Steal Away by Jennifer Armstrong, 1992.
Most of this story is framed as a flashback, actually two of them. In the beginning, during the late 1800s, a girl named Mary is taken by her grandmother, Susannah, to visit an old friend of hers who is dying. The friend, Bethlehem, is a black woman who is a teacher in Canada and has a student living with her, a young black girl named Free, who is about the same age as Mary. At first, Mary doesn’t completely understand who Bethlehem is and why they are there to see her, and Free is somewhat aloof and suspicious of these white people, but together, Bethlehem and Susannah explain to both the girls about their unusual friendship and a shared history that changed both of their lives forever. As they explain, Mary writes down their story.
Years ago, before the American Civil War, Susannah was a young teenage orphan. She traveled from her home in Vermont to the home of her aunt and uncle in Virginia, her new guardians. Homesick, missing not only her deceased parents but the friends she left behind, especially a boy who is her best friend (and who eventually becomes her husband, Mary’s grandfather), Susannah finds life in Virginia strange and unpleasant. Her aunt and uncle own slaves, which is something that makes Susannah uneasy. She was raised not to believe in slavery, but her aunt and uncle give her a slave of her own to take care of her, a girl about her age named Bethlehem. Susannah is extremely uncomfortable with the situation, not really being the kind of person to get others to do things for her or order anyone around, and Bethlehem isn’t happy about being saddled with this sad, somewhat weak and clueless, white girl.
Bethlehem already has serious problems. Susannah’s older, male cousin has taken a liking to Bethlehem and pursues her, trying to force his attentions on her. Bethlehem resists but knows that one day she might not be able to stop him because she’s in his family’s power. They own her and have authority over her. Susannah is unaware of this situation at first, being a rather naive girl. However, Susannah’s unhappiness at her new home increases, and more and more, she longs to return to her real home in Vermont, and her desire to escape also becomes Bethlehem’s ticket to freedom.
Both of the girls long for freedom, although each craves a different kind of freedom and has in mind a different kind of life they long to live elsewhere. Together, they team up to run away in disguise as boys, although Bethlehem does not trust Susannah at first because she resents white people and the slavery that has been forced on her for her entire life. However, with their common interest in escape, they learn to rely on each other. They come to trust and understand one another much better during the course of their journey. It is an eye-opening and life-changing experience for both of them. Then, when it comes time for them to say goodbye and go their separate ways, it is one of the hardest things that either of them have had to do.
It is a story about lives with separate directions but which crossed in unexpected ways to the benefit of both of them. Because Susannah and Bethlehem have different destinies and different things that they want in life, they cannot live their lives together and do not see each other again for many years after their adventures, but because of their shared experiences, they still share a bond that lasts across time.
After Bethlehem’s death, Mary becomes concerned about the young student of Bethlehem’s, Free, who was living with her as a part of her family, but Free doesn’t want their help. Susannah tells Mary that they have to let her live her life and establish her own independence in the way she wants, just as Susannah had to let Bethlehem go her own way years before as a strong, independent young woman who only wanted the freedom to choose her own course in life.
In the end, Mary, as an adult looking back on the one and only time she met her grandmother’s old friend, just before her death, realizes that she has also learned much from the experience, not just about her grandmother’s history, but about herself, other people, racial differences and attitudes, and some of the realities of the world, absorbing vicariously some of the lessons her grandmother learned years ago through her story and Bethlehem’s.
This isn’t really a happy story. The ending kind of leaves readers with an unsettled feeling because there are many things left unanswered and unresolved. The book does explain a little about what happens to the characters at the end, but for the most part, they all kind of go their separate ways. Although they’ve had an effect on each other, nothing is clear-cut, and they share moments together more than lives. I have to admit that I felt like some of the story dragged in places and others were downright depressing, making this a difficult book to get through. However, it is interesting for showing a part of history, a life-changing event from different points of view, and some poignant thoughts about caring but letting go.
The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.
The Ship That Never Was by Mickey Spillane, 1982.
Guns in the Heather by Lockhart Amerman, 1963.
This book was originally written in German. It was written in Germany during the 
At the beginning of this story, it explains that Emil Tischbein’s father died when he was very young and that his mother works hard as a hairdresser to support the two of them. When she can, she saves a little money for Emil’s grandmother as well. When the story begins, Emil is preparing for a train trip to Berlin to visit his relatives. Emil will be traveling by himself and will meet his relatives near the station when he arrives. His mother gives him some money to take to his grandmother and warns him to be careful. Emil pins the money inside his pocket for security.
Determined to get the money for his grandmother back, Emil searches for Herr Grundeis and spots him getting off the train. It’s too soon for Emil’s stop, but he follows Grundeis off the train anyway, tracking him to a café.
Gustav recruits a bunch of other boys from the neighborhood, and they continue tailing Grundeis through the city to his hotel. The boys call another friend at home, who keeps track of their progress and gives them reports about what others have said. Emil gets one of the other boys to tell his relatives that he has been delayed on important business, causing his cousin, Pony Hutchen, to come and tell him that everyone is worried and that he’s going to be in big trouble with his relatives if he doesn’t show up soon. However, they still have the problem of deciding how to confront Grundeis and get him to return the money. In this case, the detectives don’t need to solve the mystery of who the thief is. The real problem is how to prove it.
There was a note in the beginning of my copy of the book that says that many of the character names in the book are actually jokes on the part of the author. It’s not as obvious in English because the forms of the names sound reasonable for German names, but anyone who knows German would spot that they aren’t real names. For example, Emil’s last name is Tischbein, which means “table-leg,” and the thief’s alias, Grundeis, means “ground-ice.”
Who Stole Kathy Young? by Margaret Goff Clark, 1980.
Sixteen-year-old Aaron Maguire thinks of himself as a typical teenager, even though his family is far from typical. His mother is a buyer for a fashion boutique, and his father does special effects for monster movies in Hollywood. They’re also officially “separated” and preparing for a divorce, even though they’re still living in the same house. So far, they’ve just kind of divided the house in two in order to have their own space. Aaron goes back and forth between the two halves of the same house as his parents share him. It’s a little weird (and, to Aaron, also a little depressing), but there’s weirder to come.
However, when Aaron meets the divine Penelope for pizza and she asks to borrow a mirror to check her hair, Aaron lets her borrow Anaxagoras’s mirror. He instantly regrets it because the mirror suddenly changes in Penelope’s hands. Now, it has a tortoiseshell frame and is shaped like a heart. Penelope, who has low self-esteem in spite of her prettiness, is suddenly really happy when she looks in the mirror and refuses to give it back, insisting that she wants to borrow it for a few days. Because Aaron is in love with Penelope, he finally agrees to let her keep it for awhile.
This book is part of the 
Besides being a great artist, Leonardo da Vinci is also a scientist, and along with his notes on art, there are sketches and plans for possible inventions in the notebooks. Kat and Pietro go to return the notebooks the next day, but before they can get to Leonardo’s studio, the same thief who tried to steal Signor Millori’s papers steals the notebooks.
Basil and the Pygmy Cats by Eve Titus, 1971.
Now, Basil thinks that he and his associates are free to continue their other mission, finding the lost civilization of pygmy cats. However, that mission is fraught with danger and surprises, and they haven’t quite heard the last of Ratigan.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 
