r/whatsthatbook

Hi all! I’ve been searching for a book for years. I remember reading it when I was in grade school. Here’s what I remember: there was a princess, and there were 3 dresses that she wore, each corresponding to the sun, moon, and stars. So the sun dress was all golden and shiny, etc.

Also, I could totally be tripping but I think I remember in the story she had to fold up the dress and fit it inside of a chestnut? It feels weird to type, but that’s what I remember.

Any help greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Princess Furball!

I could be mixing up a bunch of different books so apologies. I remember reading this book multiple times back in the 80s. The girl loved Sally Ride (might be in the name of the book?). The only other thing I recall is that she went on a field trip, or maybe just during recess, and snuck off into the woods and pretended she was abandoned so she put a small smooth rock under her tongue because she read to do that in a book?

I thought it was a Beverly Cleary or Judy Blume but none of their books are ringing a bell.

Searching has been no help because I keep getting results for non-fiction kids books about Sally Ride.

Thanks!

EDIT: May be from a different book but I recall her being at school and referencing "loose leaf paper" enough times that I had to ask my mom what it meant lol

I used to read a lot of poems as a kid and liked one so much that I memorized it. But I can’t find it anywhere when looking it up. If anyone recognizes what book this is from or just anything about the poem I’d be very grateful! It goes:

Bury me under the mulberry bush,
Bury me under the trees.
Bury me under the mulberry bush,
For I am afraid of the seas.

I distinctly remember reading this in a book and it had a little picture of a tree to the right of the poem but nothing else on the page.

I’m looking for a memoir I read sometime between 2008-2010 in the United States, but it may have been published earlier.

The author of the memoir and his wife were both American Jews. The author had been living in China (I believe he was there for work, as a journalist on temporary assignment, or maybe an English teacher, or something like that). He somehow came into contact with a baby or young toddler whom he felt a connection with, and then the child was available for adoption. I have a vague memory that he might have already returned to the US and received an email or phone call asking if he wanted to adopt her? I think she had been supposed to be adopted by another family and the adoption fell through, or maybe she was a friend’s daughter who had been orphaned? I believe the author had to fly back to China to do a long administrative process before he could take custody while the wife stayed at home in the US to get things ready there.

The author and his wife named their daughter Deborah but called her Debbie. They wanted Debbie to be Jewish but realized she needed to be converted because she wasn’t their biological daughter. They either were members of a Reform synagogue or did not belong to a synagogue at all at the time of the adoption. In any case, they started researching conversion processes and learned it would be pretty easy to get Debbie converted at a Reform synagogue, but they were concerned that this conversion might not be recognized outside the Reform community. I remember the author wondering things like, “What if she wants to marry an Orthodox boy? What if she wants to move to Israel someday?”

They started looking into Conservative and Orthodox conversion options and ended up deciding they might as well get Debbie an Orthodox conversion so that it would be recognized everywhere. I believe that at one point, an Orthodox rabbi asked them why it was so important to them that Debbie have an Orthodox conversion if living Orthodox lives wasn’t important to them, and that had a big impact on them. They ended up learning more about Orthodox Judaism, eventually becoming observant Orthodox Jews, and then becoming even more and more observant over time. I think they eventually leave their original Orthodox synagogue and join an Ultra Orthodox one (I want to say it was part of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, but I could be wrong?).

I remember that they eventually have more biological children, so Debbie is the oldest child in a large family. I also remember that at one point when Debbie is about 12 or 13, the author learns about an obscure Jewish law that prohibits men and women who are neither biologically related nor married from ever physically touching each other, and he is devastated that this means he will never be able to hug Debbie again. When he tells Debbie about it, she says that it will be hard, but they have to trust in God.

I remember that at the time of writing, Debbie was a young adult (like, 19-25ish) and still an observant Ultra Orthodox Jew. She either was married and raising her children Orthodox or hoping to get married and have kids soon.

I remember that the book had some pages in the middle with black and white photographs of the author and his family.

The copy I read was a hardcover, and it was fairly thick (probably 300+ pages). I got it from a library that removed dust jackets before putting the books into circulation, so the cover was plain red with the title on the spine.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? It came up in conversation with my wife tonight, and she wants to read it, but I can’t remember the title or author’s name.

Theres a book, I can’t remember the name but I remember the premise at least. Kind of. The main character is a girl who died, she doesn’t remember how she died, no character remembers how they die, but she starts going to this highschool in the afterlife where a bunch of other teens that died go to. There’s a love triangle and some other rom-com drama. I remember a cover? Or description? Maybe I dunno. But it’s the main character, as a ghost obviously, next to a guy. By lockers and it looks kinda dream like. Another cover of her walking on clouds. I think that’s all.. The name had the word After or Ever in it. I can’t remember all that well. I also got it at a book fair, like scholastics books, maybe not scholastic but definitely a book fair.

I need help finding a Sesame Street book I read when I was like 5, I now it was vintage and probably got it second hand. All I can remember is theirs this page where Big bird is in a grocery store with a green round basket and is picking up stuff from an aisle, oh! and Oscar the grouch was in one of the pages. From what I researched it’s not big birds big red book or don’t forget the oatmeal. I know it’s not much but if anyone knows anything pls help me! Thank you

sorry if I’m doing this wrong I’ve literally never used reddit before but I have this terrible brain itch- it was a book we got taught about in primary school like year 3 maybe 4 and I just remember the boy being like a little monster looking thing and he was orange and spiky and he went to give his mother a hug and she turned into chocolate but then he ends up fixing everything in the end ? I know it sounds like the classic book the chocolate touch but none of the illustrations match it! maybe I’m mixing two books together but can anyone help me figure this out?

This was a series I read on my mom’s kindle when I was in middle school (09-11) so it’s been a long time and I unfortunately don’t remember much. It’s about a girl who is taken from her world because she has some kind of power and I think might be royalty? I feel like her real mom was a former queen or something. She falls in the love with a prince and they dance in a beautiful ballroom. Her best friend, who I think is some sort of servant or hand to the prince can read people’s auras. The titles were all one word and I remember these books being sooooo good and I’d like to revisit them as an adult but have no idea what they were called. I can’t find anything when I google, and the kindle is long gone. Please help me it’s kept me up for weeks

I’m trying to remember a book I read about a woman that was hired to inventory a prepper‘s house. The guy lived on a compound that he owned with a lot of his extended family. He lived in a huge house. He hired her mostly to inventory. She came up with a new inventory system that he loved, she lived on the compound. She did a lot of baking and canning in the main house’s kitchen. They fell in love, but it wasn’t a spicy book. It was more of a mutual affection and appreciation for each other’s skills. It was not an “end of the world” book. I think I read it on my kindle because I don’t remember what the cover looked like. I’ve tried searching my kindle for it. I tried using Google AI to no avail. I read it within the past ten years, but it might not have been new at the time I read it. I read a ton, so it’s hard to narrow down a year. I believe there was a bit of an age gap as well between the two main characters.

I read this book in 1995 in South Australia, so it's from that year or earlier. YA sci-fi/fantasy.

The main character is a pre-teen/young teen girl who wakes up somewhere she initially believes is another planet. The people there are all kind, gentle, and live in harmony with nature — lots of forest setting. She befriends a local girl. All her memories are of life on Earth in the 1990s.

As she investigates, she finds evidence of decayed, ruined cities — including one she recognizes, with landmarks she knows, in another country (not Australia). She realizes she must have somehow travelled forward in time from the 1990s to this future.

The twist: she's actually one of the local people all along. The community had deliberately implanted false memories of a 1990s-ish Earth childhood into her mind. The reason: there's a computer/AI that can access people's minds, and because these people are naturally so open and trusting, it's able to invade and damage their minds easily. They gave her the "past" memories to make her more wary and self-protective, so that when she eventually had to confront the computer, she'd have the mental defenses to protect herself.

I have a vague feeling the word "Labyrinth" was part of the title, but I'm not fully sure.

I have checked the following authors and none of their books match:

Monica Hughes

Pamela Sargent

Louise Lawrence

Peter Dickinson

Gillian Rubinstein (Australia)

Victor Kelleher (Australia)

John Christopher

William Sleator

Louise Lawrence

Victor Kelleher

Jan Mark

Margaret Mahy

Robert Westall

Isobelle Carmody

Patricia Wrightson

Caroline Macdonald

Jenny Wagner

Lee Harding

John Marsden

Gillian Cross

I read Scatterlings by Isobelle Carmody this last weekend. The main character is almost exactly the person i remember and the whole concept is the same but i felt like i was reading a new book. Nothing was familiar. None of the characters names or the rest of the story. Not even the ending.

The book i'm looking for, i used in my Year 12 English Comparative novel study. I had to read three books and write about themes, similarities, differences etc. You had to fill at least 75 pages of a 96 page exercise book. That was a lot of time spent thinking and writing so i would think i would at least recognise something other than the telepathy thing.

I know the title is ridiculous but I remember a book where I believe that the mother had put her daughter into a stroller and walked away for a minute and then she was gone.

I remember they were good friends with their next door neighbors and I am not sure how much time passes, but in the end you find out the the toddler was hit/run over by a car in the neighbors driveway. The person who did it believed she was dead (I can’t remember if she actually was) and put her in a hole in the house where they were renovating their kitchen.

Then the owner of the house found her in the hole and thought he was responsible for her death. He believed she had fallen in there because he left a door open. I think he then filled the hole with concrete or something to try to cover it up. I can’t remember if the parents find out or what the ending is exactly.

It’s driving me crazy because the tragic nature of it stuck with me. I
Have a feeling I’ve read another novel from the same author but I’m not sure. Thanks!

I'm looking for a collection of horror short stories. Just as a warning, these stories have some gore and body horror even though I remember them being marketed for kids. Here are the ones I remember:

• The main character is babysitting these two kids, a little boy and little girl. Their mother leaves strict instructions not to feed them after she leaves, they've already ate. The kids beg for more food though. They act desperate. They make up these stories that 'something' is asking them for food and threatening them if they don't get it. The babysitter tells no but they keep begging. She may give in once, but they are still not satisfied. She sends them to bed and watches TV. She hears a strange 'chittering' sound behind the door but when she opens it, the kids have just gone to sleep in their beds. The next morning when the mom comes home they go to check on the kids but something is wrong. They don't answer when their mother calls. She pulls back the covers to find their bodies eaten, nothing left of them but their heads and a few bones, picked clean of all meat and covered in teeth marks. I think it was called, 'Chittering' or something like that due to the sound the babysitter heard while the children were being devoured.

• The other really good one was about this newlywed. She's married a widower and has just moved into his house. Every time it rains she gets this strange, uncomfortable feeling about this tree on his front lawn that you can see from one of the windows, (dramatically light by the moon light if I recall correctly). She gets the impression that there are streamers caught in its limbs. Maybe someone threw toilet paper in it? She goes out to see and when she tears down a piece, its not the consistency of paper but of flesh. She throws it in the sink inside but then it vanishes before she can show her husband. She asks him about the tree and he gets really weird about it. I forget the climax. I think the dead wife might be trying to save the new wife from something, but I don't really remember. The protagonist almost dies and then the husband tells her the whole truth about his late wife. She died in a car accident. It was a rainy night ("much like tonight") and the roads were really slick. She crashed into a tree and she was torn to bits in its branches. New wife guessed that it was the tree out front that late wife crashed into and the husband is like, "Yes! How did you know?" There's a good chance I'm wrong about everyone being married. They might just be dating or engaged. I'm 99% sure this one was called 'Streamers' but all I can find when searching for it is horror stories about twitch streamers.

• There was a story about a roller coaster and the ticket salesman was selling death. One kid doesn't bye a ticket and he watches his friends die.

• There was another story about pumpkin men. I think the faces of the people killed by the pumpkin men appeared in the pumpkins found in the pumpkin patch the next morning.

• There was a story about a water tree spirit who would come and visit this woman at night. I think it was trying to give her a message from her husband, mothman style, but it was being really creepy about it. I remember this one being really scary but all I remember is the picture on the title page of a swamp monster thing looking out at you, all but it's eyes under the water.

• There was a supposedly true story about how the author believed in ghosts because when she was a child a tornado tore through as she was on her way home from school (walking because I read this book as a kid in the 90's). She didn't known what to do but her grand father appeared to her and told her to lay down in a ditch before disappearing. It saved her life, the whole area around her was destroyed but she was safe. When she got home later she finds out that her grand father died of a heart attack when the tornado came through prior to her 'seeing' him.

• The story I really want to find is one I believe the author told to an auditorium of us in person and wasn't in the book. It was about a woman who kept appearing outside of a window. She had "long red finger nails and big red lips."

So I want to say this was all written by one author, a woman. I believe she is from Appalachia because I remember giving a sales pitch at my school where she told an auditorium of us horror stories. I think I bought this book afterwards. This would have happened sometime in the mid to late 90's.

I have been trying to find this book for a long time, my father gave it to me when I was a kid and I really enjoyed the story. It was about a kid and he had a grandfather or some sort of parental figure, all I remember is that he travels through a dream world and there was a beautiful illustration of a moon shining through a tree’s branches. It had a really good lesson at the end too. I think it was a picture book but I am not 100% sure

Saw a book ad for a single page it’s obviously a dark comedy romance (unless I’m reading the room entirely wrong) he found her in a snowstorm and one line is

Him: “fair warning my friends might be there and they can be a bit…”

Her: “axe murder-y?”

Him: “I was going to say intense but sure let’s go with that.”

I’ll try to post the whole ad page in the comments.

Okay, this is going to be very vague, so buckle in. I was just reading a Fancy Nancy book to my toddler & the description of her wearing a brown leotard costume for her part in a ballet as a tree triggered a memory in me from my childhood.

I think it’s a chapter book that includes some descriptions of ballet costumes. I’m remembering maybe white and brown costumes, and a pink leotard? I toyed with the idea of it being the Cobble Street Cousins series or the babysitters club (Jessie), but I don’t have any of those books anymore, so I have no idea. Hoping this super vague description strikes a chord with someone else!

EDIT: I’m thinking it’s the same character that has these different costumes for different potential roles? If that helps at all.

Hi! I’m looking for a horror novel I read around 2011/2012. Here’s what I remember:

A family (mom,dad, three kids, and a grandmother) move into a house, possibly in Indiana.

There is a shed on the property containing a box that may have held a demon or Jin.

The grandmother is German, Russian and possibly Jewish. She tries to fight the entity, but the parents (at first) dismiss her old-country beliefs.

The youngest daughter befriends the demon, which seems helpful at first. At one point, crows attack a school bully who was mean to the daughter.

The middle child is a boy who rides bikes with neighborhood kids who tell him the house is haunted. And I kinda remember they ride up a hill and you can see the house from it.

The haunting becomes violent and the oldest daughter is assaulted and killed in her bedroom.

It was a really good book. Super scary and I remember thinking it would be a great movie. Can’t remember the title of the author and google as been zero help! I think it’s a very niche and not mainstream book. I found it in a small library at a county club I worked in over the summer. So someone donated the book.

Really hope someone has read it 🤞  

Hi all - Im trying to find a Dick Francis book based on a scene described to me by my dad. I have not personally read any of the books (yet!), but have tried looking up quotes and haven't gotten anywhere.

My dad described a scene in one of the books where the protagonist is knocked unconscious, then locked in a horse stall and left for dead. He wakes up, and is at first happy he survived, but then starts to be bummed about being locked in a smelly horse stall. There is a poignant line, that goes something like "and then, as so often afflicts the human condition, sheer elation at the joy of being alive was soon replaced with the wish that things werent a bit better."

(to be sure, this is all my memory of my dads retelling of his recollection of the scene, so Im sure its not spot on, certainly not the quote)

Thanks!

It was the first big chapter book I ever read. I read it in about 3-4 grade. I remember so much about it but I forgot the actual name of the book.

What I remember:

-their was a scene where the school children went out into town and got vanilla ice cream as a treat. They made a point out of it being a big deal. The main character didn’t finish.

-one of the conflicts in the book involved the main character being framed for stealing the money the teacher collected to buy a piano for the classroom. I remember the amount of money they raised for the piano was super low compared to today’s standards.
I remember it was later revealed that another classmate tried to frame here by sticking the money in her desk.

-their was a man who the kids referred to as “triangle face man”. They were really scared of him though out the whole book but by the end he helped them with something and they learned that he wasn’t a creepy/ scary guy.

-the main character was a girl. I believe the book was in first person limited.

the book was pretty thick. It was probably 200-300 pages.

it wasn’t a YA. I wasn’t old enough to be allowed to read those. It wasn’t a middle grade either.

I imagine this isn’t enough information to find the book but if it is I’d be forever grateful to find it again. I’ve been wanting to find that book title for a long time. I’m in my 20’s now and I want to reread it. It was such a big milestone for me to be allowed to check that book out from the school library. It later led me to reading some of my favorite books, which inspired me to write my own books. it would mean a lot to me to find the book that led me down that path =).

Posted this in another sub but this one might be a better fit =)

Trilogy, I THINK. Been a few years haha!

Dystopian world. No electronics allowed, were seen as BAD, like the reason the former modern world imploded. There were still ruins of cities, skyscrapers, old broken roads with busted cars overtaken by vines, etc.

They lived like prehistoric people. Villages, bartering, NO MONEY, everyone had their placeand thing to do, so on and so forth.

At age 13 (or maybe 12?) there was a coming of age gathering. Each child went into the woods and met a "heart" - a glowing heart that was palest of yellows all the way to orangest of oranges. They then begin building a rapport. MC, a young boy, gets a golden yellow heart that winds up having a mouse as his Spirit animal. He is at first tempted to hide this, since mice are not usually considered very strong, but eventually tells the truth. There are then "Trials" which were done with your heart/spirit companion - supposed to build rapport/trust/respect etc - deepen the bond. Two young girls are v flippant and ignore their hearts and wind up in terrible trouble, maybe one dies? The second learns from this and winds up doing mostly ok later. MC does ok in this "Trial." Another young boy gets a heart that is very VERY flaming orange. It causes talk because it's SO BOLD. After trials, young folks go to a village of their choosing where they will live for a year. Then they come back to another Gathering see how they have done and I think this when the actually become adults. Anyway side character with the deep orange heart winds up having a RED heart which is EVIL. This heart has led that young boy to do awful things - killing and holding his Village under terror for the whole year. MC is sent to talk to him and the boy wants out I believe but needs help and MC is THEN sent to speak to the "Elders," one of whom is the Elder Hare. MC and Spirit Companion find the Elders only to discover they want nothing to do with any of it, leaving everyone in a big mess. And that was the end of book two. I never got to read the 3rd! And I CANNOT remember the title or any character's NAMES OH MY GOSH PLEASE HELP MEEEEE

😂💛🧡💚💙💜♥️💕😂

I read it in the late 1990s, it was a kids’ illustrated book, with possibly a well-dressed cat going on adventures. Not Puss-in-Boots, and the big draw was that it had an actual coin on the last page.