How can I find a book that I don't know the title of?

[bran]

For years I've been wanting to re-read a book from my childhood, but I can't remember the title or the author, although I have a pretty good recall of the plot. Does anyone know of a website where you can search key words from the text of the book, or key words about the plot? [hopeful emoticon]

Bran!!! take us out of this misery!!! what's the plot about?

Theten tales of shellover!!! what a fab book!

The Guardians
The Little Grey Men

You are a wicked woman, Bran, and if you don't fess up PDQ we shall have to award you the Mumsnet Wooden Spoon.

Bran no need to rewrite the book

It's a teenage/young adults book about a boy growing up in an agricultural community which is based around a city. All the power is held by the people who live in the city, and there is a religion based around that. Anyone who expresses any opion agains the religion or status quo is arrested for being a heretic and taken to the city. Months or years after their arrest they appear on stage to recant their heresy and then they are usually never seen again.

The boy is a heretic although he manages to escape from arrest before being sent to the prison and makes his own way to the city. After various adventures he is arrested again and taken away to be reformed. This actually involves being educated about his true history, the planet he is on is not the one his race evolved on, that was distroyed generations ago by a super-nova. The religion was set up to try and ensure the best use of limited resources and to give the population some hope of a better future.

Ring any bells? It was really a very good book.

so we were all way off the mark then....

that shut us all up!

Dammit. I think I've read it too. But guess what? I haven't a clue what it's called!

Anne of Green Gables?
Charlotte the Spy?

Superman? or his cousin?

oops! made my guesses before I saw the plot!

It reminds me of 'This Perfect Day' by Ira Something-or-other. I think I read Bran's book after I read TPD. No help there though.

Yes! Yes! It's by Sylvia Erhart (?) and is called... oh bum... I've got it up in my loft!!

hang on...

I'm hanging on !!!!

I'll nip over to Amazon and have a search for it.

Escape from Something? Escape from New york?

Hurry up Soupy..../..

Sylvia Engdahl "Heritage of the Star"