Young Adult SciFi Filter

April 1, 2008 9:45 PM

I remember reading this young adult scifi novel as a kid. The basic plot is a girl goes to some special "institute" or something after school. I don't recall all the details of what happened there, something special. But, in addition to that, she got Baked Alaska, which was her favorite dessert. I think the Baked Alaska is the key to this mystery. Please help me find this novel!
posted by mrthotep to writing & language (18 comments total)

I read this, I do not remember the title, but I eagerly await the answer.
posted by mhp at 9:58 PM on April 1, 2008

I also read this at some point. I'll dig through my shelves and see if anything jumps out at me.
posted by jjb at 10:33 PM on April 1, 2008

I admit all I did was googled, and didn't read the results carefully, but is it Painwise by James Tiptree, Jr?
posted by kidbritish at 11:36 PM on April 1, 2008

It wasn't Anna To The Infinite Power, was it?

I truly believe my voracious reading of young-adult fiction is the reason I know about random things like baked alaska.
posted by loiseau at 12:23 AM on April 2, 2008

Oh goodness, the Baked Alaska thing is setting off all kinds of crazy-making half-formed memories - this is going to torment me as well.
posted by thedaniel at 1:05 AM on April 2, 2008

You might check Amazon references to "baked alaska" in children's books.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:56 AM on April 2, 2008

(er, that's a keyword search on Amazon, not a page dedicated to that sort of thing, just so you know.)
posted by Pronoiac at 1:57 AM on April 2, 2008

Bit of a wild guess, but possibly the novelization of Codename: Icarus. The gifted kids are completely pampered and can order anything they want to eat at any time which is what reminded me of it. Main character is male but his best friend at the institute is a girl.

If you can give a rough time frame (and place, even) for the years when you might have read it, that is often useful for this kind of question.
posted by tomcooke at 2:36 AM on April 2, 2008

I don't think Anne to the Infinite Power involved Baked Alaska but I do love that movie.
posted by nougat at 6:06 AM on April 2, 2008

To answer tomcooke, this would have been sometime between 1980 and 1985. I have a clear memory of finding the book in the physical card catalog! This was in the Chicago Suburbs.
posted by mrthotep at 6:29 AM on April 2, 2008

Damn, I read this too, and I can't remember anything else about it!
posted by peep at 8:23 AM on April 2, 2008

Too many of us have read it and can't seem to remember what it was. If I remember correctly, she thought about what she wanted to eat and baked alaska materialized out of nowhere. I think it was either Anna to the Infinite Power or possibly a Madeline L'Engle book.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:56 AM on April 2, 2008

I'm pretty sure that Loiseau is right. I remember the Baked Alaska-eating protagonist being highly intelligent and profoundly self-centered. That seems to fit with Anna to the Infinite Power.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 10:03 AM on April 2, 2008

I'm reading Anna to the Infinite Power right now, and there is no Baked Alaska in it, as of being halfway through.
posted by cereselle at 12:02 PM on April 2, 2008

Yes, it merges in my mind with Anna to the Infinite Power (I probably read them at around the same time) but it's not that book! What L'Engle book might it be? There has to be an answer to this question!
posted by mrthotep at 2:42 PM on April 2, 2008

I thought it might be "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" but reading the synopsis doesn't fit with what I remember of the book in question. Which isn't much.
posted by fiercekitten at 3:53 PM on April 2, 2008

I reread all the "Murry" books last year. It's not one of those, but I guess it could be another L'engle - but I don't *think* I read any others.
posted by mrthotep at 10:37 PM on April 2, 2008

If it's not "Anna to the Infinite Power," then maybe it's "The Girl With The Silver Eyes," by Wilo Davis Roberts. That was actually the first title I thought of.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 8:16 PM on April 3, 2008