Needle in a haystack time, gels...
I was given a book when I was around 7 [so mid to late 1960s], about a city girl called Lucinda who went to live with her cousins in the country [actually, it may have been the other way round ]. I remember her immacualte white ankle socks; there was something to do with Brownies or Guides; and somebody's uncle got bitten by an adder!!! I loved the book so much that I got the sequel[s?], and called my amazing new baby doll Lucinda...

I don't suppose this rings any bells at all?

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Find tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

No-one? Oh well - I didn't give many clues

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Find tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

I'll try the "what was that book" page on Live Journal if you like - they solved a mystery for me once.

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

I've gone to BookSleuth.

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The writer's credo: 'Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like' (Delta Goodrem - Born To Try)

That's very kind of you both. You know what it's like when you can't remember stuff - maddening!

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Find tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

This is the suggested response I got:

How about The Roller Skates and the sequel The Year of Jubilo by Ruth Sawyer? The main character is 10 year old Lucinda Wyman.

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The writer's credo: 'Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like' (Delta Goodrem - Born To Try)

No... the book[s] were definitely contemporary ie set in the 1960s. I'm wondering if they were actually part of the genre that wrote fiction to actively promote uniformed organisations? Certainly they were all about Brownies / Guides.
Thanks very much for looking!

Edit;
I think I've found them!!!
http://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/misc2/anderson.html
Anyone else ever read them? Been trying to find some proper synopses but they're probably too old / obscure!

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Find tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

I've read Clover Coverdale, which is by her. It's definitely a book for older girls: Clover is a working girl who loses her family in a ?fire and is sent to live with her mother's rich but estranged relatives in the country, who treat her like a child. I liked the book as a child but refound it recently (in the magnificent box of books which I knew I had but couldn't find) and was a bit shocked at some of it. Be interested to know if anyone else has read it - Lucinda doesn't ring a bell, though.

Oh goodness you've started me off now purplejulia! Verily Anderson wrote a book I loved as a child and I can't for the life of me think what it was called, nor can I find it on the lists at the moment....something about daisies perhaps?

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Cestina's dolls houses - Open at last!

The closest I could come to it of hers might be Clover Coverdale? (Daisies, clovers - hey, it's only a guess! )

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The writer's credo: 'Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like' (Delta Goodrem - Born To Try)

I never knew that there was a sequel to Roller Skates which is a favourite book for both my daughter and me, although the ending is so poignant. I'll have to try and find a copy now!

Er no......

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Cestina's dolls houses - Open at last!

I didn't know about the sequel either. Does Roller Skates count as GO - she does go to school?

I must admit I haven't read them. I only got that reply from someone at the board I put the question to.

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The writer's credo: 'Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like' (Delta Goodrem - Born To Try)

I always liked the The Year of Jubilo much better than the award winner! Then again, I always did prefer happy endings.... Also there's the contrast between New York City and Maine.

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Castor oil: Triacylglycerol from Ricinus communis containing hydroxy-fatty acids.

If anyone finds a copy of The Year of Jubilo, please let me know! I read Roller Skates when I was twelve, in 1989. The Year of Jubilo was advertised in the back and I've been looking for a copy ever since! I'm not sure if it was ever published in the UK.

I've always thought that Roller Skates is GO-ish. Honorary GO, perhaps.

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The Chalet School has done it again!

The UK edition of the sequel is called Lucinda's year of Jubilo, not The year of Jubilo. However guess anyone hunting will find it under either title as it's mostly the same.

I remember the Brownies books! You original post was ringing loud bells with me, but obviously I saw it after you'd tracked the book down. I seem to remember that Lucinda was a somewhat cosseted little girl - was there a book where the other Brownies were surprised she'd never made her parents Christmas presents, but had always bought them - don't they make things like pincushions out of beech nut cases? (dredging up 25-yr-old memories, so may well be mixing it up with something else!)

This reminds me of making dolls' house furniture out of conkers and pins ...

I ordered a copy of Lucinda's Year in Jubilo from the Children's Bookshop via abebooks on Friday morning, it had arrived by Saturday lunchtime and I had finished reading it by Sunday lunchtime, with tears in three places and much, much pleasure!