This one has been driving me nuts for years, and I'm going to turn to the hive mind. When I was a kid, around 10 or 11 (making it around 1992-1993), I got a book that was something akin to the Babysitters' Club books: targeted at young girls, about a group of young girls all doing something together. The first of a potential series, although I don't know if I read any more. I remember very few details of this book other than the fact that it was mentioned that the main character/narrator's mother had had A LOBOTOMY. She had been depressed or had some other mental problem before, so she had a voluntary lobotomy and was now fun and freewheeling and wore cowboy hats in the kitchen. This wasn't an important plot point, just a throwaway character detail. If anyone has any memory or clue to what this book or book series could have been, I'd be thrilled. I'd just like to know that I'm not just making it up, for one thing.
posted by whitneyarner
on May 11, 2013 -
8 answers
After spending several years reading largely YA, I'd like to read some grown-up secondary world fantasy novels. Persnickety tastes below the fold.
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posted by PhoBWanKenobi
on Apr 30, 2013 -
58 answers
[Book Filter] Does anyone have recommendations of books that are either about Laos, or starring characters that are Laotian?
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posted by ruhroh
on Feb 25, 2013 -
7 answers
Name that young adult fantasy novel: Two boys who are enemies at school are transported to some magical scenario where they have to work together.
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posted by latkes
on Feb 13, 2013 -
4 answers
I've been trying on and off for years to remember this YA book. Actually, I think it might be a series, but maybe not. Details within.
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posted by fozzie_bear
on Jan 25, 2013 -
6 answers
What was this young adult (or children's) novel I read about a girl growing up in Appalachia or the Ozarks? It might have actually been two different novels.
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posted by lunasol
on Jan 15, 2013 -
15 answers
Identify-a-book-filter: I'm trying to remember a children's/young adult book that I likely read 15-20 years ago in Australia. It was about a ~13 year old girl who went to a Greek island with her archaelogist parents (for a year/the summer?) and something magicky happened.
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posted by jacalata
on Jan 4, 2013 -
12 answers
Name that YA book or story! Young boy/teen is in a cabin or hut in the Arctic. There is also a murderer. It may be the kind of thing where there are a few people in the cabin, and one of them is a murderer, and people are being killed one by one. Very sketchy details follow.
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posted by Alaska Jack
on Dec 18, 2012 -
6 answers
What are the best stories that feature young adults coming of age/coming to terms with life's imperfect realities? By "young adults" I mean "adults who are young," probably roughly 19-30, not "young people who are becoming adults." This maturing process can be central to the work or peripheral. One example: "The Great Gatsby." Short stories, novels, nonfiction, film, television and any other genre are all welcome.
posted by croutonsupafreak
on Oct 30, 2012 -
29 answers
What are some good options for young adult novels I can read with my community college developmental writing classes? The novels don't have to be "young adult" per se, but they should be engaging and high interest.
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posted by TrarNoir
on Aug 20, 2012 -
19 answers
Help me remember the titles of two books I read as a kid. I've Googled extensively and came up empty on both.
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posted by Fuego
on Aug 13, 2012 -
3 answers
Help me remember a young adult novel I read as a kid. The main character was a teenage girl and there was an upsetting incident involving a kitten and a doormat.
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posted by embrangled
on Feb 27, 2012 -
3 answers
At what age (if any) should a child/young adult be expected to address the envelope of a thank you note sent through the mail?
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posted by Napoleonic Terrier
on Jan 24, 2012 -
38 answers
A familiar story: I read a young adult novel when I was a kid. I can't remember the title or most of the plot, but I remember enough details that it drives me CRAZY.
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posted by Coatlicue
on Jan 24, 2012 -
13 answers
Forgotten-YA-Novel-Filter: Help me remember a book I read when I was in middle school. It involved a teenage girl, a church, and grave rubbings!
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posted by WidgetAlley
on Dec 1, 2011 -
11 answers
You're a young person, in your 20s or so, and you've noticed that quite a few of your similarly-aged peers & friends are in desperate need of care due to major mental and emotional health challenges - which are taking a toll on everything else. However, support services for this group are lacking. What could you learn or train in to be able to be a better source of support and care for your peer community?
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posted by divabat
on Oct 20, 2011 -
11 answers
Trying to remember two books: one YA fiction from the 80's, the other a chapter book for 7-9 year olds, from the 60's, maybe.
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posted by noxetlux
on Aug 11, 2011 -
4 answers
Can you recommend current popular young adult fiction for teen boys that is more thoughtful rather than action oriented (e.g. Harry Potter)?
posted by roaring beast
on May 10, 2011 -
26 answers
Please help me remember the title of a young adult novel I read in the late 1980s, involving a young American man who drives a Fiat, goes to college, joins a fraternity, and ends up getting expelled and working in a fast food restaurant.
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posted by jgfoot
on May 9, 2011 -
2 answers
[YA book filter] I would like to find some YA or easy-to-read adult sci-fi, speculative fiction, or dystopian fiction. Preferably, about the United States or other earthly country, not deep-space intergalactic stuff.
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posted by lockstitch
on Mar 29, 2011 -
37 answers
I need to find some poems for Young Adults. They have to be by published authors, and they should fit into the theme of "heroes".
posted by LaCapitana
on Feb 16, 2011 -
10 answers
Help me figure out what this YA science fiction novel was! It had very deep cities, an escape having something to do with cabbages, and some kind of rural life outside. Maybe.
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posted by hought20
on Feb 11, 2011 -
9 answers
Looking for a young adult reader that focused on the history of racism/oppression in America published in the 1990's.
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posted by dinty_moore
on Feb 4, 2011 -
7 answers
Bookfilter: A particular young adult novel about a girl meeting new people and not settling for first love (similar to "Forever"). Help me find it!
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posted by audacity
on Jan 26, 2011 -
14 answers
Identify this Y.A. Sci-fi book from the 1980's - a boy learns how to meditate his way to flying.
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posted by dadici
on Jan 19, 2011 -
4 answers
Can you identify this book? I read it in the mid-1980s. It may or may not have been a YA (Young Adult) title. The protagonist was a young girl, and her society lived peacefully up in the trees. She was interested in seeing the world down on the surface. There may have been another society down there. At one point she lost her temper with someone (a pet?) and blurted out something like "I would like to
dead you!" at which her family was shocked and horrified at her violent thoughts. I particularly remember being struck by that part, that she understood the concept of killing but didn't know the verb.
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posted by tomboko
on Dec 27, 2010 -
2 answers
Help me identify this book from my childhood, please. It's set in a fictional (?) city with a canal system.
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posted by joyeuxamelie
on Sep 13, 2010 -
2 answers
Help me figure out this young-adult book from my childhood. It's about a boy and girl communicating telepathically.
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posted by hazyspring
on Jul 10, 2010 -
20 answers
What young adult novels (or chapter books for kids) are written in particularly elegant prose styles? (Bonus points if the story and characterization are good, of course, but I'm especially looking for books where the writing style itself is beautiful.) Examples include
The Graveyard Book,
Haroun & The Sea of Stories, and
When You Reach Me. [more inside]
posted by yankeefog
on Mar 18, 2010 -
45 answers
Trying to identify a children's book I read in Hebrew, but which was translated from a European language, about gangs of boys who hoard rubber caulking and battle it out with other gangs. One of the boys dies by the end.
posted by limon
on Jan 11, 2010 -
3 answers
[Bookfinder filter] Trying to find a book I read at school, in the UK, in about 1987. It was a book for teenagers, with two interweaving stories across different times: one thread involved a teenage couple in modern times, and the other thread was about some Norse warriors, including a berserker, in ancient England. The two threads were tied together by an ancient axe head. The final section of the book was written in a cipher.
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posted by memebake
on Nov 20, 2009 -
7 answers
[Bookfinder filter] Help me identify a weird book about black magic from my childhood.
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posted by Ziggy500
on Nov 18, 2009 -
6 answers
Name This Book: Help me figure out the title of a YA novel I read in middle school before I go bonkers!
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posted by santojulieta
on Oct 13, 2009 -
8 answers
What is this quotation from? "...and tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives?" I think the beginning is something like "what are we going to do tonight..." and it might be from a young adult type novel. The person is carrying on a normal conversation and suddenly gets panicky/existential.
posted by lilbizou
on Oct 7, 2009 -
9 answers
Is this a real book? All I remember is that 1 or more characters could activate some kind of special powers or transformational abilities by imagining the shape of a particular object in their mouth.
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posted by vytae
on Oct 3, 2009 -
4 answers
Help planning a 5 Day trip to NYC - Do you know of any secret delights that New York City has to offer? I need recommendations/advice on everything from where to stay to where to go. Much more details inside.
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posted by ashaw
on Aug 22, 2009 -
19 answers
