Mystery Solved!

This is going to make me sound like a big dork, but I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am. I have finally solved the mystery of the title of one of my most favorite books from childhood. My sketchy memory can recall everything about the book cover except the title. It was a hard cover with a picture of a girl with pigtails who had just fallen off her bike. The book takes place during one summer during the depression. The girl is learning how to ride a bike with big whitewall tires. She and other kids in the neighborhood read the secret language that hobos write on the telephone polls. That's about all I can remember.

Over the years, I have searched the Internet to try and find out the name of this book. Today, while browsing the groups at Library Thing, I found a group called "Name That Book." I never thought the answer to my mystery would be there. But there it was, a post entitled "2 books: learning to ride a bike and baking soda toothpaste." Thank you, missylc, for asking this question and getting it answered. I don't think it's a coincidence that missylc lives in Maryland. Maybe she checked it out of a Baltimore County library just like me?

The name of my mystery book is "I Would If I Could" by Betty Miles. The cover is exactly as I remembered it. (I think one of the reasons I liked this book so much is that I always thought I looked like the girl on the cover.) This has made my whole weekend. (I know. I said dorky, remember?)

Now I'm off to search the Internet again, this time for a used copy in good condition with the same cover I remember.