Do you know these books? Well, help a gal out, then.

December 28, 2007 8:12 AM

I'm looking for the title of a Scholastic (I think) kids' book published possibly in the early to mid-1960s, and also the name of the author of a teen novel published in the 1950s.

When I was a wee one in 1978 or so, I read a paperback book from my grade school library about a tween girl going through the Great Depression with her family. They were "Okies" who'd lost their own farm and trekked to California where they ended up at a peach farm as pickers. I remember the cover was almost starkly black and white, except where there was a splash of pink on the tween narrator's dress. I also remember a drawing of her and her little sister sitting on the steps of a shack. The book wasn't new when I read it, and I'd guess it was from the 60s, probably from 1964 or thereabouts? I'd love to know the title so I can reread it.

The other book I 'd read at about the same time as the first was about three high school outcast nerd girls whose friendship dynamic changes when one of them loses weight, acquires a fashionable wardrobe and becomes popular. I can't remember the name of the author, but I'd like to find out so I can find the book again. It was a hardback with a color drawing on the front cover of the three girls in their nerdy glory. I remember the title was "The Unchosen," but without an author name, Googling is a needle/haystack situation.

I read Harold Robbins and Judith Krantz back then too, but don't tell my mom. Those books were almost too nasty for a grown-up to read, much less an 8-year-old.

posted by droplet to writing & language (6 comments total)

Could the farm in the first book be an apricot farm? Because it sounds like The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, a fantastic book.
posted by iconomy at 8:17 AM on December 28, 2007

The Unchosen - it might be this one, about bffs Ellen, Kay and Debbie.
posted by iconomy at 8:19 AM on December 28, 2007

You can find some more details about the Nan Gilbert Unchosen that iconomy found here
posted by tyllwin at 8:24 AM on December 28, 2007

for future reference, worldcat.org is your friend when you have a book title and some other useful info. an advanced search with parameters 'ti:unchosen' > 'Fiction' > 'Juvenile' > '1950..1970' will find the unchosen for you (and then tell you if your local library has it).
posted by nevers at 8:28 AM on December 28, 2007

agh! bad link. the unchosen on worldcat.
posted by nevers at 8:29 AM on December 28, 2007

Wow, y'all are fast! And these are both the books! Thank you. That worldcat is a godsend. Thanks again.
posted by droplet at 8:50 AM on December 28, 2007