2y ago

does anyone know of a way to find obscure YA novels you only vaguely remember

I've had this reoccurring thing every year or so where I remember this book I read in like 5th - 6th grade that was really fucking good every year or so. I need to find it, I try every time but no amount of Googling thin recollections of its plot has got me anywhere.

19 comments

You should try asking groups of people in online fora ... you know, like this one.
I think I've found your series:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emerald_Atlas
Googling "ya series time travel life death" got me to here
Names? Places? Dates? Genres? Themes? You've got to give us more than "it was really fucking good."
- Alright since y'all are asking for details I'll explain the plot roughly. I only didn't because I've tried this before and it didn't work out on Reddit years ago so I don't expect an even smaller sample size to work but I guess it's worth a shot.
  Basically there are 3 siblings. I think they are all female but their might be a younger male. It's from the perspective of the oldest sibling. The are being antagonize by some guy for some reason I can't remember but I think it had something to do with their parents.
  Somehow they get their hands on a time book and go back in time to I think around the 1800s where apparently magic was a thing and so were dwarves and elves and other magical creatures. It's explained that the reason these creatures and magic don't exist is because humanity basically genocide them. It's also implied that the guy antagonizing them was partly or maybe wholey responsible. Also the main character the eldest has some magic in her.
  Her and her siblings stay in an orphanage or halfway house where she meets a boy and falls in love yada yada. That boy teaches her magic and when the orphanage burns down she saves his life. Turns out that boy was a younger version of the guy that was antagonizing them in the present.
  There's also some sort of relationship between life, death, and time or they hold a special sort of power I'm not sure. It is implied that the younger siblings will come into possession of a book of life and a book of death.
  That's as much as I can remember I think
I wonder if you could use AI to find old stuff like that.
- I used ChatGPT to find an old story I remember a teacher telling in assembly about 23 years ago.
- I tried throwing it into Bing's AI and it gave me:
  Hello, this is Bing. I searched the web for books that match your description and found some possible candidates. Here they are:
  The Time Travelers (The Gideon Trilogy, #1) by Linda Buckley-Archer¹. This book is about two children who accidentally travel back to 1763 and meet a young thief named Gideon. They encounter various dangers and adventures in the past, including highwaymen, alchemists, and a mysterious machine that can manipulate time. The book has elements of magic, history, and science fiction.
  The Emerald Atlas (The Books of Beginning, #1) by John Stephens². This book is about three orphaned siblings who discover a magical book that can transport them to different times and places. They end up in a frozen land where an evil witch rules over dwarves, giants, and other creatures. They must use the book to stop the witch and find their parents. The book has elements of fantasy, adventure, and humor.
  The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia, #6) by C.S. Lewis³. This book is a prequel to the famous Narnia series and tells the story of how the magical world was created. Two children, Digory and Polly, use a pair of magic rings to travel to different worlds, including a dying one where they awaken an evil queen. They also witness the birth of Narnia and meet its first inhabitants, including talking animals, fauns, and dwarves. The book has elements of fantasy, allegory, and Christian themes.
  Source: Conversation with Bing, 1/5/2024 (1) The Best Books about Elves or Faeries (823 books) - Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1728.The_Best_Books_about_Elves_or_Faeries. (2) 15 Magical Books About Elves for Fantasy Lovers. https://epicbooksociety.com/books-about-elves/. (3) 11 Top Fantasy Books With Elves and Dwarves to Read Today. https://nsmirage.com/top-fantasy-books-with-elves-and-dwarves-to-read-today/. (4) 15 Best Fantasy Books With Elves You Can’t Put Down. https://nsmirage.com/15-best-fantasy-books-with-elves-you-cant-put-down/.
Try us! Describe it...
- Alright since y'all are asking for details I'll explain the plot roughly. I only didn't because I've tried this before and it didn't work out on Reddit years ago so I don't expect an even smaller sample size to work but I guess it's worth a shot.
  Basically there are 3 siblings. I think they are all female but their might be a younger male. It's from the perspective of the oldest sibling. The are being antagonize by some guy for some reason I can't remember but I think it had something to do with their parents.
  Somehow they get their hands on a time book and go back in time to I think around the 1800s where apparently magic was a thing and so were dwarves and elves and other magical creatures. It's explained that the reason these creatures and magic don't exist is because humanity basically genocide them. It's also implied that the guy antagonizing them was partly or maybe wholey responsible. Also the main character the eldest has some magic in her.
  Her and her siblings stay in an orphanage or halfway house where she meets a boy and falls in love yada yada. That boy teaches her magic and when the orphanage burns down she saves his life. Turns out that boy was a younger version of the guy that was antagonizing them in the present.
  There's also some sort of relationship between life, death, and time or they hold a special sort of power I'm not sure. It is implied that the younger siblings will come into possession of a book of life and a book of death.
  That's as much as I can remember I think
The Girl From Everywhere has a theme of time travel via maps and includes 1800s Hawaii.
Clockwise by Elle Strauss includes a girl time traveling to the 1800s.
Three people time traveling via book and eventually involving three related girls could be The Time Warp Trio series. No mention of the 1800s specifically though.
Edit: The Emerald Atlas checks more boxes than any of these and is probably your best bet.
If it’s scifi/fantasy there’s: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story-identification
What else do you remember? Any details would be helpful and if we can't figure it out, those details will help steer follow up referrals.
- Alright since y'all are asking for details I'll explain the plot roughly. I only didn't because I've tried this before and it didn't work out on Reddit years ago so I don't expect an even smaller sample size to work but I guess it's worth a shot.
  Basically there are 3 siblings. I think they are all female but their might be a younger male. It's from the perspective of the oldest sibling. The are being antagonize by some guy for some reason I can't remember but I think it had something to do with their parents.
  Somehow they get their hands on a time book and go back in time to I think around the 1800s where apparently magic was a thing and so were dwarves and elves and other magical creatures. It's explained that the reason these creatures and magic don't exist is because humanity basically genocide them. It's also implied that the guy antagonizing them was partly or maybe wholey responsible. Also the main character the eldest has some magic in her.
  Her and her siblings stay in an orphanage or halfway house where she meets a boy and falls in love yada yada. That boy teaches her magic and when the orphanage burns down she saves his life. Turns out that boy was a younger version of the guy that was antagonizing them in the present.
  There's also some sort of relationship between life, death, and time or they hold a special sort of power I'm not sure. It is implied that the younger siblings will come into possession of a book of life and a book of death.
  That's as much as I can remember I think
  
  Pretty sure you're talking about The Emerald Atlas.
  
  This sounds an awful lot like The Chronicles of Narnia.
I also long for a description in order to hopefully help your dream come true.
- Alright since y'all are asking for details I'll explain the plot roughly. I only didn't because I've tried this before and it didn't work out on Reddit years ago so I don't expect an even smaller sample size to work but I guess it's worth a shot.
  Basically there are 3 siblings. I think they are all female but their might be a younger male. It's from the perspective of the oldest sibling. The are being antagonize by some guy for some reason I can't remember but I think it had something to do with their parents.
  Somehow they get their hands on a time book and go back in time to I think around the 1800s where apparently magic was a thing and so were dwarves and elves and other magical creatures. It's explained that the reason these creatures and magic don't exist is because humanity basically genocide them. It's also implied that the guy antagonizing them was partly or maybe wholey responsible. Also the main character the eldest has some magic in her.
  Her and her siblings stay in an orphanage or halfway house where she meets a boy and falls in love yada yada. That boy teaches her magic and when the orphanage burns down she saves his life. Turns out that boy was a younger version of the guy that was antagonizing them in the present.
  There's also some sort of relationship between life, death, and time or they hold a special sort of power I'm not sure. It is implied that the younger siblings will come into possession of a book of life and a book of death.
  That's as much as I can remember I think
I wish there was a way to get old Scholastic catalogs for school book drives, I bet that would be a good way to do it.
Think of the year you saw it, then check all the catalogs from 3-5 years before and after.
You could try asking your local Youth Services Librarian. They see so many books and often have some amount of research backgrounds. They also tend to LOVE this kind of mystery.

19 comments