Rereading Our Childhood

Mary Grace and Deborah discuss Ellen Raskin’s 1971 mystery romp, The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel), about a woman’s decades-long search for her husband, whom she married as a child. (It’s a long story.) The book is full of word games, puzzles, and creative illustrations by Raskin, who was also a graphic artist.

Other books by Ellen Raskin:

Nothing Ever Happens on My Block (1967). This picture book, a childhood favorite of Mary Grace’s, was the first book Raskin wrote after illustrating many children’s books written by others.

Figgs and Phantoms (1974), a 1975 Newbery Honor Book.

The Westing Game (1978), winner of the 1979 Newbery Medal.

Also mentioned:

Raskin’s obituary in the New York Times (August 10, 1984).

A 2023 article in Allure about whether eating chocolate is bad for your skin.

The 2012 School Library Journal poll about the best children’s novels of all time, with The Westing Game at #9.

The Goodreads reviews of The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) (highlight: Jeremy’s.)

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes mentioned on this episode:

Rereading February’s Road by John Verney

Rereading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Rereading Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Rereading Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry

Rereading A Wrinkle in TIme by Madeleine L’Engle

Rereading Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald Sobol

You can find Deborah’s author interviews on her blog, Books Q&A by Deborah Kalb, and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s on her blog, My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.

Podcast website at rereadingourchildhood.com