Although most Library of Congress reference librarians, including myself, are now teleworking in response to the coronavirus pandemic, our Ask a Librarian service remains open to anyone who has an information need. While our ability to completely answer some of your questions may sometimes be limited by our lack of access to the Library’s physical collections, we are committed to answering your questions to the fullest extent possible. If we need to wait to consult the Library’s physical resources before getting back to you with a response, we’ll definitely let you know.
Fortunately, many questions we receive can be answered remotely through digital resources, whether these be our subscription databases, our digital collections, or free online resources. One of the most common types of question the Library receives that typically doesn’t require access to our physical collections are “find a book” questions—questions we receive from people looking for a book they once read and loved, but whose author and title they’ve forgotten. I’ve actually noticed an uptick in this type of question during the past couple weeks, which I attribute to many people seeking “comfort reads” during these stressful times.
Whether you’re trying to locate a book series for girls whose main character’s name starts with an A; a romance novel in which twin sisters switch places and die in an explosion on their lover’s yacht; or a male-authored poetry book about love and drinking that has a yellow cover (all real examples recently received), my colleagues and I are here to help! Feel free to submit your question to our Ask a Librarian service and we’ll do our best to track down the right book. When submitting your question, provide as much information as possible about the book’s content, physical format, and the context in which you originally encountered or read the book. Some types of information we’ve found to be extremely helpful in locating a book are details about the book’s content, physical format, and context:
- Content. Identify, if possible, the book’s intended audience (adults, young adults, or children); its genre (science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, etc.); all remembered elements of the book’s plot, especially any “odd” or particularly memorable scenes or incidents that might help differentiate the book from others with a similar plot; and any unique names, words, and phrases you recall from the book. Describe, if you can, the book’s cover image and any illustrations, if present.
- Physical Format. Size and shape of the book; hardcover or paperback; number of pages; color of binding; presence of dustjacket; inclusion of illustrations (color or black and white).
- Context. In approximately what year did you read the book? (Be sure not to state only that you read the book “as a child” or “when in high school,” which give no indication of the actual year you read it.) Was the book recently published at the time you read it? Did you read the book as part of a school or work assignment, or for leisure?
Although we can’t claim a 100% success rate—though my colleagues are pretty darn good!—even if we can’t find the right work, you’re not completely out of luck. We’ve created an entire resource guide, Lost Titles, Forgotten Rhymes, that you can consult for further guidance on strategies and resources for locating “lost” novels, stories, and poems. This includes a number of other resources you can contact to see help from librarians and fellow readers.
Our Ask a Librarian service, of course, isn’t limited to book identification questions. The Library is home to twenty different reading room and research centers, each with their own range of subject and format specialties. If you have a question, whether it’s related to poetry and literature or a completely different subject, simply complete our General Inquiries Ask a Librarian form. Our reference staff will refer your questions to the area of the Library or subject specialist best able to answer your questions and in adherence to our Reference Correspondence Policy.
So what are you waiting for? Ask away!
Comments (40)
I am looking for a copy of a Poem I submitted, and was sent a letter,dated June19,1995, telling me it would be published. I am embarrassed to say I cannot find a copy of it anywhere in my papers. the Name of the poem is “Mists of Enchantment”(Library of Congress ISBN 1-57553-000-70. Scheduled for publication Spring 1996. Signed by Howard Ely. I do not remember ever receiving a copy as noted in the letter. I did get a plaque as “a member in good standing International Society of Poets – Distinguished Member. Is it possible for your office to send me a copy of my poem “Mists od Enchantment”? Alice Zieglee I appreciate a reply to my request and hopefully a copy of my Poem Thank you
Dear Alice,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Im. Looking for a poem titled Change it was published in the National library of poetry in or about 1999 or 2000 ,the first line ,is. We said things would never change yet we both knew it would . Any help finding this poem would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Kathy,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Book I read around 2000 which was one of those supposedly channelled by an entity from another dimension. It talked about multiple futures (among other things). Was a silly book, but I want to reread it. How are those books catalogued? What does LC call that? Thanks.
Dear Susan,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Hello!
I’m looking for a children’s book in which it’s based upon a group of friends in the sixth grade. It’s a 3 series book. I only remember the 3/4 characters in which one was a Hijabi, the other was a white bkonde, and the third was an African American. The Book pages alternated colors blue and orange and purple for each different character when they messaged with one another. It was about 150-200 pages and i read it in about 2010. Thank you!!
Dear Sarah,
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Best wishes,
Peter
I’m looking for a boom I read a few years ago – From what I can remember a woman owns a flower shop and starts dating a guy who came in to order some flowers from her. In the end it comes out that he knew her late grandmother and promises to watch over her but actually falls in love. During the book she also has a stalker who kidnaps her
Any helps would be amazing, thanks.
Dear Samy,
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Best wishes,
Peter
I am looking for a book I recall from my childhood and would like to read to my class. In it it had a code to decipher when they found notes:
It ended up being :
A=N
B=O
C=P
D=Q
E=R
F=S
G=T
H=U
I=V
J=W
K=X
L=Y
M=Z
So saying Hi would be spelled Uv
Anyone know the title so I can read this to my classroom??? I am 52 now so it was a long time ago, I think I was in 4th grade
I’m looking for a book focused on magic and romance. The main girls name starts with an “N”, and she lives in a town that is ruled by a cult. She discovers after she is beaten by her evil father that they are controlled by a dark magic. She is healed by a guy that is a “Guardian.” She then is saved and meets with a guy whose name starts with a “P”. They begin dating even though she knows he is of the dark magic. The cover is mostly black with a girl on front and roses. Also has swirls of either pink or green. Do you think you can help?
Dear Josi,
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Best wishes,
Peter
The book wasn’t terribly long and I read it after finding it at my school’s library when I was around 12 to 13 in 2012 or 2013. The story was a slice of life with darker elements. There was a bully character that kept being creepy towards the main protagonist. The main protagonist was a girl around her teens working on a play for a school where she builds a prop gun with a working fake blood pellet that makes it look like the actor is bleeding. Near the end, the creeper corners her after tying up her love interest with duct tape and she shoots herself with the prop gun to make it look like she killed herself to scare off the creeper. That’s all I can remember. If you can find the title of the book it would be much appreciated as I’ve been trying to find it for years!
Dear Cynthia,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Hello I have been trying to find my poems that were published on the original poetry.com site from Owing Mills since around 2009 to no avail. I have some of the poems from the site copied and printed just not sure its all of them and some I was told were put in books but I don’t know which ones they were put in I was told I was a winner of the contest at least 3-4 times yet I never got anything as they wanted me to pay to go get my reward and to buy their book with my poem in it. They are the only ones that made any money off other people’s poems mine included. Someone has to know how a person can locate their work and reclaim it. Please help. Laurie
Dear Laurie,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Hi, i’m looking for an African American young adult book series about this girl in hs (eventually goes to college in later books) who tries having a relationship with god by saving her virginity and there’s like a love triangle between her and a christian boy and a bad boy. In one book she jumped into an argument with one of the boys and gets hit and in another book (or maybe same one) she goes to a restaurant with her friends only to be set up with the christian boy who had a private room for her with flowers and stuff.
Dear Shelby,
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Best wishes,
Peter
I want to find a book I’ve read a while back, it’s a romance book where her acquaintance becomes her bodyguard after the threat of her ex boyfriend, she finds a hard drive strapped to the back of a piece of furniture showing her ex’s illegal business, her ex later finds out and wants to hurt her.
Closer to the end she is unsure who the good and bad guys are so she goes to see her ex and then gets drugged but she acts like she loves him so she could go to her friends wedding and gets saved after being seen by another agent.
Dear Bryna,
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Best wishes,
Peter
I am looking for a book that i read in middle school (2010-2013?). I purchased the book from my schools Scholastic Book Fair. It was a fantasy book. I forgot the title and author. But part of the plot is one girl, some kind of nobility, went missing. Years later, another girl from the same island, was marked by a mermaid and the mark drew her to the ocean. Her father was once the horsemaster of the noble family. He died and their family was demoted to poverty. She fought the urge to go. She later finds out she is marked to be a mer-prince’s bride. She also discovered the previous missing girl married the elder brother of the mer-prince this girl is arranged to marry. I have been searching for this book for years and hope to find it to be able to read it again. Thank you so much!
Dear Tracy,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Hi, I’m looking for a Christian book based on a real life experience of a devoted Christian doctor and writer who happened met a woman patient who used to be the queen of an Anti-christ group in the United States. The book is about the life of the woman during her Antichrist activities and her life after she meet the doctor. I remember the first page of the book is about a warning to the reader mentioning that the devil might distract the reader not to read the book thoroughly through various means but the author asks the reader not to let it distract you… Would be glad to know the title of that book… Thanks
For a poetry and literature-related question, you should fill out this Ask a Librarian form.
Hi.
I’m looking for a historical romance novel I read when I was younger (13), I’m 20 now, and i really want to read it again since i barely understood much then, and it belonged to my mom… I do remember a few things from the novel though, like that the cover was purple had a man and woman, I think the author’s name was Julia, Julie (pretty much any name that starts with J)
The following are what I remember about the novel:
– well it’s a historical romance novel.
– The was/is an arranged marriage between the Hero and Heroine.
– The hero was once married, but the first wife died, I believe she was murdered.
– The hero(who is a Lord/Lard/Duke, not sure), was rumored to have killed his wife.
– The heroine(bride), was covered in mud/clay when they got married and the hero got to see her face when she was brought to his house/castle.
– well people were afraid of the Hero, (and he was really mean and broody)
– Their wedding night was horrible, (the heroin didn’t even know much about sex(virgin obviously). Well the hero just made her lay there and did the deed, got dressed and left her bleeding and crying(I know horrible), the following day a maid helped her clean up.
– Well there was a whole lot of the hero and heroine getting close and falling in love.
-The heroine constantly got sick, turns out her food was getting Poisoned, and caused her to miscarry everytime she got pregnant.
-The hero’s cousin, who lived in the castle was the one poisoning the heroin because she was jealous and wanted the hero to marry her, and was also the one responsible for the death of the hero’s first wife, whom she also Poisoned the same way.
-The heroine was very conserved and quite, tried playing the proper wife to please the hero
Honestly I’ve tried searching but I can’t find it, I’ve found one by Julie Garwood, after reading it turns out it’s not the same one.
Dear Mpho,
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Peter
I am looking for a book about a woman who goes to visit her sister that has just had a baby. She is supposed to help the sister, as she is suffering from postpartum depression, but instead she begins sleeping with her sister’s husband. The sister eventually takes a day trip to the beach with the new baby and leaving the baby on the beach wanders into the waves and kills herself.
The book is adult fiction and I am not sure but I thought the author’s last name started with D
Dear Vanessa,
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Best wishes,
Peter
I am looking for a book that I read about 10 years ago. It was written in English. The story takes place in the summer months and they are experiencing very warm weather. A woman who goes to visit her older sister that has just had a baby. The sisters are not that close but the younger sister feels obligated to help the older sister who seems to be suffering from depression after the baby. During the visit the younger sister has several sexual encounters with her brother-in-law and is resentful of her older sister. One day the older sister suddenly leaves on a takes a day trip to the beach – they are not far from a beach town – with the new baby. Leaving the baby on the beach she wanders into the waves and kills herself.
The book is adult fiction and I am not sure but I thought the author’s last name started with D
Dear Vanessa,
I’ve added your question into our Ask a Librarian system. I will be in touch with you soon with a more complete response.
Best wishes,
Peter
I have been looking, with no success, for an historical novel.
It may have been a “teaser” introduction at the end of another historical novel.
These are what I remember:
1. It was set in the Edwardian or Regency era.
2. The heroine was the daughter of a vicar
3. The heroine had a terrible first season being rejected by the son of an earl or Duke because his family did not think her good enough for him.
4. Since he is not in line to inherit the title, he gets a commission and goes off to war.
5. She has decided that she will not return for another season because of finances and embarrassment from the rejection.
6. The first chapter find that she has been asked by her best friend to visit. The heroine is now a governess. She and best friend are strolling/walking and have a chance meeting with the earl’s son. The earl’s son is strolling with the heroine’s best friend’s brother who is a Duke.
7. The son is now earl or Marquis. He had to return from war because of death of the heir.
8. The heroine is still mad and vows to have nothing to do with this returning war hero.
Dear Ann,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Hello.
I was directed here in hopes of finding the title to a story I recall from years ago. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Print details:
I was first introduced to the story between 1992 and 2000.
It was either a school book fair at an elementary or middle school (likely put on by scholastic books) or was in the kids/young adults reader section in the library. It was a chapter book. The individual pages were smaller than 7.5”x10” and definitively less than 500 pages in the paperback copy that I read, likely under 400 pages as a book that size would have seemed daunting to me at the time. It’s genre would have been action/adventure/fantasy/sci-fi/fiction.
I do not recall it being read for school in any capacity other than to include for the free pizza reading club that Pizza Hut used to do at the time.
I want to say that it was part of a series (whereas there were at least 2 or 3 books already released at the time I was introduced to the series, and I want to say more were being promoted or promised for future release but I might be wrong about that). I know that the following details are from the first book in the set.
Storyline details include:
A group of children (as defined loosely as NOT adults) are to climb a mountain to the (cave?) dragon eggs. Where the dragons choose their riders. If I remember right not all kids get dragons, and not all eggs hatch. There is a Hierarchy of the dragons based on their dragon eggs color. I don’t remember exactly it’s ordering but there was a golden dragon egg, a red dragon egg, a blue dragon egg, and I think there were maybe 8 total. The egg that equated to the leader dragon hatches and chooses a kid boy that has essentially an inferiority complex and as such he is basically the appointed leader of the rest of the kids who also got dragons on this trip. This dragon set are not in charge of previous hatched batches. The rest of the story that I remember is basically the new leader learning confidence and leadership skills. Before the kids travel up the mountain he was picked on a bit from the others because he wasn’t as strong or fast or other such qualities that they assume to gain them the leadership dragon or assuming that he won’t have what it takes for any dragon to choose him.
Dear Daniel,
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Best wishes,
Peter
Is it possible to locate a book in the library without the knowledge of the author and title of a book?
Hello!
I’ve added your question into our Ask a Librarian system. I will be in touch with you soon with a more complete response.
Best wishes,
Peter
It’s a historical romance novel, but I can’t remember the title or the author. The plot is that the main character’s brother is murdered and she wants to find the killer. She comes across a letter that tells about a secret fencing fraternity, where participants fight for dare, the winner gets money. She is also engaged. In order to find out the truth about her brother’s death, she disguises herself and goes to a masquerade ball, where she meets a man and introduces herself to him under an assumed name. The man kisses her, and she leaves the ball. The next time they meet is at the home of her fiancé, who turned out to be the cousin of the man from the ball. i don’t remember their names, but the sister of the man from the ball was Lavinia, whose husband, as it turns out, was the head of the fencing fraternity.
I’m looking for a middle grade or upper middle grade book that I read back in the late 2000s/2010s. I don’t remember much about the plot, but it had a gold cover. Its size was a little bigger than A5. I think it was a chapter book around 250-300 pages.
It was a medieval setting, and on the cover it had a large gothic letter with a box around it as the first letter of the title. For some reason, I keep remembering the word “falcon” in relation to the title or the plot. I believe there was a main girl character and a main boy character.
Sorry for how vague this is — that’s everything I remember!
Hello! I’m looking for a book, it’s fictional and about a scientist. It’s basically a diary and he at one point surgically merges his dog with a chicken. Thank you so much for your time! I think it’s called the diary of ___ (I can’t remember his name)
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