Our Guide To 2015’s Great Reads

Then she buys a new red dress and shoes and they get dusty so she eventually cleans them up then goes ahead and cleans up everything else in her house because she enjoys the way the clean clothes look. At the end she puts on her red dress, red shoes, and a red flower over her ear and dances in her clean house. I hope this is what you're looking for. I have 2 really old craft books. Copyright by Simon and Schuster, Inc. Both of these are crafts made with at home items. Perhaps one of these is what they are looking for.

Popular Mechanics Press, , cloth, pages. Most are wooden, this book being published before plastic took over the toy market.


  • Adolescent Health & Development: General Practice: The Integrative Approach Series.
  • Dilly the Dodgem and the Rainbow.
  • Victorian Gothic: A selection of macabre and malevolent stories!

Hence the toys you can make are much more durable than anything you can buy today. Our copies were reprinted for the 40s. They are embrossed yellow and red not green. Lots of fun projects and readings. Don't know if thisis the series or not, as I don't know when they were first published, but it could be Frank Peretti's Cooper Kids Series. This just might be the Jack Dawn series by Joseph Coughlin. He wrote a number of titles in the s and one in the s. The book is very Christian, with more than one conversion and a fair amount of discussion of Christian behaviour, and the Orlis family does live in the boonies, at Angle Inlet, without electricity, television, etc.

The title list on the back cover mentions Ron Orlis as well as Danny , but there is no indication in this book whether Ron is an older or younger brother, or adopted, or where he is the rest of the time. I think this person might be looking for the Danny Orwell series--there was also a radio program that aired on Saturday mornings during the late s featuring these boys.

I hope I'm right about Danny's last name, but the shows and the books definitely had a Christian theme. The boys in this series weren't brothers, but the two main characters were a boy named Bill and his best friend, nicknamed Poetry. The other details are similar to what you describe: Christian-oriented mysteries, at least one conversion, etc. Bernard Palmer was published through Moody Press and wrote other children's series. The books are back in print and are readily available. Danny orlis also had an advice column in the Campus Life monthly magazine, as I recall.

Ken Anderson, The Austin Boys, It might be the Austin Boys. There are only 2 books about them that I am aware of: Lippincott, Omnibus of four books: Just wanted to say that this book does exist, though I can't identify it yet - several years ago I saw a description of it, and remember thinking it was a knock-off of the Chinese Brothers story. This one is already listed in your solved pages. There are at least two other versions of this folktale, one being Six Chinese Brothers: The story is essentially the same, illustrated with scissor cuts in bright red and black.

When the third brother runs afoul of the emperor and is sentenced to be beheaded, the fourth brother, who has bones of iron, takes his place. The emperor then tries drowning and burning but each time a different brother foils his scheme. So I don't think we have to be too sure that it's the Claire Huchet Bishop version I saw a copy at a thrift shop and the story does NOT include swallowing large quantities of water.

Instead the emperor is afraid of the power s of what he believes to be a single man, and tries to execute him in various ways. Six Chinese Brothers , by Cheng Hou-tien , is supposed to have pretty much the same story as Five Chinese Brothers but different illustrations, and is probably worth checking out.

The first brother can hold a lake in his mouth, but a village child wanders out too far to pick up fish and drowns when the brother releases the water. The emperor orders him executed by beheading, so he tells the emperor he needs to go home to say goodbye to his family. The second brother who just happens to have an iron neck is sent in his place. When the executioner breaks his sword on the brother's neck, the emperor orders him burned. So they swap in the brother who ca''t be burned and so on The stories with six or seven brothers are more about the emperor's fear of the brothers' power, and his attempts to prevent them from taking the throne.

The Mystery of the Great Swamp. Boston, The Children of Green Knowe , , reprint. Rather than 3 children, there is an old man with an oar and a boy in the front of the boat holding up a lit lantern. It's a spooky cover! Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove , late s. The cover description sounds to me like a Scholastic Press book I read in elementary school -- these were paperback books peddled in the California school system via a newsletter passed out in class. Can't find any record of this book in Internet searches, though there's a Disney? The lantern lights the monster's eyes, or something.

BTW the title I supplied is that of the movie. The book title was at least similar but may not be completely identical. More clues on C56, Creepy Cover: It was MUCH more colorful--rather than two-color with black and white, brown and green, or green and yellow, this had a lot of murky blue, swamp green, yellow glow from the lantern.

The feature which struck me most was the particular round, protruding characteristic of the children's eyes, giving them an eerily apprehensive appearance. The style of the drawing, particularly those bug eyes, is very much like that of the prolific and popular artist Susan Perl. Whether that provides a clue I couldn't say, as I don't know that the illustrator was Susan Perl, or that there'd be any way to confirm it, such as an official Susan Perl website. No idea who published such books, but I'm thinking not Weekly Reader or Scholastic but some fly-by-night printer no one will have heard of.

Normally, once I know the title and author of a favorite childhood book, it's been relatively easy to get copies for my sisters, but in this case my own copy is the ONLY one I have ever SEEN--that includes not only in used bookstores but on eBay or any other online search. It was a big favorite and will go right in the glass case I've built for rare and hard-to-find titles. Vera Cleaver, Ellen Grae , I keep thinking that this might be Ellen Raskin's original cover for Vera Cleaver's Ellen Grae - the kids have dropped the lantern and are trying to get it back with the fishing pole.

But I can't find a copy of the book or an image on-line to check my memory! John, Secret of Hidden Creek , , approximate. I think this might be the book your looking for. Don't know the story, but this person must find a copy of Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman. Won awards in the Netherlands, and is a great story of the Children's Crusades.

The Chidren's Crusade ? Title was definitely "The Children's Crusade" but I can't remember the author. Used to get this one when I'd forgotten the title of "Crusade in Jeans" heartily agree with the earlier recommendation on this one, too! Henry Treece 75, approximate Back again. Internet suggests the Author may be Henry Treece? This is definitely the book I remember, and involves the boy and his sister? CChipmunks dressing as humans: C65 It doesn't seem to me as if this book quite matches, but here's more info: Inside, he makes deliveries to different animals in human clothes.

Marjorie Torrey, Three Little Chipmunks, We searching forever for this book as well and my sister just recently found it and bought it - We grew up with Chuffy, Chirpy and Cheeky!!! I read this book in a Wisconsin one-room schoolhouse in the late forties and then tried to find it for YEARS; I finally found one last year on ebay. CCivil War era family story: Since the poet is so well-known, you should have no trouble in locating the poem. Can't say the same about the book.

C67 civil war era: Sims , illustrated by J. However, the soldiers are in red with tall bearskins, very English and not at all American Civil War. Are you sure this is a children''s book? It's a crazy story set in a town populated by clowns that does involve a missing nose one of the main characters is embarrassed by the fact that his nose is ill-fitting. Big Big Story Book. I have an anthology of childrens stories from the 's called Big Big Story Book. Mine is hardcover wtih a picture of a circus on the front.

This is in rhyming verse with the first verse being: We'll see the World, they cried one day. And hand in hand they ran away. C85 El Cid sounds like I26 stories of heroes C85 el cid: I couldn't discover the size or confirm colour illustrations, or any other definite characters beyond Ogier the Dane - nothing certain on Gawain or Horatio. Everything is ordinarily nice, until she finds an old bronze mirror buried in the sand and looks into it. Hearing the tramp of approaching feet, she turns to face a company of what appears to be Roman soldiers.

Her adventures go on from there C camping trip time travel: There is also a short time-travel series by M. Atkinson, published Routledge , pages "Another excursion in time granted to the MacAlister family who break through a 'thin spot' in the region of Lymington and find themselves in Norman England in the 11th century. While it is a little difficult to believe that the children's kilts enable them to pass without a great deal of commment Burke are forced down in the sea on a flight to Athens and almost immediately find a 'thin spot' where they break through the veil of time and begin to live in the Greece of BC.

They are thrilled by their experience but frightened too, and anxious to get back home. At once he decided to invite four of his friends to explore with him. The effect that danger and fear have on the characters of the boys - bringing out both good and bad traits - is well depicted. For readers of twelve and over. Eluding the guides and the regular tours they go underground by themselves and are soon lost in a network of passages and caves. The author combines vivid and realistic descriptions of the ways in which the children meet danger - how they avoid the rising tide, provide themselves with light, fires, food - with their interest in trying to find proof that there is truth in the legend that here once grew the great Forest of Cokelunde.

A well-written, exciting and credible tale, translated from the French by George Libaire. C Have sold this so can't check inside: This is about 4 boys who find a cave and go exploring, but they get lost. They find an opening in the cave ceiling, but when one boy attempts to scale the wall, he falls and breaks his leg. They finally escape by swimming underwater.

Lots of male bonding, kind of like the movie "Stand By Me" but set in modern times. In the sequel Down River, they surprise crooks taking contraband down river to a waiting ship. Escape into Daylight by Geoffrey Household. The only way out is through twisted passages and an underground river. Set in Nova Scotia, the story involves an old gold mine with many lengthy tunnels,- it is here that the children get lost. There was a book in the Trixie Belden series where the kids were in a cave, and there was an underground river. Involved some kind of endangered fish called the "ghost fish.

Enid Blyton, The Secret of Killimooin. Enid Blyton, The Valley of Adventure, s approximate. This third book of the Adventure series which also includes Castle of Adventure, Ship of Fast-paced action, burnt old houses, caves and secret tunnels, treasure, and four children who try to outwit bad guys while trapped in a remote and lonely valley. I'm not positive, but the kids might very well have escaped from the Valley by boat down an underground river.

I believe they talked about stalactites quite a bit too. The original Blyton "Adventure" books included terrific drawings by Stuart Tresilian which make the reader feel as if he or she is actually a participant in the story. They are now available as reprints in paperback with entirely different covers. Could this one possibly be Umbrella? Momo receives boots and an umbrella for her birthday and then has to wait and wait for it to rain.

She does walk through the rain in the story, to nursery school. It has a maroon cover with a girl in summer shorts and light top and an umbrella in rain splashing around in puddles. The cover and the Title somewhat matched your description!! You can often find this reader on auction sites with photographs. The effect is really pleasing to the eye and consistent with the Parisian tour mood! The copy I had was reprinted by Puffin Books in I don't know if this is what you are looking for, there is a part where Madeline is exploring Paris in the rain, or perhaps she was lost from the group.

This is the first thing I though of. I hope it helped! I should have said The First or Original story was Madeline in the hospital had her appendix out I believe. But I recall one where she was lost or exploring Paris in the rain. Again, not an exact match. It is a children's Paris that she sees: Uptown Downtown is the title of one of the Bank Street Unit Readers, which was a basal reader series featuring multiracial kids living in urban areas. It is out of print. Published by MacMillan in Edited by Irma Simonton Black. Illustrated by Ron Becker, Robert Quackenbush, and others. Unfortunately, I don't remember if there is a story about a girl in a rain storm.

Gregg, Pauline, The Chain of History , This is a selection - probably a short story - in a high school literature anthology. I remember it very clearly. Check out some textbook anthologies. I looked through the high school literature anthologies in the Library of Congress from the 20s and 30s without finding the story.

More specific information would help. The story about the little old lady whose pig won't go over the stile can be found in the Better Homes and Gardens Storybook from , although I don't think any of the other stories described in the stumper are included in this anthology. The Crooked Sixpence is in this book very beautifully illustrated.

It goes like this: Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the other two stories described. I can identify one of your stories. You old street cat! Unfortunately "Crooked Sixpence" is not in my book but this info may further the hunt for your treasured book! James Thurber, Many Moons. This is a pretty unlikely match, but it does have some things in common. It's about a princess who wants the moon, and everyone the king asks explains why this is impossible, until the the court jester comes up with a solution.

Balet, Amos and the Moon , Balet's great illustrations show an old New York's different immigrant shopkeepers' windows in colorful detail. It is the Chinese laundryman who gives Amos the birdcagto hold the moon's reflection. C I checked google for Caresse When I tried Marie Laveu, there were tons. Perhaps this is of possible interst to customer: This may be too late, but the blurb says "In the blackest night the voodoo queen strikes with magic, terror and death! This came to mind because the Happy Hollisters books are mysteries in the same sense that the Bobbsey Twins books are mysteries!

So glad to see this request -- I have been looking for this same book for ages! I read it in , and it was not new then. The girl in the book is quite sickly, and she worships her big brother, the captain of the clipper ship. The title might be the name of the ship. I too have been looking for this book forever! It's New York, not Boston, and Cousin Andy, not Lissa's brother -- but he definitely brings her the mini-croquet set, and it is a mystery. How lovely to finally own this favorite book of my childhood!

A longshot, but there is an incident in this book in which the Nome King grows to a tremendous size and makes off with Ozma's palace on his head. The illustrations are by John R. Again, a bit of a longshot, but in "The Swing in the Summerhouse" there is a chapter called "The Man Castle" where Eddy finds himself inside his body as if inside a castle and must go up toward his head and awaken his senses.

David Weisner, Free Fall, Was it a wordless picture book? Boy falls asleep reading and dreams of flying, almost MCEscher-esque bizarre juxtapositions and connections. Leila Berg, Fire Engine by Mistake. I think it might be this, or Berg's other book, The Little Car. The Little Car Puffin, I can't tell you what edition to look for, or even precisely which fairy tale to look for there are a number which employ the three dresses, among them being "Donkeyskin" or the Grimm version of "Allerleirauh the Many Furred Creature " but I can tell you you're not going to figure it out looking under Cinderella.

I'd widen your base to look at some fairy tale anthologies if I were you. This book does not match in all particulars BUT.. Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck , matches the other details so well! The three balls, the three gorgeous gowns superior illustrations with unusual textures by Anita Lobel Great version of Cinderella!!

See also the Back in Print page. The pictures were wonderful and I remember that Cinderella had 3 dresses because that was the only time I had seen that version of it. One as bright as the moon, one as golden as the sun and I believe the first one was red. They were from Mc Calls. I believe the one with Cinderella had a pink cover.

The other stories were just as wonderful. Be sure you look at the books on the Most Requested Antholgies page to see if any look familiar. Could be one of the poetry volumes of Childcraft , edition with orange and blue cover, reprinted with red and white cover. If "New Shoes" is actually "Choosing Shoes" About buying new shoes then this book fits in all particulars except Paul Klee artwork-but then again I am not exactly sure what Paul Klee bugs look like! Check out this book at this site! This is a YA novel about a swim team.

Don't remember anything about the word game This has to be much older than the 90s. I remember reading this story in either elementary school or junior high and I graduated from high school over Gasp! For some reason, I associate the story with the author of Follow My Leader. Did he write for textbooks or school readers? Any chance this was a short story and not a novel? This Scholastic anthology is from the right time and includes a story called High Diver , by John Ashworth.

Just to confirm that yes, this has got to be the short story? The new diving team member who? The first-person narrator, a generous-spirited old team member who recruited him i. The new guy had bombed somewhat in his first meet a few weeks earlier. The nice old team member whom the coach keeps saying is good, but not performing up to his full potential does indeed psych his new fellow team member up again, terminology not used back then! It was decades later that I realized they were modifying the word? Anyway, what worked for the scared new kid worked for the other! By gosh if the old kid wasn?

I even remember exactly the closing dialogue: The old kid says bewilderedly, stunned at his own success: I did what you wanted, Coach. I talked him into it? The coach interrupted him: You talked yourself into it, you diving fool!? Wish all of us ever experiencing stage fright always had such a compatriot to talk us into the right frame of mind! My sight-reading abilities, for instance, are really, really good. Sometimes I let nerves get in the way of the production of beautiful vocal tone, however!

I want a companion on hand at all times like the old team member in this story! I couldn't find Snip the Tailor as part of an anthology, but I did find it as an individual book. It's by Miriam Blanton Huber Nisbet, And I found Snip the Tailor: Sorry, don't think this is what you're looking for. I found a reference to Snip the Tailor in Index To Fairy Tales, Myths, and Legends - 2nd Supplement, but I don't think it's the book you're looking for since it appears to be a school reader.

Wonder-story books reading foundation series. A good number of other tales were included in the reader. Byrd Baylor, The Chinese Bug , Could this be it? Illustrated by Beatrice Darwin. Wilbur, Richard, Digging for China , This picture book poem has illustrations by William Pene du Bois. I also vaguely remember a very small picture book about digging to China with illustrations and possibly the writing as well by Joan Walsh Anglund. A little earlier than the 's, but The Little Carpenter by?? New and true books for the young, no.

Here is a link for Chinese Folk Tales. None of the books listed were the book I am looking for. I may have purchased it through a school book fair?? I'm just not sure.

Please keep looking, thank you. Not a solution, but could it be an anthology of Japanese fairy tales, rather than Chinese? The first story described sounds like the Japanese story The Crane Maiden , about an old woman who takes in a crane during a winter storm, the bird turns into a beautiful girl, and the woman raises her as her daughter. This is definitely an anthology of Japanese folk tales that you are looking for, not Chinese. The thief falls onto the wolf and each believes the other to be the "terrible eek. The date for Compton's retelling is too late for the anthology that you are looking for, but it sounds like basically the same story.

A lot of the details are different than the book described, but it's the only thing that came up in my database search of kangaroos and wars! They were known throughout the world as the "Stoppers of the Great War". Lady Adelaide, a boxing kangaroo, helps to defeat the German army, thus becoming a heroine of the Great War. Morgan, Boys' Book of Science and Construction. Another possibility is N. Boys' Book of Mechanical Models, Windsor, editor, The Boy Mechanic Book 3 , They consist of articles with diagrams for building all kinds of things.

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Book 3 is subtitled " Things For Boys To Do" and has instructions for an aerial cableway, miniature tank, motor car, parcel delivery bicycle, etc. Hope this helps - just discovered your wonderful site tonight! Tomie de Paola, Bill and Pete. Picture books about a crocodile and his bird friend who claims to be his 'toothbrush'. C I thought it might be this, but when I look at it, it doesn't seem to have the geometrical artwork that I think I have seen on a smaller book around here. This is picture-book size, with bold illustrations throughout.

Zic-Zac, the crocodile bird; a good neighbor story from the Nile. Messner, , Junior Literary Guild. Another title I find on the Net is: Zic-Zac and the Crocodile. Griffith, Helen, Alex and the Cat , Just a possibility - but Alex the dog thinks that being a cat is preferable to being a dog. The life of a cat does not require as much as that which is expected of a dog. Meader, Stephen, Bulldozer , I think this is it. I remember the part where the hero es? Meader, Stephen, Bulldozer , , copyright. It is definitely Meader's Bulldozer. I am a librarian in New Jersey and we have a collection of Meader books.

Merritt Parmalee Allen , Mudhen. It is a long shot, but it is the only book of boy stories featuring one character that I know. The Mudhen played a lot of tricks, too. Robert Newton Peck, Soup series. Just a possibility - I can't identify the episode, but I've only read one or two of the books. Could this be an episode in one of Robert Newton Peck's Soup books? I know there's a chapter in Soup where he ties people up with rope, including his Aunt Carrie, which earns him a thrashing.

The episode described sounds like something Soup would do. J amie Gilson , 13 Ways to Sink a Sub. I seem to remember the incident with string occurring in this book, where 4th-grader Hobie Hanson and his friends try to make their substitute teacher cry. Gilson wrote several books about Hobie and his school friends. Although it was published in There are fire breathing Cockatrices and a Gryphon. Three cousins called Peter Penelope and Simon journey to the land of Mythologia where flowers never die and there are four sunsets a day.

I think you have the title correct. Let me know if you want it You answered my query C , but I think you chose the wrong book. I contacted a bookseller who has the book for sale and he said it definitely takes place during the Revolutionary war. I specifically remember that the period is the 's because the guy never tells the girl what side he is fighting on. The book takes place over the 4 years of the Civil War.

The Revolutionary War lasted 8 years. John Lawson, The Spring Rider. There's a young girl and, I believe, her brother. I am the original stumper requester- the book has an elf that they call a brownie apparantly brownies and elves are the same thing and one is grandpa and he falls asleep on a shelf, another loses his glasses, Mrs. Claus bakes cookies for the elves, they feed the reindeer and on brownie spill red paint.

Sparkie with George Hinke illus. There are a couple of things that don't match. Gran'pa Elf just won't wear his glasses. The illustrations are vibrant busy oil paintings by Geo. At the end Santa returns to find that their cat has had kittens. Sparkie , Jolly Old Santa Claus , When I said that I was going by the 's reprint, which said it had the original story and all the original illustrations!

Still I had a sneaking suspicion that it was revised because I vaguely remembered some things such as the spilled paint and the elves going to bed which were not there! Nearly all the elves have been renamed, except Grampa. Claus in the kitchen with making cookies and when the work is all done she serves them cookies. If this is the book beware of the reprint! It is not the same but still very charming. There are sections missing and some new ones added. This sounds quite a bit like a book that I just recently refound for my son who was born in , so the right time frame.

There is a lot going on in the pictures including pretty much every thing you mentioned. I think it was originally written in Finnish. The genre is defintielty not in the children's section! It's definitely adult fiction I am starting to think it's probably in an anthology of short stories. This has some similarities to the short story "The Unknown Masterpiece" by Honore de Balzac , but I don't think anyone paints cats. In Balzac's story, a young painter persuades his beautiful girlfriend to pose for an older man, a painter who has gone mad over a masterpiece he has been working on.

It's a great story and the poster would probably enjoy it. Here are some more details: The trap that the people designed was a large hemisphere suspended from a pulley. I think the people wore pointy hats and rode horses. Could this be Color Kittens , the Little Golden book? This does sound like The Color Kittens, except that there were only two of them Hush and Brush , and I don't recall the colors as being pastels, necessarily. As I recall the story, Brush and Hush were trying to create green paint, and came up with pink and orange before they finally got the recipe right.

They then fell asleep and had dreams about some other colors before waking up, getting pouncy, and spilling over all of their buckets, thus creating all the colors in the world. Myers, Dragon Takes A Wife. There was an early edition of this book that might be what you are looking for. I totally remember that quote, also had the book in question. There was more than one in the series but the character boy dragon was called dennis the dragon and at least one of the books was named dennis the dragon.

I think the first one was about him going off to school. This sounds like the story of the foolish fir tree who wished for leaves of gold, glass and lettuce. Thanks for taking the time to send in this suggestion. The gist of the tree story is the same, but the book we're trying to find was prose. Any other thoughts would be appreciated. Bailey Carolyn , short story in collection - little fir tree? I tell my own version of this story. The tree is not a Christmas tree, however, just a fir tree in the forest.

It wants to have pretty leaves instead of ugly needles. Then when given a chance to wish, it tries for something even better than the broadleaf trees. It gets crystals and the wind destroys them, gold leaves and a man picks them. Then the tree decides to go with the original idea of green broad leaves, but a goat eats them. Finally the tree realizes that it is best to be happy with one's self. The story in the collection is entitled The Pine Tree and is the same referred to by Caroline Bailey. This version is not a Christmas tree by a pine tree in the forest that wishes for gold leaves, then glass, then green leaves and is finally happy with the original green needles.

Ursula K LeGuin, Catwings series??? Boegehold, In the Castle of Cats? I'm pretty sure this is one of the Cosgrove "Serendipity" books - not sure which one, but sounds very, very familiar. B everly Nichols, The Mountain of Magic. A caterpilar that was scared of becoming a butterfly hatches out, and flies furiously to warn them.

I think he dies of exhaustion. I told my sister the name and she said that sounded familliar, but we may be confusing our information?? We both really only remember the pictures in this book, so we have little other reference to go by Thank you so much for your help. Nice black and white illustrations. A classic kid's story of a family who inherits an apartment house in Palm Glade, Florida and the strange tenants and hurricanes that they have to deal with.

But again many thank yous for any attempt at finding this book for me! Hopkins Apartment" or something of that nature I'm still in search of this colorful thing and actually have found pictures of a wall painted with the same illustrations in the book i'm trying to find,,,but still no title I don't think yours is the same Was your aunt from San Antonio? If so, this may be the book you're looking for: I did check with UT Austin library research. They say my aunt's poem is not listed in this book so I guess it isn't the book I'm looking for.

But thank you for your trouble. Some more long shot possibilities, found in the WorldCat database: The Sigmund Press, Washington high school, Dallas, Texas. Washington High School Dallas, Tex. Govindan, Santhini, The ice-cream dragon and other stories. This may be too late a date, but I'm sending it because of the title. And Balban the Lion who hiccups.. If not, you can meet them now as they inhabit the magical world of this book. Nesbit's ' The Last of the Dragons and some others '.

Smith, Dorothy Hall ed. It may be this one on the solved list , if the story of The First Christmas Tree is a bit garbled - in that one the woodcutter father gets lost in the snow, and is guided home by Christmas lights on trees. It has colour illos and a peach? However, it could also be The Santa Claus Book, if the recollection is of the story Susie's Christmas Star, with the little girl following her own footsteps in the snow along a street.

That one is Golden Books, , and also on the Solved list. This book sounds very much like one of the Christmas Ideals. I was a child in the 50s, and read my grandmother's. She bought them every year. They are now softcover magazine format, but they used to be hard cover. Some booksellers specialize in them They would have color as we well as line and monochrome illustartions, stories and poems. They repeat a lot, so the individual story could be repeated later.

Pine's Mixed-Up Signs features a similar idea: Pine makes new signs for the town, but he can't find his glasses, so he puts them up randomly all over the city, to comic effect. Now back in print. See the Leonard Kessler page. You suggested that the solution to my query might be Mr.

Pine's Mixed-up Signs , but Kessler's illustrations didn't look familiar at all. The book format, as I remember, was bigger than an easy reader with full-page spreads and much brighter, less sketchy illustrations than were pictured in the "Purple House" book. So, unless the illustrations were very different in the "Signs" book, this isn't it.

I hesitate to mention this book because it is an easy reader so it isn't "bigger than an easy reader" and the illustrations are in four colors turquoise, yellow, black and white and may therefore not be "colorful" enough. Sam the owl befriends Gus the firefly, who can make shapes in the air by keeping his light on and flying about rapidly.

Sam teaches Gus to make words that look like neon signs. After a short period of innocent fun, the mischievous firefly uses his newfound talent to crash cars, confuse airplanes, and cause a stampede towards the local movie theater he writes the words "COME IN! The angry cook catches Gus in a jar and begins to drive the firefly out of town.

His truck stalls on a railroad track just as a train approaches. Sam the owl smashes the jar and liberates Gus, who prevents a collision by writing "STOP" in front of the oncoming train. All is forgiven and the two friends depart. Arnold, Tedd, The Signmaker's Assistant, If you're absolutely sure that the book is from the s, this can't be it, but it meets all the other criteria. This book is larger than an easy reader and full of big, colorful street scenes.

Norman, a young boy who cleans brushes at the signmaker's shop, decides to make a few signs of his own when the signmaker isn't around to supervise. Norman has a great deal of fun at the townspeople's expense, but realizes he has erred when they become angry and tear down every sign in the town, old as well as new.

Chaos ensues and the townspeople chase the signmaker into the woods. Norman apologizes and peace and order are restored. Even if this isn't the book you're looking for, it's a worthwhile read, so check it out! Actually a particular sign I remember is more like a big billboard and something on it - a picture or phrase- is defaced in a humorous way. Possibly traffic signs are changed as well. Very colorful pics, busy and funny - sorry I can't remember more. I remember the cover was salmon-colored, but I think that was just a library binding - now why can I remember that detail, but not more important ones?

Thanks for the guess. Kind of a longshot, but the date is right. It is all fantastic nonsense, carried out with perfect harmony in the good read-aloud text and the details and atmosphere of striking color illustrations. The double-spread scene showing the Dopplers enjoying their new canals will occupy a small child a long time.

In this story the whole town is turned topsy-turvy great green hooligan vine town, a really fun book. Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Changeling. I could be wrong, but I know I read this book back in the 70's. I don't, however, remember the plot. This does sound like part of the answer but only part - the main characters are two young girls, Martha Abbott and Ivy Carson, but Ivy's young sister does play a part, and there is a memorable picture of a dark-haired girl crouched under a bush. The Carson home is large and dilapidated - the girls also explore the ruins of a burnt-out house.

However I don't recall anyone called Luci or fleeing from a danger. In that one a very ordinary English family has one different daughter, called Melusine, who seems to have witchy powers and can ill-wish people. At one point the children hide behind a hedge while a girl who let Melusine's guinea pig die is bucked off her horse.

The house they live in in the country is rather old and dilapidated. At the end of the book they seek the vicar's help in driving the evil spirit from Melusine through a night of prayer, and after that she is called by her middle name, which is Joy. Boston last name , The Children of Green Knowe , s. I think this may be the book you are looking for. The first in the series of the Green Knowe books. I wonder if this could be The Dagger and the Bird? Two children, Luke and Bridget shortened to Biddie search for their younger brother who's been stolen by fairies.

If the poster has reversed the names in memory, but remembered that one name was shortened, it could fit. If it's a Christmas story, it's one that has been told in many versions. The Lutheran church put out a book and video called Red Boots for Christmas. It's also been called The Cobbler's Gift. The cobbler in these stories doesn't always show kindness, though, until the end in Red Boots for Christmas, he is a bitter, selfish man. He is visited by an angel who says that God will be visiting him he goes around cleaning up, making a special meal and trying to find a gift for God in the meantime, assorted poor people come to his door and are either helped or not helped, depending on the version.

In the end, he is upset because God didn't come then God or the angel speaks to him and says that the needy people coming to the door represented God, and that was the point. He then offers the "child" a place to sleep a straw mat and then a breakfast. The "child" thanks him for his kindness and tells the cobbler that whatever he does that day he will be successful at and do all day long. When the cobbler arrives at his shop he begins to repair the shoes and proceeds to do so all day long, making a lot of money. The greedy shopkeepers see this and ask him how this has come to be, so the cobbler tells them of the "childs" "wish".

The wife tells the husband to find the "child" so that they can benefit the same way. The husband finds the "child" and takes him in for the evening providing him with a wonderful dinner, a feather bed to sleep in and a wonderful breakfast. As the "child" leaves he tells them the same as the cobbler.

So the shopkeepers rush to their store and clean out cabinets and drawers to hold all the money tey're going to make. Instead, all they do is empty boxes all day and they make no money. I saw this story in a small book, like a Golden Book in the early seventies, but I don't know who the author was or the name of the story. I have looked for it for quite some time. I actually have three suggestions for this one. The first is the book Candy Land , which was a part of the Little Color Classics series and had a number of color plates of illustrations.

No author was listed for it, but the illustrator was Hildegard.

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It was about a little girl named Betty and her friend Brunny who was a bear, not a boy and how they visited a land made of candy. It was published in and has a similar story a girl named Lily visits a fantasy land of candy , but I do not know if it was ever published with color illustrations. Finally, there is In Wink-a-Way Land by Eugene Field , published in - it definitely had color illustrations and a picture of children picking candy from a field on the cover, but I do not really know the story. Hope one of these is what you are looking for. Baum, Frank, Magical Monarch of Mo. Sounds like it could be a chapter out of the Magical Monarch of Mo , written before s.

In one chapter one of the princes is banished to an island made entirely of candy. I have a few suggestions for you since they were offered to me as solutions to my stumper. I think President Smith turns out to be a good president the book is sometimes cited in bibliographies of utopian fiction , though. I don't know anything about the Goldsmith book beyond the title and fact that it's set some twenty years in what in was the future.

Have you looked through the Anthology Finder to see if anything looks familiar? Check out the Big Golden Book of Poetry I don't know which collection you had, but you can find the puffin poem here scroll down a ways. I remember the dog and cat got in a fight and there were bits of fabric all around when they finished fighting. This might be it.. If the collection included The Owl and the Pussycat , it would not have been a book of poems by Field , since that one is by Edward Lear.

The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat is properly called The Duel, and it has been included in many collections of childrens' poetry. Here are some possibilities - who knew there were so many Christmas horror books out there?? And I'm thinking the first books may all be the same book with different titles. I don't have it in front of me, but here is what I remember. Ozzie is a fun-loving boy who irritates the adults around him with his incessant jokes, riddles and pranks, and his obsession with board games.

When he gets into serious trouble at school, his parents think about sending him to a military academy, and Ozzie decides to run away. While climbing down the trellis outside his window, he falls into The Big Joke Game, a life-size board game that he must win in order to return to earth. With his "guardian devil" Bub at his side, Ozzie has many strange experiences and gains a degree of maturity before the book concludes.

Fun and interesting without being preachy or heavy-handed. See the Solved Mysteries "B" page for more information. Could it be any of these?

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Evers, Alf, The deer-jackers. On the far side of the mountain. I did just read more than I should have of this one: Or around the same pace or character attributes? Similar writing style, but of course, it is the same author. Very …more Eh no. See all 31 questions about Just One Day…. Lists with This Book. I read this while traveling which was the BEST idea. I love how we got to experience so many different countries and meet so many different people without the story getting confusing. Allyson grew so much as a character and ahhhh I just loved it!

View all 7 comments. I want to go back into the love of travel and growth of the main character!

Hope I love it as much this time! I wasn't enjoying it and it was tearing up a loved memory for me. Here's a video about the idea of reading books at the perfect time: Just One Day blew my mind. It took me January, It took me all over the world and blew my mind. I dove right in.. I loved the format of this book so very much.

Almost the first half of his book takes place over just one day: The second part of the book then covered an entire year. It was really impactful having such a huge part being such a short amount of time, because after Part One as a reader I felt what Allyson felt: It felt like an entire novel all on its own! Then we fly through an entire year.. There were actually a lot of characters in this book, and they all felt so genuine and critical! I loved that we interacted with so many different people and that even if their impact on Allyson's life was small, it was felt.

I really liked Allyson as a main character: I felt hope for her. And as for Willem, it's fascinating that we really don't know that much about him. It reminds me of Looking for Alaska, where when Alaska disappears you long for her but you then realize that you really know nothing about her! I felt the same here: I wanted Allyson to find Willem, and I felt attached to him, but really I didn't know him at all!

Like eating all of the desserts. I love reading about different cultures and different settings, and this book did NOT disappoint. So many places where I actually felt like I was IN the places, not just looking at them. I was so absorbed in the surroundings that I was constantly immersed in other countries.

In my opinion there are basically three types of writing: I felt the latter in this book. I really enjoyed the story that Gayle Forman created, I loved the characters, the emotion, the drama, the settings, the messages and themes and morals, but I wasn't swooning over beautifully crafted sentences. I just didn't notice them because I was so busy being alive in the story!

The messages in this book are brilliant brilliant brilliant. So many things that I related to, that I felt I learned, that I agreed with. That travel is important, that we can be different versions of ourselves, that life is just a chain of accidents, that we need to control where we go in life, that we should never give up, and so many more things! I loved this book. It is absolutely one of my favourite novels of all time. I know that I will be constantly rereading this novel for the rest of my life. My only complaint is that it made me realize that I need to visit Europe..

I am so excited for the sequel that comes out in a matter of days thank goodness because I can't wait too much longer! View all 9 comments. Nothing better than this book itself can summon up the whirlwind of emotion I felt when I read it. Although I cracked open its spine with trepidation — there are, after all, a plethora of mixed revie Rating: Although I cracked open its spine with trepidation — there are, after all, a plethora of mixed reviews out there — my feelings quickly changed from that of anxiety to excitement as I was swept up alongside Allyson on her breathtaking journey.

Just One Day is a novel that will very easily either captivate or disappoint readers. When Willem, an enigmatic Dutch actor who Allyson sees performing Shakespeare in London, offers to take her around Paris — for just one day — she agrees, despite her goody-two-shoes attitude. Nevertheless, her exhilarating journey is abruptly halted when, the next morning, Willem is gone. Now, Allyson is distraught, both at thinking that Willem may have just used her and at contemplating her life in college as a pre-med student — a path that her mother, not her, wants to follow.

Allyson has a certain vulnerability about her that makes her impossible not to love. One of my favorite aspects of this tale was the subtle heartbreak that came not only with seeing Allyson and Melanie grow apart, but also Allyson and her parents. In my eyes, what makes Just One Day such a hit-or-miss novel is the mere fact that Allyson is a character trying to find her place in the world. After her trip to Paris, she comes to the stark realization that no one really sees her — not her parents, not her best friends, no one — except for Willem.

Willem, who took a bargain in spending a day with her, unknowingly changed her entire life, not just because of who he was, but in what he brought out inside her. What I loved about this story was that Allyson found herself again - finds herself again — and this time, without Willem. Nevertheless, I will admit that Just One Day is not a perfect story. Unlike other readers, however, I was never bothered by the mysterious figure that Willem remained throughout the novel. Just One Day is a novel that just must be read. It is beautifully written and to see Forman take on something different — the idea of living truly and happily instead of the idea of choosing between life and death — was refreshing.

I was thinking about this the whole day, ever since I finished it last night at You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings. View all 38 comments. Nov 14, Emily May rated it liked it Shelves: So I guess it's only fair that I appease the two of them and rate exactly down the middle. To be honest, I have come to expect more from Ms Forman's characters. I found it extremely difficult to care about either Allyson or Willem, especially the latter. While I came to appreciate Allyson's story more in the second half and had my heart singing along to the sad tunes of heartbreak, I never "Ain't such a line between faking and being.

While I came to appreciate Allyson's story more in the second half and had my heart singing along to the sad tunes of heartbreak, I never came to care much about Willem. Something which became even more obvious when I recently decided to try the sequel - Just One Year. I've been putting this book off because of the mixed reviews I've seen online but I finally gave into my need to check out everything by my favourite authors. This story is about an American girl called Allyson who goes on a tour around various European cities in the summer before she is due to start college.

Allyson has always been the straight-laced, err-on-the-side-of-caution kinda girl, but a meeting with a boy in London seems set to change all of that In a completely spur of the moment decision, Allyson decides to do something crazy for once and runs away to Paris with Willem where they spend one day and night together. When she wakes in the morning, Allyson discovers that Willem has disappeared. Disappointed, she returns to her life in the US and tries to carry on with College and forget about Willem. But she sinks deeper and deeper into depression.

With the help of new friends, Allyson decides that all might not be lost after all, and that what she is really seeking might go deeper than a boy she only knew for one day. Surprisingly, the second half of this book worked for me more than the first. The first half or third is certainly more action-packed with spontaneous trips to Paris and a whirlwind romance. But I was so irritated by Allyson and her upper middle class white girl problems Am I supposed to pity her because she got to go on a trip of a lifetime and just sulked at every stop?

She is also a complete Mary Sue.

Just One Day (Just One Day, #1) by Gayle Forman

Whine, whine, whine about all these other girls that are more beautiful than she is Is there any female character in this book that Allyson doesn't view with disdain? She's jealous of the overtly sexual Celine, she constantly compares herself to her also overtly sexual friend - Melanie, even her own mother is portrayed negatively. I might expect this from some authors, but not Gayle Forman. I also didn't expect Forman to be all tell and no show with Willem's characterization.

Apparently he's charming, but I never saw any evidence of it. The second half appealed to me more because I could understand and appreciate a story about a young woman suffering from depression more than I could understand and appreciate a story about a poor little rich girl who discovered the big wide world wasn't as sparkly as it looked from her mansion window. I thought this second part of the book was realistic and sad - really touching in parts. I especially loved the Shakespeare parallels and the whole theme of pretending to be someone you're not By the time the ending rolled around, I was stood there right in the middle of the story with Allyson.

My heart was pounding with dread and anticipation at what she would find. I finished it knowing that no matter how much Willem didn't float my boat, I would still have to read the sequel just to find out what happens. And I suppose that made the earlier disappointment worth it. View all 15 comments. As seen on The Readventurer Just One Day is a story of self-discovery sandwiched between the romance-heavy beginning and end, two stories in one if you will.

High school graduate Allyson meets an amateur Dutch actor Willem during her post-HS culture tour of Europe and with a spontaneity unnatural to her throws away all her caution and embarks on a day trip to Paris with him. They spend a day and night together, and then it's over, abruptly. Allyson goes back home then, starts college and succum As seen on The Readventurer Just One Day is a story of self-discovery sandwiched between the romance-heavy beginning and end, two stories in one if you will.

Allyson goes back home then, starts college and succumbs to ennui. Her already depressed state is made even more severe by hardships in college, intense helicopter parenting and lack of friends. But her experiences during that one day in Paris eventually encourage her to change her life in a major way and go back to Paris These are the words that were constantly on my mind while reading Just One Day. I am not sure a tone like this can work for me for an entire romance story. I obviously like some drama, if I enjoyed Forman's very tragic previous novels If I Stay and Where She Went , but even those books were based on a love story that started out as charming, happy, romantic, swoony.

In Just One Day , on the other hand, it's all doom and gloom and sadness, from the beginning till the very end. I am sure I would have liked Just One Day more if the romance were more uplifting, interesting. I found it hard to care for Allyson and Willem. Allyson is a dull, passive narrator. Willem lacks charisma, charm, sexiness, humor even. Their one day in Paris is not romantic or fun in any way. I attribute my negative impression of this day trip to the flashbacks of Taken running through my mind and my concern for Allyson's safety, and to the general grimness of the whole European adventure.

While I do not doubt the accuracy of Forman's depiction of Europe, this depiction is just depressing, to exactly match the novel's overall dark mood. How can one be so miserable in a midst of so much diversity, culture, excitement and freedom? I don't get it. If I had the experiences in Paris Allyson had in this novel, I would have considered such extended date a complete failure and a waste of time, and nobody would have gotten laid by the end of it. But this one day has a great effect on Allyson, and this part of the novel I never quite accepted or understood.

Because I mostly felt indifferent towards the romance frame of this self-discovery story, the middle portion of the book felt more compelling to me. It is especially compelling if you are looking for books with those notorious "new adult" experiences - exploration of life after high school, learning how to be independent from your parents, choosing an educational path that suits you and not people around you, finding new friends, getting your first job. But Allyson's struggles with her parents and her diving into new friendships were the highlights for me.

It is hard to give this book a fair assessment, because so much of my dissatisfaction with this novel rests on my personal taste in YA romance, college experiences and overall attitude to life. On a technical level, Just One Day is well written. For me as an opinionated reader, however, this story felt lackluster, with its unjustified main character's ennui, realistic, but grim portrayal of various European countries and unconvincing romance. I would pick Anna and the French Kiss over this novel any day.

It's just much, much more fun. There HAS to be some fun in any romance, am I right? View all 17 comments. But sheesh, what a place to stop the story! Can't wait for the next book this fall. View all 43 comments. Nov 27, Lola rated it did not like it Shelves: Leaving everything behind to follow a complete, but oh so handsome and charming, stranger?

No, no, no, no, no. This is not okay. The possible truth is that I should not have given this book a chance, but how was I supposed to know that Willem would not stir my heart? At th Leaving everything behind to follow a complete, but oh so handsome and charming, stranger? I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had felt something otherworldly beautiful between Allyson and Willem. Willem is indeed charming and interesting, but so are a million other guys.

Anyone can become interesting to you if you give them a chance to open up about themselves, find common interests with them or are in admiration with them. Sure, I believe in finishing what you start, but not when there are so many other books out there that deserve a chance. View all 3 comments. I genuinely love this book. I have for four years now, but like.

A lot has changed in that time. Perhaps most significantly, I had braces four years ago. That doesn't have anything to do with why my feelings on this book would have changed, but I believe it had the most significant impact on my evolving personality. But also four years ago, I was a lil thing. I mean, I was still very tall then, but lil emotionally. I liked every book I read. It's insane to imagine. So the fact that I reread this times during a period when I did not reread Any Books is not enough for me to be confident that I would still like this book.

Because I have very little in common with fifteen-year-old me. I've straight up one-starred at least 3 books I gave 5 stars in We follow Allyson, who at the beginning of this book is hashtag enveloped in an extremely overcontrolled tour of Europe called Teen Tours! She is with her friend Mel who is hotter than her, which is pretty classic.

But then a Very Attractive boy man, I guess comes up and is more into Allyson!!!! But what is unfortunately not very classic and what makes me love this book so freakin much is Allyson's character arc. Allyson is very play-by-the-rules. She does not like to take risks. Her life is therefore very boring. Even though that means lying and stuff!! Stuff she doesn't do!! So she goes and sees it, it's all dandy, he throws a coin at her more romantic than it sounds, supposedly , and that's that.

This full-on worldly total babe is on her train to London. They go to spend a day in Paris together. I'm going to say that again. That would already be a pretty good book. I love me some v simplistic cheesy romances set in Paris. Anna and the French Kiss. But it makes up, like, a third of the whole thing. I'm honestly sorry about all the caps lock. Maybe this book isn't perfect but I'm not open to the idea that it isn't.

Because this book is pretty goddamn inspiring to me. I don't want to be cheesy or heartfelt or emotionally honest because that's profoundly off-brand for me and also generally unpleasant, but I can be kiiiiind of non-risk taking and rule-following sometimes I'm highkey cringing myself so it must be well past end-this-review o'clock. I will finish by saying: I loved this book just as much rereading it as I did in twenty goddamn thirteen.

Bitter vessel of hatred; one stars books she used to love; in the midst of a Reread Extravaganza that is going, on average, quite badly. Fifteen, enjoys the simple things in life, still has braces I think, mentally rates every book highly doesn't have a Goodreads yet. But those two selves form a lopsided Venn diagram. And in the needlepoint-small cross section of that diagram: And also for sweets.

I legitimately, earnestly, worry- and sarcasm-free can't wait to read the sequel. Maybe it was to help me find someone else entirely. And I finally did it. It took me more than a year since I bought the book to actually read it. Now, boy, I did have such a hard time reading this book. And just like it happened to Allyson, I realized a great deal about myself. Her friend Melanie is the wild one. The one who is adventurous and always tries to make Allyson to try new things.

Sometimes, when you know someone from a very long time, you just end up not knowing them at all. And going to different colleges just make that even clearer. Sue me but I believe there are a lot of fucked up people in the world who can be whoever they want to be to get just what they want from people. The whole day she spent with Willem was a really great day. I had trouble with Allyson being so childish but her parents were so damn strict with her and all that control, well, I knew why she was the way she was. Why did Willem leave? So, who the fuck is Willem, then? It all makes sense but still, he was, is, a great mystery.

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Why was he the way he was? Why was he so far from his home? Is he running away? Those same questions and more are the only thing Allyson can think. Oh, and the pain and misery she feels. The feeling that she was more herself when she was with Willem for that one day than all these years. The Allyson who was happy, carefree and real. Sometimes, you can only feel something by its absence. By the empty space it leaves behind. She was such a bitch. Not to people but to herself. She was really smart, she knew things were going to end at some point or she was going to end up living the life her parents wanted her to live.

So, after a few breakdowns and family fights and arguments with Melanie, she started to see the fucking light and started to do shit by herself. Because the book was really good. The changes, the people around Allyson, the situations, the feeling… All those things were exactly what she needed, what we needed to read because I think we can all relate to them. He showed me how to get lost, and then I showed myself how to get found. Maybe this is just life. When you open yourself up to it.

When you put yourself in the path of it. When you say yes. Or be a different version of yourself, a better version, a version that makes you happy. Going back to Paris was a good call and I got happy what she worked her ass off and managed to do it. I liked how she worked things with her mom without giving ground away and I loved when she went to places because she wanted to. The end of the book were both predictable and shocking. Thanks fuck I have the sequel.

Maybe I'm broken, maybe I'm wrong I could've spoken sooner than I should've Only the good die old That's what they told me, but I don't know Maybe I'm breaking up with myself Maybe I'm thinking I should just keep to The things that I've been told Wait for the colors to turn to gold Do you know? You're not alone, you're not alone That everything is crashing down You're not alone, you're not alone I'm ready for the fall I'm ready for everything That I believed in to drift away Ready for the leaves Ready for the colors to burn to gold and crumble away Maybe I'm dusting to be destroyed Always a reason breaking me After my meets in the dead of night I keep on praying to see the light Maybe I'm breaking up with myself Maybe I'm thinking I should just keep to The things that I've been told Wait for the colors to turn to gold Do you know?

You're not alone, you're not alone That everything is crashing down You're not alone, you're not alone I'm ready for the fall I'm ready for everything That I believed in to drift away Ready for the leaves Ready for the colors to burn to gold and crumble away I'm ready for the fall Ready for the leaves Ready for the colors to burn to gold and crumble away The Fall - Imagine Dragons Are you looking for a whimsical romance filled with love songs and fiery kisses?

Are you searching for a story with constant adventure, brimming with beauty and overflowing with passion? Just One Day is not one of those books. It is not shallow. It is not like Anna and the French Kiss. It is beautiful, but in a bittersweet, lyrical, and oftentimes melancholy way. This is a book for people who have ever felt lost, for those who know what it feels like to be unsure of who they are, or Are you looking for a whimsical romance filled with love songs and fiery kisses?

This is a book for people who have ever felt lost, for those who know what it feels like to be unsure of who they are, or of who they want to be. After her senior year of high school, good girl Allyson Healey embarks on a journey to Europe. By chance she encounters this actor — Willem — again on a train, but their relationship turns an entirely different direction when she decides to spend a day with him in Paris.

There she becomes Lulu, an adventurous soul with no reservations, and she discovers a side of herself with Willem she comes to love in less than 24 hours. But the next day she wakes up and Willem is gone. If New Adult becomes a tangible genre in the realm of fiction, this is what it needs to be like. Just One Day is not a sexual love story. Depending on how you define the concept, it might not even be a love story at all.

It encompasses all of the emotions associated with coming of age, going back and forth between growth, angst, hope, and sadness. Her character screams of vulnerability, insecurity, and nuance, but has that spark of relatability and that whisper of strength that urges you to cheer her on. The other characters in the book: There are numerous themes that come together to form Just One Day. But my favorite has to be that of identity and discovering the truth about oneself. View all 12 comments. Allyson made some bad decisions in this book, and as a parent you would want to ground her for life.

Not telling anyone where she was o "Why are you making a bucket list then? Not telling anyone where she was or what she would be doing? And the list goes on. What do you say? You want to go to Paris? For just one day? Did he really up and leave her? Did he leave a note? Was being screwed over once not enough? And does she really not like Nutella? I need to know! Apr 30, Hailey HaileyinBookland rated it it was amazing Shelves: I didn't enjoy If I Stay as much as everyone else seems to and I read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and didn't really enjoy it and this book is pretty similar, but it wasn't just a love story, it had so much more depth to it.

I loved the pivotal role Shakespeare played in the story and how his plays all tied into the identity struggle Allyson was having. The love story was also insta love but not annoyingly s 4. The love story was also insta love but not annoyingly so. It just kind of made sense as Allyson was trying to be this impulsive, wild child that was the exact opposite of she really is.

Her identity struggle gave the story so much depth and it just made for one of those contemporaries that's packed with meaning yet also has a great romance. Just a great book overall, I'll probably do a review soon on my channel. Aug 20, Siena Mirabella rated it liked it. I enjoyed this book! Definitely not what I expected but I'm pleasantly surprised.