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Trying to remember an old Judy Blume favourite

253 replies

RustyPaperclip · 21/03/2016 01:16

I remember reading the odd Judy Blume book when I was younger and I really enjoyed them, one in particular, but for the life of me I can't remember the name. Briefly tried googling but hoping you wise lot can help.

From what I remember as a child, the main character grew up around the time of WW2. I think her father might have been a dentist. I remember something at the beginning about playing Cowboys and Indians and also Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The family moved at some point and the girl was convinced a new neighbour was Hitler.

Now I have written it down it sounds blood weird but I loved it when I was young and would like to read it again. Cheers

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Hygge · 12/04/2016 14:33

I just read that the author Beverly Cleary has turned 100 years old today.

I haven't actually read her books but the people here who remember them seem to do so with such affection that I think I've missed out.

Hygge · 11/04/2016 22:11

I love threads like this.

I really loved Lois Duncan when I was younger, especially The Eyes of Karen Connors and Stranger With My Face.

One of my favourites was called Someone Might Hear You, by Robin Klein, which was about a young girl who lived with her Aunt. One day her Aunt came home and said she was married and they would be moving in with her new husband and his daughters, who belonged to some strange and restrictive religion. The girl was desperate to escape but they did everything they could to keep her trapped. There was a scene where the girls were allowed outside, but only after dark, and they were allowed to exercise by running around the block, with the orders that if anyone asked them why they were to say they had lost their dog and were looking for it. I read it again recently and it was still just as creepy.

Betsy Briars was another favourite, I loved The Eighteenth Emergency, and the one about Cybil Ackerman, The Cybil War.

One I've asked about before and nobody seems to remember is a series about a girl who I think might have investigated mysteries. There was one where she went to stay at some kind of riding school or place where they had horses, and a horsey girl wasn't very nice to her. Another where they went to stay in a Chateaux in France. She might have been called Jill or Julie.

JobsonHorne · 11/04/2016 21:27

I found Hey Dollface available for kindle for £1.98 and reread it. Beautifully written book about teenage friendship.

JobsonHorne · 11/04/2016 21:25

Iougle, I loved Izzy Willy Nilly. And all the Dicey books.

NoBadassMcGee · 11/04/2016 18:16

Ann M Martin (author or Babysitters Club) is on Simon Mayo Radio 2 now!!

reader77 · 10/04/2016 18:08

jobs- I reread Second Star to The Right recently and realised that it is almost entirely autobiographical. ( The author had added info to a new edition).
Interestingly ( to me anyway), Deborah Hautzig's mum was a holocaust survivor who wrote a children's book called The Endless Steppe, which was inspired by her own childhood. Also a brilliant book.

lougle · 10/04/2016 17:28

I loved The Bewitching of Alison Allbright and when I googled the cover I got chills, remembering the plot - didn't she walk into a pond with tall reeds and nearly down, or is that another book?

Ramona the Brave was a special book.

I used to read all the Point Crime, Point Horror,etc. and particularly remember 'The Smoking Gun'.

I spent many a happy afternoon reading Sweet Valley High on my bed, listening to Madonna. When Jessica ran away in one book, 'Borderline' came on and gave it such atmosphere.

One of my most adored books, though, was 'Izzy, Willy Nilly' by Cynthia Voight. It's about a girl who goes to a party and is then involved in a life-changing accident.

MNHQ
BeccaMumsnet · 10/04/2016 17:08

Hi all - we're going to move this over to What we're reading so it doesn't go poof.

JobsonHorne · 10/04/2016 12:58

Does anyone remember Deborah Hautzig? I had two books by her, Second Star To The Right about an anorexic girl and Hey Dollface about two friends who were possibly gay.

EllieQ · 10/04/2016 12:53

Just reported the thread and asked for it to be moved to 'What We're Reading' so it doesn't get deleted :) Great thread!

squoosh · 08/04/2016 12:23

Aha, thanks raininginspringtime Grin

I suppose it had to be a nice and neat ending.

halcyondays · 08/04/2016 08:17

The girl who gets measles sounds like the Further Adventures of the family from One End Street

raininginspringtime · 02/04/2016 13:29

squoosh - she was her sister! It's all quite sweet really. But they even start calling her Emma, not Rosie.

FeliciaJollygoodfellow · 02/04/2016 13:23

I loved Children of the Dust as a kid - am still a fan of apocalyptic fiction.

Made me cry buckets when I last read it Blush

heron98 · 01/04/2016 12:10

I still have my copy of Children of the Dust - I still find it really gripping, even at 34.

squoosh · 01/04/2016 11:18

Oh wow Sniv, I'd been trying to think of the title of those 'sisters' books for ages. I've just googled them and it's amazing how even seeing the cover image can whoosh you back in time to 1987!

Trying to remember an old Judy Blume favourite
Trying to remember an old Judy Blume favourite
Original poster
RustyPaperclip · 31/03/2016 21:47

I loved Betsy Byers, and The Pinballs sounds vaguely familiar. Another one to add to my listSmile

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Sniv · 31/03/2016 21:40

I had heaps of these sort of books from charity shops as a kid. Resisting the urge to fire up Amazon and buy them back...

Two from Betsy Byars I remember are The Animal, The Vegetable and John T. Jones (about two sisters who can barely stand each other being forced on holiday with their step brother who they like even less. One of the girls getting dragged out to sea on a lilo unites everyone together) and The Pinballs (about three kids on a foster home: a very tough girl, a boy in a wheelchair after his father broke his legs, and a slightly spooky little boy who was raised by two very old ladies). Did anyone in her books actually, properly like each other?!

I had two of the 'sisters' books: Daphne (the nerdy one) and Cassie (the popular one). I didn't like Cassie much or Daphne at all (her poems were awful), but I was strangely intrigued by the family and wanted to read the other two. Never came across them in the charity shop, so never got them.

Original poster
RustyPaperclip · 31/03/2016 20:34

I found it, Red Sky in the Morning. Very moving and emotional book

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squoosh · 31/03/2016 20:30

I think I'll need to have a re-read too! Smile

Original poster
RustyPaperclip · 31/03/2016 20:30

Ooh one more, while I remember! It was a book being taught at secondary school by a teacher I knew, and I mentioned it to my own English teacher who then suggested that we should read it as a class. From what I remember the story was about a girl, and her mother gave birth to a baby boy with hydrocephalus (I may be wrong, my apologies). I remember being extremely moved by this book and a friend thanked me for suggesting it. Her younger brother had various medical issues and she found the book very helpful. I think we were only 11 or 12. I can vaguely picture the front cover but can't for the life of me remember the name.

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Original poster
RustyPaperclip · 31/03/2016 20:24

I have a feeling it wasn't her real sister, hence the Cuckoo in the title. However, I may have to re read just to make sure Wink

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Original poster
RustyPaperclip · 31/03/2016 20:23

Atticus, I clearly remember reading the Cuckoo Sister book when I was at primary school. I think we all read it in class. I remember really enjoying it but at the same time finding it really unnerving.

I also remember my sister having a copy of Moondial. The front cover had a picture of a scene from the dramatisation. I loved that book too!

Felicia and Squoosh I also remember the sanitary belt part in the book. Tbh, I'm still slightly baffled at how that works Confused

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squoosh · 31/03/2016 20:22

I can't actually remember if she turned out to be her real sister or not!

srslylikeomg · 31/03/2016 20:15

Cuckoo Sister! God that takes me back!

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