Where do you look to find a book that may not be printed anymore?

Question

I have been searching for years to find a book i read in middle school and cant find it to this day. its call Laughing at the Crack of Dawn, but i dont know the author.

Answer 1

http://www.bookfinder4u.com
http://www.alibris.com

Answer 2

There are a lot of good suggestions here already. It does occur to me that if this title does not show up in the Library of Congress title list, you may be remembering it slightly inaccurately. It could have been a short story rather than an entire book or the title could have been a little different. (I did find Listening for the crack of dawn / Donald D. Davis and Crack of dawn; a childhood fantasy.) You did not mention how long it has been since you were in middle school, but that would provide a date the book could not have been published after. You might want to go to the Library of Congress website and search for part of the title you remember and then scroll through what you find to see if you recognize anything. If you can get an accurate author and title, you can then go to vendors like alibris.com or amazon to look for the actual book. If your middle school is still around, you could try to visit the library to see if they have the book or records of their holdings-or even a librarian who remembers it.

Answer 3

Tara gave you all the best websites to search for used and rare books, esp. those long since out of print.

And Creeksong gave you some good advice.

I have been searching for years for a book from my childhood reading. Unfortunately I have long since forgotten both the title and the author, so I'm up a creek without a paddle.

But in response to my query a few days ago on Yahoo Answers, I have discovered a bookseller who specializes in precisely this kind of problem. He charges $2, but if he has the book in stock and you purchase it from him, I understand that the $2 will apply to the cost. You really can't ask for better than that. The website is

http://loganberrybooks.com/stump-check.html

And if anybody knows where I can locate a children's book written before 1950 about a family traveling west in a covered wagon with a dog named Shoestring, please, please let me know. The dog was named Shoestring because when he wasn't tried he was always under their feet. My dog named Shoestring was the same way with me--for a good thirteen years.

Those books we read as children do stick in our memories, don't they. Too bad the title of the book or the name of the author doesn't always do so.

Answer 4

Are you sure that it is not "Listening for the Crack of Dawn"? I could not find a book by the title "Laughing at the Crack of Dawn".

(summary: Our narrator faces the trials of growing up with humor, hope, and (usually) good grace. He saves Blue Horse Notebook Paper coupons to buy the world's heaviest coaster bike, engages in games of "Daring Miss Butler", and taunts the shadowy Terrell Tubbs with his buddies, and uses the resources of his electronics class to invent a keyless ignition for Red McElroy's Ford pickup.)

If this is it, it is available at abebooks.com for as little as $1.00 (refer to site below)

Answer 5

the unhappy section approximately Jerry is he performed with 2 of a greater illustrious figures than him Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. the two considered one of whom set league and private archives that's perplexing to reproduction. Wilt did the a hundred factors and fifty 5 rebounds on an identical time as Elgin set the sixty one element Finals checklist. he's no longer completely forgotten when you consider that he's a member of a championship Laker team yet i think of Gail Goodrich is yet another participant who've been shocked the dustbins of the NBA.

Answer 6

came across the name Dawn Powell when searching for this as i think i may have heard of it but could be mistaken....ironic that the first name of this particular author is also a word in your title

Answer 7

When I want to find out something like that I just try typing in what I do know, sometimes in various forms, in the different search engines online. I usually find great results on google.com.

Answer 8

any old library has such exemplaries. Check out St. Gallen library. Its corridors were of a large inspiration to the famous Umberto Eco

Answer 9

Have you tried these websites?

They have quite an extensive out-of-print book search.

Hope this helps.

Answer 10

used and rare book stores or the library

Answer 11

go to a used book dealer.. let them look for it.

hmmm.. the Library of Congress...

http://www.loc.gov

does not list such a book title.. are you sure what it is?