Afternoon of the Elves annoyed me so much as a kid! The way I remember it, the kids/YA section at the local library was divided into sci fi/fantasy and mundane problem novels (with a random smattering of comics later on). I loved the fantastic stuff, and hated the problem novels (... I may still be a tad suspicious of "realistic" literature as a result), so a problem novel masquerading as something I was interested in was basically made to frustrate me.