Trying to remember an old Judy Blume favourite

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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

Christopher Pike was a favourite as a wannabe goth teen. Read the Remember Me books over and over.

This thread has been such a blast from the past! So many old favourites, I know all the Judy Blumes, Paula Danzigers, Jean Ures and so on. I used to spend all my time reading.

Francine Pascal - I loved Hanging Out With CeCe, does anyone else remember The Hand Me Down Kid?Ari feels overshadowed by her older brother and sister, meets a new friend and borrows her brother's bike, only for it to get stolen and a whole load of trouble ensuing? It all works out OK in the end and is actually truly heartwarming. I think I preferred that one (I still have it!).

Also, The Underground Conspiracy by Catherine Storr (of Polly and the Wolf fame). This was about a teenage girl who used to amuse herself by fare dodging on the tube, until she gets caught up in drug couriering! Sound stupid, but it was so gripping and exciting, a real 'thriller' for me at that age.

Thanks for the photo TheTartOfAsgard, a nice trip down memory lane

I have 'Here's To You, Rachel Robinson' literally right in front of me as I write this! It must be the only JB I've not read
I manage a charity shop and it came in. Will read tonight and return it tomorrow by the way I've just turned 45

Oh, and I also loved Harriet the Spy, I know it's probably aimed at a younger age group than the others mentioned. I really felt familiar with 60s/70s New York City thanks to this and Judy Blume!

I found it! Marilyn Sachs rang a lot of bells, so I looked and I found the book about the 2 sisters! Amy Moves In! Her sister is Laura. There were a few books apparently. And it was based in the 1940s, written in the 1960s.

Harriet the spy! Loved Harriet the spy! The woman with all the cats!

Oh yes! I remember the writer guy who was really miserable as well! And Beth Ellen with her chauffeur...

Wow - I loved Judy Blume and Paula Danziger. After my Granda died we used to spend a lot of school holidays up in Scotland seeing my Gran. Mum and Gran would spend a lot of time together and us kids really had to stay out the way and entertain ourselves. We used to get a holiday membership to the local library and plough through books and I would make a beeline for all the ones my mum probably wouldn't have approved of. She was a librarian at our local library so I couldn't take them out when I was home.

I loved 'are you there god' but was a bit perplexed by what a sanitary belt was. I also remember a book called Tallahassee Higgins which I really enjoyed too. I remember another one I loved called Back Home which was about an American girl living in the UK during WW2.

Were the Sweet Dreams series the ones with the pictures of the all American girls on the front - bit like mills and boon for juniors?

reader77 - Grinny was by Nicholas Fisk. I read all of his books, they were fantastic. Flowers in the Attic and Sweet Valley High were big when I was about 13, but I never read them. By the sound of it I was geekily reading my way through sci-fi and wouldn't have touched Sweet Valley High!

So many of my old favourites mentioned on this thread! Drina, Sadlers Wells, Babysitters Club, SVH, Judy Blume, Anastacia, Paula Danziger, Jean Ure...

It's weird the things you remember from books like that. Like...

Elizabeth and Jessica had eyes the colour of the Atlantic Ocean.

Claudia never wore the same outfit twice and had her own phone line.

Anastasia washed her hair twice a day with a special shampoo for oily hair

Veronica did barre practice in the bathroom using a heated towel rail

I remember Veronica was invited to go swimming by a dance rival. The rival got hold of Veronica's watch and changed the time, so Veronica missed an important audition.

Actually it must have been the Pacific Ocean, not the Atlantic.

One author I haven't seen mentioned yet is Noel Streatfield. I loved her books: Ballet Shoes, The Painted Garden, White Boots (Skates?), Gemma and Sisters...

What a great thread...I remembered reading Judy Blume and my love for them but had completely forgotten about Supermouse books, Jean Ure & Paula Danziger,-I had to go and google and remembered I had read everyone of them-brought it all back!
Also someone mentioned Anastasia and all of a sudden the same Anastasia Krupnik popped into my head -I loved these books.

DD is 9 -I wonder if she would like Anastasia Krupnik books!?

For those that mentioned the Superfudge books for their children just remember before you give them that I think it is book 3 or 4 -the truth about Father Christmas is covered!

Bastard Back Home is by Michelle Magorian - I really like it, it gives you a completely different way of thinking about evacuees.

Ilovevegcrisps and Pictish, thanks for that! This thread is great :)

Love this thread thankyou!

I used to love a series of YA books in the late 80s/early 90s.. not a series in that they were by the same author but they were all branded in the same way. I think they had white covers with a red 80s-style flash on them and also a picture on the front.

There was one about a girl in New York who got a crush on her English teacher and took him chicken soup to his apartment... she went to Bloomingdales with her mother's credit card and bought a canoe (>????). She also learnt to play the harmonica. I shall go and google it now.

I also used to love Robert Cormier - the books are brilliant even on re-reading now (The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, the Chocolate War)

WHEEE found it! Tunes for a Small Harmonica - and Pan Horizons was the series. Amazon here I come...

Ah, that picture has just made me remember The Eyes of Karen Connors, also in that series! I really liked that one too, a girl who is psychic and can see missing children, and then gets kidnapped herself. I think I might have to pay a visit to Amazon too...

I love this thread! Adored Judy Blume and Paula Danziger - both of whom taught me so much more than my conservative, repressed parents. I remember resisting Sally J Freidman for ages, thinking that the post WWII subject matter sounded boring but when I actually read it, I loved it and it quickly became my favourite JB book. I remember not realising for ages that the books were set a good 10-20 years before I was reading them. The subject matter was so universal. I also loved Lois Duncan, especially Daughters of Eve. Around a year ago, I got a real urge to re-read it but when I looked it up online and read the synopsis I decided some things were better left alone. The ".... at 16" and the sisters books were also a big part of my teenage years but although I was aware of the Supermouse books, I never actually read them. Feel I'm missing out now.

As a student, working in a department store, I served a lady who signed her name as Joan Lingard. I asked if she was the author to which she replied that she was. She was a lovely lady who seemed genuinely thrilled and overwhelmed by my love for the Kevin and Sadie books and how much they had shaped my understanding of the Troubles in NI. She came into the shop quite regularly and would also chat to me.

I have a book mystery of my own to solve. I remember a book, which I would have read around 1990 (although it may well have been written years before). It was around the time of my Lois Duncan phase so I would have sworn it was her but I can't find any description in her bibliography that fits. It was about a teenage girl who, along with her family was put into witness protection and had to move to the other side of the country with a new name. I don;t remember too much else but the bit that stays with me is when the family find out her grandmother had been targeted by the bad guys who tortured her to find out where they had gone - this involved holding her arm behind her back until it broke. I remember being utterly horrified by that. There was also a part of the book where the protagonist was recognised in a public place by an old school friend. Does this ring any bells with anyone?

I also remember a series of books about miserable subjects. Each was a two-parter with each book told from the point of view of a different person. one was about a girl with leukaemia, which included a horrifying description of bone marrow extraction. Another, was about a girl in a coma - I think this one was called "Somewhere Between life and Death"? Annoyingly, my library only have the first part of both books so in each case I never did find out what happened in the end.

I so love this thread! Apologies if this author has been mentioned but did anyone else read Cynthia Voight (sp?) about Dicey, James, Sam and Maybeth?? I loved those. Also could anyone help me remember the name of a book I have been searching for for years (literally) it's about a girl who moves to the country with her mum and sister and she tries being Eco warrior and dyes her hair hideous blonde? There's a granny in it and a Lorry crashes into their house? It's all done in letters to her best friend who never writes back. I'd love to find it!!
Also did anyone else read The Promise? About a ghost girl in the Second World War?? It was marvellous.

I loved Judy Blume and Paula Danziger so much when I was a kid/young teen. Might have to start collecting them again to reread for DD.

Can anyone help with this book though? I've trawled through all kinds of websites and bookshops looking for it, I'm beginning to think it's a figment of my imagination:

It was called something like the 1 (2? 5?) minute mile, about a girl in a seaside town who is determined to rollerskate the length of the pier in 1 minute (?). I took it out of our primary school library so many times as I loved it so much. Does it ring any bells with anyone?

Gutted that I missed Judy Blume's tour of the UK last year. Does anyone know if she will be coming again?

I did like Back Home (actually a British girl who's been evacuated to live with relatives in the USA then come home) but my favourite was Goodnight Mr Tom. I do still cry when I read it though.

And Judy Blume's Forever was passed around on the quiet at my girls' school. I also still snigger at the name Ralph! And when someone brought their baby Ralph to a baby group, half the room had to hide their giggles!

did anyone else read Cynthia Voight (sp?) about Dicey, James, Sam and Maybeth?? I loved those.

I read and loved Homecoming in first form English class. Didn't know there was a whole series!

RobotandPenguin the book you're looking for is Lois Duncan - it's called Don't Look Behind You.