What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Age group: children / teen (skewing younger).
Date: probably 1980s (read in late 1980s).
Origin: remember it as being Australian (persisted with it on this basis).
Details: Again, unfortunately few.
The only thing I can recall is that the protagonist (a girl, maybe aged 10-12) is held in a jail cell. Her jailers, presumably aliens, attempt to communicate with her telepathically but can only put colours or blurred images in her mind.

I remember this as being Australian, and persisted with it as I didn't get much Australian kids' fiction as a kid, most of it coming from the US or Britain.

I thought it might be The Chrysalids but it isn't (there is telepathy, but no jail).

As always, thanks for your help, and apologies for my memory loss...

Galax-Arena?

Probably too late, though. It was first pubbed in '92.

This sounds familiar but I cannot put a name to the book in my head. I'll have a think.

Thanks both. Will investigate Galax-Arena once my local library reopens.

Here's is Amazon's short "Look Inside" preview of Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubinstein:

https://www.amazon.com/Galax-Arena-Gi... There are different cover images and a glossary at the beginning.

Unfortunately, the preview cuts out just after she has been kidnapped, presumably before she goes into a holding cell. Nothing in the preview rings a bell.

I seem to recall the book being 3rd person, rather than 1st person, but am by no means sure of this.

Not Galax-Arena. I'm fairly sure I've never read it - absolutely nothing was familiar.

From memory, in the book I am looking for:
- The prison cell was much more 'normal' (stone walls, water-filled pit in floor as toilet).
- The story was third person, not first.
- The story was somewhat less 'flamboyant' (characters and plot were less out there).

This is a long shot, but maybe Scatterlings by Isobelle Carmody?

Scatterlings for SBC's suggestion.

Away Is a Strange Place to Be?

This sounds familiar to me, I will try to think of the title

Not Away Is a Strange Place to Be. Remember book as being in a contemporary setting (AISPB is in the future), and the protagonist as being alone (AISPB's heroine has a companion). Also checked it out for another query I have going.

possibly Stray by Andrea K HostAndrea K. HöstStray: Touchstone which is the 1st of a series?

It can't be that. OP read his book in the '80s, and Stray wasn't pubbed until 2011.

Rainbowheart wrote: "It can't be that. OP read his book in the '80s, and Stray wasn't pubbed until 2011."

oops. I didn't catch that. Sorry.

No worries! Every little bit helps. I hope we can track this one down.

Thanks anyway - I'm always grateful for assistance.

Backing up a few posts, it's not Scatterlings either. Just finished reading it, and nothing is familiar.

Again, the book I'm looking for:
- Has a setting that is near contemporary (1980s or just after).
- Has an 'everyday' human protagonist.
- Is more SF than fantasy.

Thanks again.

Space Trap?

I Spent My Summer Vacation Kidnapped Into Space?

But both of them mention more than one kid, so not exact matches.

I hope you enjoyed reading Scatterlings, even though it wasn't your book. It's one of my favourites - I have a well-thumbed edition signed by the author!

I feel like I should know this if it is Australian, and I ended up creating a list of Australian children's and YA SF while I was thinking through some possibilities. I don't think your book is on there but maybe take a look to check? Hopefully some other readers will add to the list and maybe it will show up!
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Where were you living when you read the book?

SBC: I was living in Australia, so it is quite possible it is from a less-known author.

Great effort with the list. This book might not be on it, but will definitely be checking some out, purely for enjoyment.

Rainbowheart: thx. Will investigate.

[later edit: thoroughly enjoyed Scatterlings. Good book]

Not Space Trap. Book I am thinking of starts off in a modern day Earth, not space.

And not I Spent My Summer Vacation Kidnapped Into Space either.

The book I am looking for is much darker / more serious in tone - probably no humour.

Also lone female protagonist and (probably) Australian author.

Do you think the girl was on an alien planet?

Or was she being held captive on a space ship?

Not sure, now that I think about it.

It was a jail cell, but I think I recall it having some natural light (though I am not certain). This would appear to rule out a space ship, unless it was some kind of very large space station.

I was under the impression that she was on Earth, but it may just have been somewhere Earth-like.

In short, I really don't know. Sorry.

Bump.

I added a few details to the header/topic title. You can update it by clicking the small "edit" link after the header. This only works on the full Desktop website - not the Mobile website or app. (On the Mobile website, click the "Desktop version" link at the bottom of the page.)

A Cage of Butterflies (1992, Australia) by Brian Caswell?

Here's the Google Books preview: https://books.google.com/books?id=RHe... There are different cover images.

According to Worldcat.org:
Subjects: Telepathy -- Juvenile fiction. Caring -- Juvenile fiction. Exceptional children -- Juvenile fiction. Science fiction. Love - Fiction. Mystery and suspense stories. Gifted children - Fiction.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/cage-o...

Wasn't A Cage of Butterflies. Doesn't have the scene I remember. The kids are already captive before the story begins; in the book I am looking for, the girl has just been captured / imprisoned.

This is the closest I have seen so far, however, and the style and level of writing are very similar, though the tone is not as dark.

A long shot - suggest looking at books similar to A Cage of Butterflies by Brian Caswell on LibraryThing.com:

https://www.librarything.com/work/26115 > Under "LibraryThing Recommendations", click "Show more", scroll down, and click "Show all".

(Goodreads "similar books": https://www.goodreads.com/book/simila...)

Green Is for Galanx?

Not Green Is for Galanx. It starts on a space station and ends on an alien world; the book I am looking for starts on Earth (and ends I don't know where).

On further thought, I think the character's prison cell may have had a water-filled pit in the corner, and she may initially have seen the images in it, before more direct communication was achieved. Though I am not sure of this.

I added a few details to the header. Feel free to edit it.

Thanks Kris.

You're welcome.

Bump.

Followed up the Recommendations on LibraryThing as per above - one of the very few things I like on a website I find cluttered, messy and confusing. I also checked out some NZ authors, in case I had mistaken them for Australian (I am only about 60% sure about it being Australian, anyway).

I can rule out The Halfmen of O, by Maurice Gee. It is close, having a pre / early teen girl MC who goes to another dimension and is imprisoned, but she is locked in a cave (briefly), then forced to march, and the scene I describe does not appear.

I also checked out Aliens in the Family, by Margaret Mahy. I had a good feeling about it but it turned out to have no real resemblance at all. I think I must have read it (or watched the TV program it was based on) about the same time as the book I am looking for.

I also had a look at the list of books written by Pamela F Service. The ones that look possible were published too late (2000s), while the ones that are early enough are nothing like it (mostly Arthurian).

Have you ruled out all of Gillian Rubinstein’s work? When you say 80s SF YA from Australia she’s who comes to mind.

I've gone through a fair bit of Gillian Rubinstein's work while chasing down another query I have going. I can rule out Space Demons, Skymaze and Shinkei - all have teens in captivity, but in a virtual world, not a real one. Galax-Arena has teens kidnapped and locked up, but not the scene I can remember, and its sequel, Terra-Farma is too late. Galax-Arena doesn't have much resemblance. I don't see many other possibilities - but thanks anyway.

I also had a look through the works of Robin Klein. Don't see any real possibilities.

Bump.

Have also looked through the works of Victor Kelleher, but I'm not seeing any real possibilities. Most of his stuff skews toward fantasy, but the book I'm looking for is toward the 'harder' end of SF.

It's out there somewhere! We just gotta keep looking.

Do you remember where you got the book? Like was it given to you as a gift or did you get it from your school or the library?

Very unlikely to have been a gift. School library was near useless, so almost certain to have been borrowed from local library.

The chances of getting any feedback from that library for what was in stock 30+ years ago (before the catalog was computerised) are about zero. However, given the size and resources of the library as I remember it (pretty minimal), the book is likely to have been cheap, and maybe old. Again, the chances of chasing down book prices back then are pretty slim, but I think it would be more likely to be a paperback than a hardcover. Not much to go on, unfortunately.

Ordeal in Otherwhere?

A young girl who has been sold as a slave to a trader wishing to do business with the Wyverns who rule the planet Warlock soon finds herself not only in contact with these strange beings but also involved in a mysterious internecine struggle she does not understand.

Sounds interesting. I notice that it is listed as #2 in a series. Will investigate this too.

Thanks again.

Got sidetracked. Can rule out Beckoning Lights by Monica Hughes. It is the closest so far - it has a teen girl MC receiving telepathic visions from aliens - but the MC herself is not a prisoner (her twin brother is).

Still working on OiO (refer above).

Kinda long shots but maybe Children of Morrow or Treasures of Morrow?

There's telepathy, not sure about aliens or a jail cell.

Can rule out Ordeal in Otherwhere. The book has a female protagonist who is locked up several times and communicated to telepathically, but she is an adult (old enough to be a teacher), not a kid, and the scene I remember does not occur. Although this book would be well accessible to a kid, the author addresses the reader as though they are an adult; the book I am looking for is definitely written for kids / teens.

Also checked out the back-cover blurb of the other four books of the Warlock series, of which OiO is #2. None of them looks like a possibility.

Also checked out Children of Morrow. Again, promising in that it has a pre-teen female protagonist who receives telepathic messages from a higher civilization, but she is not locked up and the prison cell scene does not appear. (In that it is a post-apocalyptic religious dystopia, it bears some resemblance to The Chrysalids, where I began). Likewise Treasures of Morrow - same protagonist, but not locked up.

I also tried a few searches on LibraryThing. Unfortunately, Beckoning Lights, the best fit so far, does not seem to be widely read, so the only suggestions are unrelated books by the same author. Using Children of Morrow, however, brings up a few possibilities, including Mind-Call, by Wilanne Schneider Belden, and its two sequels. I will check these out when I get time.

My only further thought is that I now think the book I am looking for is more likely to be 1980s than 1970s or earlier - something indefinable about being a bit sharper-edged.

It's not Australian, and this may be a complete shot in the dark, but The Universe Against Her features a teenage girl with psychic powers as a protagonist and some kind of aliens are involved.

Again, complete shot in the dark.

Bump.

Can rule out The Universe Against Her. It has a teen female main character with telepathic skills, but she is not locked up. This is the first of a series of 5 books, but the others look unlikely.

Can also rule out Mind-Call; again, female telepath, but not locked up. The remaining two parts of the trilogy also do not seem likely.

Many thanks to all - over 20 books have been suggested so far. Unfortunately, the vague and fragmentary nature of my memory (a brief episode involving a telepathic girl in a jail cell) makes it likely that we could come up with another 20. So I started searching from the opposite direction, by going through Australian teen SF authors of the 1980s. I have pretty much exhausted the possibilities of Gillian Rubinstein, aka Lian Hearn. Robin Klein didn't write that much SF, and much of it was of a more humorous type. Victor Kelleher wrote a lot, but most of it is too late, while much of what is in the right era is of a more mystical / fantasy style. Any suggestions as to other authors to search would be much appreciated.

Shields of Trell?

Might also check Joan Phipson, Cherry Wilder, Patricia Bernard and Patricia Wrightson as possible authors.

Calling B for Butterfly?

It's not a single girl, but a group of teens who are stuck on a half-destroyed space ship. There's something about alien music affecting one of the girls' minds.

"Prickles of gold light danced and accumulated, making pale aureoles of fire around Ann's hair. Soft bell sounds filled the air, thin as gnat whines and almost inaudible amid the drone of the main drive unit. Glyn never heard them, but the sonic separator picked them up, hypnotic, subliminal, alien music affecting Ann's mind. Glazed and motionless, her blue eyes stared into nowhere and Joe could not get through to her."

Bump.

Many thanks again, Rainbowheart, for your efforts.

Not Calling B for Butterfly. No prison cell. Alien seems to alternate between appearing before people and simply taking them over, rather than putting images in their mind.

I found a cheap hardcopy of Shields of Trell but am still waiting for it to turn up.

I had a look through the authors listed above. Cherry Wilder and Patricia Bernard have fairly limited lists and none of them look like real possibilities (additionally, I read a few of Cherry Wilder's books while hunting down something else). Patricia Wrightson generally tended toward Aboriginal-infused spirituality, which I don't recall coming across at all as a kid (and the book I am looking for is probably more straight SF). I read some Joan Phipson as a kid, but none of it was really SF. Will keep looking, however.