owen is stuck in a cave, his survival depends on you

May 22, 2008 8:17 PM

the child otto falls down a hill, sprains his ankle, and then the situation gets worse. help me remember what children's book this scene is from?

i must have been in the, like, 2nd grade when i first read this book. or rather, had it read to me. i immediately had my parents take me to the b. dalton bookseller (remember those?) to special order a copy. i believe the main character of the story was a young girl, who for some reason winds up traveling through the (forest/mountains?) where she meets a young boy (otto/owen?) also traveling alone. they set off to (find help?) together, which leads to the pivotal scene (in my memory), which was of the boy falling down into a (ravine/gully/crevasse?) where he hurts his (anke/foot/leg?). the girl thinks she knows how to help, but confuses applying a cold compress with applying a hot compress, and winds up making matters worse. they may have been in a cave at this point. anyhow, the girl goes off to find help and there my memory fades even more. the book was important to me as a kid -- this would have been the late 70's or early 80's -- and i'd like to get a copy. and also find out what happens to otto/owen. poor little guy!

posted by phoeniciansailor to media & arts (2 comments total)

The Silver Crown.
posted by Emera Gratia at 8:33 PM on May 22

never in a millions years would have found that, but yes, that's exactly right! so funny to see someone else asking the same question, but remembering completely different parts. thank you! i spent so long looking for this on amazon that now i can't get amazon to do anything but recommend children's books to me. it thinks i really like them. it's probably not going to help that i just ordered a copy.
posted by phoeniciansailor at 8:47 PM on May 22