My only regret is that I never wrote down the name of this friggin book...
May 17, 2012 11:01 AM Subscribe
Another "vague memory of childhood book" question. This one had to do with some kids and...something about the American
Revolution.
There was a group of modern kids, boys and girls, middle school or high school aged. And there was something about the Revolutionary War, or at least the Colonial era. There was some sort of investigative aspect to the plot; I don't know if the kids found some old letters, or artifacts, or what, but there was something they found or were trying to find that had to do with c. the 1770s. I want to say they tripped over something in a field or an old cellar that led them to look for more information. It almost certainly wasn't part of one of those series about kids who solve mysteries, though. I assume it was set in New England, because I was in New England and nothing about this story or its setting seemed exotic to me.
I read it probably in the mid-80s, and it can't have been written too long before that, because I think I would have noticed if the kids themselves were "period" (which to me would have been any time before the 1960s.) I only remember the part with the kids, but my fuzzy memory of the book has such a strong sense of early America about it that I guess part of the story could have been set in the past. (Though I'm pretty sure there was no time travel, which I wouldn't have liked if it had been there.) It's also possible this was a sub-plot, because I was a weird child who would have totally missed it if the main point was that they were dealing with their parents' divorce or trying to win a soccer tournament. This was not assigned for school, but probably some random book I found in the library.
I tried searching for it on Amazon once but there were SO MANY books for kids about the Revolution and Colonial America in general that I got overwhelmed by the numbers. (And then I got distracted wondering why so many people have felt the need to write children's books about Benedict Arnold.) Anyway, does anyone have the faintest idea what I'm talking about? I'm starting to think I made it up, which I suppose is always a possibility...
There was a group of modern kids, boys and girls, middle school or high school aged. And there was something about the Revolutionary War, or at least the Colonial era. There was some sort of investigative aspect to the plot; I don't know if the kids found some old letters, or artifacts, or what, but there was something they found or were trying to find that had to do with c. the 1770s. I want to say they tripped over something in a field or an old cellar that led them to look for more information. It almost certainly wasn't part of one of those series about kids who solve mysteries, though. I assume it was set in New England, because I was in New England and nothing about this story or its setting seemed exotic to me.
I read it probably in the mid-80s, and it can't have been written too long before that, because I think I would have noticed if the kids themselves were "period" (which to me would have been any time before the 1960s.) I only remember the part with the kids, but my fuzzy memory of the book has such a strong sense of early America about it that I guess part of the story could have been set in the past. (Though I'm pretty sure there was no time travel, which I wouldn't have liked if it had been there.) It's also possible this was a sub-plot, because I was a weird child who would have totally missed it if the main point was that they were dealing with their parents' divorce or trying to win a soccer tournament. This was not assigned for school, but probably some random book I found in the library.
I tried searching for it on Amazon once but there were SO MANY books for kids about the Revolution and Colonial America in general that I got overwhelmed by the numbers. (And then I got distracted wondering why so many people have felt the need to write children's books about Benedict Arnold.) Anyway, does anyone have the faintest idea what I'm talking about? I'm starting to think I made it up, which I suppose is always a possibility...
Revolutionary War on Wednesday? Part of the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne.
posted by firstdrop at 11:27 AM on May 17, 2012
posted by firstdrop at 11:27 AM on May 17, 2012
If ends up you were wrong about the time travel, it could be Danny Dunn, Time Traveler.
posted by mikepop at 12:30 PM on May 17, 2012
posted by mikepop at 12:30 PM on May 17, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Madamina at 11:17 AM on May 17, 2012