winged unicorn when agitated.

    I know it’s all quite vague but it’s bothered me for the last, oh, 25 years. Thanks!!

  166. There is a cartoon I’ve been struggling to track down for years. I can’t remember the exact plot or main characters, but I remember the ending very vividly. The villain is chasing the good guys in a car driven by his henchman, who looks like a short either hairy or purple guy with a big nose, and the henchman stops the car before entering a crystal forest of some sort. The villain demands to know why he stopped and the henchman replies that he’s not stupid and the crystal is forbidden. The villain ignores him and goes into the forest on foot. He hears a voice taunting him and is horrified when his feet turn into roots and he can’t move any further. The voice continues talking to him and the villain’s legs turn into wood. He had a sword in one hand and when he holds it up he watches in horror as it turns into a branch. He holds up his other hand and it also turns into a branch. The voice tells him he was a fool and the villain cries out in horror and screams as his face vanishes, and is replaced by a gaping hole of wood as he’s turned into a tree completely.

    I’ve looked and looked and I can’t find a reference to this. I keep seeing results for “Christmas in July” but that was a rankin bass stop motion picture, and the one I remember was cel-animated. Any ideas?

  167. I’m looking for a book I read as a teen. I thought it might be part of the Point Horror, Point Romance or Sweet Dreams series but I can’t find it.

    The main character, when she was little, was asked what she wanted for Christmas. Her parents gave her catalogue but she called it a ‘wish book’ or something similar and pointed to a picture of a girl in a dress, her Mother asked her if she wanted the dress and the MC said that wanted to model.

    So, her parents put her with an agency and that’s what she did. Now she’s older and has a movie part – I think it’s a horror movie and it’s all going fine until she gets a stalker. I think there’s a scene where she’s trapped in a coffin . . .

    The love interest is a guy at her school, I think she has a crush on him (or vice versa) and if I remember correctly, they start a fake relationship – no clue why though. I might be wrong about that. His name may or may not be Steve.

    I read it when I was 12 or 13 so around 96/97 and it didn’t seem particularly dated at the time. I’m guessing it was written late 80’s, early 90’s?

    Can’t remember the cover.

    Anyone know what I’m talking about?

  168. I’m going crazy trying to remember the name of a book I read in the late 70s or early 80s. It was probably not well known… but it was about a girl named Rynda or Ryndy and she was a swimmer. She likes a guy named Brad and makes campaign posters with “brad nails” on them.

    She gets hurt and is hospitalized. Maybe water-skiing? I know it’s very obscure, but I’d like to find it if possible.

  169. Hi I hope this isn’t too vague but I’m looking for a book I read in the 80’s. All I can tenebroso is that the crush liked deep dish pizza with green peppers. It’s driving my sister and me crazy trying to figure it out.

  170. Dunno if you’re still reading these, but I thought I’d give it a shot. The book I’m trying to find the title of was from the 80s: the main character was the youngest of 3 (I recall that the mother was an interior decorator, and that when it was her turn to have her room decorated, she WAS going to decorate it in red, white and blue, until her mother convinced her to do pale blues and greens); She was friends with another girl, and then suddenly somehow, the friendship ended, so the main character (SPOILER ALERT) started sending herself “secret admirer” notes to try and get her friend back. By the end, she realizes she doesn’t need that friend anymore.

    1. Hi, Sorry I didn’t get back right away. I’m so busy I’ve neglected this site but I checked my email seen it and recognized the book, it’s a good one! It’s called A Secret Friend by Marilyn Sachs

  171. I was wondering if you could help me identify a book I read around the years 89-92.
    I got the book from my local library in Australia and I believe it was a new book so I assume it was published sometime during the very late 80’s or no later than 1992.
    It was a collection of stories about a group of teenagers that attended the same high school.
    Some of the stories were about – A new boy at the school gets teased by everyone until one day after seeing him crying in the toilets they all leave him alone. Another story was about the students getting into a fight after school with black students from a nearby ‘rival’ school.
    Other stories were about the usual teenage issues like relationships, breaking up …etc.
    I’m not sure of the name of the book but I think that the title was something like: Tales From The Wall or Tales From The Back of the Wall or something similar. The ‘wall’ being a reference to the school wall, I think.
    Googling has given me zero results so I might be getting the name wrong.
    Hopefully you are familar with the book I’m talking about.
    Thanks.

  172. Hi
    I’m trying to find a book from late 80s. It centered around a teenage girl sent to Europe/Mediterranean for summer holidays to stay with people she hadn’t met. Meets a boy who instantly hates but over time falls madly in love with. After a day a beach he becomes sick with terrible headaches etc. Dr thinks it heat stroke but turns out to be meningitis and he dies. She returns a few summers later and never forgets him. Any ideas what it’s called?

  173. I am looking for a book that was probably written in the late ’70’s or early ’80’s (I would have read it in the late ’80’s; I think it was assigned to me in school). All I remember about the book was that this family was fostering a Vietnamese kid named Nguyen, and there was a scene where this kid was fascinated by either an escalator or a moving sidewalk at a shopping mall. The title of the chapter that contained this scene was something like “The Stairs Move!” or “The Floor Moves!” I could be wrong, but I think the “Nguyen” thread was a subplot n the book rather than its main plot.
    Can anyone help me out?

  174. Hi, looking for a book. Hero is named Adam. Girl I don’t know but she’s dating another boy. Adam is dark haired and intense. There’s an ice-skating scene. And at the end the girl says “love me, love my singing” (b/c she can’t sing well) and Adam says “I do, so I will.” Been looking for this for ages.

  175. Looking for a book. Pink cover. A princessy type girl ends up going on a camping trip and falls for a outdoorsy guy who is the troop leader or guide. She breaks her nails, gets dumped in a fountain, etc. I don”t think it was part of a series. His name might be Jed. Her name might be Chelsea.

      1. I think this is it! I’m not able to find this through my usual outlets. I just looked! Once I track it down I’ll confirm. Thank you!

        1. Found this! It is indeed The Princess Routine by Tonya Wood. And I still enjoyed it just as much decades later! Finding a print copy is impossible but I found it through the Internet Archive.

  176. Another book, I’m looking for. A girl visits her family in the country, staying with aunt uncle. She falls for the her cousin’s cousin on the other side, so they’re kissing cousins. There’s a hayride scene in the book. In the end she decides to come back after summer and enroll in school there so she can be with him I think.

    1. Have you tried the ultimate guides for Wildfire or First love? or Cliquey Pizza 3 to see if a cover jogs your mind. I’m working on gathering descriptions for Cliquey pizza 3 but it will be a while till it’s updated.

        1. Basically just hit the past posts and it will show you each author list from a-z working backward. All covers will be shown that I have if they’re not there I don’t have them yet.

    2. I found this one too. I’m not sure how but it was a bit of luck. It’s “Alabama Moon” by Brenda Cole. First Love from Silhoutte #60.

  177. I think this is my last book! A girl is a ballet dancer. The boy is a diver. He’s told to take ballet to improve his diving. Emily Dickinson’s poem “I am nobody who are you” is quoted in the book. I think it was part of a series. Thank you!

    1. I’m getting it mixed up with two events that happened in SVH and I don’t think either of them had ballet themes – hopefully someone else will recognize it.

        1. I found the book. It’s a Sweet Dreams book. Number 130 by Jahnna Beecham called “Dance with Me.” I remembered the cover and started searching by cover and finally found it. There was no Emily D. I got that confused with another book, so now I need to find that one!

  178. I’ve been looking for a book for over 10 years – of course I do not remember the name or even honestly what it is about. But I read it during a time that brings fonds memories. All I remember is really the cover… and it might be from the 80s (or maybe 90s). I read it before 2000. On the cover, there is a white girl with shoulder-length brown hair. I believe I remember her wearing a pink or light pink colonial-looking dress and behind her was a white mansion or colonial home. I believe I remember the title being in pink.

    If anyone knows any books that might fit this description, as small as that description is, I would forever be grateful. Like I said, I’ve been looking for this book for over 10 years. Thank you!!!

  179. Looking for mid-late 80’s teen romance where girl has after school job working in an old mill and falls in love with a boy she meets there but turns out he is a ghost. Setting is late fall/early winter. Thanks.

  180. I read this book repeatedly between ’87-91. It was a paperback in one of the cardboard display boxes with a bunch of other various teen romance books like we all read. I think there was some type of sunset on the cover with a blue-black-purplish look. It was military related possibly set in WW2 era. In the beginning chapter the male subject was leaving a USO type establishment smoking a cigarette and the female was in a car and they were talking. I don’t remember much past that point now but loved the book then and would love to figure out the title/author and get another copy.

  181. I’m looking for a book, maybe Bantam’s Sweet Dreams series, maybe, where the lines from this Emily Dickinson poem are used:

    “I’m Nobody! Who are you?
    Are you – Nobody – too?
    Then there’s a pair of us!
    Don’t tell!”

    In an earlier post I got this mixed up with another book (since found) so hopefully I’ll get lucky in finally finding this one! Thanks in advance.

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