Category Archives: Vintage YA Fiction

Hawaiian Christmas (Super Seniors #2) By Eileen Goudge

Posted on December 22, 2021 by mondomolly

An island reunion of romance, surf and sun! The cover is telling: this book is just as busy and confusing yet generic as the graphic design choices. I had to defer to the folks at Fantastic Fiction over how to … Continue reading →

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I Never Asked You To Understand Me By Barthe DeClements

Posted on December 9, 2021 by mondomolly

Stacy didn’t look like a reject, and I didn’t think I did either. We were just having too hard a time… I have reviewed a number of Barthe DeClements’s books over the past few years, starting with the not-quite-Lost Classic … Continue reading →

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Movie Madness And/Or Mania: My Mother Was Never A Kid [Hangin’ Out With Cici] (1980)

Posted on November 18, 2021 by mondomolly

As this site concludes its tenth (!!!) year, we’re going to do a true Throwback Thursday, revisiting the very first title we reviewed, Francine Pascal’s time-traveling mother-daughter epic (and start of the Victoria Martin trilogy) Hangin’ Out With Cici. A … Continue reading →

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Mina By Marie Kiraly

Posted on October 31, 2021 by mondomolly

This could not be damnation. But if it was, the fire was far too sweet to resist… As usual October means I will be subjecting friends and family to a schedule of seasonally appropriate movies (I shall forever secretly remain … Continue reading →

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Nurses Three: On Call For Trouble (#4) By Jean Kirby

Posted on October 20, 2021 by mondomolly

Why is Linda so angry? What can I do to help? Another week in October, another Whitman girls’ series by Jean Kirby, AKA Jinny McDonnell AKA Virginia Bleecher McDonnell. Background: I’ve noted before the reasons for the enduring popularity of Nursing as profession for YA heroines, so it’s … Continue reading →

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The Forest Fire Mystery (Wilderness Mystery #6) By Troy Nesbit

Posted on September 27, 2021 by mondomolly

“GET OUT! GET OFF THE MOUNTAIN!” Usually, fall means a look at the “girls’ series” published by Whitman in the 1940s through the 1970s: those thick, cellophane-clad hardcovers featuring teen girls sleuthing around Westchester County or California’s Bay Area. And … Continue reading →

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Leave It To Beaver By Beverly Cleary

Posted on September 19, 2021 by mondomolly

You’ve had fun watching Beaver on T.V. Now have fun reading about him… When I have reviewed Beverly Cleary’s work here in the past, I have opened by invoking “Leave It To Beaver,” and it’s not just because both works … Continue reading →

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Two By Two Romance #11: A Kiss For Good Luck By Carol Ellis

Posted on August 3, 2021 by mondomolly

Originally posted on Lost Classics of Teen Lit: 1939-1989:
Tess tells you how she feels about her new romance. And when you flip the book over you find out in Charlie’s own words what a boy thinks about it all.  I…

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Zanballer By R.R. Knudson

Posted on July 20, 2021 by mondomolly

Originally posted on Lost Classics of Teen Lit: 1939-1989:
A girl who would rather call the plays than lead the cheers… At the dawn of the Title IX era, fictional girl quarterbacks were briefly all the rage (even Sweet Valley…

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Movie Madness And/Or Mania: Summer of Fear [AKA Stranger In Our House] (1978)

Posted on July 1, 2021 by mondomolly

Theatrically-released versions of vintage YA works are few and far between- it has taken until this year to finally get a high-profile Judy Blume adaptation (The first pass, Tiger Eyes, an indie release directed by Blume’s son, basically sank without … Continue reading →

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