80s/90s kids book identification
June 13, 2023 9:39 AM Subscribe
Help me ID a book from my childhood. Key memories: Southern, cemetery, maybe slavery?
I read it as a kid (late 80s, early 90s), it was a 'chapter book', not an illustrated book for younger kids, def YA.
Pretty sure it took place in the South (thinking Georgia or South Carolina). An old cemetery featured prominently, either as a major location throughout or a kicking-off point for the story. Pretty sure the main protagonist was a young girl. I have a vague notion that some of the themes were centered around slavery.
The cover that I remember was an illustrated tree (maybe spanish moss?) with a light blue or lilac border.
Thanks!
I read it as a kid (late 80s, early 90s), it was a 'chapter book', not an illustrated book for younger kids, def YA.
Pretty sure it took place in the South (thinking Georgia or South Carolina). An old cemetery featured prominently, either as a major location throughout or a kicking-off point for the story. Pretty sure the main protagonist was a young girl. I have a vague notion that some of the themes were centered around slavery.
The cover that I remember was an illustrated tree (maybe spanish moss?) with a light blue or lilac border.
Thanks!
Any chance it’s Wait Till Helen Comes? No slavery connection that I recall but this cover matches.
posted by doift at 11:55 AM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by doift at 11:55 AM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry or the sequels by Mildred Taylor?
posted by pjenks at 12:42 PM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by pjenks at 12:42 PM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Cowslip, by Betsy Haynes? There’s a plot point about cemeteries in it, as I recall.
posted by holborne at 4:36 PM on June 13, 2023
posted by holborne at 4:36 PM on June 13, 2023
Response by poster: None of these so far! Though I think I may be confusing the book cover of Wait Till Helen Comes with the story I'm looking for.
posted by greta simone at 9:30 PM on June 13, 2023
posted by greta simone at 9:30 PM on June 13, 2023
I have a very vague memory of a similar book in my own childhood in the 1980s. I was hesitant to answer because my memory is so vague, but given that you haven't gotten the answer you're looking for yet, I'll take a flyer:
Based on my very vague memory, I have the notion that you're describing a book by Wylly Folk St. John. The only one of her books I've reread recently is Secret of the Pirate Inn and I can confidentally say you are NOT thinking of that one, because it doesn't involve a cemetery or slavery.
But the cover of Uncle Robert's Secret has a tree and a light blue border and apparently the plot involves a cemetery in the south. And it's an Avon/Camelot book so it would have a similar cover to Wait Till Helen Comes.
Alternatively, based on the Goodreads description of their plots, it might potentially be The Secret of the Seven Crows or The Ghost Next Door.
posted by yankeefog at 2:51 AM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Based on my very vague memory, I have the notion that you're describing a book by Wylly Folk St. John. The only one of her books I've reread recently is Secret of the Pirate Inn and I can confidentally say you are NOT thinking of that one, because it doesn't involve a cemetery or slavery.
But the cover of Uncle Robert's Secret has a tree and a light blue border and apparently the plot involves a cemetery in the south. And it's an Avon/Camelot book so it would have a similar cover to Wait Till Helen Comes.
Alternatively, based on the Goodreads description of their plots, it might potentially be The Secret of the Seven Crows or The Ghost Next Door.
posted by yankeefog at 2:51 AM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, still not it. It wasn't a ghosty/spooky/fantasy/adventure type story. Felt very grounded in reality or maybe even a little historical? But these Avon Camelot books are really taking me for a walk down memory lane!
posted by greta simone at 8:02 AM on June 14, 2023
posted by greta simone at 8:02 AM on June 14, 2023
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posted by jquinby at 11:42 AM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]