# Help me identify this book from my childhood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-book-from-my-childhood/762433 "2016-08-11T11:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-book-from-my-childhood/762433/1 "2016-08-11T11:48:17Z")
The other day I was remembering a book that I had read as a kid. It was about a little boy (possibly African American) who lived with his family in a cramped one-room apartment in an inner-city, and had no private space at all. So basically the boy’s mother gave him a corner and a window to call his own, and in the window was a flower in a pot. The story was just about the kid, the corner, and the window with the flower and how the kid was able to generate a feeling of relative privacy and individuality through such a simple thing. I have very fond memories of that book, and think of it whenever I find myself in a small cosy space. It was around 1980 when I read it, and the reading level was probably around 10 years. It was nicely illustrated and had maybe 5-10 lines of text per page. Any idea what the name of the book is? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-book-from-my-childhood/762433/2 "2016-08-11T11:51:46Z")
I remember that story as well, but from probably ten years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-book-from-my-childhood/762433/3 "2016-08-11T11:55:51Z")
Evan’s Corner [http://www.thriftbooks.com/w/evans-corner\_elizabeth-starr-hill\_sandra-speidel/616531/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxLC9BRDb1dP8o7Op68IBEiQAwWggQL66LwFkPBjZJw8s84FAdDfNWUYUM1WwhCk3tuncqqwaAipT8P8HAQ#isbn=0670828300&pcrid=70112863632&pkw=&pmt=&plc=](http://www.thriftbooks.com/w/evans-corner_elizabeth-starr-hill_sandra-speidel/616531/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxLC9BRDb1dP8o7Op68IBEiQAwWggQL66LwFkPBjZJw8s84FAdDfNWUYUM1WwhCk3tuncqqwaAipT8P8HAQ#isbn=0670828300&pcrid=70112863632&pkw=&pmt=&plc=) (Never read it but I googled “Picture book boy in a corner”- is this it?) ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-book-from-my-childhood/762433/4 "2016-08-11T12:02:00Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Evan’s Corner > > [Evan's Corner book by Elizabeth Starr Hill](http://www.thriftbooks.com/w/evans-corner_elizabeth-starr-hill_sandra-speidel/616531/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxLC9BRDb1dP8o7Op68IBEiQAwWggQL66LwFkPBjZJw8s84FAdDfNWUYUM1WwhCk3tuncqqwaAipT8P8HAQ#isbn=0670828300&pcrid=70112863632&pkw=&pmt=&plc=) > > (Never read it but I googled “Picture book boy in a corner”- is this it?) UnFREAKINGbelievable. Yes, that’s the book. Amazing. That has to be some sort of record. My childhood memory from 35 years ago sorted out by the SDMB in exactly 7 minutes 😃 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-book-from-my-childhood/762433/5 "2016-08-11T12:04:40Z")
I love “ID this book” threads. I’m always trying to remember favorite books and love trying to solve other’s mysteries. Glad I found it! It helped that you gave great details in your description. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-book-from-my-childhood/762433/6 "2016-08-11T12:35:00Z")
I was half-expecting it to be an Ezra Jack Keats book but no…