Ok - one more:

The only thing I remember about the story is that two friends who lived next door to each other, somehow manage to get into each others' bedroom through their respective closets. It seems like they had some sort of family issue/crisis, or at least one of them did. I can't recall if the friends were boys or girls, but they were probably young teens.

This was NOT a fantasy book and it was NOT The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.

It was probably a Scholastic book and I read it sometime in the mid to late 70's.

I realize this is not much to go on, but ... help?

Fig

It sort of sounds like the Baby Sitter's Club. Mary Anne and Dawn (quick googling to remember the names) had a secret passage between their rooms or something to that effect. I always wanted a secret passage after that! And they were definitely Scholastic... but it sounds like you read it too early for it to have been that?

Message edited by its author, Aug 1, 2009, 5:23pm.

No, I'm sure it wasn't the Baby Sitters Club; I definitely read it in grade school, mid 70's or so. This book was more serious; teenage angst, crisis, etc...

I wish I still had all my Scholastic books!

This book DID make me want a secret passage in my closet. Alas, no such luck... Sigh....

Thank you for your help!

Fig

Message edited by its author, Aug 1, 2009, 7:02pm.

I remember reading something like this. I've looked through the list of books on my library. My list is in no way complete as it doesn't include most library books. Here is one title that it could be: Voices after Midnight by Richard Peck. Amazon has som better reviews/descriptions than LT. Good luck looking, please let us know when you figure it out.

Thank you for the suggestion, but I'm afraid it doesn't sound quite right.

I think my book was more realistic; more focused on teenage angst. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a fantasy book. It seems like the kids used the adjoining closets to share a friendship and commiserate about "bad" parents.

Something like that, anyway...

This makes me think of the scenes in The Little Princess where Sarah is living in the attic and the scullery maid Becky lives next door. They have a secret passage between their rooms so they can commiserate when Miss Minchin locks them in. Not sure if that helps, but it's what I thought of.

I don't think there was a real secret passage in The Little Princess - it was an imaginary one, while they were pretending to be prisoners in the Bastille.

You might be right--in the movie, there's a loose board in the wall, so they can get into each other's rooms when Miss Minchin locks them in. But that could easily just be from the movie; I don't remember.

I actually read The Little Princess recently, and while I loved it, it was not my book from grade school...

Sigh...

It sounds a bit like The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (but this was published in the early eighties).

It was two girls in an orphanage that used secret passages to sneak around the house to evade the cruel House mother . A very good book about youngsters pulling together and being survivors on their own.

Was it set in the 70s? I recall one with a teen girl, blonde, with restrictive parents. The girls cut a hole through the wall, and she sneaks out with her friend next door. Her parents have her drink Ovaltine, and when they move the dresser planning the hole, she notices the paint is still the color of blue it was when she was younger. She sneaks out and puts on make up and clothes her parents forbid, maybe even goes by another name? She lives in a duplex or a flat.

I checked out The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, but it didn't ring a bell for me.

iharney: yours sounds a lot closer to the mark. Do you remember the name of it or the author? I'm assuming mine was set in the 70's, but I'm not absolutely sure.

Message edited by its author, Sep 25, 2009, 4:49pm.

Just bumping this in case iharney is around or his/her post jogs the memory of someone else.

Doesn't this happen in The magician's nephew, another of the Narnia books? Digory and Polly end up in the White Witch's home planet right before it collapses. If I recall correctly, they get into each other's bedroom via the timbers connecting their neighboring houses.

I'm just throwing this out here: if you read one of the Narnia books, it makes sense to assume you read more.

It's Girl in Cotton Wool by Dianne Doubtfire. I asked for help with that book on another post. For some reason, I thought they were two different books. I found it on ebay after someone on Name that Book knew what it was. I just reread it today. It's the same book as the one I was asking about on this post.

Iharney nailed it - the ovaltine, the blue spot on the wall behind the wardrobe, the different name, the duplex.

Anyway, it was great - and I thank you all for your help. Two book mysteries solved!