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openNo Title Literature
I remember this one book I read when I was a kid that had a girl get sucked inside a cardboard turkey and live through this surreal experience resembling the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Also, I remember that the girl had a younger brother named Booker who she called Booger, and there was this weird mysterious guy who I think was called Ralph who showed up throughout the book. I think it was part of a series of books, but that's the only one I really remember.
openNo Title Literature
A samurai visits a village where something is stalking people, killing them with a torn-out throat from a distance while emitting a cat-like yowl. The twist of the story was that the killer turns out to be the samurai's long-lost brother (or maybe friend) who'd had his throat mostly torn out by a grappling hook during the war and is now killing people with the same. I remember that the book ended with the samurai performing as second to the killer, who chose to commit seppaku.
I found this one once before, but I have since forgotten what it was named.
Edited by FuzzyBootsopenNo Title Literature
This is going to be pretty vague, but here goes. This was a children's book, a version of the three little pigs I think, but i remember it had a little comic strip thing running across the bottom of the pages. Any ideas?
openNo Title Literature
Okay, so this is (another) kids' book. Actually, it might have been a short series of books. It follows three kids, one girl, two guys. It's written in limited third person, but it switches PO Vs between the kids on a regular basis.
One of the boys was named Duncan, and he suspected one of his teachers (whose name was Angeline or something like that) of being an alien after said teacher made him use this new brain wave amplifier thing in front of the class, which he realized was alien technology. However, the real alien was the only teacher who had been nice to him (She[?] taught home ec, I think). The actual alien had burned her latex-like glove (it was part of the human disguise) on the stove the first class and ran out of the room, seemingly in tears. Duncan assumed she ran because she was embarrassed of burning her finger (he doesn't realize it's a disguise, no one does) and shy.
Later on, he pulls a fire alarm, forgetting that people who pull the fire alarm get their hands sprayed with this purple ink that won't come off until days afterwards. He finds the burned glove in a Dumpster and uses it to cover up his purple hand. (He also was feeling a little nasty that day and passed the top of the glove, which was disintegrating a bit, as a skin infection to a classmate who kept staring at him).
Anyway, because he's Book Dumb but wants to be smart, he keeps sneaking out to the school and using the brain wave thing on himself, to the point where his brain can actually start hearing radio and television waves as well. It's horribly distracting and headache-inducing. At about this point the real alien kidnaps him and starts using his enhanced brain to communicate with off-planet aliens. She had been positively delighted when she had discovered he had used the machine on himself voluntarily.
The girl also had a plotline (probably), but I don't really remember it. She saves Duncan and tells him that the "hours" he had been missing were actually three weeks. She had a decent role in the other kid's plot as well, but I don't remember what it was. She might have been his friend? She might have tried to persuade him to not do...something. Something to do with aliens? Whatever. Anyway, the third kid was a loner/loser type, I'm pretty sure. He reminded me of Tobias. I don't remember how, but he got involved with another alien (this one's a good guy as well as a guy) and left to go off to space with him. This is why I think it might be a series; I'm pretty sure the departure happened last minute at the end of the first book. The alien was very reluctant, but eventually relented. Also, Humans Are Special. Apparently we have very awesome brain capabilities compared to other aliens, but the tragedy is that we almost never use said capabilities to our advantage. At one point the boy gets his brain taken out (although it's still connected to him) in order to study it.
There are these three factions of aliens that concern Earth. They are worried about our violent tendencies . The first faction wants to ...do something that would not be good, I forget what. The second faction wants to let us be to destroy ourselves. The third faction wants to push a button to basically destroy us all. The boy and the team of aliens on the spaceship teleport unseen to a lot of places on Earth and try to come up with evidence that will make Earth seem like it's worth preserving. They called the evidence "buttonbusters" and the counterevidence (is that a word?) "buttonpushers." The Grand Canyon was a buttonbuster.
At one point the boy was looking for the alien he had previously befriended on the spaceship because he's mad at him (I think). He stumbles across the room where he is, but he's with a bunch of other (13, perhaps?) aliens that make up this powerful council. For some reason (I think one of the members insulted the friend-alien or humans?), the boy gets really upset, gets Angry Tears, and attempts to punch a member. All the council members in the room were holograms. He was embarrassed at his outburst, and the friend-alien was acting like "That was stupid and embarrassing but I understand and am not going to scold you too much."
There might have been a genderless, sexless, plant-like alien who was very eloquent and whose native language sounded like burping. Its nickname might have been Carl. Maybe. That could have come from a different book.
That's all I remember for the moment. Thanks in advance!
Edited by AruciaopenNo Title Literature
Does anyone remember/know where to find a story on fictionpress/fanfiction.net called Holy Dark or The Holy Dark, which was about a male kitsune named Kurobushko (or something along those lines) and a female demon hunter? I remember a lot about it despite not being able to find it.
All demons are sociopaths to a certain degree, because of their exposure to a force they reverently call the "Holy Dark". The Holy Dark powers their demonic abilities and makes it difficult for them to feel empathy and compassion towards other creatures, but by itself it's a fairly neutral/passive force and doesn't make them do evil things. During certain phases of the moon, the Holy Dark is the strongest and will often "favour" certain individuals.
At the start of the story the protagonist, a kitsune named Kuro, is hanging out with his best friend. His friend is pretty notorious for being bloodthirsty and sadistic, even among kitsune (who are the trailer trash of the demon world) and later on becomes the antagonist of the story. Kitsune can use the Holy Dark to shapeshift and create fire and all sorts of other stuff, but they need to feed on human souls. Kuro's friend just makes sure that the process of feeding on people is as messy and painful as possible for the victim.
Later on, Kuro sees a young woman, naked on a roof and is drawn towards her as a potential meal, despite all the strangeness of the scenario that should set off alarm bells in his head. It turns out that this woman is a demon hunter using magic to lure him, and Kuro narrowly escapes being killed by one of her spells. However, he's bound to her will and the rest of the story up to the climax is actually Slice of Life. It has Kuro living with the demon hunter, finding out she's actually a really nice person, growing fond of her and learning to have "human" feelings because of the magic used to bind him.
During the climax he fights his old kitsune friend and uses the Holy Dark to save the demon hunter's life. However, because now she has the Holy Dark inside of her she's no longer the same person that she was before - colder and more distant. It ends with her and Kuro parting ways and no longer able to fit in with either demons or humans, him tainted by humanity and her by the Holy Dark.
It's been over five years since I've last read this, but I loved it to death and wanted to re-read it... if only I could find it.
openNo Title Literature
All I can remember is a boy (late elementary school, early middle school age) goes on vacation with his family and best friend, is happy to be away from a girl that annoys him, only to find out that her family is staying in the same house as them. The living quarters are separated from the kitchen/dining area. At one point while out riding their bikes, one of the characters is distressed because he accidentally swallowed a bug. It had a made for TV move that came out (mid to late '90s, I think)
openNo Title Literature
A whole bunch of literature queries, while I think of them:
- 1) A short story where the main character is planning on selling his soul to The Devil - he goes on and on about admiring how clever The Devil is and how successful he is going to become for it... Then he finally meets with The Devil, and as he signs his soul away he looks in The Devil's eyes, and instantly regrets it because he realizes that The Devil is "an idiot".
- 2) I think this was in an English textbook I had in grade school: There's a class field trip to the zoo, and on the way one kid is made fun of for constantly making up outrageous stories about how cool his father is, such as that he has magical powers and keeps ostriches in their yard. Later on, the kids meet his father, and everything he said about him turns out to be true... sort of: He's a magician and there are life-sized ostrich sculptures in the yard, for instance.
- 3) A YA book: There was a school with a magical, vaguely Mary Poppins-ish school teacher. The main bad guy is one of the students, and at one point in some sort of magic-related mishap his hair turns green. The bad kid comes home with green hair and has to assure his malaproper father that he hasn't become "one of those runk-pockers". Also, even though it seemingly had nothing else to do with Doctor Doolittle, a Pushmi-Pullyu was involved somehow.
- 4) Another YA book - I only remember one small scene where the main character is hiding, and needs to enter a building guarded by two mook-type characters who are British (and I believe it's mentioned they're rugby players), and are described as both being so laconic as to seem like they have their own language. I mainly remember that the main character was listening in to their conversation and at one point one responded to the other with "Grade A, mate", and in his narration the main character wonders whether the mook did really say "Grade A, mate" or if he just changed the subject completely by commenting on the weather ("gray day, mate"). There may have also been something about a character being kidnapped and trapped in a room with a man who yells at them in an unrecognizable language and is described as looking like Mr. Clean, and the book may have actually alternated narrators with each chapter (If so, the chapters were headlined by the name of the character whose POV it was to make this less confusing). But then again maybe the "Gray day" / "Grade A" thing, the guy who looked like Mr. Clean and even the alternating narrators were entirely different books.
- 5) A very... odd book I ended up browsing through in the library as a kid. It had something to do with alien invasion, but the main thing I remember is that the end of the world was supposed to be preceded by an endless traffic jam, which one of the main characters ends up starting. There's a certain song that drives the aliens away, and the song was even printed in the book with lyrics and sheet music.
openNo Title Literature
There was this book I saw at a book fair at my school when I was in the fifth grade. The cover showed a picture of this family, who all had dark hair, and the art looked like it could have been drawn by Brett Helquist (the illustrator for A Series of Unfortunate Events). I read the back and the book was about this family who were all very peculiar, including one relative who was stuck inside either a computer or the internet. It looked really interesting, only I didn't buy it, but I would just love to find that book again, if only I could remember the title.
openNo Title Literature
I cannot for the life of me remember the name of a science-fiction young adult novel I read, but never finished in middle school (around 2003). I believe it was the second novel in a series, and was very post-apocalyptic. The main character was a boy who had gone blind by staring into the sun after escaping from a massive labyrinthine sewer system populated by dangerous creatures. While in the sewers, he was accompanied by intelligent fish/tadpoles who eventually grew into humanoids and served as the protagonist's protectors when they escaped to the surface. On the surface, I think he joined a group of survivors who lived in a boat town in the middle of a lake. Going to land was dangerous, because carnivorous mutants populated the wasteland. These mutants were highly adapted to ride black metal bicycles. They're skulls were sloped like the helmets cyclists wear, and they had natural visors over blue eyes. I do not remember much besides that, but I think the fishfolk allowed the boy to have political strength in the town do to the amphibian's physical prowness and their dedication to their blind leader. I have scoured google, and nothing useful has shown up.
openNo Title Literature
There was this kids' book series about a magic club at school. And I remember in one book the kids found this alligator statue in the library and then there was a gem in a tapestry that fit into the statue's eye. When they put the gem in the statue, they found a treasure map I think? If anyone has any ideas, this is driving me crazy.
openNo Title Literature
A graphic novel about a mysterious blue light rendering all humanity miniaturized. A very unique Apocalypse How by my books, so it's always coming back to me, but the title doesn't. A remember that one of the characters was a young man working for his father in an office building, who has these weird 'visions' of the blue light before it happens, and another character was his sister, mom, and grandfather who were in their house when the blue light came.
Edited by theoneguyopenNo Title Literature
i remember everyhting but the name. aaauugghhhh! it was a YA book about a guy from Alaska in the bushlands who killed his neighbour when he was 5, after which he gets commited and grows up in an institution with other criminally insane youths who all have nicknames (one guy was called Slice 'n' dice, because he was in there for killing and cutting up pets and leaving the parts hidden throughout the owner's homes to find). The protagonist calls his psychiatrist 'the frown'. An earlyish chapter is called When Gloves Explode because he goes on a bit about Wile E. Cyote, and the next chapter is called When People Explode. Partway through he gets released and goes to highschool (he was homeschooled before he got commited) until he gets drunk or something and tells his friends what he did, so his family moves to a town (by the sea, i think) and he's homeschooled again. He meets a woman who was an alcoholic in her teens before getting addicted to coffee. The guy wants to repaint the house himself, as a project or something. i stopped reading around there. Sorry about the length Anyone know it?
openNo Title Literature
This one was a manga I once read from a friend. It was about a group of several people who went off to explore an abandoned house or school, I think? The group was mixed, including a Shinto priestess (Miko?) and kids from school.
Sorry for the vague, I really can't remember much else of it.
openNo Title Literature
I seem to remember reading a book in the fifth grade that I can't quite find. It wasn't mandated by the school.
I think the title had something to do with a mountain. The premise, as I remember it, was two men trapped on what I recall to be an island with a mountain on it. I believe one was a sailor, possibly the other one too. The Island was filled with very odd alien-like lifeforms. I think the two main characters were attempting to cross the island to try to get to the other side of the mountain.
Sorry if that was vague. Seeing as I can't find it on google, it might be a little bit obscure.
openNo Title Literature
I remember a lot of details but can't seem to find this book. It was about this teen who accidentally pulls two of his classmates into the water while trying to play a joke on them or something. They get swept away by the strong river current and he jumps in to try and save them. I think he is knocked out in the process and his cousin tells everyone the teen is a hero even though the cousin knows it was the teens fault the classmates fell in. I remember the cousin was visiting or had just moved in or something and was a real brat. He was trying to get on the teens good side so I think that is why he told everyone the teen was a hero when he knew better. The bodies of his classmates are found later that week and the local media starts hyping the teen up for having tried to save them. The struggles with deciding whether to just accept the attention or set everyone straight. Someone, I think it turns out to be the girl who lives next door who saw what really happened through binoculars, starts sending him letters telling him to confess. Eventually he does confess and I think the book ends right after he comes to this decision. I think the book was aimed at young teens and I really want to say the title was something along the lines of Dark Water or Black Water, though I could just be making that up. If anyone knows this book please tell me because it's annoying to remember so many details but still not be able to find it.
openNo Title Literature
It was a short story about an alien invasion,a General Patton style figure decides to open t5he alien space ship and kill everyone inside. He's dismissed, and another general takes over. The new general allows the aliens to escape, and they start killing people. The decision is made to nuke the city to kill all the aliens. Secstate wants to nuke the city, but the president and vice president dont. The general kills them both, and refers to the sec state as president, suggesting he will nuke the city
openNo Title Literature
When I was in grade school, I had two different experiences where somebody read part of a book to our class, then didn't read the rest. To this day I'm curious about what happened. I can't remember the titles, of course. Here's what I do remember:
1. A kid fixes his little brother's teddy bear, which is missing an eye or something. He notices that it's too heavy for a stuffed animal, and suspects there's machinery inside. So he tells his brother, "I'm going to perform an operation on Teddy" (or something to that effect). To be continued...
2. A group of kids somehow end up with an idol or something that's supposed to grant wishes, but don't take it seriously. Sort of like the movie Big. One of the kids is a girl who isn't very well-liked because she's talkative and tactless. When she's alone with the idol, she wishes to be popular. Then a mist comes out of her mouth. To be continued...
Edited by FloydPinkertonopenNo Title Literature
In one children's novel, the main character wishes his younger brother out of existence when he's angry with him for getting him into trouble with their parents, then spends most of the book trying to undo that wish by obtaining another of the item he used to make the wish from the old woman who gave it to him.

1. A book where the Earth is about to be hit with an asteroid. Told from the POV of a teenage boy. There's a spaceship that can save a certain number of people. The boy and his parents have tickets. After the rocket takes off, the asteroid hits the Earth and Earth breaks apart. The captain shoots himself in the head. The boy is watching the news from the ship where he can see a girl he likes in California filming as the asteroid hits. There was a sequel to the book.
2. A short story where the King has put clues up in the town as some sort of contest. The clues are words hidden in various public places, one of which is a playground. A little girl finds all of the clues after an eccentric inventor tells her to read between the lines.
Edited by NoctePluvia