Today, I thought I’d talk about books that I have forgotten. As embarrassing as it is, there are books that I’ve read but then forgot the title. Some (like The Race for the Lost Keystone), I’ve managed to rediscover, but these few are gone for good. So I figured that I might as well commit what I remember of them to this blog, and see if I can find them again (or if anyone can recognise them).

1. The one that ends with an Irish name

I remember reading this in my school’s Primary school library (though I might have graduated by then), so this is probably a middle-grade book. I don’t remember much, but I think a girl had to move and/or she had a new sister (maybe stepsister?) on the way. The front and middle are all blurry. I do remember, at the end, she was invited to help name the baby, and Aislinn was one of them, which is why I think the book might have been set in Ireland.

2. The one about the teacher

I actually may have found this book, but I haven’t been able to read it yet, so I can’t confirm if it’s the one I’m thinking of. Basically, I remember a teacher coming to a cold place to teach, and there was something about fish. I keep thinking “North Pole”, but one day, I decided to try something else (like Alaska) and fount “The Year of Miss Agnes”. From the blurb, it seems like the correct one, but I really don’t know. I’m definitely going to borrow it and read it to check though.

Oh, and the reason why the book made an impression on me was because I borrowed it and read it on a holiday.

UPDATE: Found – The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill! The library had a copy and it was just as good as I remembered (although I’m way above the target demographic)

3. The one about the Butterfly Boy

Ok, this one… I remember that it was next to The Year of Miss Agnes or whatever the teacher book was. So author name should start with the same letter.

What I remember about the book: girl has to do science project with strange boy. Strange boy sleeps in a cocoon-like bed, drinks something like nectar. The boy may or may not have wings. I remember their project was on butterflies and he gained confidence in the end? Or maybe he did have wings and he showed it off as they did their presentation on butterflies because someone ruined the original presentation?

UPDATE: This is has been found! It’s True Blue by Jeffrey Lee. I managed to find it on a visit back to school, but unfortunately, I can no longer borrow books from that library (and it doesn’t seem to be in the national library) and didn’t get a chance to read it cover-to-cover.

4. The one inspired by Edgar Allen Poe

This should be easiest one, BUT IT DOES NOT SEEM TO EXIST.

I read it when I was in Cambodia in Sec 2. It was from the library and pretty old (I sort of remember yellowed pages), so it’s definitely fairly old. For the record, Sec 2 was about 8 years ago.

What I remember: boy goes to some creepy house, Poe stories are clues, and in the end, someone was bricked behind a wall a la The Cask of Amontillado.

UPDATE: Found – The Haunting by Joan Lowery Nixon. Someone from Goodreads suggested that I take a look at the book and the ending definitely fits what I remembered. But, the rest of the book is totally different and somehow, I don’t want to re-read it anymore. It’s one of the books I liked better when it was lost.

I have searched for stories based on The Cask of Amontillado, but I can’t seem to find it.

5. The one with the rainy town.

It’s a collection of short stories – one of them has a tourist who goes to a rainy town, gets arrested, and then comes up with an idea to save the town by turning it into a firework-town.

UPDATE: Found this! It’s The Girl with the Green Ear by Margaret Mahy and I managed to get my hands on a copy!

Has anyone heard of any of these books? I really would love to read them again.