I've always loved books
And as a pre-teen
my love was horses and dogs
Every book I read was about horses or dogs
And even as a 12 year old, I understood having one's own personal library
and so with my allowance and birthday gifts,
I would buy books that I loved.
Mostly the books by Albert Payson Terhune
about his collies
And then I grew up
My taste changed
(I got into mysteries)
But I must admit that whenever I was in a flea market
if I found one of the old books that I so enjoyed
as a junior high school student,
I would buy it
(if it was $1 or less)
Some that I enjoyed and found . . .
But one eluded me
It wasn't a horse book
It was about a red headed girl who lived with her aunt
and aunt gave her a make over and she went from a
"plain Jane" to a popular girl
Her name was Susan (or so I thought)
And the kids all went to Bandstand
and danced on TV
With the internet, I searched and searched
for the book to no avail.
I couldn't remember the title
Couldn't remember the author
But to this day, I think I could have gone to the library
and went to the shelf where it was!
And so I mentioned my plight to the children's librarian
at our public library.
The next day I got an email . .
"is this it?"
A book called TV Bandstand
by Frances Priddy
The blurb that accompanied the title of the book would indicate it was the book!
And it was for sale on Amazon
(for far more than $1 -- but thankfully it wasn't one of those $200 books!)
And so I ordered it
And it came
And it was the book
And I binge read it!
And not only was it about TV Bandstand, the girl had a horse too!
That part I totally forgot!
Whenever anyone does me a favor, I have to repay
And so I did with a tin of chocolate chip pecan cookies
(Her favorite -- I asked)
I did save a few for me
For afternoon tea
While I finished the book.
Whenever I don't have anything to read, I love reading these old books
that I enjoyed as a child/teen
It was a simpler time.
Often the only crisis is what to wear to the prom!
Sometimes in this hectic world,
we need simple books!
6 comments:
Wonderful post, Martha! As a youngster I was enamored with the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley. I also enjoyed Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames books. Misty of Chincoteague was a great book our teacher read to us.
I never read Laura Ingall Wilder's books as a youngster but I have the set now and have read them more than once...need to read them again; they are wonderful books.
What joy to find a lost beloved childhood book! I read many "kidlit" books, especially the Betsy Tacy books of Maud Hart Lovelace and the Anne Shirley books. Sometimes we do indeed need simpler books. Marguerite Henry, who wrote the Misty of Chincoteague books and many others, came to my grade school when I was about a fourth grader and talked to us about the life of a writer. It was so wonderful! And now I am 73 and the memory can still make me happy!
I agree with the hectic world and needing something to remind us of a simpler time. I am happy you found your missing book. I often look for books from my childhood; as far back as our first readers in kindergarten. There is just something so sweet and innocent about them. The cookies were a nice way of saying Thank You; and a nice way to have a treat with your afternoon tea.
I did the same recently with a movie I loved as a young teen. I finally found the movie, ordered it from Amazon, and waited to watch it until New Year's Eve. Although the movie was good, I wasn't certain of why I was so enamoured of the movie at that young age. Still quite puzzled. It was "Saratoga Trunk" with Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper. Haha!
That is an awesome find!!
I recently found a book on Amazon that we used at advent . It was something we read every night lighting the advent wreath. I paid about $15 for a $3 book .. but it well worth it.. Beacuase it no longer available. I’m giving it to our daughter and I know she will cherish it.
Oh yes, I went through that horse-loving stage too! I read a bunch of the books, took riding lessons for my birthday {English like National Velvet), and ran around the yard with a crop(stick from a tree), jumping over bushes. One day I jumped over a little magnolia that my father had been trying to grow for a lone time, and knocked a foot off the top! He was not very happy about that! I have bought a lot of books that were my favorites as a child and have a good little collection.
Post a Comment