The Vine: November 4, 2011
Years ago, I’d say in the late 1980s, I saw what was either a one-hour show or a full-length movie on PBS (specifically WNET, Channel 13) where a group of kids wound up getting into trouble and then…for some reason…became in charge of their own radio station, whose call letters were “KIDS.” It might have been a Wonderworks movie but I’m not sure because like I said my searches don’t turn up anything.
Thanks for your help!
Tom
*****
Sars,
I am trying to remember the name of an author and/or her book series. I tore through the books some time ago. They were about a woman who hated her job, quits and then gets hired for a new job by none other than Merlin. Merlin is CEO of a magical company, and the woman is a human that can see past the veil and see everything for what it really is (like fairies and ogres, etc).
I clearly remember a gargoyle and the setting for most of the series was in NYC. There was a rival magician who sold bad spells. I think the author’s first name was Shannon. I wanted to recommend them to a friend and cannot for the life of me remember the author’s full name. I’m hoping a reader can help!
Just call me CRS
*****
I’ve tried for years to find a YA book that I read and owned back in the late ’80s/early ’90s but I can’t find anything on the interwebs. So now I turn to you and “The Nation” for help.
As I said, the book is from the Young Adult genre, probably published some time around 1989 or 1990. The writing style is similar to Julian F. Thompson or Robert Cormier, but it’s not really what I would consider a thriller.
What I can briefly remember is that it’s about a teenage girl who is dealing with some crisis at home (Divorce? A parent’s death?) and has an older friend/boyfriend who’s fed up with everything that’s going on in the world/government/his family, and decides to live off the grid in the woods in a cave near this suburban city. The teen girl makes a decision to go with him and most of the book’s plot revolves around her struggle with this decision to cut herself off from all that she knew before.
The cover of the paperback copy I had was a drawing of the teen girl; long dark hair with maybe bangs, blue eyes. Wearing a red t-shirt, with possibly a backpack over one shoulder?
I’m sure it’s out of print by now, but I’ve had luck in the past finding copies of out of print books online and I’m hoping to do the same with this book. If I could only remember the dang title.
Anything that you or your readers could do would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kitty
Tags: Ask The Readers popcult
The middle one is definitely the Enchanted, Inc. series by Shanna Swendson.
“Then, seemingly out of the blue, Katie gets a job offer from Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., a company that tricks of the trade to the magic community. For MSI, Katie’s ordinariness is an asset. Lacking any bit of magic, she can easily spot a fake spell, catch hidden clauses in competitor’s contracts, and detect magically disguised intruders. Suddenly, average Katie is very special indeed.” :)
Ooooh. #2 I think I know! The Enchanted, Inc series by Shanna Swendson. There are four in total now. I also love them.
The first one sounds like KIDS Incorporated.
Yes, first one definitively sounds like KIDS incorporated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnsHpPNltBw
Wasn’t KIDS incorporated also a show on Disney? Or was this show on PBS and I just have it in my head that I used to watch it on Disney?
I’d like to “third” the KIDS Incorporated, though it was a rock band, not a radio station.
Did anyone else know that this show is where Fergie got her start? Crazy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_Incorporated
#1 rings a bell – was it a musical, by chance? I vaguely remember a school play we did in the mid to late 80s with a similar concept, and one of the songs had the verse “tune in to KIDS Radio”.
I really want to know that third one: The Grounding of Group 6 was one of my favorites back in the day, and if this one is similar I’d love to read it.
Was number 1 Kid Songs? The kids take over a tv station and it aired on PBS. Don’t know the back story, but YouTube has videos of their theme song…
For #3, here are some books about girls with trouble in their lives running away to rough it:
Island Keeper, by Harry Mazer
On The Far Side of the Mountain (sequel to My Side of the Mountain) by Jean Craighead George
Runaway’s Diary by Marilyn Harris
On the Far Side of the Mountain seems most likely to me; from Amazon: Two years ago, Sam ran away from New York City to live in the Catskill Mountains. Now his younger sister Alice has joined him and is quietly living in a tree house of her own nearby. Their peaceful life is shattered when a conservation officer confiscates Sam’s falcon, Frightful, and Alice suddenly vanishes. Sam leaves his home to search for Alice, hoping to find Frightful, too. But the trail to the far side of the mountain may lead Sam into great danger.
I also vote for On the Far Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. It was published in 1990 and the original cover has Alice in a red shirt with long hair, although it’s not a t-shirt and her hair is blond.
I definitely remember #1, and specifically remember that it was a different show than Kids Incorporated – now that I see Courtney’s comment above, I’m almost positive it was Kidsongs. The kids ran an old abandoned radio station, and there were musical numbers that the kids sang/performed. To this day I can still picture their versions of “Centerfield” and “Waltzing Matilda.”
#1 is definitely Kidsongs. Only it wasn’t a radio station, it was a television station and the show was kind of like their news program. I know this because my stepdad is one of the “grown ups” that shows the kids how to use the equipment in the opening credits. I have many fond memories of running around that set.