The Vine: November 20, 2009
Sars,
I have just discovered your site and am nearly jumping up and down that there is a place for me to ask about books I read as a child that I can’t remember the &(&@^# name of.
Here’s the big one: There was a brother and sister who find a black cat on a Friday the 13th, and every 13th of the month afterwards, something magical happens.One 13th, the brother is turned into a centaur, one 13th they are taken to the “13th floor” of their apartment building (which is one of those buildings that doesn’t have a 13th floor), etc.
Any ideas?
*****
Hi Sars,
I have a book question for you and your readers. I’m searching for a book I read in my early teens (i.e. mid-’90s) and I can’t for the life of me remember anything pertinent that would help me Google it. I’ve tried every combination of plot points, and no dice. I’m hoping that what I do recall may kick-start someone else’s memory of it.
From my recollection of the plot, three children around 12 years old (I think it was two boys and a girl; a brother and sister and their cousin) get on a plane by themselves to go visit a relative. One of them accidentally takes a newspaper with a half-completed crossword puzzle from another passenger, and realize some of the answers are written out wrong.
Eventually, after being stalked by the person who is trying to get the paper back, they realize that there is a code in the puzzle for a money drop-off in the airport. The children get stuck in the airport (during a layover?) and have to hide from the “bad guys.” I remember that the kids end up buying disguises from an airport store; one of them gets held hostage by the bad guys and the other two have to rescue him; and they find a duffel bag of money.
The cover of the book was white and prominently featured a plane and the boxes of a crossword puzzle.
Hopefully someone else knows it, too! I remember it being a good suspense novel for kids.
Love Books, Baaaad Memory
*****
Dear Sars,
I’m looking for a fantasy book that I read and loved years ago.It’s part of a series, and the conceit is that iron inhibits magic — so when the Iron Age came around and people started making tools, all magical creatures ended up going into a deep sleep.Recently, something was invented that dampened the effect of iron on magic, and so everyone (and magic itself) started waking up.
The book in the series that I read involved the invention of a new type of flying broom, where you placed a rock in the “engine” part of the broom, and the broom would take you to wherever the rock was from.Someone sabotaged the broom by putting a moon rock in there, but a young girl sneaks in to try out the broom and survives the test run, exposing the sabotage.The broom was invented by her parents, I think.
It was a really fun world in which people learned to incorporate magic into their daily lives, and it was from at least ten years ago, and probably longer — certainly, it pre-dated Harry Potter, and I think it even pre-dated the tagging of “urban fantasy” as a popular genre.
Sorry I can’t remember more!Thanks for the help —
Laura B.
Tags: Ask The Readers popcult
Friday the thirteenth…
this sounds similar, but not close enough to HALF MAGIC by Edward Eager. There are enough similarities in structure and action that i think it is worth trying out other Edward Eager books. Note – the originals were written in the fifties.
This may answer the crossword book question — From the loganberrybooks.com “stump the bookseller” page….
“Willo Davis Roberts, What Could Go Wrong?, 1989, approximate.Three cousins travel across country alone on a plane to visit relatives, and get involved in a mystery during their flights. The cover has a crossword puzzle in the background, with three kids in front of it, and a man fleeing with a suitcase.”
It’s stumper A416 if you want to look it up!
I’m pretty sure the third one is “Operation Luna” by Poul Anderson. It came out in 2000, but it’s a sequel to his “Operation Chaos”, which was released in 1971.
Based on Amazon description, the thirteenth one sounds like The 13th is Magic by Joan Howard.
Thank you to Marisa! I’ll also check out the Edward Eager books, they sound fun!
Sarah – What Could Go Wrong is totally it! Thank you so much! It’s been bugging me for years. :)
The first book is definitely The 13th is Magic.
I remember the 13th is Magic, I loved that book. It’s totally out of print now, but I’d love to find it again…
Just one correction — the Half Magic series is by Edgar (not Edward) Eager.
@Andrea: Are you sure? I haven’t read them myself, but both Amazon and Wikipedia list his name as Edward.
Andrea,
on the net i can find many references to the cool ( E. Eager books) as Edgar Eager.
Also as Edward Eager. I used amazon.com, which uses Edward Eager.
I have no idea personally if it is properly Edward or Edgar. I see many many “good books to read” lists that use Edgar.
If i could get a larger image of one of the book covers, perhaps we could be certain. I am sure we agree that they are great books.
For what it’s worth, Wikipedia lists him as Edward Eager.
My 1956 paperback book of Knight’s Castle is by Edward Eager.
That is weird. I loved Eager’s books as a kid, and I also could have sworn that his first name was Edgar. I wonder if it was a misprint on older editions or something.
Um, off topic, but OMG I JUST GOT MY DONORS CHOOSE GIVING CODE FROM HP! Those soon-to-expire projects on the spreadsheet better watch out.
Laura! Me, too!! It was a shining light in an otherwise crappy day.
Ohhh, spending that card from HP was fun fun fun!
Oh man, I LOVED Willow Davis Roberts books when I was a young teen. What Could Go Wrong was my favorite (I squealed when I started reading the letter: “I KNOW THIS ONE!”) and I also loved Scared Stiff. Good times.
I loved the E. Eager books. The one where the chocolate chips are accidently knocked into the batter- had to tell Mom to do that! Also- Breadfruit! Still have not had a chance to try it. Seems like it must be the most delectable fruit imaginable.
For the third book: Operation Luna is totally it!! Thank you, thank you, Meri — and it makes sense, because I was going through a Poul Anderson binge around then! Must go get Operation Chaos now as well.
Thanks Tomato Nation!