Trying to ID a fantasy novel

Cafe Society
1

I decided that after I finish my current reading quest* I’ll reread fantasy novels I read in middle and high school. I’m horrible at remembering titles outside of specific authors (Rowling, Gaiman, Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Jasper Fforde, and Tolkien,) but I’ve been finding the books just by looking for specific details I do remember, or finding them on old recommendation lists from my local library.

But one book is still presenting a major frustration. I can’t remember how to spell the only character name I think I know, and it’s not appearing on the rec lists on the library’s site.

Here is everything I remember about it:

  • The cover might have been reddish. (I think red, or copper, was an important color within the story.)
  • The main character was a male, somewhere between the ages of 10 and 18.
  • The book was published between 1995 and 2003; I read it in paperback but I remember checking and it wasn’t an old book when I read it.
  • It’s targeted at a “young adult” reader. My library would have it somewhere in the Teen Zone.
  • The main character’s name starts with a J. It might be something like Jonathan.
  • When the main character goes off to another place, possibly across a significant river, the people or creatures there cannot pronounce his name and they call him something like Jahnahn.
  • It wasn’t written by any of the authors named above, Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce, Salvatore, George RR Martin, Garth Nix, Orson Scott Card, Terry Goodkind, Pamela Dean, or Monica Furlong.
  • The tech level was somewhere between medieval and modern. It was an Earthlike, humanish society- at least the main character’s home society was-, but not specifically Earth.
  • Apples, arrows, silver, or gold, or deer, may have been involved, but they’re all so common I could be making this up. Golden apples, perhaps.
  • I don’t think it was part of a series.

I know that’s not much concrete info to work with, but if I remember anything else I’ll post it. Next time I’m at the library I’ll do some in-person looking, and maybe talk to a librarian, if this thread doesn’t answer my question for me.

*Reading something I haven’t read before from every author in The Starry Rift

2

Hmm. Doesn’t ring a bell. Here’s a free bump for your thread, anyway.

3

I’ve don’t know, but you might try posting your query over at the AbeBooks BookSleuth forum - I’ve found the folks over there very helpful when I had fairly vague “what’s this book” questions.

4

I started looking here but got bored.

Good luck.

5

Maybe *The Forgotten Door * by Alexander Key? It’s a bit of a longshot, but I personally appreciate even longshots in threads like these. The date would be a little off… first edition published in 1966, updated edition in 1986.

If this turned out to be the one, it would be cool, because I’ve had this book running thru my head for months now and just remembered the name yesterday. I originally encountered it as a short-story version in a 6th-grade reading book many years back.

6

Firegold by Dia Calhoun maybe?

1999 release, red cover, 13-year old named Jonathan, apples mentioned a lot…

7

That’s it!

Thank you! And thanks to everyone else who posted with suggestions (I always forget about BookSleuth, Lsura, so I’ll keep them in mind next time I can’t find a book), and to CandidGamera for the bump.