Help Finding A Vintage YA Novel About A Nurse
April 23, 2017 8:01 PM Subscribe
I read a book when I was between probably between 9-12 years old (1988-1991) from the school library. It was about a young nurse, possibly a student, who took a job as a home nurse for a little girl who had burns on her legs.
I can't believe I couldn't answer this question with Google, but either my search terms aren't descriptive enough, the book is really obscure, or I'm remembering it totally wrong.
The girl was maybe living with an uncle who was shady and turns out to have kidnapped the girl? Maybe? So there was a mystery element as well as the SASSY YOUNG CAREER WOMEN angle. I'm guessing the book was written in the 1950s or 60s. I also vaguely remember that it was part of a series about sisters or friends who were nurses. (My school library didn't have any of the other books and I was disappointed.) One of the nurses might have been named Tracey, the little girl MIGHT have been Linda.
The book was NOT Cherry Ames or Sue Barton. Well. I'm 99% sure it wasn't Cherry Ames, and, like, 75% sure it wasn't Sue Barton. But it was definitely in the same genre, that smart, pretty young career women solves mysteries and maybe falls in love genre. I read through the plot descriptions of the Ames and Barton novels and none of them sounded like the book I'm looking for. It was NOT Call the Midwife (much too recent) and I don't remember it featuring any nuns, and it was definitely fiction aimed at young girls.
Does anyone know what book I'm think of? Did I just make it up in my brain and head? I was a voracious reader as a kid and for all I know, I'm mixing up elements of several books I read.
I can't believe I couldn't answer this question with Google, but either my search terms aren't descriptive enough, the book is really obscure, or I'm remembering it totally wrong.
The girl was maybe living with an uncle who was shady and turns out to have kidnapped the girl? Maybe? So there was a mystery element as well as the SASSY YOUNG CAREER WOMEN angle. I'm guessing the book was written in the 1950s or 60s. I also vaguely remember that it was part of a series about sisters or friends who were nurses. (My school library didn't have any of the other books and I was disappointed.) One of the nurses might have been named Tracey, the little girl MIGHT have been Linda.
The book was NOT Cherry Ames or Sue Barton. Well. I'm 99% sure it wasn't Cherry Ames, and, like, 75% sure it wasn't Sue Barton. But it was definitely in the same genre, that smart, pretty young career women solves mysteries and maybe falls in love genre. I read through the plot descriptions of the Ames and Barton novels and none of them sounded like the book I'm looking for. It was NOT Call the Midwife (much too recent) and I don't remember it featuring any nuns, and it was definitely fiction aimed at young girls.
Does anyone know what book I'm think of? Did I just make it up in my brain and head? I was a voracious reader as a kid and for all I know, I'm mixing up elements of several books I read.
Response by poster: I just yelled, "YES!" and woke up my son. That's the exact cover I remember! HA! It seems like I had the details (mostly) right so how did Google let me down?
Thank you SO much!
posted by Aquifer at 8:37 PM on April 23, 2017
Thank you SO much!
posted by Aquifer at 8:37 PM on April 23, 2017
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posted by Redstart at 8:32 PM on April 23, 2017 [5 favorites]