The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House by Mary Chase

I gave her my address and she was as good as her word. She informed me the book was out of print but she had one in her library that no one ever checked out and she would be happy to send it to me. The title was The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden. So I called the other librarian and described the story to her and she knew exactly which book I was talking about. She had no clue at all about what book I was referring to but she knew a librarian in another city in Texas (I hesitate to name the city for reasons that will become clear as I tell you my story) who specialized in children’s literature and if anyone would know which book I was trying to find, she said, this librarian would know. I could not remember the title of the book at the time, only the plot, so I described it to her. I searched for a copy for years and was unable to find one.Ībout 15 years ago, I actually called the San Antonio Public Library and asked for the children’s librarian. I checked it out of the library to read in the fourth grade and never forgot it. I think it’s one of the reasons that I’ve never been able to get this story out of my head. The book, written by Mary Coyle Chase in 1968, and illustrated by Don Bolognese, was my first real experience with time travel and the supernatural. Her name is Maureen and she makes the mistake of stealing something she finds there in that old, abandoned house, and in doing so, brings down the wrath of the seven wicked sisters who still live in that house…or do they? She’s unruly, she’s a bully, she’s the neighborhood terror! One day, she makes her way into an old mansion which has been gated shut for quite some time.

Another book that etched itself upon my young mind was about a young girl who is the neighborhood pain in the ass.

The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House by Mary Chase