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resolved Plantation owner's son tries to free obsequious slave to impress abolitionist girl Literature
I read this short story for an African-American literature class several years ago. The protagonist's crush tells him that she'd marry any man who helped a slave escape, so the protagonist tells his father that he's going on vacation to Canada and wants a slave to accompany him. To his chagrin, the only slave his father is willing to send is a boot-licking Uncle Tom who's terrified of abolitionists. In Canada, the protagonist tries various schemes to lose the slave before finally arranging for him to be kidnapped and then going back to the plantation alone. However, on his and the abolitionist's wedding day, the slave suddenly shows up, having traveled hundreds of miles to get back to the plantation. In the end, it turns out the slave's subservient behavior was all an act. He just wanted to get back to the plantation to carry out his plan to escape with his whole family. Eventually they all make it safely to Canada. I seem to remember the author being called the "black O. Henry," but Googling that phrase doesn't turn anything up.
Edited by Madison14resolved Kids' book about squirmy mouse boy Literature
A children's book, it looked relatively modern but the art style was sort of old-fashioned (similar to the illustrations in the original Winnie-the-Pooh books).
There was this anthropomorphic, or at least semi-anthropomorphic, mouse boy named... I don't remember; something with a "W". I think William.
He was very squirmy, but I can't remember if it was a Potty Dance, or if it was just a Character Tic that onlookers just mistook for a potty dance.
At one point, there was a conversation that went something like this:
resolved Book where protagonist's teacher gets abducted by aliens. Literature
The protagonist's teacher gets abducted by aliens. And midway through, he finds his teacher being held in suspended animation somewhere else in the neighborhood, and manages to take pictures, but when the pictures are developed, they come out as "room with glowing light in the middle."
resolved Tetsuo and a Bluebird of Happiness? [FOUND] Literature
Hey guys, I'm trying to find a fiction book that I read years ago. From what I remember, the plot was set in Japan. The main character is a game otaku who is dangerously close to becoming a hikikomori, and his online handle is Tetsuo. He meets a girl in real life and she is trying to find the Bluebird of Happiness. So, the guy and girl try to find the bluebird together and the guy learns to not be online all the time and appreciate the outside world. I also distinctly remember the first line of the book being "I press the A button, and I'm Tetsuo."
Edited by PKLpikachuresolved Charity as a Disease Literature
It was a short story about a pair of doctors who discovered a virus that made people more likely to be charitable, like how toxoplasmosis makes rats more likely to be friendly with cats (who would then eat the rats). For example, the infected would be more likely to work at homeless shelters, donate to the poor, or *go to a blood drive*. They're just about ready to publish, when an extremely deadly, yet unrelated, disease breaks out and kills one of the doctors. The other doctor decides not to publish, because the charity virus is the only reason the hospitals are getting enough blood, but also a badge saying that, if he gets hurt, not to give him any blood. The story ends there.
I'd greatly appreciate to find the title and author, please.
resolved No Title Literature
I'm looking for a short story my mom read when she was in middle school, which was in the early 1970s. It is set in a future world where the sun shines only one day a year and a little girl is locked in a closet by her classmates that day. She could recall that much about the plot but could not recall the title.
resolved The Village: The Book? Literature
There is a book where a small village is like a reenactment of pre-industrial times, and all the children really believe it is pre-industrial times because of the adults. People are allowed to come and look at them through 2-way mirrors and stuff. One day people in the village get sick, so a woman sends her daughter out of the village throgh a secret tunnel hidden under a rock. I remember the girl being warned by a farmer not to drink from a river because of chemicals in the water, a man getting her and telling her how a car works, the same man trying to drug her because he works for the village, but she avoids it because she's paranoid about the farmers warning, her passing out after getting away from the man, and her waking up and being told her village would be fine because after she left, one of the adults went nuts and held a bunch of people hostage, which forced them to shut down.
resolved Chronicles of Narnia - Aslan (Solved) Literature
So I was looking at the Aslan / Chronicles of Narnia entry under the new Resurrection Gambit trope and it reminded me of something. I seem to recall a version of the story in which, after Aslan comes back to life, either Susan or Lucy questions him, upset, saying something like "Why didn't you tell us if you knew?" and maybe expressing annoyance or upset at his making them worry. And Aslan replies with something like "Didn't know. Hoped, but I couldn't be sure." And he explains that he didn't want to get their hopes up in case somehow it didn't work and he didn't come back.
Does this strike anyone as familiar or does anyone know where this comes from? I checked and it's definitely not a part of the original book and I also checked the film and its not in there either, nor in any deleted scene that I can find or find reference to. I don't think it was any of the old BBC versions either - I'm not sure I ever even saw those and, if I did, it's been so long ago that I don't think it's likely that I would recall any details specific to them, though I wouldn't 100% swear to that.
Edited by JMQwilleranresolved A girl runs away to an island in Canada (I think) Literature
I read this one in fifth grade. A teenage girl runs away in the wake of her older sister Jam's death. She had an eight-step disappearance plan that involved changing her clothes in an airport bathroom and flushing stuff that could identify her down the toilet, and it ends with her on an uninhabited island that I think was in Canada. She lives there for months, possibly a year. Once a guy comes to the island to look for her, but he doesn't do a very good job - he just wanders around calling her name. When she decides to leave the island, he's the first person she meets. He doesn't recognize her because her time in the wilderness has changed her so much.
resolved Looking for short story in a collection book Literature
I’m looking for a story about an overly angry man, his house after years of abuse from the man attacks him back while he’s in the bathroom. Think there's a razor involved.
Thanks.
Edited by Tiljaresolved Kids' book where a boy tells stories to his grandpa (Solved) Literature
The book was pretty short, I read it in less than a hour as a kid. The boy has a lot of brothers, one older and several younger, and his grandfather works in a lighthouse. The lighthouse is mentioned to have one huge step in the stairs. The boy tells his grandpa about bad stuff that's happened to him, but his grandpa always has a worse story, like when the boy ran out of toilet paper and the grandpa was bitten on the head by a shark. But then the boy remembers the time when his older brother tricked him to walking on the road when he was little. He did this because their grandma always gave the bigger candy to the boy who could answer correctly to her question or something? And one time the protagonist answered correctly and the older brother was jealous. The main boy was wearing a bunny costume for some reason when this happened, and the older brother was punished for this by making him wash the younger brothers' diapers
Edit: It's Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
Edited by Hqamiresolved [SOLVED] A novel about criminal kidnapping a famous surgeon's little daughter for revenge. Literature
A self-proclaimed criminal mastermind along with his wife and mentally challenged brother kidnaps a little girl - the daughter of a famous surgeon. The mastermind says he has perfected the art of kidnapping. He also holds the doctor's wife hostage while the criminal's wife is harassing the doctor and the mentally challenged brother is holding the kid. That's how they commited all previous abductions however this time it goes out of control when the doctor and his wife decide they're not giving in to the criminal's demands without a fight.
The title was something like "longest 24 hours" but I'm not certain.
Edited by sohibilresolved Book about a daydreaming boy Literature
This book that was went through in an old English class of mine is not too brief but not novel-status either. The chapters didn't appear to have that much continuity, from what I remember.
The thing I vaguely remember is the daydreaming boy's name being something generic, like Peter. He loved to daydream, and in one instance it got in the way of his tests because he was daydreaming instead of doing them, causing the teacher to consult the parents if he needed to relearn the basics, to which the parents clarify that he was just a big daydreamer.
The other chapters I remember in brief:
- He switches bodies with his cat, and returns since he just daydreamed it. It had a Bittersweet Ending since the cat passed away, and he later sees her fuzzy light soul form depart from her grave, saying her goodbyes.
- He switches bodies with an infant relative of his. From formerly close to despising said infant at the start to then being much nicer to him at the end after having daydreamed a day in his life.
- Something about a drawer full of stuff. He was meant to fetch something from it, but he might've had a row with his family, or his little sister specifically, and somehow daydreamed up a sort of paint that painted things out of existence. The description of his sister running around outside with the can over her head compared her to a headless chicken. His parents somehow disappeared too, and he just wants them back, to later find out none of the recent chaos ever happened.
resolved Looking for a fantasy novel Literature
The story in this is that a former adventurer wants to save his daughter who is in a city under siege by monsters. So he goes looking for his former crew who were all part of a famous group. They include: a beserker who got turned into stone, a wizard trying to cure a disease that killed his partner (and he has it too), a guy who uses 2 knives (named after the 2 women he had sex for the 1st time) and is a king but his wife wants him dead and his best friend who is a family man has has a very strong shield.
Edited by AbrahamOmosunresolved Picture book about an elderly star-man telling his life story as a human Literature
I'm pretty sure this was in my fifth grade classroom in the late 2000s. Each life stage was represented by a different color, and illustrated by a different artist. Infancy was yellow for sunshine, early childhood was red, later childhood was purple for imagination, young adulthood was black and white, middle age was gray for depression, later middle age was green, and old age was yellow for stars. One page was illustrated with computer graphics by Bruce Wood. (I just trawled through fifteen pages of Amazon results for Bruce Wood, to no avail.) The word "Dream" might have been in the title.
Edit: Never mind, found it. It's Dream by Susan V. Bosak.
Edited by Madison14resolved (Solved) Some excerpt about something dreadful of a voting day Literature
I remember this one passage in an English lesson that might've been about inference or tone. Because not much was blankly stated in the excerpt, it was up to what we could gather from what was given to depict what was actually happening.
There's this town whose townspeople appear to be (or maybe just some of them) looking forward to the voting event that day. Just the common townsfolk going about their morning with word of the anticipated event. It might've been implied that children were not to be involved or be allowed to be voted.
The event came and everyone came to gather in a town hall or other main building. Each received or took out at random a white folded piece of paper. A moment of uneasiness wavered by as they waited until they could check their papers. Whoever got a clear piece of paper was relieved.
The entire mood of the text changed when one person, a lady amongst those we heard converse with her fellow townsfolk earlier that morning, was the last to reveal their paper - with a black spot in it. Everyone knew what it meant (except the reader) since they did this every year (or other specific time period), like an ordinary tradition. Which it was, actually.
Everyone starts encircling her, some with small weapons for beating up like stones maybe, and her pleading with her fellow folk for a different fate. The excerpt ends just as they fully surround her.
Edited by BlackFaithStarresolved Unauthorized Here Come the Brides sequel novel Literature
I stumbled upon this on Amazon months ago, but can't find it now. It's an unauthorized Here Come the Brides sequel starring the Bolt's descendents and dealing with the Great Seattle Fire
. The cover showed a burning house, maybe a mansion. I think it was categorized as a romance novel. It might have had "North" or "Northwest" in the title.
resolved (Solved) Book about Thanksgiving Literature
I remember my preschool teacher reading us a book about Thanksgiving. In the book, a boy and his family are excited to eat the turkey. But than the mom trips over a toy car and drops the turkey. The boy feels bad, but the mom helps him feel better by telling him the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Does anyone know what book this is?
Edited by Gamergirl101resolved WWII Alternate History Literature
I've searched databases all over the internet, but can't find hide nor hair of this. In the book, there are two major points of divergence, one in Europe and one in the Pacific.
In Europe, Adolph Hitler dies in a bombing raid, and Himmler successfully negotiates a ceasefire with Neville Chamberlain. This lasts a year while Germany regroups, ending with the gassing of London, and the Royal Family fleeing with the Royal Navy. King George VI dies in a Gunnery battle at sea, while covering for the ship carrying Elizabeth to Canada. (Not Himmler's War, I checked)
In the Pacific, Japan waits about a year to bomb Pearl Harbor, which leads to the battleships escaping out to sea, and subsequently being torpedoed and sunk in deep water.
There's a sub-plot with a mercenary American fighter pilot who fights his way back from Britain, through Africa and Southern Asia, to get back home, only to find himself drafted as a leader in the Army Air Force.
That's about all I remember. I hope somebody can remember more than I can!

A book where a group are making a pilgrimage either on, or to, a giant tree that is also a spaceship.
One of the travelers was a girl suffering from Benjamin Button syndrome. Her aging had been reversed.
Another was a formerly wealthy poet, who became famous after having a stroke due to bad cryo-sleep, and only being able to communicate with 9 vulgar words. He fell from grace after recovering.
Edited by Tylendal