The Lost Books of Youth

The internet is an amazing place that yields up all kinds of information and allows you to track down things you weren't sure even existed.

But it can't bring back a book that's out of print. Well, not without some huge campaign where signatures are acquired or some such, anyway, and even then you can't figure a publisher would bring back a book first published in 1937.

That book is THE LOST QUEEN OF EGYPT by Lucile Morrison.

one of my favorite books when I was a kid. The book was old even then, and perhaps already out of print. But Cooke Library at Punahou School had a copy and I read it at least half a dozen times back then.

With the advent of places like Amazon, I was able to find most of the slightly more obscure books I loved as a kid like THE LITTLE BROOMSTICK by Mary Stewart, and MARA, DAUGHTER OF THE NILE by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. I even found NO FLYING IN THE HOUSE, by Betty Brock, a book that had me trying to kiss my elbow for weeks because I wanted to be able to fly too. (Read the book if you have no idea what I'm talking about - it's for middle graders and possibly younger, but it's a blast.)

But even with places like Amazon and Abe Books, and Google and Ebay, the cheapest I could find for a copy of THE LOST QUEEN OF EGYPT was a used copy for $84.40.

No, I haven't bought it. I'm not overflowing with money for those sorts of purchases, but still! It haunts me. I vividly remember the charming drawings inside of the young Ankhsenpaaten and Tutankhaten, the joy of family life as depicted in ancient Amarna, and the sadness as the young Queen moves toward her inevitable fall when her husband, King Tut, dies. And of course, the delightful, melancholy ending, which adds a marvelous twist to what could be a tragic tale.

I guess what I'm saying is - if your library has this book, read it! And savor the books you love that you're reading now. Not everything is accessible all the time, even in this day and age. And you may end up with nothing more than a beautiful memory when it comes to your favorite books.