Alice's Books for Sale
OUR LATEST REVISED LIST -- OCTOBER, 2008
*********************************************************************
A FEW PRELIMINARY REMARKS --
IF YOU HAVE A NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS and you want to be notified of each new book list,
please let us know!
IF YOU DON'T GET NOTICES REGULARLY, but want to know when we list new books, please Email and ask to be added to our notification list. We'll be posting another list just as soon as we can, because we have A LOT of books that we want to offer to you!
FIRST COME, FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!! We try to take books off this list as soon as someone orders them. We do this so that people are not disappointed by wanting books we have already sold. However, sometimes we can't remove them for a day or so. Because of that, we can't guarantee the availability of all the books you want to order.
AFTER I WRITE WITH PRICE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR ORDER, you'll have a week for the check
to arrive, or for us to receive Paypal payment. After that the books will go back on the list --
PROCRASTINATORS BEWARE!
SO WE WILL KNOW IT ISN'T SPAM:
When emailing an order please use "Book Order" for your subject line.
CHECK CAROL HIRSCHE'S SALE LIST -- NEW THIS MONTH!
LINDA BURNS HAS A BOOK SALE LIST, TOO. TO
ORDER FROM THEM, CLICK THE LINES BELOW.
A Long List of Books Linda Burns has for Sale
A long list of books that Carol Hirsche has for Sale.
ASK US FOR DETAILS OF HOW YOU CAN LIST BOOKS FOR SALE THROUGH OUR WEB PAGE!
IT'S A FREE SERVICE TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SELLVINTAGE CHILDREN'S BOOKS
BILLHEIMERS' BOOKSALE LIST FOR OCTOBER, 2008 Here's a new sale list for this month, with some exceptionally interesting books for you to examine and perhaps want to buy. They're predominantly vintage books for teens and young adults, but there are some for younger readers and a few that were originally meant for adults. We think you'll find this list fascinating and nostalgic, as well as reasonably priced! We have a lot of fun collecting books and compiling this collection! SOME OF THE CONTENTS!! (Not necessarily in this order) 1. MANY JUDY BOLTON, NANCY DREW, AND TRIXIE BELDEN BOOKS! 2. SEVERAL SPECIAL SALES HERE AND THERE! 3. A BIG SECTION OF YOUNG ADULT MYSTERIES THAT COULD ALSO BE "MALTSHOPS ROMANCES," OR TEEN NOVELS 4. Some CAREER-ROMANCES, a very popular category! 5. FOR HOME-SCHOOLERS, some NEWBERY award winners, the non-fiction books, as well as other wonderful books to read. 6. FOR SERIES book collectors: you'll find many new additions of popular as well as unusual series to check out! This month's series book additions are especially great! 7. Lots of additions to the "MALTSHOP" novels from "the nostalgia years." Many used book shops don't bother to stock these categories, so this is an unusual chance to stock up up on these teen-girls' novels from the 40s through 60s. 8. BOOKS BY WONDERFUL AUTHORS!! Mildred Wirt Elizabeth Hamilton Friermood Marjory Hall Betty Cavanna Maud Hart Lovelace Janet Lambert Catherine Woolley hundreds more!! 9. GREAT SERIES BOOKS (NOT ALL OF THEM EVERY TIME, BUT WE TRY!) Judy Bolton Maida Trixie Belden Nancy Drew Linda Craig Chip Hilton and some interesting ones you may never have seen before! 10. MAINE books from our home state. 11. ALICE'S PICKS -- books that I love best 12. Alice's Wish List 13. Animal stories 14. Books written mainly for boys Contents won't be in the same order as this list, but everything is there, somewhere ******************************************************************** PRICES OF THE BOOKS REFLECT Condition Popularity Scarcity My opinion of them! *************************************************************************** We only use a few abbreviations, including these: HB -- hardcover book PB -- paperback book XL -- library discard book DJ -- dust jacket PC -- picture printed on the cover YA -- young adult (teen) book cond == condition If you don't understand something in our sale list, Email and ask us. ******We recommend asking your browser to reload or refresh to make sure you have the latest version of our web page.******* OUR POSTAGE POLICY We weigh all orders, and charge the actual postage that we figure out from a chart. If we feel that we will be using a lot of padding, and packaging, that's figured into the price. . All will be sent Media mail unless you want to pay more for 1st class or whatever. If you want insurance, we'll figure out how much extra that will be FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!!!!!!!!! WE ACCEPT PAYPAL!!! ******************************************************************************************* ALICE'S WISH LIST!!!! WE'LL BE HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT TRADING FOR BOOKS ON OUR WISH LIST Condition isn't important unless I specify that I'm looking for an upgrade. MY WISH LIST! I'd like hardcover copies of the following Janet Lambert books: For Each Other Welcome home, Mrs. Jordan Jean Nielsen -- Walk Under the Trees good hardcover with DJ of Fair Exchange BOOKS BY RUBY RADFORD (I'M TRYING TO DO SOME RESEARCH ON THIS WONDERFUL AUTHOR!) MORE OF MY WISH LIST -- Jack and Jill magazines from the 30's through 50's. I'm missing a lot from the late 50's. Condition does not have to be perfect, but will affect how much I'm willing to pay! Usually, I've paid $1 or $2 per magazine. Also, American Girl Magazines (not the ones related to the dolls, but the Girl Scout Magazines from the '40s and '50s!) I have some, but would like to have more. Calling All Girls magazines from the 40s and 50s The Fabulous Year (Elizabeth Ogilvie) in HB with a DJ. Or if you have a copy with a DJ, maybe you could make a copy of the DJ to cover my "naked" book! MORE OF MY WISH LIST! Triumph Clear by Lorraine Beim Books by Fjeril Hess, including Toplofty, Castle Camp, and others. Books by Margaret Sutton Haunted Apartment Gail Gardner, Jr Cadet Nurse REMEMBER, THESE BOOKS ARE NOT FOR SALE, THEY ARE ON MY WISH LIST!!!!! Anne Emery book -- Danger in a Smiling Mask Dust jackets for Emery's Bright Horizons One of the Crowd "Best Friends in Summer" by Mary Bard Books by Virginia Fairfax -- Camp Pioneer, Secret of the Halliday House. REMEMBER, THESE ARE MY WISH-LIST BOOKS! (Sorry, but they aren't for sale.) --------End of Alice's Wish List ----------- ********************************************************* TO START THIS MONTH'S LIST ********HERE IS A VERY SPECIAL OFFERING! ******** ALICE'S "CHARMING SISTER SARAH" HAS MADE SOME BEAUTIFUL SERIES BOOK GIFTS! FOR YOURSELF OR FOR GIFTS!!!-- CHARM BRACELETS FOR BOOK LOVERS!!! MANY STYLES OF SERIES-BOOK BRACELETS (SHE'LL ALSO WORK WITH YOU TO MAKE A CUSTOM-MADE BRACELET ! MY OWN SERIES BOOK BRACELET HAS CHARMS TO REPRESENT JUDY BOLTON, NANCY DREW, CHERRY AMES, VICKI BARR, AND MALTSHOP BOOKS! sARAH ALSO MADE ME A MUSIC BRACELET FOR MY "DAY JOB" AND A SPECIAL "ALICE BRACELET" WITH ALL KINDS OF CHARMS THAT JUST SAY MY NAME! YOU CAN CHOOSE CHARMS TO REMIND YOU OF YOUR FAVORITES BOOKS, OR FILL A BRACELET TO MAKE AN AMAZING GIFT FOR A SPECIAL PERSON. INCLUDING ++++NEW +++ CHRISTMAS BRACELETS IN MANY STYLES! Alice's sister Sarah has made some special charm bracelets for people who love series books and Maltshops! There are many styles, each one with a theme. There are Judy Bolton bracelets, Nancy Drew bracelets, Teens-of-the-50's bracelets, general Series Book bracelets. They were first seen at the Phantom Friends' Reunion in Mount Dora Florida, where we sold out almost immediately. You will LOVE this fine jewelry: I can assure you. I should know, I wear my three "Sarah Bracelets" everywhere! The CHRISTMAS charm bracelets are more beautiful than you could believe, without seeing them! Colorful, varied, imaginative, you will wear yours for the rest of your life! If you would like to see some sample bracelets you can click here: http://www.midcoast.com/maltshopbooks/charms.htm ################################################################# NOW FOR THE BOOKS! BEGINNING WITH A BIG SALE! Each of the following books will cost $2 Very good values!! Nancy Drew Hardcovers, all in great condition! New edition shiny yellowbacks in fine cond -- #5 Secret of Shadow Ranch $2.00 $25 Ghost of Blackwood Hall (one of my favorite covers, Nancy is so beautiful on this one! $2.00 #29 Mystery at the Ski Jump $2.00 #33 Witch Tree Symbol, $2.00 #41 Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes $2.00 Nancy Drew Paperbacks $2 each. These are mainly in very good condition! # 70 -- The Broken Anchor (takes place in FL and the Bahamas) $2.00 #83 -- The Case of the Vanishing Veil (takes place in Boston, and the #133 The Mystery at the Crystal Palace #148 -- On the Trail of Trouble (set in the Black Hills, near Mt Rushmore) $2 Nancy Drew Ghost Stories -- "Six Bone-chilling tales of Mystery and Terror!" $2 River Heights #1 - 1989. I'm not sure whether this series is still in existence, It featured Nancy's neighbor, Nikki. Small size, cute kids on cover. $2.00 Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mysteries. FUN!!! These are all PBs A Crime For Christmas (very good cond) $2 Dangerous Games $2 The Paris Connection $2 Double Crossing (this one will be only $1, fair condition.) Hardy Boys #24, The Short-wave Mystery. Small hardcover made by binding a PB with library binding. Free with another purchase of at least $2.00 The All New Hardy Boys books are the equivalent of the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series that started a couple of years ago. These 3 books are absolutely like new. If you want all 3, the price will be $5 for the lot. I think they would appeal very much to a young boy, maybe up to about 12, or to a Hardy Boy collector, just to see what they have done with this venerable series. PBs. All New Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers #1: Extreme Danger (2005) $2 All New Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers #2 : Running on Fumes $2.00 All New Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers #3: Boardwalk Bust $2 The Mystery Hunters at Lakeside Camp (Capwell Wyckoff) 1934. HB fairly good condition, $2.00 The preceding books are all $2 each +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SALE -- BIG LOT OF BOOKS BY K. M. PEYTON $8 for all Here are 7 books from 2 series by this popular British author. There are 4 Flambards and 3 Pennington books. At the price, you can zoom through these entertaining family sagas very reasonably! All are XL HBs with either picture covers or good DJs, except for one PB (noted in the list.) I especially enjoyed the Pennington series as it tells about a young man with a terrific musical talent, who fights his gift to some extent, but can't stay away from his piano. It's actually told from the point of view of his very young girlfriend, later wife, who has to live with his moods, their poverty, even having to bring up "Pennington's heir" in these trying circumstances. Very good teen reading. The Flambards series is historical, from the early decades of the 20th century. 7 Peyton books include: Pennington's Last Term If I ever Marry (the only pb in the bunch) Pennington's Heir Flambards (the name of a house where most of this series takes place) Flambards in Summer Flambards Divided The Edge of the Cloud All 7 books for $8.00 SPECIAL SECTION OF MAINE BOOKS AND A FEW BOOKS FROM OTHER NEW ENGLAND LOCATIONS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS, TOO. We think that some of the greatest authors in the world live or summer in Maine! Try one or 2, and you may decide to come to Maine yourself. I can hardly believe how much some of these books are getting on Ebay and other places! I knew they were good, but didn't realize that other people knew it, too. My prices are no more than 1/2 of what they are getting other places. Most of my copies are x-lib, but some are very good! Marjorie of Monhegan (Sidney Baldwin) 1950. The author is a woman (name could be either) and the story is about a city girl who spends a year on Monhegan Island. This island is, for many people, Paradise. It's off the end of the peninsula where we lived for many years, and can only be reached by ferry or other boat. Homes on the island almost never change hands, and there are few places to say overnight or eat, so it's as remote as you can get nowadays. There is a one-room school, most of the full-time residents are lobster fishermen, well, this certainly looks like heaven to many outsiders. In this book, a sickly little girl is sent to live on Monhegan for a year, and comes to love her life there (I think the time period of the story is in the 1920s or so.) Lots of b/w sketches of the island, buildings, views, vegetation, people. Large Monhegan House high quality paperback. A little staining to the edges of some pages. $3.00 Miss Rumphius (story and pictures by Barbara Cooney) 1982. This is a famous book in Maine, by one of our best-loved author/artists. The question is -- where did all those gorgeous lupines come from, growing along the roadsides every spring? Miss Rumphius loved Maine, but she thought there should be more beauty, so she spread lupine seed everywhere she went. After all this time, the lupines still increase every spring. You should see my front yard in May and June!!! HB, XL, big picture book format, $1.50 The Stray (story by Betsy Wyeth, illustrated by Jamie Wyeth) An interesting collaboration of Wyeth artistic and literary talent! (Jamie is the son of Andrew Wyeth.) It's a large and very unusual book, and of course very beautiful and artistic. A mystery, a fantasy, about a group of animals (Jamie is especially well-known for his animals!)There are several amazing maps, and of course lots and lots of pictures. Hard to describe this unusual book by 2 people with very deep Maine connections. There's a very colorful DJ. There is some sign of water damage on the bottom of the spine, both on the book and on the Dj. Nothing serious, but the DJ is a little creased. Everything else is in very, very good condition. If you want something very unusual and extremely interesting, with a lot of adventure and humor, you may really enjoy this book! $4.00 Our Way Down East (Elinor Graham) 1943. There are at least 3 books of essays by this entertaining writer, who mainly talked about Maine during WWII, and the early years of her marriage and motherhood. They're chatty, breezy, full of details that will tickle you ("There is nothing more cunning than a baby goose. It's black button eyes and the chartreuse-to-gold of its down makes it infinitely more interesting than a baby duck. And of course geese are more intelligent than ducks.." Did you know any of that?)The very first chapter, Two Christmasses, is worth the price if you, like me, absolutely love detailed Christmas stories. County fairs, picnics, collecting buttons (she wrote another book called "Maine Charm String" about her button collecting among other things.) I love to pick up these books and read a chapter here and there. HB, somewhat worn, but appealing-looking. $2.00 The Maine Reader: The Down East Experience from 1614 to the Present. This huge paperback has chapters by a wide variety of authors including Sarah Orne Jewett ("The Town Poor") and Kenneth Roberts ("Seamen and Sea Serpents") plus Thoreau, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Longfellow, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Sinclair Lewis ("George F. Babbett Takes a Maine Vacation.") Lots of contemporary writers, too. We like to think that Maine produces the best writers in the world -- who knows why? The beauty? The solitude and long winters that give authors a chance to settle down and write? Well, you can make your own decision, and see the sweep of history through the eyes of many Maine authors of great talent. Very large PB, $3.00 (it may take more postage than most books, but we'll weigh the order to make sure!) Back-to-school Murder (Leslie Meier) 1997. A Lucy Stone Mystery (for adults) Big trouble at the kids' school. Nice paperback. $2.00 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Down East Detective (Karen Lemke) Shocking Crimes From the 20s through the 60s! From the Annals of the Maine State Police! As you may guess, this little book is almost a spoof of the tabloids, but it does tell stories about real crimes (names changed to protect the guilty) about many unique crimes that could only happen in Maine, according to the author. Cover shows a really racy picture, don't buy this for your little kid, but it's also really strange -- a girl in torn dress, flagging down a stern-looking copy on a motorcycle with a sidecar. In the sidecar sits a big black bear! Well, have fun. PB, good cond, $1.50 Island in the Bay (Dorothy Simpson) 1956. I think this may be Simpson's first book. About a boy, living on an island with an unsympathetic grandfather, and wanting to become a lobsterman. The author really knew about the life of lobstering, and about living on an island, and it shows in this book by the author of the really wonderful Janie Marshall series. It's a former library copy, but clean and firm. I've made a copy of the original dust jacket, which was in very fine condition, so this copy looks very good. Shore scene. HB, LDJ, $4.50 Maine Beautiful (Wallace Nutting) reprint of a classic book, 1924? Packed with black/white photos of Maine as you wish it still looked. Old houses, nature, Wonderful text, too, history, descriptions, poems. This copy is from a library, but you'd hardly know it, it's so clean and fresh. I think the pictures are very romantic and beautiful! I wonder how many of the buildings and wild sites are still there? HB, DJ, $5.00 Books by Maine writer, Lew Dietz. These have a great appeal to people who really love the back-country forests. He wrote about boys, but anyone would enjoy reading them for the authentic (but very entertaining) stories of life in the wilds. Wilderness River (Lew Dietz) 1961. How's this for a begining sentence? "It was a warm Indian Summer day in late October that my friend Nick Fales and I found the body in the woods." Deitz wrote "boys' books," but anyone who enjoys reading about adventure in the Maine woods, would love them. Most of them are about Jeff White, but this one stands alone. It's a former library HB, but in almost pristine condition. Someone put a clear plastic cover over the library picture cover, and it would leave marks inside the book if you removed the plastic, so I didn't try. Enjoy it! $4.50 Pines for the King's Army (Lew Dietz) 1955 (first edition if this means anything to you.) Historical 1721. Maine woods when they were the true wilderness, complete with "savages." Several dramatic full-page illustrations. XL, HB, Somewhat worn, but tight binding and clean pages. $3.00 Mystery of The Pilgrim Trading Post (Anne Molloy) 1964. Three young cousins are extremely reluctant to spend the summer with their elderly cousin, at the very tip of Maine, almost into Canada. But life in this very small town gets pretty exciting! By the end of summer, well, Maine has cast its spell once again -- and a mystery is solved! HB, XL, PC, good condition. $3.00 Lost on a Mountain in Maine (Donn Fendler) 1939. This story is very famous in Maine. All the school kids read it, and the author has often visited schools to talk about his ordeal on Mt Katahdin when he was 12. He wandered around the wilderness for 2 weeks, after losing the rest of his party in the fog. PB in very good cond. $2.50 Donn Fendler, fair condition -- READ IT, I'M QUITE SURE YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOOK! PB, fair, $1.00 There is a Tide (Elspeth Bragdon)1964. Motherless teen boy has a neglectful father who puts him into boarding schools and camps. When he gets into trouble again, his headmaster challenges his father to spend the summer with him, on a small Maine island, way Down East, where they can each learn a lot about each other and other people. The lovely Lilian Obligado illustrations add a lot, especially on the picture cover of this book: a boy sitting on a rock, while across a small inlet, are a sweet-looking girl and her seter dog -- with Maine pine trees and the rocky shore all around them. HB, XL, good cond, Picture Cover, some nice internal illustrations, too. $3.00 That Jud! (Elspeth Bragdon) 1957. Jud is an orphan, and feels unloved and lonely even in the close-knit community of Spruce Point, Maine. He spends a lot of his time getting into trouble, and escaping to his "secret" island hidout. Things go badly wrong, unless he can redeem himself. It's a really nice book, a Maine book -- so don't worry too much about this appealing kid. HB, with DJ, over a library PC, very nice condition. $3.50 Three Children's books by E. B. White -- this is a large PB and includes his classic books (and when I call something Classic, I really mean it!!) IN very good condition! INclueds Stuart Little, Trumpet of the Swan, and Charlotte's Web. 2 have the wonderful Garth Williams illustrations, Swan has interesting Edward Frascino illustrations. These are are the original art. Pictures of all 3 covers are pictured on the cover of the book. Very nice one-book set. $2.50 Secret of Saturday Cove (Barbee Oliver Carleton) 1961 illustrations by Charles Geer Dedicated to the boys and girls of Friendship, which is the town adjacent to the one where we live. About a girl and boy who try lobstering to help the family. Here's a copy in very good condition, HB with PC, $4.00 Another copy of Saturday Cove, in fair (reading) condition -- read a good Maine mystery for a good Maine bargain price! HB, XL, $1.50 Abbie Burgess, Lighthouse Heroine, Jones and Sargent. Paperback in fair condition but signed by one of the authors (Ruth Sargent) true story of a role model for girls! PB $2.00 Another copy of Abbie Burgess, paperback in good condition $2.50 BOOKS BY LOUISE DICKINSON RICH If there aren't very many, then I hope to have more books by this popular and very fine author on my next sale list. The Peninsula (Louise Dickinson Rich) 1958. After her husband died and her children grew older, Louise had moved away from the Maine wilds where she had lived while writing her famous We Took to the Woods, and other of our very beloved books. She lived in MA, in her home town, while the children were going to school. Then she discovered a new part of Maine -- Down East (way up north, along the shore, to you!) This book is something like We Took to the Woods, in that it tells very entertainingly about a whole area, the Gouldsboro Peninsula, the lobstering industry, the people, the food (lots about food!) history, flora and fauna, and more about lobsters! The endpapers are very nice maps showing the shore and islands from Bar Harbor and on Down East toward Canada. Nice Copy of The Peninsula with fairly nice DJ, and some newspaper clippings that someone left in it, a variety of recipes for chowder -- I decided to leave them in there! HB, DJ, $3.50 Three of a Kind (Louise Dickinson Rich) 1970. Girl move to Star Island, where she lives in a happy foster home. Then the family's little grandson comes to live with them, and there's something strange and sad about the child. Despite being jealous of the attention paid to the little boy, she starts to care about him, and finds ways to get through to him. Having someone need her, and being needed herself, go far in helping this formerly rejectd girl. Super depiction of life on a Maine island! HB, PC, XL, in excellent condition. $3.50 We Took to the Woods (Louise Dickinson Rich) 1942. This is a beautiful copy of one of the best books ever written. Quite a boast, isn't that! My husband Dave read it long before we met, and pretty much decided to move to Maine when he grew up. I read it about the same time, and both of us have read it maybe 5 times since then. My kids and my siblings love it! OK, it was written by a cousin of my parents, but that's really not why we love it so much! Louise was taking a summer vacation canoe trip into the wilderness of Northern Mane, when she met Ralph, who lived there all year around. They married and lived there together for many years, including after they had 2 children. It sounds romantic, doesn't it? Well, Louise didn't depict it that way, but somehow you feel that there's something absolutely wonderful about their life in the deepest of forests, where at some times of the year, they couldn't go anywhere for months (remember, this is way before snowmobiles!) Plenty of dry humor, interesting descriptions of the logging industry (which has changed forever since then, so you only CAN read about it now.) Each chapter answers a frequently asked question, like "What do you do with all your spare time?" (Oh yeah!) and "But how do you make a living?" And what she can do with these innocent questions! HB, DJ, lovely in every way -- I didn't say perfect, I said lovely! The book itself is like new, the DJ is good-plus. $6.50 We Took to the Woods, good condition original hardcover, but no DJ on this one. The cover is different from any other book, so it's really easy to spot a copy of it. The board covers are a sort of homespun color and texture, the title on the front cover is enclosed in brown, with a design of trees around it, and there's a tree picture in brown on the spine. Very attractive even without the DJ. HB, $4.00 We Took to the Woods, a copy in quite good condtion. This book was very sturdy and well-made, so its almost always found in good cond, but this one unfortunately has a few spots on the cover. That cover is something special, by the way. You can always spot this book by the burlap-looking cloth covering, and the brown phine trees on the spine. The front cover has a tree dscign in brown, too, and the title looks sort of like a rustic sign. I think the publishers knew it would be a very special book with a long life (could they have believed that it would still be in print, though in a high-quality PB, more than 65 years later???) Interior very clean. $4.50 Only Parent (Rich) 1953. I can't remember whether I've ever had this book on my list before. Mrs. Rich tells about being a widowed mother of 2 children, from the time they lived in the wilderness of the North Woods, through their days in a small town where they moved when the kids were of school age, up to their move back home to Bridgewater, Mass. This book is funny! And instructive, since Louise couldn't resist inserting a bit of history, geography or nature lore in her books. Mainly, it's about being an only parent and doing everything that both a mother and a father would do in a 2-parent family. If you loved We Took to The Woods, you will like this one, though it doesn't include the wonder of living totally away from civilization. Battered-up old library book, but it's all there, and the binding is holding up with the help of a bit of tape! $3.00 --------------------------------- The White Mountains of New Hampshire (Alan Nyiri) A Beautiful PB, brand new, with information, but mostly unbelievably stunning color pictures of the White Mt region. Some taken from the top of Mt Washington, some from the forests, lakes, waterfalls, and woods of this area of great natural beauty. Snow. Fall Color without equal anywhere! $2.00 Moving To Maine: The Essential Guide to Get You There (Victoria Doudera) 2000 She moved to Maine about 15 years before writing this book, and decided to answer all the questions she kept hearing from other people who wanted to do the same. A practical but very entertaining book, with profiles of people who live here, charts, statistics to help you decide if you really do want to "Take to the Woods," ideas for making a living after you get here, sports, quotes from famous residents like Stephen King, politics, religion, entertainment. You'll love reading it even if you have no notion of moving to The Pine Tree State. Large (brand new?) PB originally $15, my price $4 Books by Elizabeth Coatsworth --- One of my all-time favorite authors since I was a little girl! Most of these book could be listed as Alice's Picks. She lived only a few miles from where we now live, but I never met her. I have heard her daughter speak about her mother's works, at several seminars or meetings. She concentrates on her mother's poetry, as the daughter is a poet herself, but I'm convinced that her stories are even better! The Enchanted: An Incredible Tale (Coatsworth) 1951. She wrote several of these "Incredible tales" that combine myth, local legend, and imagination, in a story that uses mundane details to make you believe the supernatural elements. Maine setting, of course. HB, XL, PC, good condition. $3.00 Personal Geography (Coatsworth) "Almost an Autobiography" In her 83rd year, Coatsworth put together this compilation of many selections from her private journals, public writings, poetry, and reflections. The date on the title page is 1968, but there are entries that date from later than that, so this must be a 2nd edition. Nice HB book in good DJ with a picture that covers both back and front of the book. Imposing woman stands in a meadow, overlooking Chimney Pond. $5.00 Alice-all-by-Herself (Elizabeth Coatsworth) 1937. This is one of her wonderful, "contemporary" (to that year) stories for girls, which I treasure more than her historical or biographical stories for young people, though they are good, too (especially "Here I stay" which is about my favorite Coatsworth, but that's another story, literally.) This tells about Alice, who lives in Damariscotta, Maine, a few miles south of where this Alice lives. She has all kinds of small adventures, which are charming to read about, and give you a good picture of what Maine was like just before WWII, when things started to homogenize all over the country. Illustrations by another powerful name in young people's books of the 20th century, Marguerite de Angeli. Tall book, 180 pages, including quite a few of Coatsworth's poems, which are as famous as her stories. Very nice laser copy of the original dust jacket, (which has a blank back cover but very attractive front cover.) This is a personal copy, not a former library book. HB, LDJ, good condition, $7.00 Sword of the Wilderness (Coatsworth) 1936. Takes place in 1689.Captured by Indians! Trekked through the wilderness, starving, freezing, eventually learning to live together. Much more than just an adventure story, of course, as Coatsworth was a fine author and observer of humanity. HB, PC, good condition, $3.00 Jock's Island (Coatsworth) Sheep dog trying to keep guarding his sheep when the island's inhabitants are evacuated before a volcano eruption. PB, nicely illustrated. $1 Northern Farm (Henry Beston, who was married to Elizabeth Coatsworth) Description on the cover of this PB -- A Glorious year on a small Maine farm by America's foremost naturalist writer. At least in 1948. Sometimes poetic, sometimes practical, always very good reading. Life at Chimney Pond Farm, with Elizabeth and their chidren, pets, and neighbors, but mostly about the natural world around them. PB, $1.50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOOKS BY ELIZABETH LADD, one of the best authors of authentic Maine YA books from all of the 20th century. She lived just about all her life on a rather remote island, enjoying animals and children, all of which contribute to her wonderful books! Most of them were illustrated by Mary Stevens, another favorite of ours, and another Maine native. Some of Ladd's books form series, but any can be read separately with great pleasure. I'll certainly try to find more book by Ladd very soon. The Indians on the Bonnet (Ladd) 1971. The Bonnet is a point of land on the Maine seacoast. As with most of Ladd's books, the characters are true Mainers, working and living under the harsh but beautiful conditions of the Maine coast, the life that summer visitors don't see. In this book, the plot goes beyond "bad guys" and fun, to touch on the subject of prejudice against Native Americans. I love reading anything by Ladd, always the nicest of girls as her heroines, as well as a setting that can't miss. But this one, while worth reading for sure, also makes you think, and isn't quite as cozy as her other books. HB, XL, in very good condition inside and out, $4.00 A Fisherman's Daughter (Elizabeth McKey Hulbert) "A Charming fictional story of young Jan Stanley's growing up, influenced by the real-life character of Andrew M. Longley, Jr, DO. I think this is a sort of advertisement for Osteopathic medicine, but it's also a cute Maine story with some good sketches of various Maine fish, lobstering gear, etc. PB, in very good condition, $1.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOOKS BY MARY C. JANE. Her books are great for middle-school readers, each one having a different Maine setting. NOthing fancy, just children enjoying their lives and some mysterious happenings. They feature girls and boys equally. Maine kids love them, I love them, and so will you. You really need to have all of them! All have pleasant Raymond Abel illustrations. Dark Tower Mystery (Mary C. Jane) 1966. This is a rather hard Jane mystery to find, but here's a nice hardcover, in good condition, personal copy (not library) Mystery at Dead End Farm (Jane) 1961. Beautiful Down East PB reprint in fine condition. If you've ever seen the potato country of northeastern Maine, you'd wonder where these kids could find a mystery there. However, they certainly did! PB, $2.50 Mystery of the Red Carnations (Jane) 1968. Who puts the red carnations on the grave of the unknown person? And what on earth would the kids write about when the teacher asked them to tell about an adventure? Nothing ever happens in this dull old town -- or does it? PB in good condition, $2 Mystery Behind Dark Windows (Jane) 1962. Kids live near an old, supposedly deserted, factory building, owned by their aunt, who refuses to sell or use it. What's happening in that old building when they see lights and activity at night? Fair cond PB, $1.25 Mystery by Moonlight (Jane) 1963. Girl has to walk by "the haunted house" on her way home from school. It's deserted, so why are there sounds coming from it? Strange things keep on happening -- as all of her books, there are both boys and girls. Scholastic PB, in fairly good condition. $2.00 Mystery by Moonlight (Jane) 1963. Hardcover. former library copy with a DJ. Book itself is sturdy but well-worn. DJ is in nice condition. $4 Mystery at Shadow Pond (Jane) 1958. Strange cover picture of 2 kids looking out a door at what looks like a robot! The story is about a brother and sister, a cat and a horse, and some missing very important papers! PB, $1.50 Mystery on Nine-Mile Marsh (Mary C. Jane) 1967. Mrs. Jane knew what kids wanted to read about -- a really mysterious house across a creepy marsh, a neglected donkey, and you know the rest -- crime! Mystery! XL HB book in rather poor condition, with taped spine, rough edges, but a nice atmospheric cover picture still bright and fresh as these library picture covers remain. Interior pages aren't bad at all. HB, XL, PC, $2.50 Better copy of Nine-Mile Marsh. XL with DJ over a PC. $4.50 Paperback copy of Nine-Mile Marsh -- eerie cover picture of trees and a lurid sunset! Good condition, $2.00 Mystery on Echo Ridge (Jane) 1959. Strange deserted house is reputed to be haunted, but what will happen when someone moves into the house? Family fun, jewels, etc. PB, nice condition, $3.00 Mystery at Shadow Pond (Mary C. Jane) PB $2 (2) This book has an arresting cover picture -- children looking out a door at a robot, which is shining in the night! Includes a horse and a dog, too. END OF BOOKS BY MARY C JANE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOOKS BY ELISABETH OGILVIE -- some are YA but some are for adults, too. First, some wonderful teen romances by my Maine neighbor, Elisabeth Ogilvie. I should include all of these in the Maltshop section of this list, but they are such true depictions of Maine life in the area where we live, near the coast and on the islands. Oglivie, who recently died, lived near here, and was a very nice lady as well as a very talented writer for both adults and teens. I wish there were more available -- will list them when I get any! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ALICE'S PICKS -- A SPECIAL CATEGORY OF BOOKS I LOVE! I'VE LOVED SOME OF THEM ALMOST ALL MY LIFE! SOME ARE NEW DISCOVERIES THAT I WANT TO SHARE Christmas is coming "soon," or the ads would like you to think so. Here are a couple of books that are good any time of year, especially now. Christmas Cookie Murder (Leslie Meier) a Lucy Stone mystery. This mystery series (for adults) is set here in Maine, and I really recognize the setting and characters it presents. Sounds like home to me. In this one, Lucy is getting ready for the annual Christmas cookie exchange, and solving a mystery -- again! As well as taking care of her growing family and home, and holding down a part-time job. I don't know what the story is on this format, a hardcover book that's the same size as a paperback mystery. It has a nice DJ, and a couple of delicious cookie recipes at the end. Xlibrary. $2.00 Little Christmas (Agnes Sligh Turnbull) 1964. a sweet small hardcover with DJ, written for adults but perfectly suitable for any age. Sketches on every page, Christmassy themes. A mother is sad when her children are too old for the traditional decorations and food and presents. She decides to start over again all by herself, and enjoy her memories and traditions. What happens next -- well, it's supposed to make you cry just a little bit! $2.00 The Trolley Car Family (Eleanor Clymer) 1947. One of my all-time favorite books! The trolley line was discontinued in favor of busses. Father of this very nice family is given an old trolley as a sort of consolation prize (he hates busses, so won't take a new job driving one!) They have the car towed to the end of the old line, out in the country, and that's where the wonderful part of the story starts. The darling pictures by Ursula Koering (one of my beloved Jack and Jill artists) are a great addition, especially the "center-fold" floor plan of the retrofitted trolley car. Nice big PB, $2.00 Hiss and Tell: True stories from the files of a Cat Shrink! (Pam Johnson) I just read this and would recommend it if you like cats and want an hour of fun. She really IS a Cat Shrink! Her cases are funny, revealing, helpful if you want to understand why your cats act the way they do. Large PB, like new $1.00 Small Rain (1943) This is a picture book, which I don't usually try to sell, but the pictures in this one really fascinated me when I was a little girl, so I'm thinking there might be others who want to look through it again. Bible verses chosen by Jessie Orton Jones, and illustrations by Elizabeth Orton Jones. A lot of the Bible verses are from the Psalms, and all are poetic and beautiful. Then there are the pictures! The most darling children you will ever see, lovely joyous smiles, playing games and sharing with each other, playing with their animals -- and don't try to convince me that the recent generation invented inclusion. These children are from all races, and show the natural love that little children have for each other. The cover picture used to amaze me when I was a little child myself, as it shows a big group of children reading a copy of Small Rain with a cover picture of a big group of children reading a copy of Small Rain, with a cover picture of .. just keep on going! Another darling picture shows the group playing musical instruments, like drums, triangle, cymballs, singing, and whistling! I used to give the children names and pretend I was in their group. Oh, and I also love the sweet innocent clothes that these little ones are wearing, the smocked dresses, striped tee-shirts, head scarves, cozy PJs. Stop! That's enough! The book is a library copy, well worn, but not bad! HB, picture book. $2.50 Runaway Alice (Frances Salomon Murphy) 1951. Alice is an orphan who has lived with mean relatives who use her for an unpaid maid and babysitter. Then why does she run back there when she's placed in very nice foster homes? A wonderful social worker makes a bargain with her, and after that, things change. I can't tell you how many times I've read this one (and once out loud to Dave, who loved it, too.) Ice cream is great for comfort food, but this book is even better as a "comfort book." PB, $2.00 The Girl Across the Way (Ann Huston)1968. In a twist from the usual "City Girl moves to the Country and Learns True Values," this one is about a country girl who moves to the city and misses her horse so much! Eventually she learns that cats can be pretty good pets, and there are some things to recommend city living. Very nice book, original hardcover title is The Cat Across the Way. PB, $1.50 The Secret of the Closed Gate (Margaret Leighton) 1944. The real reason I'm including this book in my "Picks" section is that it's so lovely to look at! This fairly large book is a sequel to "The Secret of the Old House," about the same nice family of kids and the old Virginia house that they moved to. In the sequel, these same children take a short-cut, and of course walk into a mystery! The cover is wonderful, and there are beautiful pictures all through, many of them full-page. This isn't a YA mystery, though it does have over 200 tall pages. But I think you will love it -- just let me quote the last page, which won't give away any of the plot. "Was this the way things would be all over the world when Peace came at last, she wondered? Families would be brought together again, people would be returning to their own countries and rebuilding their homes, just like this? Well, this is a little girl talking, but she has just solved a mystery and made several people very happy, so she has a right to be a little philosophical. The kind of book that influences young minds, and makes older minds feel warm (despite some dialect that I have to confess is included, but the speaker is a valued friend of the children, not an object of ridicule.) HB, fairly good condition, with laser copy of the lovely water-color DJ. $5.00 The Lonely Doll (story and pohtographs by Dare Wright) 1957. Everyone loves Edith, the Lonely Doll, who made friends with LIttle Bear. This is a hardcover copy, only in fair condition, but it was my own beloved copy for years until last week when I found a slight upgrade, so now you can enjoy this one as I have for so long. Such lovely photos of Edith in beautiful clothes, having fun with the bears, and finding a happy home at the end. Picture book size, so this will involve some interesting wrapping for me! Black tape on the corners, but fairly carefully applied, so the cover picture still looks good. $2.50 A is for Annabelle -- Do you love Tasha Tudor? This is probably the cutest of her books. Starts out with grandmother's doll, then for each letter, there's something that this very lucky doll owns, clothes, a locket, all the way to a zither! Here is a former library copy of the book, much read, but apparently with respect, as there's only one taped tear and one tiny mark in it. $2.50 Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends. I'm not sure of the date of this book, but a it's fairly new reproduction of 3 of the Dick and Jane books: We Look And See, We Come and Go, and The New We Work and Play. All the words and pictures are exact reproductions of the originals, so I assume that you go all the way through first grade in this volume. If you love the pictures from the old readers, or if you want to use the wonderful old primers to teach your first-grader to read, then you will really love this book. Large hardcover, I think it's really aimed at nostalgia buffs, but why not let a child learn from it or enjoy it? In case you are wondering if the contents are authentically old, look at the pictures of Baby Sally in the car, standing up in the seat without a whiff of a safety seat, or check out Mother in her high heels and hat, going to market, or Father rowing a boat and wearing a white shirt and tie!!!! But the kids are what I love the most, including their sweet clothes, the darling pedal car and red wagon -- and don't forget cute Puff and Spot. HB, a few fingerprints on a couple of pages, otherwise very nice condition. $4.00 Daddy Long-Legs (Jean Webster) 1912. I remember the first time I read this book, and was stunned by its clever ending. I probably wouldn't have been so surprised if I read it for the first time now, but it is still very clever and appealing in every way. This is a beautiful edition, extra lovely DJ picture, and a nice biography of the author in the front, plus a list of the books she wrote. HB, DJ, nice condition, $3.00 Dear Enemy (Jean Webster) 1915. Author of Daddy-Long-legs wrote this sequel to her most popular book. Somehow, the heroine takes charge of an orphan asylum! She writes letters to her "enemy" who persists in making various suggestions for making the venture successful. AS in the previous book, the ending is almost predictable, but still very satisfying, and the story is full of so much fun that you wish you'd never get to that inevitable ending! Lots of humorous little sketches by the author. HB, Vintage-looking and lovely DJ, $3.00 Books by Eleanor Frances Lattimore. She wrote and illustrated a great many books for young readers, all of them very darling! I've read quite a few of them, and all are quite lovely little stories about children who act a lot like real children, not oddities in strange situations. If you see any of them, read it! Beachcomber Boy (Lattimore)1960. Boy and his family move to a beach house, and he decides to be a beachcomber so he can find things to sell in a shop next summer when the vacationers arrive. THEN -- a couple of other boys move into the area, and they like beachcombing, too. War! Or maybe not. HB, XL, fair cond. $2.00 The Prize-Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My mother Raised 10 kids on 25 Words or Less. (Terry Ryan) 2001. This is one recent book that fascinated our whole family! The author, one of the 10 children in the title, tells about her extremely hard childhood, with a drunk and usually unemployed father, hardly any funds to keep the family fed. The mother entered every contest that she ever encountered, and won a lot of them. The furniture, appliances, Christmas presents, some of the food, well, nearly anything that ever came into the house, were things she won in various contests. Occasionally she even won money, which of course was incredibly badly needed. The contests and winnings are a big part of the story, but it's more than that -- it's the story of a family growing up in desperate circumstances and a mother who managed to turn out some very good citizens in the end. NOT A GRIM STORY! I may have made it sound that way, but it isn't. The contests and jingles are so much fun, and the family dynamics are entertaining. By the way, most of this book takes place in the prime of the Maltshop era. Large PB, very good condition, $3.00 Angel Unaware (Dale Evans Rogers) 1953. The reason I've included this book in my picks, is that it was read and cried over by all the teen girls when I was that age. The little tiny, sick girl who was the baby daughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, only lived a couple of years, but apparently had a big impact on her family and others. It's written as if the baby were talking to God, and mostly deals with her wish to return to Heaven. I don't know if I could read something this sweet any more, but as a little girl, it really wiped me out. Cute little book with a picture of the baby in one corner of the DJ, and Roy and Dale looking up at her from the lower corner. HB, DJ, $3.00 Mr and Mrs Bo Jo Jones (Ann Head) 1967. I've read this quite a few times, and I will probably read it again very soon. Teenagers in trouble, run away and get married. That's far from being the whole story, but it's the start of a compelling story about growing up and trying to make a life together. I think it was written as a book for adults, but there's nothing to make it unsuitable for teens. If you, like me, find a fascination in these "teen marriage" books, this will intrigue you. Someone asked me if we were married as teens, since I like this sort of story so much. Well, no we weren't! Don't ask me why I like them so much, but I think it's because there are always so many details of finding an apartment, furnishing it, cooking, finances, etc. PB in mediocre condition, perfectly readable. $1.50 (2) The Middle Sister (Miriam E. Mason)1947. Mason's books are so good! I don't remember reading them as a child, although I was the right age. I just MAY have forgotten some of the books I read back then, hard to imagine! Anyway, this one is wonderful! Family moves from Ohio to Minnesota (when it was the frontier) and each child can take one special thing. Sarah Samantha chooses her young apple tree. The trials that poor tree had to go through! Will it survive to allow SS to make an apple dumpling for Uncle Romeo? I suspect this story is a metaphor for the troubles our forefathers went through during the Westward expansion, but don't let that stop you! Dave and I loved it. HB, XL, some pages are warped, but no odor. $2.00 I capture the Castle (Dodie Smith) 1948. This edition of a sort of classic (in an underground kind of way)has a recommendation from J. K. Rowling right on the front cover. This book is nothing at all like Harry Potter, except for being British. A girl's diary of her life in a run-down castle, and grows up through her teen years. I can't explain it better than that, but you will probably like it very much! Large PB, fine condition, $2.00 Ghost Town Adventure (Rutherford Montgomery) 1942. I like this one for several reasons. The wilderness setting, the hard-working kids having the time of their lives setting up housekeeping in a deserted town and working out ways to make a living, the tame and unusual animals, a hint, just a hint, of romance, the family life. I've read it 3 times, including once out loud to Dave, who liked it very much, too. PB, good condition, nice cover picture of a girl and a forest ranger smiling into each other's eyes! $2.00 Books written and/or illustrated by Kate Seredy. I'm listing these in this section because I've just finished writing about Seredy's life (the article appeared in the May, 2007 issue of Whispered Watchword.) If you are intered in reading bookswritten and illustrated by her, or other people's books that she illustrated, here are a few of them. If there aren't many here, I'll try to find more very soon. A Brand-New Uncle (written and illustrated by Seredy)1961. A loving grandfather, but he does get tired of being at the beck and call of all those children and grands, as well as all their pets. So he decides to have his fling, before it's too late. At the same time, a boy is running away from an intolerable situation. I just re-read the book, and I can hardly type, over the tears in my eyes. Seredy is like that, never sentimental, but she knows how to touch your emotions. If you've read A Tree for Peter or The Chestry Oak, you know what I mean. HB, XL, wonderful illustrations $3.50 LOIS LENSKI books -- we really like these books about children from all over the country, mostly living in poverty but usually joyful and adventurous. She wrote and also illustrated all of her books. Strawberry Girl (this one won the Newbery Award) Lois Lenski, 1945. Fair cond PB, $1.50 Judy's Journey (written and illustrated by Lenski) 1947. Award-winning book that got high praises from people who worked with migrant workers and child labor foes, but it's also an entertaining and dramatic story about a girl who doesn't let a rough life get her down. Full of wonderful Lenski illustrations and humor with a very satisfying ending. PB, good condition, $2 Policeman Small (written and illus by Lenski) It's all here except for the title page and pages before the text starts. Probably torn out when book was taken out of the library. Song is there at the beginning, and all of the text. Funny, cute, instructive, for beginning readers or lovers of Lenski's art. HB, XL, PC, $2.50 Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison (Newbery Honor book) 1941. Written and illustrated by Lenski except for the cover on this reprint. good condition PB, $1.50 ++++++++++++++End of Lenski Books ++++++++++++++++++ Alice, Or The Mysteries (Edward Bulwar-Lytton) No date on this little gem, but it looks very elderly. You probably won't want to read this, but who knows, maybe you will love it! Very small print. I couldn't resist it, as there aren't too many books with Alice as a character. The cover is quite decorative, red with a silhouette of Alice, stylized flowers and designs. $1.00 ---------------------------------- Adult book -- not YA. Ghost Girl (Torey Hayden) 1991. Have you read any of Hayden's books? She's a special education teacher, who specializes in the most difficult children in the world, abused, mute, destructive, extremely sad. She writes about her children in a downright, but absolutely riviting manner. This is one of the most amazing of all, and I've read many of her books. PB, $1.50 Because of Winn-Dixie (Kate DiCamillo) 2000. A cute little book that we first picked up because of the trailer-camp picture on the cover, then loved it for the very nice story inside. Girl lives with her loving but inattentive father, and is adopted by a rather nondescript dog that follows her from the grocery store. Newbery Honor book, and this is one of the times that I fully agree with their committee! PB, rather square (an unusual size and shape,) Good condition $2.00 (2) Good Morning, Miss Dove (Frances Gray Patton) 1954. One of my young-teen favorites, a sentimental or nostalgic look back at the teaching life of a strict but fair teacher. A kind of female "Goodbye, Mr Chips." PB, $2.00 Here's a cute little hardcover book (DJ, too!) about Bears -- The Teddy variety. The Little Book of Celebrity Bears -- featuring Paddington on the front. $1 Miracles on Maple Hill (Virginia Sorensen) Newbery medal winner 1957. Family moves to a farm to help Father get well after his return from being a POW. They need a miracle, and they're helped by the turn of the seasons, especially the maple sap rising in the spring, and the making of maple syrup. Fine condition paperback, $2.00 Blue Willow (Doris Gates) 1940. About the MOST satisfying books you can ever read. Absolutely sweet story about a very poor migrant farmer girl who wants a home. Newbery Honor book and one of the most deserving! Everyone I know who has read it, loves it very much. The ending will probably make you cry, but with joy. PB in good condition, with the clever original Paul Lantz art. $2.25 PB in fair condition -- I get lots of requests for the book, so I'll offer these as reading copies for $1.25 The Year of the Dream (Jane collier) 1962. Nice family wants a boat, so they all work together for a whole year to earn the money for it. Lots of interesting money-making schemes! PB, $1.50 Baby Island (Carol Ryrie Brink) 1937. A dream come true for a girl who loves babies! 2 sisters are shipwrecked on a desert island with 4 assorted babies. All the details of providing for their charges plus a bit of mystery -- of course! This is the perfect book for a long read in front of the fire on a freezing winter day. Treats a very serious subject with the lightest of touches, and such happiness! PB $1.50 (2) Books by Lenora Mattingly Weber. These have recently been reissued in beautiful PB editions Image Cascade publishing, but die-hard fans like to own the "actual" HB book that we read as teens. Now it's a lot cheaper to do just that, since the reprints have come out and the market for the originals has dropped! If there are no Weber books available now, I hope to have more at another time. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Maida books are So Beautiful! By the way, the Maida series is just about my favorite series, along with Judy, Trixie, and Beany. Maida is entirely different from any of the other series, and entirely loveable to me! I'll be listing more Maida books in the future, but in the meantime, maybe you'll spot some, and I recommend that you read them for sure! MORE OF ALICE'S PICKS! Books by Frieda Friedman. She wrote the most beautiful books for middle-grade girls! Since I was a girl myself, I've loved her books, and re-read them when I need something to counteract the complexities of adult life in the 21st century. Wonderful families in every-day situations, realistic stories, and believable happy endings. New York City settings. I'll be sure to list any Friedman books that come my way. The Janitor's Girl (Frieda Friedman) 1956. Family moves into the basement apartment when Dad gets the Apartment House Manager job -- AKA janitor. Most people are very friendly, but then a snobby girl moves into one of the apartments and things start to go downhill. Such a nice story, I won't tell you whether it has a happy ending, but I do almost guarantee that you will love it! One of the best parts is the Mary Stevens illustrations. Average condition PB, $2.50 The Nanny Diaries (McLaughlin and Kraus) 2002. I don't try to sell adult books very often, and to tell the truth, I don't read them very often. But I came across this one, took a look, and didn't surface until I finished it. It's fiction, but there is a note that it is based on truth and the experience of the authors. College student becomes a nanny to a very, very rich but disfunctional family. It's pretty appalling to read about what she encounters (though she just loves the little boy, probably much more than his mother does.) Not appropriate for a child, I imagine it would be rated for over 16 years of age. HB, DJ, good condition, $2.00 Books written and illustrated by Carolyn Haywood. I really enjoy her realistic but humorous stories about Eddie, Betsy, and the rest of the group. By the way, the first Haywood was published before I was born, so I grew up with these darling books. The children remind me of myself and my friends in grade school! These are mostly "chapter books" of 150-200 pages Here Comes the Bus (Carolyn Haywood) 1968. This is one of 2 books that Haywood wrote about a boy who lives in MAINE! The bus driver was based on a real school bus driver -- we talked with him after we discovered this book, and he remembered Haywood's riding with him several times and interviewing him to get all the necessary background for the stories. An absolutely lovely story of the bus rides, and family life with Haywood's sweet illustrations throughout. HB, XL, with good DJ. $4.00 Back to School with Betsy (Haywood) PB reissue of a 1943 original. Has the chubby-cheeked NOT original cover illustration. Internal illustrations are the original Haywood ones. Taped spine. $1.25 =================================== Books by Catherine Woolley, one of my very favorite authors. She turned 100 years old last summer! One whole issue of Whispered Watchword was dedicated to her, with many very loving reviews of her books (some written by me.) You can read some Woolleys to honor her along with people on Cape Cod, who are all celebrating her birthday!!!) Note: Sadly, Catherine Woolley died a couple of years ago, just after her 100th birthday. All the Ginnie and all the Cathy series go on my best-loved lists! I'll try to have more Ginnie and Cathy books, as well as other Woolley books, pretty soon. Ginnie and the mystery Doll (Woolley) 1960. it's an antique doll, which appears and disappears in this wonderful Cape Cod setting. PB, good cond, $2.00 Another PB copy of Mystery Doll in fair cond, $1.25 END OF "ALICE'S PICKS" SECTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SERIES BOOKS -- HARDCOVER UNLESS NOTED +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BEGINNING OF TRIXIE BELDEN COLLECTION *** NOTE!! *** I've been surprised -- or might I say "Shocked?" that some people who visit our web page have NOT read Trixie Belden books!!!! They are the Gold Standard of girls' series books from the mid-to-later 20th century! To meet Trixie is to love her! Here's a chance to start your collection with the first few reasonably priced)books in the series. And you may nearly complete your collection with the extremely scarce, much more expensive, later volumes that I'm offering. By the way, my prices were set after looking at the "Completed auctions" on Ebay, but I used the lowest prices for each volume as my guide! You're welcome to ask me about condition before you spring for the more expensive books! If I still haven't convinced you to try Trixies, maybe this will do the trick (pun intended!) Here is a 4-BOOK-STARTER SET of the first 4 Trixie Belden books. They're small hardcover Whitman editions, in fair condition but perfectly readable, clean and neat. These were cheap editions to start with, so you can't expect perfection after all these years! But they look good, they are all complete and very clean inside. Titles (starting in 1948) include: Secret of the Mansion (Trixie meets Honey, then Jim, and the girls work together to help Jim plan his life -- and plant the seeds of the future Bob White club. The Red Trailer Mystery (Trixie, Honey, and Miss Trask set out on a camping trip, to have fun, to find runaway Jim, and to solve a scary mystery, which won't be their last mystery!) The Gatehouse Mystery (Trixie's brothers come home and meet Honey and Jim, and the Bob-White club is started. Plus an amazing mystery is solved.) The Mysterious Visitor (Di joins the club, after they figure out why she is so unhappy. And her mysterious Uncle Monty takes the Bob-whites for a scary ride.) 4-BOOK STARTER SET OF TRIXIE BELDEN HARDCOVERS, $8.00 Trixie #2, Red Trailer Mystery. This is one of the new, hardcover, reprints of the Trixie series. I think Random House did a good job with these. They did use new cover illustrations, but they're mainly respectful of the original flavor of the books.In this one, cover picture shows a trailer that's a lot more like our Airstream than anything red! Trixie and Honey are outside the trailer, looking with fear at a man, walking or maybe sneaking, through the woods behind the trailer. The picture goes around the back, where a vintage car and trailer are parked (also not red, but what do we care??) Nice, very sturdy book, like new, clean white pages, and best of all, the interior art is original Mary Stevens. You absolutely can't get any better than that! This like-new book would be a good way to introduce Trixie to a young reader. or you might like to own it in this interesting new format (I have a copy of it myself, though I have about 3 other formats of this one.) HB, PC, $2.50 Trixie Belden #3 Gatehouse Mystery (1951.) In this book, Trixie's brothers, who play such a large part in future books, come home. The Bob-White club is formed, and they fix up their clubhouse. One copy is the beautiful, unusual "cameo" style, with a small picture of Trixie in the upper corner, bigger picture fills the whole front cover. Mary Stevens illustrations. Fair cond. $4 Another copy is a library edition, hardcover made from PB. Paperback size. Very sturdy. $3 Trixie #3, paperback with oval cover picture, pretty nice copy, $2.00 Trixie Belden #4, mysterious Visitor. A new member of the BobWhites, another appearance of the well-known trailer! Mysterious Visitor in a small Whitman HB, good cond, $3.00 Mysterious visitor PB -- fairly good cond $2.00 reading copy $1.00 Trixie Belden #5 Mystery off Glen Road -- a wedding at Honey's home, a hurricane, lots more. Paul Frame illustrations (some in full color) Whitman Deluxe edition in good condition, $5.00 Trixie #5 Glen Road -- small Whitman format, with Trixie and Honey with their horses, on the cover. Good condition, $3.00 Trixie Belden and Mystery in Arizona #6(1958.) "cellophane" edition, illus by Mary Stevens. Bob-whites' first trip away from Sleepside, to a dude ranch in Tucson. These cello editions are not usually in great condition, but this one is as good as you will find any of them. They are beautiful and collectable HB, PC $4.00 Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Code #7 School rules are against secret clubs, so The Bob-Whites have to prove that they're doing worthwhile things. They have an antique show to benefit Unicef -- and all those antiques attract some shady elements! HB, Small Whitman format with picture cover. $3.00 Trixie and the Mysterious Code, cameo edition, Paul Frame illustrations, very nice book except for some crayon marks on the back cover. Otherwise very clean. HB, PC, $3.00 Trixie Belden and the Black Jacket Mystery. #8. This is the last of the Trixies that many of us feel are absolutely essential to read in order, since it introduces the last member of the Bob-Whites, Dan Mangan. When he first arrives in Sleepyside, he doesn't make a very good impression, but maybe appearances are deceiving? HB, Small Whitman, with picture cover. Moderately good condition. $2.50 Trixie #9, Happy Valley Mystery Small Whitman picture cover ed, good condition, $3 Trixie #11, Bob-White Cave Small Whitman HB PC edition (this is one of my favorite Trixies, as they spend a vacation in the Ozark Mountains, and go spelunking) Good condition, $3.00 Another copy of Trixie #11, in slightly more "used" condition, but still perfectly OK. $2.00 Trixie #12, Mystery of the Blinking Eye -- CAmeo edition, illustrated by Paul Frame. Very nice condition of this collectable and rather scarce edition, combined with such a good story! Oh well, I love all the Trixie stories, don't I? You will, too! Trixie Cameo #12, $4.50 Trixie #14, Mystery of the Emeralds -- small Whitman picture cover edition, in about the condition that you usually find this edition, holding together nicely, but with wear along the spine. The Bob-Whites go to a historical conference near Williamsburg, and try to find a fabulous diamond necklace that was hidden during the Civil War. $2.50 Trixie #15, Mystery on the Mississippi. Bob Whites take a trip on a river barge, and of course the criminals follow them, or is it the other way around? Side trip to Mark Twain sites, which were the reason for a PF trip a few years back. PB, a bit of wear around the bottom and corners of the cover, but not at all bad. Clean and tight. $2.50 Trixie #15, Mystery on the Mississippi -- small hardcover, which is the way the PBs were bound when they were sold to libraries. The front has a paste-down picture from the original PB with oval picture, but the interior has a very sturdy small hardcover binding. In very nice condition. $2.50 ********************************************************************************** JUDY BOLTON ! Start your Judy library at reasonable prices, or get started on an extra set of the very best of series for your niece or daughter! We have made laser copies of the DJs for many of these books, to make them look much nicer than the "undressed" copies. Most of us have a very hard time telling the difference between an original DJ and the copy, the LDJs look so beautiful. The later numbered Judy Bolton books are unfortunately much harder to find than the early ones, and are therefore much more expensive. I looked at Ebay and ABEbooks for guidelines, and tried to be more reasonable than either one. I love to get these wonderful books out to people who really want them! If you love Judy, take a look at My Sister Sarah's Charm Bracelets, near the beginning of this web page. One of the bracelets features Judy Bolton charms! I've recently realized that some of my customers/friends don't read Judy Bolton books. So I'm going to try to explain why so many people are in love with this series, which is really different from other series! What I came up with is this -- each book is, of course, a complete story that can be read and vastly enjoyed by itself, the entire series is also a very long, continuing story about a girl, her friends, her romance, and in a way, the history of a town. Judy grows in age and experience, and (in contrast to most of the other series of that era) never forgets what has happened to her in the past. You will get to know what happens to Judy, but also you can follow her friends and acquaintances, as well as her own family. The mysteries are really interesting, and the side stories are full of the kinds of things that most of us love to read about -- summer camp, parties, friendships, marriages, pets. Many people read all the Judy's in order every few years, as if we are reading one long, long continuing story. Here are quite a few Judy Bolton stories -- these are old books, some in fairly good condition, some kind of worn out, but all wrapped up in nice laser copies of the original dust jackets. The pictures are vintage Pelagie Doane art, and in some ways, as collectible as the books themselves. Remember, if you take a laser copy of anything, it will have pictures of the same flaws that appear in the original item, so these LDJs have pictures of holes or tape or creases, wherever the original had any of those things. These were all taken from my own personal copies of the DJs, so my beloved books have these same holes, tapes, or creases! In many cases, what you are paying for is actually just above the cost of making the copies of the dust jackets -- the book comes along for the same price! Dates from the early 30s through the mid-60s. The classic series book era! #2 The Haunted Attic -- After the big flood, Judy and Horace and their parents move to a house that will be the scene of several mysterious happenings over the years! In this book, we begin to see Judy's role as defender of people who are victims of prejudice, as well as victims of crime. Very dear story! Laser copy of the DJ, by Pelagie Doane, shows Judy and Horace in the messy attic, trying to figure out what's causing the menacing noises and sightings. HB, LDJ, $5.00 #3 The Invisible Chimes -- Judy and her brother Horace meet lifelong friend Honey, and they start to unravel the story of her background. Book in fair condition, outer covering of spine is missing. Looks good in especially attractive dust jacket (a laser copy of it.) $4.00 #4 Seven Strange Clues -- The high school burns down, and Judy wants to know what caused this disaster. A poster contest provides some clues. Laser repro DJ by Pelagie Doane shows Judy and several of her friends, gazing down a mysterious trap door. HB, LDJ, $5.00 Another copy of Seven STrange Clues in laser DJ, but the book itself isn't in very good condition. Covering of outer spine has been glued on. Looks good with LDJ. Pages of text are just fine! $4.00 #5 The Ghost Parade -- A wonderful camp story! After the HS burns down, the students have an extra-long vacation, so Judy and her friends take a trip to the Thousand Island Camp. Blackberry the cat goes along with them, and it's a good thing he did! What he did for them, is the basis for his future reputation as a very smart kitty. You'll love the picture on the laser copy of the original DJ which I put on this book. A bunch of really scary masks on a deep red background, stunning! Dark green cover on the book, fairly good condition, with a small light stain on the front cover and age-darkened pages. The LDJ really makes this book look good. HB, LDJ, $5.50 #6 -- The Yellow Phantom -- most of the action is in NY city. One friend gets a job, another meets her hero and gets engaged while Judy solves several mysteries! It has the newer DJ picture of the laser copy of the newer DJ picture. Red tweed book in fair condition, but looks good with the laser copy of the DJ! $5.00 #8 Voice in the Suitcase. Some people are luke-warm about this story, but some, like me, absolutely love it! Judy and Honey hear a mysterious voice in an abandoned suitcase, and see a man who looks dead, lying in the ditch nearby. AS if this wouldn't be plenty of mystery for most of us, it's just the beginning for Judy, of course. She spends Thanksgiving vacation helping a friend clean an incredibly dirty house for the friend's grandparents. While doing this charitable activity, the earlier mystery, plus several others, are solved, and an old couple have a happy Golden Anniversary. I'm really not giving away the plot, believe me! It has the stamp of 1935's sorry economy all over it, which is really unusual for a series book, but it also has Judy's optimism and generosity to recommend it. HB, fair/good condition, with a lovely laser copy of the original DJ to cover it. Looks very nice!! $5.00 #9 -- Mysterious Half Cat. This is such an interesting story! Judy's old friend comes back to town after a long absence, hoping to find her relatives so they could help with her little sister. The child is what we would call autistic, and Judy is eager to help her and the old friend, but they are secretive for some reason. Nothing makes Judy happier than mysterious behavior, so she and Peter investigate all the mysteries! And then, there's that Half Cat! This book has a red tweed cover with writing on the cover, but clean and tight inside. There's a laser copy of the original DJ, old Pelagie Doane picture. I think it's the wrong format DJ for the book, but it looks fine. Very decorative. $4.50 #11 -- The Unfinished House (Margaret Sutton)1938.) Nice thick green book, with a laser copy of the original DJ, The Pelagie Doane cover is really fun, with its picture of Judy and Peter in the unexpected snowstorm, with Blackberry, his whiskers standing on end, looking at the mysterious red circles in the snow. This is a wonderful story, full of special effects, mysterious illnesses, and an architectural problem! HB, LDJ, $7.50 #12 The Midnight Visitor (Sutton, 1939.) A storm prevades the story. First, Judy and Peter are marooned during the storm, and take refuge in a house that turns out to be deserted, but they notice that it's the twin of Judy's own home. Later, when they do get home, there's a party at Judy's house. A mysterious man knocks at the door during the height of the storm. Where did he disappear to? plenty of mystery in here, and most of it involves Judy's old nemesis, Kay Vincent. HB, red tweed cover, fairly good condition, with a laser copy of the original DJ (it might not be the one that originally came with this edition, but it looks great!) $7.00 #15. The Mark on the Mirror -- Friends giving Judy a wedding shower! Does anything like this ever happen in a Nancy Drew or Cherry Ames? Definitely not! But you know that something mysterious will happen before very long. Nice cover picture of Judy and Blackberry (cat) looking in a mirror, while a beautiful old grandfather clock looks on. Possible child abuse, long-lost family members, all kinds of interesting subjects. Thick green book, exterior in fair condition, pages clean except for a bit of edge discoloration. Book plus LDJ, $9.00 #16 The Secret of the Barred Window -- This is a favorite of lots of Judy fans, since it is the book where you meet Roberta for the first time. She's the little girl that Judy meets when she's trying to find a lost woman and a lost wedding gown! Later, Roberta is very important in Judy's life. The book is fair condition, but covered with a nice laser copy of the original DJ. This shows Judy in a littered room, trying to open or get out of a window with iron bars. Book plus LDJ, $7.00 Now here are MORE Judy Boltons!!! #1 Vanishing Shadow -- orange cover -- fair-to-good cond $3 #2 Haunted Attic -- thick green book in good condition, with original DJ, in fair cond. DJ is all there except part of the spine. The front and back covers are all there, and there's a plastic dj cover to protect everything. $4.00 #2 Haunted Attic, thick green book in very nice condition except for slightly brown (uniformly colored) pages. $3.00 #2 Haunted Attic, red tweed thin edition, with original DJ -- book in really nice condition, DJ has a big piece out of the lower right front cover, but Judy's picture is all there, and the rest of the cover is complete. $4.00 #4 Seven Strange Clues. Judy and her friends find more of the secrets that lurk in the house that the Boltons moved into after the flood. Old green-covered book, nice laser copy of the original dust jacket. Pages uniformly brown with age. Book plus LDJ, $10.00 #5 Ghost Parade, red tweed cover, corners of spine rubbed and bumped, interior very nice. $5.00 #7 Mystic Ball -- thick green covers, spine is sunned, pages are age-darkened, but the book is in overall pretty good condition. Judy and Peter try to expose a phony fortune-teller who has frightened their superstitious friends, especially Irene. Great story! $4.50 ____________________________________________________________________________ OTHER SERIES BOOKS INCLUDING GIRLS' AND LITTLE CHILDREN'S SERIES!! First -- books by our wonderful Mildred Wirt! As you can see, I can't keep them long enough to let very many people see them. I'll keep trying! Penny Parker Mystery Series by Mildred Wirt -- The Secret Pact (Penny Parker #6) Wirt. This exciting story is contained in a rather elderly book, with the first few pages loose from the binding. However, they're all present, I counted to be sure! The cover doesn't look bad, so I don't know why the pages are brown and fragile. I've covered the book with a nice laser reproduction of the original DJ,showing Penny and her friend rushing into an underground shelter, with a tornado about to hit! There may be a very slight odor to the book, but it's hard to be sure. I have a very sensitive (allergy prone) nose, and it doesn't bother me. Book plus LDJ, $5.00 (I'll try to have more Penny Parkers in the near future!) Penny Nichols series by "Joan Clark" are actually by Mildred Wirt, and many people consider these to be pretty much clones of the later Penny Parker series. Penny N. is also a lively girl with a slightly less lively sidekick girlfriend, and a widowed father who is in this case, a detective. She zooooooms around town in her little car, and helps her father with his cases. To me, every bit as good as the Penny Parker series! The Brownie Scouts in the Circus (Wirt) 1949. This book is in good condition, with clean, white pages and a strong binding. One issue -- there's a "scar" on the front cover, apparently from a price sticker that someone tore off. The orange color is just a little lighter in that area. The book is covered with a laser copy of the original DJ, which is absolutely adorable! I love the covers on these Wirt Scout books and this one is quite special, showing a clown helping 2 of the Brownies dress up in clown outfits and make-up. There's even a little dog with a ruff around his neck. On the spine, there's a preforming seal! Sweet. HB, with LDJ, $4.50 The Brownie Scouts at Snow Valley (Wirt) 1949. Another extremely darling cover picture, showing 3 girls, dressed in snowsuits of that era, building a snowman. There's a storm going on, and there's a beautiful background of pine trees and rooftops. The Brownies spend Christmas on a farm in snow country. HB, fair condition book (warped cover) with laser copy of the original DJ to cover it and make it look really nice. $4.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Little Anne of Canada (Madeline Brandeis( 1931. This is from a series of books about children from many lands. They teach about other countries while telling very good stories that are so interesting that probably kids don't even realize that they're learning a lot, or should I say, learning a lot about conditions at the time the books were written. I admit that things have changed a lot since then, but a good story is still a good story. In this one, little Anne has lived with her Tante in Quebec for most of her life. At the time the story opens, she is getting a letter from her father, whom she can't even remember. He plans to visit her for a few days before he leaves again -- but you know what happens to plans in Book Country! It's a nice, simple story, along the lines of a Bobbsey Twins or Happy Hollister, but with lots of photos of Canada and as much info about the country as a young child could understand. Nice book! Good condition HB with PC, $2.50 Recent Whispered Watchword reviews rate the Marjorie Dean series highly! Loyal friends, high morals (except for the girls who have low morals!) parties, schooldays, clothes, and a tad of romance. Life of upper-middle class girls in the 2nd decade of the 20th century. I'll try to include more Marjorie Dean books in the next list! Lost Girls -- 2 book series. (Linda Williams Aber) 1991. A sort of Survivor story of 4 girls shipwrecked on a desert island. They couldn't have been less suited for this sort of life! Very, very entertaining reading, and here you have the entire story in these 2 PB books. $2.50 for both Dana Girls mysteries were the equal of the Nancy Drews for many years. Too bad they are now discontinued! I guess you have to put 2 sisters together to make one Nancy Drew, but of course, they sometimes have to go to school, while Nancy is fancy-free. Mystery of the Bamboo Bird (Dana Girls revised picture cover edition, #9) this is a former library book in pretty good condition but with a library sticker on the back. and a sticker on the back cover. Interior pages are very nice. HB, $2.00 Clue of the Rusty Key (Dana Girls #11) Old picture cover -- the girls beside a skating pond, looking at a key that they obviously just found in the snow, and a very creepy man in a trench coat, peering from behind a nearby tree. Girls have nicely permed hair and neat wool jackets. Former library copy, with a few library markings, cover bright and complete, binding tight, corners of the cover are quite worn. $3.50 Patty and Jo, Detectives. There are 2 books in this short series, very enjoyable! In the first book, twin sisters, orphans, are invited to spend Christmas with their unknown guardian, at his woodsy lodge. But when they get there, he's nowhere to be found! Nan Sherwood is a nice old series (there are 7 in all) about a girl who starts out facing poverty but like most of these old series, eventually can go to boarding school and chase around the world. I'd like to have more Nan Sherwood books for you in the future! Nan Sherwood at Lakeview Hall: Or, The Mystery of the Haunted Boathouse (1916) Nan starts boarding school in this 2nd book in the series. Book is in fair condition, it's complete and relatively well bound, but the pages are brown, and there's separation at the front and back of the binding. So far, it's holding together nicely. $2.00 Books by Grace May North -- She wrote at least 2 series in the '20s. Here are a couple of her non-series books that would be fine additions to any series! Well constructed, coherent plots, with interesting characters and attractive settings. Nan of the Gypsies (Grace May North) 1926. Nan is happy being a gypsy, but a good lady decides to "civilize" her. It's very interesting to read about whether and/or how this succeeds. This book must have been very popular, as I've run across several editions of it. This one is one of those attractive, large Saalfield YA editions, brown cover with nice no-nonsense black letters in the title. The pages have turned brown with age, but they aren't brittle, and are firmly set in the binding. $3.00 Little City by the Lake (Celia Wilkins) from a series related to the Little House Books. It takes place in 1833, and tells about Caroline, Laura's mother. Nice quality paperback, with lots of pictures, and a very attractive cover. $1.50 Mystery at Snowshoe Mountain Lodge (Lisa Eisenberg) 1987. I'm very fond of this fairly recent mystery series (only 3 books, unfortunately) that many people agree is something like a classic Nancy or Judy series. In this one, the girl is invited to a ski lodge, where things start to happen right away. Wonderful atmosphere, nice characters, I think you'll like this series, too. PB, good cond, $2.00 Ballet Shoes (Noel Streatfeild) 1937. This is the original "Shoes" book, very much loved by generations of dancing girls. HB copy of Ballet shoes, in the 1991 reprint with Diane Goode illustrations. Large HB, personal copy (not library) in good condition with DJ. $3.00 Theatre Shoes (Noel Streatfeild) Front cover says "A companion to Ballet Shoes")Nice Dell Yearling Paperback, $2.00 Grace Harlowe series -- one of the longest of the old, old series. Takes Grace through high school, college, helping out during the Great War, and into the world. It's unusual to find any of these books in good condition, as they were not made to last through the ages. However, they hold together, and are complete and readable. Starting around the year of 1911. I hope to have more Grace Harlowe books soon. Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College (Jessie Graham Flower: A.M.) 1914. Well, you guessed it -- she's a junior at college. Still having fun and just the tiniest touch of romance. Fair condition, has a few flaws, mainly a piece missing from the very top of the spine. $2.50 Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders Among the Kentucky Mountaineers (1921.) Self-explanatory title! Book in fair condition, holding together, but you wouldn't want to drop it from a high place. HB with picture cover. $2.00 Grace harlowe's Overland Riders in the Yellowstone National Park (1923) In those days, I guess you didn't just drive around the park and gawk at the sights, you really had to be an overland rider! Book is in fair condition, has been mended with transparent tape and it's going to last through a few more readings. $2.00 Polly Brewster Series -- Big Lot! 1922-1925. Polly lived at Pebbly Pit in the Southwest, where her family owned a mine. Soon enough, she branched out, and lived the life that seemed to be so dear to the hearts of rich series book girls in the early '20s -- traveling, dabbling in business, giving and attending grand parties, going everywhere with a group of loyal friends. She still loved The Southwest (Colorado in this case) and returned there from time to time. Here are 7 of the first 8 books. I'm not trying to say that the books are in good condition! They are between fairly good and fairly poor, but all there, and not falling apart or anything like that! For the price, I'm not going to go into more detail than that, but suffice it to say that they are somewhere above just "reading copies." Titles: Polly of Pebbly Pit Polly and eleanor Polly in New York Polly and her Friends Abroad Polly's Business Venture Polly in South America Polly in the Southwest Seven Polly Brewster books (no Djs) $18.00 Polly Brewster series #2 -- Polly and Eleanor. Pages are brown with age, and cover has a few stains, but it's firm and tight, a good reading copy. HB, $2 Gloria: A Girl and her Dad (Lilian Garis) 1923. This is one of several 2-book series by L. Garis. In this one, Gloria's father goes away to take a job, and sends her to live with relatives. The money set aside for her to go to boarding school, instead sends her cousin to the school, and Gloria becomes an unpaid servant to the relatives, plus has to go to the local school, where no one befriends her. Oh the woes that girls had to suffer in those days! Gloria isn't one to sit around bemoaning her fate, however. You'll enjoy her sarcasm and the way she makes the best of her situation. In the next book, things will turn around -- take a look for it when you are out "booking." HB, not beautiful, but sturdy. Frontispiece and internal illus. $3.50 Merriweather Girls! Here's an unusual series, including 4 books, all about a group of girls who help people and have a whale of a good time while doing it. I'll try to have more Merriweather Girls in the future! The "Melody Lane" series by Lillian Garis is quite unusual. I guess it's one of those series that you either love or hate. I happen to like it VERY much! It's atmospheric and creepy in some ways, but very down-to-earth and realistic on others. Like Judy Bolton, the girls of Melody Lane lived during the Depression. Carol, the main character has to work at least part time, but has many chances to solve mysteries and expose the same type of evil-doers that Judy does -- scam artists, fortune-tellers, fake ghosts, and people who prey on innocent children. I highly recommend the books, but be aware that some people find them less snappy and concise than the Nancy Drews. 1933 and 1934. I'll try to have more Melody Lane books in the near future! In the meantime, good luck finding some yourself -- I think you will really enjoy them! While you're looking, try some of Garis' other books, which are similar but present other characters. Betsy-Tacy Books by Maud Hart Lovelace, just about the best of all series books in the whole world! Shame on you if you haven't discovered them, but I can't say much, since I didn't read them until I was an adult. My daughters loved these books when they were young, and Carrie even read them to our oldest grandson when he was little (I like to think that it's one reason he's grown up to be such a nice young man!) About 15 years ago, Dave and I were going to our first PF reunion, in Mankato MN where these books are actually set (its called Deep Valley.) I started to read them out loud to him, After this, I'll always take my daughter's recommendations about books! There's one thing you need to know before you start -- the first book is just right for early readers, and each book gets just a little bit more advanced, until the last book, which is about Betsy's first year of marriage. All the books are indescribably good, but it's best to read them in order, as I fortunately did. They have all been reissued in the past few years, so you can do just that. And remember, they are incredibly good! (If I don't have any Betsy-Tacy books for sale, watch for some in the future!) Betsy-Tacy (Lovelace) 1940. This is a nice pb (Harper Trophy) with the original Lenski art on the cover as well as interior. Sweet little story for sweet little girls, about sweet little girls. Very good condition. $2.00 (3) Another copy of Betsy-Tacy in fair but perfectly readable condition, $1.00 Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (Lovelace) 1942. Lenski illustrations except for the cover, which has the "grotesque" newer ilustration. Harper Trophy PB. $1.50 Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill with the Lenski cover $2.00 (2) Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown (Lovelace) 1943. I know, they've come out with pretty good reprints, but don't you really want the original hardcover? This is a library copy, with a library picture cover, but it's the original Lenski picture -- Tacy in the back seat of a Tin Lizzy, driven by a huge man in the touring outfit of the day, plus half the town of Deep Valley crowded around this wonderful automobile. Including the dogs! That's one of the adventures that Betsy, Tacy and Tib have in this story of their 12-year-old year. HB, XL, PC, cover shows wear, but binding is good, and the pages are firm and quite clean. $4.50 Cherry Ames, the most popular nurse series ever printed, a nurse with a thousand specialties, all of them interesting and romantic -- and connected with fascinating myseries! You will love these attractive copies, as well as the stories inside them. Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse, 1944, red tweed cover, fair-to-average condition. $2.00 Cherry Ames, Army Nurse -- 1944. red tweed cover in fairly good condition, covered with a beautiful laser copy of the original DJ, which shows Cherry in the foreground, while a line of graduate nurses in uniform, files out of the school building, obviously on their way to serve in WWII. Their whole graduating class had signed up, and this book tells about their training, and their first assignments. Besides the LDJ, someone has glued the front and back flaps of the original DJ inside the covers. $4.00 Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse -- red tweed book covered by a beautiful copy of the original dust jacket, showing pretty Cherry and several other nurses and a patient. The cover doesn't even hint at the very exciting story inside -- WWII nursing in jungle and on islands, with a very puzzling mystery thrown in (of course!) HB, moderately good condition, with good laser copy of the DJ. $4.50 Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse, tweed cover, pretty good condition except for separation at front, 3rd page from the rest of the pages. Still very tight binding. $2.50 BOOKS BY HARRIET PYNE GROVE -- unlikely name, was it a pen name? -- but very good stories. S. P. Mystery, no DJ, but with a bright yellow cover, pretty good condition with the the usual darkened pages and slight age-spots on the cover. These books can be as much as 75 years old! $3.50 The S. P. Mystery, with very nice laser copy of the original DJ. From front flap: "Rewarded for good work in school, the 7 girls of the S. P. Club are given a cottage on a little lake, where they are to spend the summer." There, they do more good work! This time, helping a poor orphan girl,who lives nearby. HB, LDJ, $4.50 The Amy And Laura series by Marilyn Sachs is aimed at a younger reader than the Maltshop books, but they appeal to the same audience of adults. 2 sisters move to a new apartment in NY, and deal with a number of problems, including a mother who has to spend a long period in a hospital, being the new kid on the block, and a bad bully. But there are wonderful, nostalgic scenes of jumprope rhymes, school adventures, pets, lots of family scenes. Laura's Luck is a camp story -- always popular! If you like the same books that I do, I can almost guarantee that you will like these books very much. Amy Moves In (Marilyn Sachs) 1964. She hates their new home! And no wonder, terrible things happen. First book in the series, you will be engrossed! PB, $1.25 Amy and Laura (Marilyn Sachs) 1966. Introducing Veronica Ganz, the toughest girl in school. Laura, as hall monitor, tries to get Veronica to behave! Also, the girls' mother comes home from being in the hospital for a very long time, and things aren't the way they used to be. The sisters are feuding, among many other things. Another wonderful Amy and Laura story.. PB, $1.50 The Meadow-Brook girls series is an early outdoors-adventure series, based in New Hampshire (I think it's the only relatively major series that is mainly set in New England.) Enjoyable in the mold of the first few Ruth Fieldings or the Outdoors Girls. Six Star Ranch (Eleanor Porter) 1913. This book doesn't really have anything to do with Pollyanna, but later in the series this book is linked with the Glad Books, so it might be fun to read it along with the others. By the way, did I mention that I really like the Pollyanna books? HB, good cond, $2.00 Pollyanna Grows UP (Eleanor H. Porter) 1914. Hardcover, very old edition, says it's the 13th impression, Sept 1919. Firm and strong, but a bit stained. Not too badly. Quite a few full-page internal ilustrations. HB, $2.50 Pollyanna's Jewels (Harriet Lummis Smith) 1925. Book 5 (?) in the series. Her "jewels" are, of course, her children! You will find that the Pollyanna in these stories is a very interesting, and not at all silly, person. I've enjoyed reading this series, and never hear someone described as a pollyanna, without laughing at the misunderstanding. HB, fair condition, $2.00 Pollyanna's Debt of Honor (Smith) 1927. As always, she is trying to help people, while her own family is having one adventure after another. Fun! HB, fairly good cond, $2.50 Pollysnna's Western Adventure (Harriet Lummis Smith) 1927 Fair condition cover on this hardcover book, the interior pages are pretty good! This is listed as "The Sixth Glad Book." $1.50 Every Boys Mystery and Adventure Stories, 1935. This isn't a girls' series book, but I have most of the boys' books on sale, so I had to list this one elsewhere. It contains 3 complete books, Brothers of the Senecas by Walter E. Butts, Detectives, Inc by William Heyliger, and Vanishing LIner by George Morse. It's a gigantic volume, as each of these books is about 250 pages long! There is a DJ, pretty nice looking but missing the back flap. DJ has a picture from each of the books that are included in the volume. Book itself in good condition, though I think the great weight has caused a little strain on the spine. But it's an interesting oddity, and very attractive. $4.00 Return to Gone-away IElizabeth Enright) 1961. PB with original Beth and Jo Krush interior illustrations, but a new cover picture. If you've read Gone-away Lake, you'll love to follow the 2 families through an incredible treasure hunt in their new house. $1.50 Ruth Fielding series. Ruth starts out as a motherless girl, just like Patti Fairfield and a lot of other old series heroines! But she goes in a different direction, after the first few books full of rollicking adventures in boarding school, in the north woods, and at the shore. In later books of this very long series, she becomes a career girl, role model for feminists, and pre- courser of Nancy Drew and other series females. Yet, she keeps her femininity, and eventually even marries (take notice, Nancy!) I've enjoyed all the Ruths that I've read, from beginning to end. I'll add books about Ruth when I find them for you! Ruth Fielding of the Red Mill (Emerson) #1 in series. As in most of the series, this one provides the basis for the rest of the books, and introduces most of the characters that you'll read about in future books. Fairly nice condition, though the pages are brown from age. $3.00 Ruth Fielding at lighthouse point -- #4 in series. 1913. This book has a loose binding, but is holding together. Frontipiece is loose, but not lost! Otherwise, Cover and spine look good. HB, $2.50 Ruth Fielding at Silver Ranch (Alice Emerson) #5 in the series. Has a nice Merry Christmas inscription to Mother from her Son Frank, Dec 25, 1920. I guess we aren't the first generation of adults to read these teen series. Pages are age-browned, but binding is tight. Old style picture on cover (Ruth in front of a full moon or sun.) $3.00 Ruth Fielding at Sunrise Farm, Or, What became of the Raby Orphans. #7 in series. All the kids spend time at the fabulous farm owned by father of one of them. They help some sad little kids. Book is worn but the pages are tight and fairly clean. $2.50 Ruth Fielding and the Gypsies, or The Missing Pearl Necklace. #8 in series. Pretty good condition, with the "red moon behind Ruth" cover picture. $3.50 Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures, #9 in the series. Subtitle: Helping the Dormatory Fund. In the typical condition of these old series (this one has an inscription dating it to Christmas of 1928.) Solid and firm, anyway. $3.00 (2) Ruth Fielding Down in Dixie, or Great Times in the Land of Cotton #10 in series. Good condition for these books! $3.50 Ruth Fielding at College, or The Missing Examination Papers. 1917. #11 in series. Fairly good condition, quite firm, more modern picture on the PC. $3.50 Ruth Fielding in the Saddle, or College Girls in the Land of Gold (Emerson) #12 in the series, 1917. A rather ugly cover on the book, but interior is in good condition. Good for a reading copy. $2.00 Ruth Fielding Down East, or, The hermit of Beach Plum Point. 1920. Ruth's movie scenario is stolen, but the gang decides to travel to Maine where a movie company is making a movie from Ruth's last scenario. They have more adventures while driving to Maine, than most of us have in a whole lifetime. "After the rainy days at Portsmouth, the auto- mobile party ran on with only minor incidents and no adventures until they reached Portland.." Well, it takes us about 40 minutes to get from Portsmouth to Portland now, less if you go a bit over the speed limit -- and we hardly ever have any adventures during that time! I guess we should be thankful for the Maine turnpike and better cars! (quote from page 101)I also adore the frontispiece, which shows Ruth andsome of the others in their high-style bathing costumes. HB, good condition, $3.50 RUTH FIELDING books with higher numbers, are not easy to find! They're interesting, since Ruth marries and eventually has a little girl. But all that isn't enough to stop her movie career, or keep her from being involved in mysteries. An early Judy Bolton type and quite a good role model for 20th century women. Ruth Fielding and her Great Scenario: subtitled Striving for the Motion Picture Prize (#23, 1927) This one takes place in Maine! Good condition! $4.50 Rut Fielding Clearing Her Name (#25) Ruth and Tom have been married for 4 months when Ruth is accused of a vile crime. At least she has her loving husband by her side while trying to clear her name. Book in very good condition, except for a little hole from a decades-old bug that ate a tiny bite out of a few pages. HB, $4.50 Ruth Fielding in Talking Pictures (#26) Dastardly Deeds at the very beginning of the talkies. Another wedding at the end of this one! Fairly good condition, $4.00 Patty Fairfield series. Patty starts out as a motherless girl who stays with various relatives, and is a simple, sweet young thing. She soon becomes acquanited with life in the lap of luxury, and you can visit her there in the many books in this series. Descriptions of parties, costumes, mansions, travels, decorations -- I've never read of more opulant settings! Of course there are adventures and mysteries, friendships, and romances. Patty ends up married in the end of the series. Due to their original good quality, they are usually found in fairly good condition, considering their extreme age! Interesting series. I'll add more Patti books as soon as I can, in the meantime, try to find them yourself, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading these extravagant stories! Author -- Carolyn Wells Patty in the city (Wells) 1905. Winter in NY city, private school, rivalries, clubs, clothes, parties, games, Christmas -- all the things that we love to read about in these old school-girl stories! Nice blue book with cameo paste-down color picture of Patty on the cover. $3.00 Also by Carolyn Wells (a very prolific author, if that's her real name) is the Marjorie Maynard series. This is aimed at younger readers than Patty Fairfield, and is about family with 4 kids who love to do things together. No twins -- this isn't about the Bobbseys, though the time is just about right for the beginning of that series. They're a lively bunch "The fundamental principle of Mr. and Mrs. Maynard's training was common-sense, and this, added to deep parental love, made their discipline both wise and kind." But they get into all kinds of scrapes, while having a great old time together. I believe these books are written for kids between the Bobbsey Twins' age, and the Patty Fairfield teens. They are 240 to 280 pages long. Frontispiece, but no internal illustrations. Marjorie in Command (Wells) #4 in the series. 1910 Mother isn't feeling quite up to par, so she and Father take a 6-week trip to the South, leaving the children with a lady with 'delicate nerves." Probably not a good choice! Marjorie ends up in charge most of the time, and things get out of hand before they get much better. Pretty good condition except for a little piece out of the very top of the exterior spine. $3.00 Marjorie's Maytime (Wells) 1911. May Party and a few other wonderful parties, trips, and of course exciting adventures. HB, firm condition, some wear (these are OLD books!) # 5 in the series. $3.00 Ginny Gordon Mysteries (by Julie Campbell, hooray, a Trixie author!) Ginny is another of the Schoolgirl Sleuths, and has a group like Trixie's Bob-whites, called The Hustlers. They are always looking for ways to make money, and run into plenty of mysteries while doing so. I'll add more Ginny Gordons as soon as I find them! Ginny Gordon and the Disappearing Candlesticks, 1948. They open a Swap Shop (I'd call it a thrift shop, I guess.) Valubale things disappear. HB, small picture on cover, fairly good cond, $3.00 Ginny Gordon and the Disappearing Candlesticks (1948) This hardcover has a DJ with a darling picture -- Ginny and her best friend Babs, standing beside a vintage bike (I guess it wasn't vintage then, but now it looks like a museum piece!) looking down a hill at a really decrepit shack in the woods. I like the way the title is written amid the trees, and I also like the way the picture goes all around the jacket to the back cover, which shows a gate into a field, and way in the background, the town. HB in very good condition, DJ in moderately good condition, $4.50 Ginny Gordon and the Missing Heirloom, 1950. There must be a jinx! Another valuable item disappears, after it was mistakenly donated to the Swap Shop. A completely different mystery ensues. HB, fairly good condition, $2.50 Ginny Gordon and the Lending Library (not in good condition, but it's free with another Ginny book that you will pay for!) Ginny Gordon and the Broadcast Mystery (not in good condition, but it's free with another Ginny book that you will pay for!) "The Mexican Mysteries" series is about 3 American girls (main character is Jo Anne) who spend their summers in Mexico, helping people and having rather wild adventures. A really great series, I only discovered it a few years ago, but loved it immediately. These are beautiful books, in the thick Saalfield formats, with rather brittle pages, but good sturdy bindings. I'll try to have more Mexican Mysteries (by Randolph) soon. Peggy Lane Theater Series By Virginia Hughes. These books are to a theater career what the Vicki Barrs are to stewardess career, or the Connie Blairs are to an advertising career. The books even look the same as those series, with similar attractive picture covers. The books all look good, they are almost always in very good condition, standing up well over the years. They're the story of a young girl who starts out in her career, and has many experiences as she advances in the theater world. There are even simple mysteries in most of the books All series book collectors ought to have them! They're especially fun to read if you're interested in the theater. But entertaining if you aren't a theater fan! I'll add Peggy Lane books when I have more of them. The Beverly Gray series is fabulous! It's a long series that was popular from the 30s through the 50s, and is still very much read, especially by subscribers to Susabella Passengers and Friends magazine. We will try to list more Beverly Gray books soon -- they've been very popular! The Far Journey (Loula Grace Erdman) 1955. Attractive edition, with color endpapers, and a dust jacket that's in good condition, but somewhat scratched. Story tells about a young man and woman's courtship, wedding, home life, and later, a trip to move from Southern Missouri to the Texas Panhandle in the 1880's. I think this was probably originally written for adulst, but this author wrote a lot of really good YA books, and this one is perfectly enjoyable and appropriate for a teen. HB, DJ, $2.50 Kim Aldrich series -- for older teens, as Kim starts out as a secretary to an insurance company, then becomes an investigator, which of course is a great way to run into mysteries, even dangerous ones. The first book in the series, from 1972, is Miscalculated Risk (Kim Aldrich) by Jinny McDonnell. Cover shows K$3.00 Dorothy Dixon Series is about a very adventurous 16-year-old who gets her pilot's license and flies around solving mysteries and rescuing people, things like that! There are 4 books in the series (and a phantom title) all from 1933. They were cheap books to start with, and pretty much always have brown, slightly brittle, pages. I will try to have more Dorothy Dixon books very soon! Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings (Dorothy Wayne) 1933. First in this very exciting and entertaining series. This copy has relatively clean pages compared with most Dixon books, and the binding is still firm. But the hard cover is quite ugly, with some of the blue coloring worn off. It must have been painted on very thinly to start with! However, there is a DJ, in at least fair condition, all there, but with a well mended rip and a few creases. In its mylar DJ cover, it looks good. Book plus DJ, $3.50 Nurses Three is a short (7 books) but very good hardcover nurse series. There are 3 sisters, all nurses, all daughters of a famous doctor that they seem to want to live up to. The 3 girls have different personalities and interests, and each one has a couple of books all to herself. A unique idea for a series, and quite wonderful! The books have attractive picture covers, in a different color for each of the girls. If there aren't any Nurses Three books here, I will hope to have some to offer soon! Nurses Three -- First Assignment, a Penny Scott Story (Jean Kirby) 1963. In fairly good condition, though I've mended the inside of the binding. HB, PC, great story! $4.00 Nurses Three -- A Very Special Girl, A Tracy Scott Story (Kirby) 1963. In fairly good condition, though I have mended the inside binding. Very interesting setting on a Native American reservation, complete with romance, mystery, and some puzzling problems for this very special girl to figure out. HB, PC, $3.50 Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight (Edith Lavell) 1931.Linda Carlton was a girl flyer in the days when that was quite a daring occupation. In her case, I guess it WAS pretty daring, since she has more adventures than you can shake a stick at! HB, in fair condition, $2.50 Polly series by Lillian E. Roy. Mostly with light blue covers. The Polly series tells about a girl who started out on a ranch in the southwest, and really loves her life there. The first 2 books are set on the ranch. Many adventures, and a bit of romance. After that, Polly goes out into the big world, and is very successful in every way, but of course it never changes her sweet nature! In a later book that I don't have for sale, she goes back to the ranch for a while, and then sets off for fantastic trips and adventures. Romance intrudes, but as in all of these very old series, it's very mild and treated a bit humorously. Eventually, she marries. This is a fairly long series, and worth collecting and reading. I'll try to list more Polly books very soon! Kathy Martin nurse series. Kathy Martin books are like slightly more modern Sue Barton or Cherry Ames. A long and very interesting nurse-mystery series.) They were written by Josephine James, starting in 1959. Kathy has a very interesting family, who live on an apple farm in California, she has a nice boyfriend (but just can't make up her mind to marry him!) and she is just as good as Cherry Ames at nursing and finding mysteries to solve. All the books have attractive picture covers, and are Golden Press HB editions to match several other popular series that you probably already have in your collection. I certainly hope to have more Kathy Martin books in the future. A Cap for Kathy (Josephine James) Kathy Martin #1, 1959. Kathy graduates from HS, and almost immediately mysterious things start happening. Her family is involved, so she has to help figure out what the trouble might be. Then things go from bad to worse. Kathy is more 3-dimensional than Cherry, and her family is not at all typical of the families of many series book heroines. Several of us read this book last year for a review in Whispered Watchword, and we were in agreement that it was a very exceptional story. Beautiful cover picture of Kathy in her cap, in front of an apple orchard. Good condition, $4.00 A Cap for Kathy, XL picture cover edition. (See description above) A really good series, you should try it! One of the good things about it is that there are 13 books in the series, so you won't run out of them in a hurry. HB, XL, PC, $2.75 Susan Sand series, from the early 1980s, is popular with Nancy Drew fans who love this feisty, brave teen girl detective and mystery writer. The titles are enough to catch anyone's attention! Too bad this is such a short series (8 books.) The first few are fairly easy to locate and reasonably priced. The next 4 or 5 are not too hard to find, while the last couple of them are quite rare. Good luck finishing your Susan Sand series! I'll try to include more Susan's on my list, very soon. Susan Sand #1 -- The Mystery at Hollowhearth House (Ezzell) This was in a library, but is in pretty good condition, and plastic-coated for strength. PB, $1.50 Sue Barton Nurse stories! In my opinion, this is the best of all the nurse series. Yes, they are outdated as far as the nursing techniques and information, but the human interest is exceptional, and the writing is beautiful. If you read them in order, there's never another series that keeps your interest as compellingly as this one, unless it's Beany Malone. Timber Trail Riders. Timber Trail is a horse farm, and there are both boys and girls in the riding club. I only started collecting this series recently, but I do enjoy them and want to share them with my friends. They were cheaply made and cheaply bound, so they're never in very good condition, but they have very attractive picture covers, and well-illustrated interiors. Whitman cellophane style I'll try to include some more Timber Trail Riders books as soon as I can. BOOKS BY L.M. MONTGOMERY -- The author of "Anne" was a very prolific writer! Here are some interesting and unusual books -- all paperbacks, most with very attractive covers. Anne of Avonlea (L.M. Montgomery) Very nice hardcover, from the Grosset and Dunlap Anne of Green Gables Series. Light green cover, oval picture of Anne (doesn't look like my vision of Anne, but she does have lovely red hair.) Very nice condition HB, $2.00 Anne of Windy Poplars (Montgomery) Grosset and Dunlap edition, orange cover with slight white stain. no DJ. Spine separation at front interior, but otherwise nice cond. $2.00 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Outdoor Girls is a very long series, 23 books in all, about adventurous group of girls -- if you like the older series about girls who seem to be paving the way for today's active women, you ought to start collecting these books. They can be read out of order with no problem. By the way, both this series and Moving picture Girls are for much older girls than "Hope's" Bobbsey twins. None at this time, but I'll try to add books from these series very soon. The Moving Picture Girls books by Laura Lee Hope. The author's name is fictional, here and in the Bobbsey Twins series, but this series is very interesting. Moving Picture girls are way before their time, and very modern in their day. I'll add Moving Picture Girls books when I come across any. Good luck finding them yourself, in the meantime! Blythe Girls are supposed to be written by Laura Lee Hope, but if you're thinking "Bobbsey Twins," forget it! This long series appealed to teens of yesterday and appeals to PFs of today. The girls are in their late teens, no slapstick situations like those the Bobbseys were always involved in. Mystery, yes, but much more "mature" sleuthing. The girls are orphaned, and actually have to work hard for a living. Each has a totally different type of job, so there are lots of opportunities for interesting mysteries. I'll add more Blythe girls books as soon as I can! Donna Parker series. All are Whitmans eds with picture covers. You will never see any books from this series in perfect condition. They have deteriorated with age, and weren't too sturdy to start with. But they're colorful looking and very good stories! Donna Parker Special Agent 1957 Donna wants to solve a mystery! vintage cover (old kitchen scene) HB, $2 Donna Parker, Special Agent -- Strangers come into Donna's life, and she determines to figure out what they might be up to. Newer but very nice picture cover, Donna in red coat, boarding a plane. HB, $2.00 Donna Parker, A Sprng to Remember. 1960. Donna and her friend Paul on the cover, though you mustn't think that it's going to be a romance! They're good friends, and Donna is a huge help to Paul at a critical time in his life. PC HB, fairly good condition, $3.00 Donna Parker Takes a Giant Step (1964) Nice Mary Stevens illustrations on picture cover and interior. $2.50 Donna Parker at Arawak -- 1962. Donna worked at a camp once before, but it wasn't anything like this one. Now she has charge of a cabin along with one other counselor, who is not very nice or helpful. In fact, her roommate is quite a mystery -- which is just up Donna's alley! Mary Stevens illustrations make this a very special book! HB, PC, the usual loose binding that all of these Whitman books seem to end up with, but not bad!! $3.00 DONNA PARKER STARTER SET This set includes 4 books, which leaves only 4 others for you to locate! They are in fair condition, readable and all complete, but the covers getting worn. This isn't the fault of any readers or storage problems, it's just because these were not made to last through the ages, and they are getting along in years. Starter set includes: A Spring to Remember (with incredibly nice Maltshop cover!) Special Agent (with Donna getting onto the train in her red coat) At Cherryfield (Nice dance scene on cover) Mystery at Arawak (campfire scene on cover!)I think this is my favorite Donna, as I love the camp setting, and the mystery is lots of fun. STARTER SET OF 4 BOOKS -- $8.50 If you like to read about the outdoors, camping, jolly fun and dangerous adventures, then the Campfire Girls stories will please you as they please me! There are several Campfire series, from various years and by various authors, and this can be confusing, but just dig in and enjoy them when you find them, don't worry about reading them in order or anything. Usually, they're episodic and unrelated to one another, and also, there's always plenty of explanation and descriptions of personalities, so you can catch right up on the previous books if necessary. I'll try to add more Campfire Girls books very soon. A Campfire Girl's Chum (Jane L. Stewart) #2 in the Stewart series. 1914. This is my favorite of the many Campfire Girls series, being 6 books that form one very long story. You can read each one by itself, or all of them in a row, and I predict that you'll find them quite exciting and entertaining. No silly, girlish, pranks or shrinking violets allowed! Really dangerous situations, good camping practices, long hikes, delicious food cooked around the fire. In fair condition. Nice solid forest green cover, but interior pages are light brown, and the binding is somewhat loose (pages solidly attached) $2.50 Mary Jane Merrill (Clara Ingram Judson) 1918- 1930. Mary Jane is a little girl, who is just turning 5 in the first of the 19 books in this series. . By the time she and her family have had a great many adventures and traveled all over the world, she's about 9 years old at the end of the series. She has the kind of adventures that the Bobbsey Twins and Honey Bunch have, innocent but a bit scarey, involving animals, being lost, misunderstandings, usually cute and innocent. But you also learn a lot about the countries where they travel, at least what they were like pre-WWII. Nice series for kids or nostalgic adults. I'm offering this big set, because I know most of us like to read as many books as we can in one series. The books are either green or red. There are no DJs. The books are from fair to very good condition. The covers all have little cameo style pictures of Mary Jane, but the picture itself varies according to her age in that book, and the style of that year. The early ones have a color paste-down of Mary Jane in a white dress with a big red bow in her hair. Later ones have just her head and shoulders, with a couple of different styles of hair and jumper. more Mary Jane books in future lists. This Mary Jane series lot includes: Kindergarten 1918 Her Visit 1918 Down South 1919 City Home 1920 In New England 1921 At School 1923 Summer Fun 1925 Winter Sports 1926 In France 1930 Nine Mary Jane hardcovers, $26.00 Kay Tracey mysteries ("Frances K. Judd") If you haven't read the Kay Tracey mysteries yet, you have a treat in store for yourself. They are among the long series from what I think of as the Golden Age of "classic" girls series books, the 30s through 50's. Actually, I love all of the series from that era, but Kay is one of the really good ones -- possibly that's because there are quite a few of them, so you don't get interested and then only find 3 or 4 of them to read. I never want to get to the end of a series! I'll try to include Kay Tracey books in future lists. Drina #1 -- Ballet for Drina. 1957. This 9-book series was written by Mabel Esther Allen, under the name of Jean Estoril, and reissued in paperback. British book, kindly has a glossary of British terms that an American reader might not understand, and also a ballet glossary for ballet-challenged readers like me. PB, $1.50 Donna Rockford Mystery Set (Dorothy Woolfolk) 1979-1982. The first 4 books in this 6-book PB series, in a somewhat worn slipcase. The titles are Mother, where are you? Who Killed Daddy? Death of a Dancer Murder in washington/Body on the Beach Donna, a college girl, and her younger sister, Abby, solve rather serious mysteries. and have interesting personalities, themselves. Nice series! 4-book set, $5.50. Linda Craig -- get acquainted with this good series!!! It's gone through several incarnations, including a beautiful hardcover edition (which is pretty hard to find,) a beautiful PB printing of the original edition, and a new, slightly smaller PB set, with mo