Born into Light

by Paul Samuel Jacobs

When a number of "feral children" are found in a New England town during the Depression, only young Roger Westwood suspects they are not earthly creatures, though even he cannot guess their true nature or their mission on this planet.

Genres: Science Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Fantasy

149 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Bmquiram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting easy to read story.
Good characters but I should have liked a tad more build up before the climax.

Young Rodger and his older sister Charlotte find a wild filthy boy at the edge of the woods. After their mother adopts the boy the family experiences a series of strange and mysterious events.
Who is this boy?
Where did he come from?
What is happening to him?

[Elsie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must’ve read this book at least two dozen times in seventh grade! And several more across subsequent years. A lifetime fave.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea how to rate this one. It's a wild little story with a pretty upsetting ending to my point of view. There were also some weird plot points, so I won't forget it soon, but I also don't think that I'd recommend it to anyone. It's well-written, though, so maybe you'll love it?

My only major, non-spoiler warning would be that there's a lot of dated language used for things like mental health issues, which might be jarring or even upsetting to some readers. For example, "moron" is used as a diagnosis because that's what it used to be and this is an older book (written in the 1980s, set in the 1910s and 1920s).

The rest of this is going to be spoiler-tagged because it's a very short book and almost all of the potentially upsetting stuff is directly tied to the ending. I'll start with a vague list of trigger warnings, then get into the details, but do know that I basically have to spoil the whole book to talk about this stuff.

Trigger Warnings: marriage between adopted siblings who didn't meet until they were both around their tweens, child death, child abuse, early 1900's mental asylums, and child... abduction?

As the story summary states, the premise of this book is that children randomly appear in the woods around Roger's house (Roger being the POV character). These children are all very sickly and many of them die due to poor health. Several of them are even sent to mental asylums because the people who find them don't know what to do with them since the children are all feral, though they do mature rapidly if you keep them around for a few weeks. We even have a few scenes in a mental asylum and, while it's all rather vague on the details, it's still horrifying to think that people were treated like this.

Two of the wild children are adopted into Roger's family. Their names are Nell and Ben. After a few years, Ben marries Charlotte, Roger's biological sister and Ben's adoptive sister. Roger also discusses marrying Nell, though this does not happen.

I really wasn't sure how to feel about this plot point. I know things like this were far more common a century ago, but it's still an instant "ew" factor for me. Ben was basically a wild animal when he was found and Charolette helped raise him and care for him as an older sister would. Having them get married was jarring to say the least. I think that it would have read far better if Charlotte was a neighbor's daughter who was over a lot because she liked Ben, but at the same time, I can buy that this sort of marriage would have been seen as fine in the days when states were still debating laws about banning marriages between first cousins.

Charlotte and Ben go on to have three children and the end of the book sees them send these children into space for reasons unknown. The children and Ben just know that it needs to happen due to some sort of biological imperative.

Did I mention that the kids were all younger than 5 and that they would never return? And that they were sent alone?

I was horrified by this part of the story and by how much Charlotte was basically just an incubator for Ben's apparent mission. The fact that he was okay sending the children made sense, but to have Charlotte and the rest of her family just sadly go along with it? Yeah, no, not buying that one bit. And why did the children have to be so young? It was an interesting concept, I just think that it was played far too casually. I just can't buy that everyone would be all aboard the "let the toddlers risk their lives for reasons" train.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

B. fiction, science fiction, YA. children appear in communities; early 20th c.; from stash, keep

[Joshua Jimenez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light read, no pun intended. It was enjoyable but I feel like it doesn’t leave an impression.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would give two and a half stars to this book.
Paul Samuel Jacobs writes with a distinctively new voice, showing himself to be unfettered by illusory boundaries that might affect other first-time authors. The story of "Born Into Light" builds nicely in mystery and feel throughout, introducing readers to the "wild children" Benjamin, Nell and the rest while allowing us to see things from both their perspectives and the perspectives of the humans.
Seeing things from the point of view of Roger Westwood was probably the ideal way to tell the story. He doesn't really know any of the mysteries that are unfolding with the coming of the wild children, and he looks at his life with an open mind and, even more importantly, an open heart, willing to accept Ben and Nell into his life as kinds of siblings.
Paul Samuel Jacobs explores this intricate and loaded storyline with the precision and earnest thought of a surgeon, all the while linking everything together by his astonishing ability to write in beautifully lyrical sentences. At times his prose glides almost with the smoothness of poetry.
It doesn't appear that much else written by Paul Samuel Jacobs has seen publication, which is a shame since I see a lot of potential in this book. "Born Into Light" has a young adult feel in its syntax, but readers of all ages will well enjoy the short, manageable chapters and straightforward story thread.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently found my book journal from high school. Although I don't remember much about this book, I do remember it utterly absorbed me while I was reading it, and it gave me lots to think about when I wasn't reading.

[Ce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great science fiction mystery, told from the view point of the main character as he gains his new mysterious brother and sister and works with the country doctor to discover where they came from and how they were able to survive in the wild!

[Janaustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Different than what I expected. I liked that the human kid was also very exceptional simply by trying hard.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this idea of a separate human race on a journey. I think it's pretty good but the plot is so-so.
Once you read it than you will know what I mean.

[Samuel Tetteh · Rating 5 out of 5]

it a really nice fictional book with all the aliens and stuff. No bad guy in it

[BreBre Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a child. I don't remember it much now but, I do remember it had an impact on me.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago and remembered it fascinated me.