I am looking for the title (and author) of a particular childrens book
I read in the 1950s. Some details are as follows.
1 Probably published late 1940s or early 1950s.
2 Set in an old house which is found to have a secret passage.
3 A number of children foil a plot they discover various baddies are
hatching.
4 At one point a car is put out of action by putting sugar into the
petrol tank.
5 The baddies, when captured, are immobilised by tying their thumbs
together with string.
I asked this question before. For the history, see
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=266445
Shortly before the questin expired, politicalguru asked for
clarification and may have found the answer (or may not). |
Request for Question Clarification by
politicalguru-ga
on
28 Nov 2003 09:38 PST
Dear Old Memories,
After very extensive searches and readings, I am still not completely
sure, so I'll do something I usually don't: I'll post here the
information I already found (an outline anyway, because I have a train
to catch...), and you could decided whether or not this is the book
you're looking for, and if it is, to tell me to post it as an answer.
Well, the name of the book that comes in mind is : The Marlows and the
Traitor, written by Antonia Forest and published in 1953. Various
plot summaries indicate that this is the book you're looking for, but
I read so many books of that genre as a kid, that I am sure that
others also have a similar plot.
This is the picture of the Australian version:
http://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/usrpages/collect/school6.JPG
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Clarification of Question by
old_memories-ga
on
01 Dec 2003 05:50 PST
Dear PoliticalGuru
Thank you for your response, and for indicating the title of the book
you have in mind. I've had a look at a plot summary on the internet.
However, I'm sure that it is not the book I am looking for.
1: The incident of sugar in the petrol tank was with a car, not a boat.
2: The sugar was put in by a boy, not a girl.
3: I'm sure there was no incident of a car accident and someone in hospital.
4: The description of the plot didn't ring any bells at all.
In the book I read, the main protagonist was a boy, pre-teen, who
immobilised the baddies' car by putting petrol in the tank and
immobilised the baddies by tying their thumbs together with string.
This last was an element not present in the book you mentioned.
Do you have any further ideas?
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Request for Question Clarification by
leapinglizard-ga
on
02 Dec 2003 18:19 PST
I once read an Enid Blyton mystery that featured the Famous Five and
their discovery of a tunnel leading from someone's house (is it their
uncle's?) to a hut where villains go about their villainous deeds.
Then again, secret tunnels are a staple of children's mysteries, and I
don't recollect the business with the sugar or the thumbs. I do have
an enduring literary memory of a motor vehicle being put out of
commission with a handful of sugar, but this scene took place in
Alistair MacLean's Ice Station Zero.
I wasn't able to find a copy of the Enid Blyton work at my local
bookstore nor a detailed synopsis of it online. My university library
is not well stocked with Blyton. If you care to look for yourself, the
title is Five Go Adventuring Again. I'll keep an eye out for it the
next time I'm at the municipal library.
You can view a modern cover and a paltry synopsis at the British version of Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340796154/qid=1070417287/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/026-5142131-3874828
I do hope you find the book you're reminiscing about. I still yearn
for a masterpiece entitled My Friend From the Bronx that was published
under some children's imprint in the early 80s, when I read it, but
that has since faded into an obscurity so profound that the Web shows
no trace of it.
leapinglizard
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Clarification of Question by
old_memories-ga
on
03 Dec 2003 15:24 PST
Dear Leaping Lizard, Thanks for your comment. However, I'm sure the
Famous Five book you mention is not the one. I read quite a number of
Famous Five books as a child, and knew all the characters. The book I
want had quite different people. I've checked a synopsis on the
internet just to make sure. But thanks for your words of encouragement
and I hope you, too, find your own elusive book eventually. Kind
Regards
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