It's December! When I think of December, I think of the holidays and snowy winter scenes... even though it usually starts to snow here at Scholastic HQ in New York City in January. In fact, the weather has been pretty mild here... no hats or scarves needed!
Luckily, for this edition of Throwback Thursday, I found a bunch of winter-themed titles where the characters need their snowboots! Let's take a look.
The Iceburg Hermit, by Arthur Roth, 1974. Fun fact: This was published by the Scholastic imprint Four Winds Press, which no longer exists.
Snowball Express, by Joe Claro, 1980. Fun fact: This book by Claro is a novelization of the film with the same name ... and the film was based on the book Chateau Bon Vivant by Frankie and John O'Rear. (Phew!)
The Baby-sitters Club Super Special #7: Snowbound, by Ann M. Martin, 1991. Fun fact (and this fact isn't so much about the The Baby-sitters Club series rather than the former administrative procedures of the Scholastic Library): A good number of our books have these larger stickers place prominently over the cover art to ensure that they would get returned to the Library! For my Throwback Thursday purposes it evokes a little, "foiled again!" reaction. (In case you're curious, here's what Snowbound's cover looks like.)
The Winter Hero, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, 1978. Fun fact: Another Four Winds Press title, these authors also wrote My Brother Sam is Dead, a 1975 National Book Award winner. Here's a quick book summary:
It’s 1787 and 14-year-old Justin Conkey is about to make up for the fact that he was too young to fight in the Revolution of 1776. Shay’s Rebellion is the new war, and he is determined to be part of it, even if he only has his father’s old sword for protection. He longs to be a hero, like his unpredictable, heroic brother-in-law, Peter McColloch, but Peter feels Justin isn’t old enough to fight. Finally, in a dramatic scene involving Justin’s sister, Molly, Peter allows Justin to join the regiment, although once Justin is actually on the battlefield fighting against Lincoln’s army, war is not at all what he expected. Everywhere he turns he faces danger and confusion, and his own growing fear.
Ski Racer, by Curtis W. Casewit, 1968. Fun fact: Another Four Winds Press title, the author bio on the back of this book negelected to mention that Casewit also wrote science fiction stories! Here's a quick book summary:
When his skis are stole just before the big race Bob almost panics, because the race may lead to the Olympics. Then his friend Sally comes to the rescue.
Special thanks to Librarian Deimosa Webber-Bey for her ongoing help with this series!
Gina Asprocolas
