What do you think?
Rate this book
The Light in the Forest #1
Light in the Forrest
"When John Cameron Butler was a child, he was captured in a raid on the Pennsylvania frontier and adopted by the great warrrior Cuyloga. Renamed True Son, he came to think of himself as fully Indian. But eleven years later his tribe, the Lenni Lenape, has signed a treaty with the white men and agreed to return their captives, including fifteen-year-old True Son. Now he must go back to the family he has forgotten, whose language is no longer his, and whose ways of dress and behavior are as strange to him as the ways of the forest are to them. A beautifully written, sensitively told story of a white boy brought up by Indians, The Light in the Forest is a beloved American classic."
*Summary by the publisher
*Summary by the publisher
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1953
266 people are currently reading
2486 people want to read
About the author
Conrad Richter
59 books145 followersConrad Michael Richter (October 13, 1890 – October 30, 1968) was an American novelist whose lyrical work is concerned largely with life on the American frontier in various periods. His novel The Town (1950), the last story of his trilogy The Awakening Land about the Ohio frontier, won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.[1] His novel The Waters of Kronos won the 1961 National Book Award for Fiction.[2] Two collections of short stories were published posthumously during the 20th century, and several of his novels have been reissued during the 21st century by academic presses. (wikipedia.org)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 637 reviews
May 9, 2021
"Now go like an Indian, True Son. Give me no more shame".
Conrad Richter-The Light In The Forest
Sometimes there are books assigned to one in school that ARE worth reading. Sometimes they even make it onto your favorite list. Such is the case with 'The Light in the forest".
This was a book I read for school back in the day that quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. Folks if you have not heard of this and you get it as a reading assignment do not fret, it is one of the great ones.
True Son is a young boy whose real name is Johnny. Many years ago, when he was just a baby, he was abducted by the Native Americans and raised as an Indian. Now as a young man, True son loves his Indian Family with all his heart. He and his friend "Half Arrow" are proud of their heritage and love living off the land.
Although True Son's skin is white, nobody ever thinks of him as anything other then a member of their tribe.
When a peace agreement with the White people is reached, part of that deal includes that the Indians give back to the Whites, all their White prisoners. That includes True Son.
True Son's real name is John. He has no memory of his white family. He fights with all his mite, not to go back to them. But he cannot escape his fate.
The Light in the Forrest is about a young boy, who through no fault of his own, is thrust into a situation where he has no identity. He does not understand is White "family" as they do not understand him and his continued love for his Indian family.
This book is raw, beautiful and deeply moving. I am compelled to talk about how poignant a figure True son is. It was a joy to read about him.
Growing up, I had a passion for Native American History so being given this book as required reading was a good thing for me.
I also wanted to "run free" like True Son and his tribe. I love the world described e re..the world of the Indian so long ago. Woods and fields and bubbling creeks are their home. I was enthralled.
I felt much empathy for True Son. Even now, I read this book occasionally and it brings me back into the forests of green of True Son and his Tribe.
END SPOILERS:
I think my favorite character may have been True Son's Native American dad. The speech he gives True Son, at the end when they separate, has always stayed with me.
For those wanting just a littler bit more of True Son or are wondering what became of him, read the companion book, the lesser known, "Country of Strangers".
Conrad Richter-The Light In The Forest
Sometimes there are books assigned to one in school that ARE worth reading. Sometimes they even make it onto your favorite list. Such is the case with 'The Light in the forest".
This was a book I read for school back in the day that quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. Folks if you have not heard of this and you get it as a reading assignment do not fret, it is one of the great ones.
True Son is a young boy whose real name is Johnny. Many years ago, when he was just a baby, he was abducted by the Native Americans and raised as an Indian. Now as a young man, True son loves his Indian Family with all his heart. He and his friend "Half Arrow" are proud of their heritage and love living off the land.
Although True Son's skin is white, nobody ever thinks of him as anything other then a member of their tribe.
When a peace agreement with the White people is reached, part of that deal includes that the Indians give back to the Whites, all their White prisoners. That includes True Son.
True Son's real name is John. He has no memory of his white family. He fights with all his mite, not to go back to them. But he cannot escape his fate.
The Light in the Forrest is about a young boy, who through no fault of his own, is thrust into a situation where he has no identity. He does not understand is White "family" as they do not understand him and his continued love for his Indian family.
This book is raw, beautiful and deeply moving. I am compelled to talk about how poignant a figure True son is. It was a joy to read about him.
Growing up, I had a passion for Native American History so being given this book as required reading was a good thing for me.
I also wanted to "run free" like True Son and his tribe. I love the world described e re..the world of the Indian so long ago. Woods and fields and bubbling creeks are their home. I was enthralled.
I felt much empathy for True Son. Even now, I read this book occasionally and it brings me back into the forests of green of True Son and his Tribe.
END SPOILERS:
I think my favorite character may have been True Son's Native American dad. The speech he gives True Son, at the end when they separate, has always stayed with me.
For those wanting just a littler bit more of True Son or are wondering what became of him, read the companion book, the lesser known, "Country of Strangers".
April 22, 2008
Yes, folks, it's yet another book, probably not actually so dreadful on its own merits, that's been ruined by overzealous junior high school English teachers. We not only had to read this in seventh or eighth grade, but for some obscure reason, the powers that be forced us to watch a filmstrip of the movie, which I think was a feature made for that series The Wonderful World of Disney or whatever the hell it was called, starring James MacArthur (yep, that's Danno of "Hawaii Five-0" Fame) playing John or True Son or whatever he was calling himself that day. We didn't even get to watch the actual movie -- we had to watch a filmstrip of the movie. WTF? (If you were born after 1975 or so you probably don't even know what a filmstrip is, which just makes this whole thing even more depressing.) And as though that wasn't bad enough, they made us watch this thing EVERY FUCKING YEAR from sixth grade through eighth. Why? Who the hell knows. I guess it was supposed to teach us about the tragedy of racism or some goddamned thing.
Frankly, the only two things I distinctly remember about the book was that the dialog was stilted, the plot was on the dull side, and I rolled my eyes a lot (Wait, that's three things.)
ANYway. This is probably the most unhelpful review ever written, but if I had to suffer through reading this and watching the filmstrip in seventh grade, I don't see why I shouldn't make you suffer through reading this review.
Frankly, the only two things I distinctly remember about the book was that the dialog was stilted, the plot was on the dull side, and I rolled my eyes a lot (Wait, that's three things.)
ANYway. This is probably the most unhelpful review ever written, but if I had to suffer through reading this and watching the filmstrip in seventh grade, I don't see why I shouldn't make you suffer through reading this review.
November 14, 2023
when the ending is so unsatisfactory that you’re getting dangerously close to reading fan fiction that have an alternative and happy outcome
July 31, 2024
True Son, the 15 year old protagonist of The Light in the Forest, is something you don’t often find in YA literature — a true tragic hero in the classical sense. He is a dutiful son, just on the edge of manhood, ready to take his place in his tribe when cruel fate intervenes to ruin his life. True Son was a child captive, adopted into his family and tribe at age 4. His heart and mind are Lenni Lenape, but his blood is White. And the new treaty which can bring peace to Indian lands demands the return of all White captives. True Son is forced to leave his family, his tribe, his forest, and is taken bound into the land of his enemies, the land of his birth. That is where the story starts, and as it unfolds it proves to be tragedy from beginning to end.
Conrad Richter truly captured the tragedy at the heart of this story, not just for True Son and his people, but to a lesser extent for his birth family to whom he’s so unwillingly returned. Perhaps that is why this book is a generational classic, still in print after more than 70 years. I read it as a 12 year old in the 1970s. My younger son read it at 11 in the 2010s. The story moved us both.
The language of the book is old fashioned, very formal, and can come off as stilted. It works in the context of the story, though, and is balanced by the gripping, tragic sweep of the tale. As historical fiction, it’s as good as it gets. Period details are meticulous. Historical persons, places, and events, like Colonel Henry Bouquet, the redeeming of White captives, Fort Pitt, Harris’ Landing, and the murderous Paxton Boys and their commander Parson Elder, are all used with precise accuracy. Most of all, the idea that so many White captive, adopted into Indian tribes, were broken hearted and unwilling to return or adapt back into colonial life is a matter of historical record that Richter captured so dramatically and well in his tragic YA novel.
Conrad Richter truly captured the tragedy at the heart of this story, not just for True Son and his people, but to a lesser extent for his birth family to whom he’s so unwillingly returned. Perhaps that is why this book is a generational classic, still in print after more than 70 years. I read it as a 12 year old in the 1970s. My younger son read it at 11 in the 2010s. The story moved us both.
The language of the book is old fashioned, very formal, and can come off as stilted. It works in the context of the story, though, and is balanced by the gripping, tragic sweep of the tale. As historical fiction, it’s as good as it gets. Period details are meticulous. Historical persons, places, and events, like Colonel Henry Bouquet, the redeeming of White captives, Fort Pitt, Harris’ Landing, and the murderous Paxton Boys and their commander Parson Elder, are all used with precise accuracy. Most of all, the idea that so many White captive, adopted into Indian tribes, were broken hearted and unwilling to return or adapt back into colonial life is a matter of historical record that Richter captured so dramatically and well in his tragic YA novel.
June 25, 2008
Pennsylvania native Richter was well-known as a serious writer of historical fiction set on the Pennsylvania and Ohio frontier (one of his other novels won a Pulitzer Prize). This is one of his "minor" works, and is certainly short enough to be a fairly quick read; but nonetheless, it doesn't lack for emotional intensity or for complexity of thought content. It has a lot in common with Schuman's much longer Strife Before Dawn, the book I reviewed previously: the two novels share a setting, and their authors were contemporaries; and in both books the return of a "captive" from the Indians is a pivotal point in the plot (though True Son here is much more assimilated to the Indian culture than Hope in the earlier book). Several actual persons and events depicted in the first book appear here as well, and many of my comments in the first review would also apply here; readers who liked either book might well like the other as well. There is much less directly-described violence in this book, however, and what there is isn't as graphic.
Any fair-minded reader will finish this book feeling that the white culture of that day has a great deal to answer for. But like Schuman, Richter doesn't canonize all Indians as "noble savages," either; some of them are as racist, and as capable of atrocities, as their white adversaries. And his primary intent is not to make a socio-political point, but to explore the human drama and psychology of the situation -- which he does very well.
Any fair-minded reader will finish this book feeling that the white culture of that day has a great deal to answer for. But like Schuman, Richter doesn't canonize all Indians as "noble savages," either; some of them are as racist, and as capable of atrocities, as their white adversaries. And his primary intent is not to make a socio-political point, but to explore the human drama and psychology of the situation -- which he does very well.
May 26, 2016
I've read a number of reviews which seem to feel having been assigned to read this book in eighth grade somehow makes it a poisoned pill of sorts. I don't agree that if some book is required homework means the subject assigned must be crappy moralistic stuff grownups are yet again shoving down juvenile throats in a painful forced feeding. When teachers teach anti-bullying messages that we should all be kind to our classmates and stop bullying, do not most of us think, "forced" lesson or not, that bullying should be stopped?
Unjustified vilification is the first step towards bullying and this book, which is about the conflict of very different cultures, demonstrates that aspect of social ostracism and hatred of those different from our particular social milieu. Whatever mechanism which lies in our crocodile primitive brains that leads to bullying is the very same brain trait which helped the whites justify their theft of America from the Native Americans.
All cultures develop under environmental and historical circumstances. Habitual behaviors in time feel rational even when the reasons for doing something have disappeared. Such behaviors then look strange, or unnecessary to cultural outsiders who have no idea of the history behind a custom that looks loony to outsiders of the culture. Worshipping on your knees before a wooden crosspiece with a statue of a bleeding crying man punctured with stab wounds and in obvious agony pinned to the wood can look like a culture that worships torture and death and blood, but if you were raised in a Christian culture, you know people are worshipping the man, not his tortured death. Christians often celebrate by eating bread and drinking wine in church with the underlying understanding that you are simulating the eating of dead human flesh and drinking blood. An outsider might believe Christians are all happy admirers of cannibalism.
The plot of 'The Light in the Forest' involved the return of a teen white boy to his white family after having been raised with an American Indian family since he was a toddler. He could not understand anything his white family did, which indirectly highlighted the conflict between white European culture and Native American life in the early years of America. Obviously, it was the cultural environment he had learned early in life which shaped his understanding, not his racial characteristics.
The book did a fantastic job of quickly outlining all of the issues between the original Native Americans and the white Europeans. It showed how each side viewed positively their own culture and how they misunderstood the other people of a different culture. Additionally, the book not only shows the shameful treatment of the original owners of America, which grew out of white greed for Indian property, but also that the conflict included the need for controlling the resources of the land for people to survive.
Natives and Europeans alike over time found it difficult to see the other as human, but originally it began as a tragedy of misunderstood manners, similar to when Westerners casually cross their legs showing the soles of their shoes when sitting with people from the Middle East, unaware that showing the sole of your shoe to many Middle Eastern persons is a deadly insult as horrible as spitting in someone's face in the West. Without a common language or an understanding of cultural norms hatred can begin because of assumed insults. Also, with such misunderstandings, the other person can appear dangerously irrational or mental.
The specific issues of the novel was about the complex knots of misunderstood cultures and greed, and how all of us sometimes make the mistake to think cultural differences are because of skin color or physical appearance and not because of one's upbringing. The book wants to show the reader culture is not about race in fact, but about education and environment.
Obviously, gentle reader, there is a bigger discussion available to a class of eighth graders reading this book that goes beyond the issue of a kidnapped white boy raised by "Indians". However, disappointingly, many of the reviews sound as if some readers believe the book was either without modern applications ("what does the conflict between Indians and whites in 19th-century America have to do with anything now?" - a common thought. Or readers think it is simply a stupid John Wayne fiction story). The way Europeans justified the extermination of Native Americans was no different than the justifications of extermination and demonization by Germans of the Jews in World War II, the attempt to exterminate those of other faiths in the Serbian War, the genocide of other tribes in the Rwandan War and Saddam's War against the Kurds. Not only does this issue continue to plague all human thinking, it apparently is ongoing in a destructively 'minor' fashion (only in scope) in our schools for juveniles.
Why NOT read this book in the eighth grade? What kind of discussion is NOT occurring in your classroom? Some of the reviews about this book have caused me despair. Reading the book should bring out in thoughtful persons hundreds of questions about human behavior.
Unjustified vilification is the first step towards bullying and this book, which is about the conflict of very different cultures, demonstrates that aspect of social ostracism and hatred of those different from our particular social milieu. Whatever mechanism which lies in our crocodile primitive brains that leads to bullying is the very same brain trait which helped the whites justify their theft of America from the Native Americans.
All cultures develop under environmental and historical circumstances. Habitual behaviors in time feel rational even when the reasons for doing something have disappeared. Such behaviors then look strange, or unnecessary to cultural outsiders who have no idea of the history behind a custom that looks loony to outsiders of the culture. Worshipping on your knees before a wooden crosspiece with a statue of a bleeding crying man punctured with stab wounds and in obvious agony pinned to the wood can look like a culture that worships torture and death and blood, but if you were raised in a Christian culture, you know people are worshipping the man, not his tortured death. Christians often celebrate by eating bread and drinking wine in church with the underlying understanding that you are simulating the eating of dead human flesh and drinking blood. An outsider might believe Christians are all happy admirers of cannibalism.
The plot of 'The Light in the Forest' involved the return of a teen white boy to his white family after having been raised with an American Indian family since he was a toddler. He could not understand anything his white family did, which indirectly highlighted the conflict between white European culture and Native American life in the early years of America. Obviously, it was the cultural environment he had learned early in life which shaped his understanding, not his racial characteristics.
The book did a fantastic job of quickly outlining all of the issues between the original Native Americans and the white Europeans. It showed how each side viewed positively their own culture and how they misunderstood the other people of a different culture. Additionally, the book not only shows the shameful treatment of the original owners of America, which grew out of white greed for Indian property, but also that the conflict included the need for controlling the resources of the land for people to survive.
Natives and Europeans alike over time found it difficult to see the other as human, but originally it began as a tragedy of misunderstood manners, similar to when Westerners casually cross their legs showing the soles of their shoes when sitting with people from the Middle East, unaware that showing the sole of your shoe to many Middle Eastern persons is a deadly insult as horrible as spitting in someone's face in the West. Without a common language or an understanding of cultural norms hatred can begin because of assumed insults. Also, with such misunderstandings, the other person can appear dangerously irrational or mental.
The specific issues of the novel was about the complex knots of misunderstood cultures and greed, and how all of us sometimes make the mistake to think cultural differences are because of skin color or physical appearance and not because of one's upbringing. The book wants to show the reader culture is not about race in fact, but about education and environment.
Obviously, gentle reader, there is a bigger discussion available to a class of eighth graders reading this book that goes beyond the issue of a kidnapped white boy raised by "Indians". However, disappointingly, many of the reviews sound as if some readers believe the book was either without modern applications ("what does the conflict between Indians and whites in 19th-century America have to do with anything now?" - a common thought. Or readers think it is simply a stupid John Wayne fiction story). The way Europeans justified the extermination of Native Americans was no different than the justifications of extermination and demonization by Germans of the Jews in World War II, the attempt to exterminate those of other faiths in the Serbian War, the genocide of other tribes in the Rwandan War and Saddam's War against the Kurds. Not only does this issue continue to plague all human thinking, it apparently is ongoing in a destructively 'minor' fashion (only in scope) in our schools for juveniles.
Why NOT read this book in the eighth grade? What kind of discussion is NOT occurring in your classroom? Some of the reviews about this book have caused me despair. Reading the book should bring out in thoughtful persons hundreds of questions about human behavior.
September 2, 2009
This very short novel is read in junior high English classes, deservedly, because the novel is engaging, but also full of issues that kids understand: alienation, moral dilemma-choices, family issues. The plot revolves a colonial boy kidnapped, then raised, by native Americans who, because of treaty obligations, must return to his real family, but who feels only tied to his native American family and culture. Excellent book.
June 12, 2013
The main reason I picked up this book is because I very much enjoy stories about Native American/white relations in the colonial days, particular captive ones. Come to think of it, though, I've really only read one novel I thought did a decent job of portraying these circumstances. This one did not.
The main premise of this book is that a young man who was captured and adopted into a Native American tribe (the Lenape, I believe) has to be returned to his white family. This was a pretty common occurrence. Native Americans would take whites as replacements for the family members they lost, but often were forced to return them after many years had gone by and the captives had become family members and happy in their new environments. If it was painful for the families, it must have been excruciating for the captives. To live one life, then get used to another and accept that it was all there was going to be only to be returned to the first life against their will. . .that seems very difficult and fraught with painful emotions.
While the author does a halfway decent job of showing the emotional turmoil of the main character, True Son, the problem isn't with True Son. It's with everyone else. The Native American characters are admirable but are very rigid in their beliefs and decisions. No less rigid are the whites. Everyone seems to have one opinion about everything and will not ever stray from it. You can see where they would get these ideas but it makes it hard to sympathize with anyone. With the Native Americans, they take the stance that it's okay to steal and kill the whites because the whites did it to them first. Fair enough that the whites probably did it first, but does that make retaliation okay? Maybe in their minds but not in mine, and I find it a personal turn-off. The white continually refer to the Native Americans and everything they do in condescending, racist ways. Also not okay. Even when their son returns, they don't try and understand him. They just try to squash the Native American out of him. I found basically everything out of every character's mouth to be grating on my nerves and vaguely offensive in one way or another. Even with True Son, he was hard to understand at times, on an emotional level.
My only other comment on the novel is that it sort of seemed like the author had done some petty research into Native American culture, such as names for things and some vague religious ideas, and stuck EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM into the novel in such a way that it felt very forced and stilted. It wasn't a learning process, where the reader got to pick up some new phrases and ideas, but a recitation in an aren't-I-so-clever way. I found it obtrusive.
All in all, there are much better books on this subject out there. My favorite is Standing in the Light and I seriously recommend you check that one out before this one.
The main premise of this book is that a young man who was captured and adopted into a Native American tribe (the Lenape, I believe) has to be returned to his white family. This was a pretty common occurrence. Native Americans would take whites as replacements for the family members they lost, but often were forced to return them after many years had gone by and the captives had become family members and happy in their new environments. If it was painful for the families, it must have been excruciating for the captives. To live one life, then get used to another and accept that it was all there was going to be only to be returned to the first life against their will. . .that seems very difficult and fraught with painful emotions.
While the author does a halfway decent job of showing the emotional turmoil of the main character, True Son, the problem isn't with True Son. It's with everyone else. The Native American characters are admirable but are very rigid in their beliefs and decisions. No less rigid are the whites. Everyone seems to have one opinion about everything and will not ever stray from it. You can see where they would get these ideas but it makes it hard to sympathize with anyone. With the Native Americans, they take the stance that it's okay to steal and kill the whites because the whites did it to them first. Fair enough that the whites probably did it first, but does that make retaliation okay? Maybe in their minds but not in mine, and I find it a personal turn-off. The white continually refer to the Native Americans and everything they do in condescending, racist ways. Also not okay. Even when their son returns, they don't try and understand him. They just try to squash the Native American out of him. I found basically everything out of every character's mouth to be grating on my nerves and vaguely offensive in one way or another. Even with True Son, he was hard to understand at times, on an emotional level.
My only other comment on the novel is that it sort of seemed like the author had done some petty research into Native American culture, such as names for things and some vague religious ideas, and stuck EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM into the novel in such a way that it felt very forced and stilted. It wasn't a learning process, where the reader got to pick up some new phrases and ideas, but a recitation in an aren't-I-so-clever way. I found it obtrusive.
All in all, there are much better books on this subject out there. My favorite is Standing in the Light and I seriously recommend you check that one out before this one.
November 20, 2009
My goal is to read and re-read some classics. This is for young readers, but a great story of a child who was captured by Indians in a
raid on his Pennsylvania settlement. He lives with the Indians until
he is forced back to his home when he is sixteen. It's not an easy
adjustment. The story is about a boy who is caught between two cultures
and is not at home in either. That proves true after he escapes back to
the Indians. He had an interesting view of the white man: "They are
young and heedless like children. You can see it the way they heap up
treasures like a child, although they know they must die and can't take such things with them. It would be no use anyhow because the next world has plenty of everything a man wants. Their house isn't big enough for all they gather, so they have to build another house they call the barn. That's why you find so many thieves among the whites. All white people must put what they call a lock on their doors. It's made of iron and you must carry another piece of iron with you to open it."
raid on his Pennsylvania settlement. He lives with the Indians until
he is forced back to his home when he is sixteen. It's not an easy
adjustment. The story is about a boy who is caught between two cultures
and is not at home in either. That proves true after he escapes back to
the Indians. He had an interesting view of the white man: "They are
young and heedless like children. You can see it the way they heap up
treasures like a child, although they know they must die and can't take such things with them. It would be no use anyhow because the next world has plenty of everything a man wants. Their house isn't big enough for all they gather, so they have to build another house they call the barn. That's why you find so many thieves among the whites. All white people must put what they call a lock on their doors. It's made of iron and you must carry another piece of iron with you to open it."
October 5, 2008
BORING!!!!
October 15, 2021
After watching Disney's, The Light in the Forest and discovering (like most Disney movies) that it was based/inspired by a book, I was intrigued and eagerly got my hands on a copy. Just a quick note- both the movie and the book were good in their own ways but Disney, once again, cleaned up the story for movie-goers.
I really wanted to enjoy this but found myself bored with the story and kept setting it aside. That's not to say that this was bad story or poorly written. I just couldn't get into it.
One theme that stuck out to me was perspective. Most of the white people feared or despised the Indians due to their past attacks and wild rumors. On the other side of the coin, the Indians feared or despised the white people because they moved onto their land and would also attack. True Son was given a rare look into both of these worlds and saw for himself the good and the bad in both peoples. His reunion with his cousin, Half Arrow, really drove this point home.
I loved the beautiful nature descriptions and the way the author compared the ways of both worlds. There was no language. In terms of violence, there was one scene where a man was scalped but it wasn't told in a gruesome way.
Overall, it was an interesting read but I can't see myself picking it up again.
I really wanted to enjoy this but found myself bored with the story and kept setting it aside. That's not to say that this was bad story or poorly written. I just couldn't get into it.
One theme that stuck out to me was perspective. Most of the white people feared or despised the Indians due to their past attacks and wild rumors. On the other side of the coin, the Indians feared or despised the white people because they moved onto their land and would also attack. True Son was given a rare look into both of these worlds and saw for himself the good and the bad in both peoples. His reunion with his cousin, Half Arrow, really drove this point home.
I loved the beautiful nature descriptions and the way the author compared the ways of both worlds. There was no language. In terms of violence, there was one scene where a man was scalped but it wasn't told in a gruesome way.
Overall, it was an interesting read but I can't see myself picking it up again.
June 19, 2012
The Light in the Forest is a short book written in 1953 by Pulitzer Award winning author Conrad Richter. The book tells the story of a 15 year old boy who grew up among the Lenni Lenape Indians. True Son or Johnny was captured when he was only four years old and had been adopted by an Indian family to replace a child who had died. The story begins with a recounting of the 1764 campaign by British Army officer Henry Bouquet to gather white captives from among the Indians and return them to their families. This experience was very traumatic for many of the young captives as they had grown up among the Indians and saw them as their own family. The return to their families was especially traumatic if they had been captured when really young.
Richter does a great job of telling the story of how Johnny has trouble fitting back into his own family. When I first read this story years ago when I was in High School, it did not have as much meaning to me as it did when I read it again today.
I first read the book before I knew of the Northkill Massacre. One of my ancestors, Jacob Hochstetler, was an early Amish immigrant and helped start the first Amish settlement in America at Northkill, Pennsylvania. In September of 1757, the Hochstetler family was ambushed by the Lenni Lenape Indians. The mother and two children were killed by the Indians and Jacob and two of his sons, Joseph and Christian, were carried off into captivity. After several years Jacob was able to escape and return home, but his two sons lived with the Indians for many years. One of the sons, Joseph, was brought back to his family by the Bouquet campaign, so this story now has special meaning to me. Both of the sons had trouble fitting back into the daily life of the Amish, and Joseph would often go hunting with the Indians who remained in the area. Christian eventually left the Amish and became a Dunkard Minister, and a large number of his descendants eventually joined the Restoration Movement. Joseph married into another Amish family and many of his descendants moved to Indiana and Kansas. My branches of the Hochstetler family come from the older children of Jacob who had already left home and married by the time of the massacre.
Copied from my blog at http://bramanswanderings.com
Richter does a great job of telling the story of how Johnny has trouble fitting back into his own family. When I first read this story years ago when I was in High School, it did not have as much meaning to me as it did when I read it again today.
I first read the book before I knew of the Northkill Massacre. One of my ancestors, Jacob Hochstetler, was an early Amish immigrant and helped start the first Amish settlement in America at Northkill, Pennsylvania. In September of 1757, the Hochstetler family was ambushed by the Lenni Lenape Indians. The mother and two children were killed by the Indians and Jacob and two of his sons, Joseph and Christian, were carried off into captivity. After several years Jacob was able to escape and return home, but his two sons lived with the Indians for many years. One of the sons, Joseph, was brought back to his family by the Bouquet campaign, so this story now has special meaning to me. Both of the sons had trouble fitting back into the daily life of the Amish, and Joseph would often go hunting with the Indians who remained in the area. Christian eventually left the Amish and became a Dunkard Minister, and a large number of his descendants eventually joined the Restoration Movement. Joseph married into another Amish family and many of his descendants moved to Indiana and Kansas. My branches of the Hochstetler family come from the older children of Jacob who had already left home and married by the time of the massacre.
Copied from my blog at http://bramanswanderings.com
September 4, 2022
A moving tale of a teen caught between two worlds. Raised by Indians but returned to his birth family, True Son has trouble fitting in. He flees and joyously returns to his Indian family. However, an act of betrayal separates him from his tribe resulting in his Indian father walking with him to the road leading back to the white settlement.
"After that road, we are son and father no longer . . . but enemies. . . I am no longer your father, nor you my son."He dreads the life he foresees "far from the wild beloved freedom of the Indian." The Light in the Forest is an emotional story with no easy resolution for any of the parties involved.
"Then who is my father?" the boy cried in despair.
July 31, 2009
Considering this book was written in the 50's when the government was still doing the enforced boarding school thing and their big relocation project to "civilize" native people, this book was surprisingly fair. I really expected it to be very bigoted, but it treated both sides honestly and fairly. I also felt that it handled very well the serious conflict of being part of two societies and thus truly belonging to neither. Emotionally, this was a difficult book to read.
November 23, 2020
I read The Light in the Forest many years ago when I was a young boy, and while most of the details of the story had grown murky over the years, I never forgot that the book had left quite an impression on me.
Rereading The Light in the Forest as an old man, I now understand why this story so affected me, way back when. I'm happy that I gave this one another look.
Rereading The Light in the Forest as an old man, I now understand why this story so affected me, way back when. I'm happy that I gave this one another look.
June 16, 2022
Touching YA novel about a 15-year-old with a huge problem: At the age of four, John Butler was kidnapped by the Lenni Lanape tribe, then raised as the son of a respected warrior. Renamed True Son, he barely remembers his childhood family and thinks of himself and is treated as a Native American tribe member.
When the U.S. government declares that all white captives must be returned, True Son, against his will, is sent back to his birth family, whom he thinks of as the enemy and whose lifestyle and expectations are the antithesis of the way True Son has been raised.
True Son’s struggle is poignantly developed as he is pushed between the two cultures and comes to wonder if he can ever truly belong to either one of them again. His personal conflict gains an extra layer of pathos because it also represents the larger scale phenomenon of Native Americans being killed and displaced by the inrush of European settlers
I enjoyed the glimpses into Native American life (though I can’t vouch for their accuracy) and the descriptions of the unspoiled 18th-century American wilderness when (to paraphrase what someone said to me the other day) a squirrel could go from Maine to Ohio without touching the ground.
When the U.S. government declares that all white captives must be returned, True Son, against his will, is sent back to his birth family, whom he thinks of as the enemy and whose lifestyle and expectations are the antithesis of the way True Son has been raised.
True Son’s struggle is poignantly developed as he is pushed between the two cultures and comes to wonder if he can ever truly belong to either one of them again. His personal conflict gains an extra layer of pathos because it also represents the larger scale phenomenon of Native Americans being killed and displaced by the inrush of European settlers
I enjoyed the glimpses into Native American life (though I can’t vouch for their accuracy) and the descriptions of the unspoiled 18th-century American wilderness when (to paraphrase what someone said to me the other day) a squirrel could go from Maine to Ohio without touching the ground.
January 13, 2012
My Book Review by: Marco Menjivar
Genre: The Genre of The Light in the Forest is adventure because True Son (a character in this book) goes through some challenges throughout his life.
Short Summary about this book: True Son is supposed to be with the white people but Cuyloga, an Indian, found him and took his white blood and filled it with Indian blood, now he thinks he's Indian but he tries to figure out what he is throughout this book.
The Compelling Literary Element is the Characters because they each have their own color and culture. They also have a different role. That's what makes this book exciting.
Some parts I found interesting were:
1. On page 109 True Son gave away the Indian's plan for an ambush for the whites. This is interesting because True Son still has feelings for his white people.
2. On page 116 True Son said "Who is my father"? This was interesting because True Son wanted to know who was his father either Harry Butler (the white father) or Cuyloga (the black father).
3. On page 114 True Son was fighting some white people then he found a little boy who looked just like Gordie. This was interesting because again True Son had feelings for his white family and relatives.
Questions I have about the book:
1. Will True Son go with his white family and relatives or will he go back with his Indian family and relatives?
2. Where will True Son stay for his home?
3. What will True Son do next?
4. Will True Son go to another adventure with Half Arrow?
5. Will the white people attack the Indian people and take True Son back with them?
I can relate this book to the Hunger Games because Katniss and True Son has to deal with a lot of violence in both books. I can relate this to the world because kids are poor out there in the real world. I can also relate this to kids who are homeless.
Well that's my book review and I recommend this to people who like Native Americans and are studying about them. I recommend this because it's a historical fiction book and a lot of people like historical fiction books.
My opinion is that it's a good book. I don't really like cultural books like this one so yeah that's my book review. I hope you enjoyed it.
Genre: The Genre of The Light in the Forest is adventure because True Son (a character in this book) goes through some challenges throughout his life.
Short Summary about this book: True Son is supposed to be with the white people but Cuyloga, an Indian, found him and took his white blood and filled it with Indian blood, now he thinks he's Indian but he tries to figure out what he is throughout this book.
The Compelling Literary Element is the Characters because they each have their own color and culture. They also have a different role. That's what makes this book exciting.
Some parts I found interesting were:
1. On page 109 True Son gave away the Indian's plan for an ambush for the whites. This is interesting because True Son still has feelings for his white people.
2. On page 116 True Son said "Who is my father"? This was interesting because True Son wanted to know who was his father either Harry Butler (the white father) or Cuyloga (the black father).
3. On page 114 True Son was fighting some white people then he found a little boy who looked just like Gordie. This was interesting because again True Son had feelings for his white family and relatives.
Questions I have about the book:
1. Will True Son go with his white family and relatives or will he go back with his Indian family and relatives?
2. Where will True Son stay for his home?
3. What will True Son do next?
4. Will True Son go to another adventure with Half Arrow?
5. Will the white people attack the Indian people and take True Son back with them?
I can relate this book to the Hunger Games because Katniss and True Son has to deal with a lot of violence in both books. I can relate this to the world because kids are poor out there in the real world. I can also relate this to kids who are homeless.
Well that's my book review and I recommend this to people who like Native Americans and are studying about them. I recommend this because it's a historical fiction book and a lot of people like historical fiction books.
My opinion is that it's a good book. I don't really like cultural books like this one so yeah that's my book review. I hope you enjoyed it.
December 8, 2011
The Light in the Forest helped me understand this time period better by showing me the distrustful relationship between the white men and the Indians. For example, in a conversation between True Son's white father and his uncle, Uncle Wilse said "You can make an Indian out of a white man, but you can never make a white man out of an Indian." "Johnny is no Indian" the boy's father said uneasily. "He has the same blood as you and I." And his uncle's response "Look at him now, standing there cold-blooded as any redskin. I'll warrant he's hatching out deviltry in his heart." (page 64)
The Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter, is a great book for all eighth graders to read. It isn't that long, but is filled with detailed descriptions about the people, their attitudes, and their surroundings. In this story the white men are the enemy, and it was interesting to read from the point of view of True Son, the main character.
At the age of four, John Cameron Butler was captured during an Indian raid on the Pennsylvania frontier. He was adopted by the great Indian warrior, Cuyloga, renamed True Son, and raised as an Indian for eleven years. When he was 15, a treaty was signed between the white men and his tribe, Lenni Linape, agreeing to return all the white captives, including True Son. Now he is forced to return to the family he no longer knows and a culture that is even stranger to him than the forest is to the white man. How will True Son survive without his tribe? And what is he willing to do to get back to it?
The Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter, is a great book for all eighth graders to read. It isn't that long, but is filled with detailed descriptions about the people, their attitudes, and their surroundings. In this story the white men are the enemy, and it was interesting to read from the point of view of True Son, the main character.
At the age of four, John Cameron Butler was captured during an Indian raid on the Pennsylvania frontier. He was adopted by the great Indian warrior, Cuyloga, renamed True Son, and raised as an Indian for eleven years. When he was 15, a treaty was signed between the white men and his tribe, Lenni Linape, agreeing to return all the white captives, including True Son. Now he is forced to return to the family he no longer knows and a culture that is even stranger to him than the forest is to the white man. How will True Son survive without his tribe? And what is he willing to do to get back to it?
May 11, 2010
This is about life on the American frontier - about a young white boy captured and raised by Indians till he was 15 years old. Then, by decree of a government treaty with the Indians which called for white captives to be returned to their homes, in return for the Indians' land, the boy was given up by the only family he ever remembered. The switch was, not surprisingly, a failure... the boy thought of himself as Indian, his whole view of life and the world was through native American eyes and heart. The white family were hated strangers. This could have been just another story of a familiar theme, but Richter has a special gift for getting inside people, and especially the Indian people and traditions. I could not put this book down from beginning to end. Fortunately, it is a small book and easily read in a day or so. Small but powerful. I loved it.
January 11, 2013
This book is an outstanding adventure of a young white boy who grows up with a Native American tribe in what is now Delaware. The boy becomes very fond of the Native Americans and thinks the Indians who he grew up with are his real family. He thinks this until his white family comes to retrieve him. He has many troubles living with his white family. I can relate to this because when I was a junior in high school I moved to Wisconsin from Virginia. This is close to the situation as the boy in the book because Wisconsin and Virginia are really nothing alike. I rated this book five out of five stars due to the fact that I can relate to it and I enjoy adventure books. I'd recommend this book to people who are in high school because it is a short read and easy to understand, but with good meaning.
September 28, 2007
I read this book a long time ago because school demanded it. It is one of the only assigned books I was given that I truly enjoyed.
It's the story of a white settler brought up by Native Americans only to be traded back to his 'family' in a peace agreement. The boy is forced into 'civilized' life, but longs to be one with his tribe again. It is a story about finding out who you are not based on the color of your skin, but by the quality of your being.
I'd advise this for anyone really, though there are some scenes of savage violence. Maybe you should be fifteen or older before you tackle this.
It's the story of a white settler brought up by Native Americans only to be traded back to his 'family' in a peace agreement. The boy is forced into 'civilized' life, but longs to be one with his tribe again. It is a story about finding out who you are not based on the color of your skin, but by the quality of your being.
I'd advise this for anyone really, though there are some scenes of savage violence. Maybe you should be fifteen or older before you tackle this.
February 13, 2015
There comes a time in every man's existence where a piece of literature changes his outlook on his life. The Light in the Forest was that book for me. The lessons i learned from this classic will resonate with me for the rest of my life. Thank you Conrad Richter for enscribing this masterpiece. I forever will be grateful.
June 23, 2013
If I could have just read the last chapter, I would. That was the most exciting part.
Gordie wasn't built up much for his role
It was too short for anything to happen
Didn't introduce people well: too many unused names
Idea didn't interest me
Gordie wasn't built up much for his role
It was too short for anything to happen
Didn't introduce people well: too many unused names
Idea didn't interest me
June 5, 2013
This was one of the books that I had to read for school that I really liked! At some points I was really bored and confused, but I loved the story. It was enriching, thoughtful, true, and impressing.
October 29, 2017
Lots of interesting insight and a powerful historical message, albeit a sad and pessimistic one. This is one of those books that all Americans should read.
February 8, 2021
My god, I have no idea where to begin, my emotions are all jumbled up!
Let me get straight to the point. I did not hate this book. However, I was not highly fond of it either. I am not a big fan of historical fiction which might be the main reason why I didn't rate this book five stars and also I wanted to fall asleep in most parts, but kept trudging along, like a good girl.
I didn't really get a sense of closure from this book whatsoever. The ending was emotional and heartfelt, but I feel that Mr. Conrad ruined the "idea" and message with the last sentence. The last sentence is what really made me feel meh. It was sad, so sad, but WHERE IS MY SENSE OF CLOSURE??? Things felt unresolved and the author's intentions got lost somewhere in the last few pages. Not only that, but things ONLY started to get interesting in like, the last 2 or 3 chapters. I will not say that I absolutely despised this book, though the only strong emotions I feel toward this are hatred and disappointment. I really couldn't relate to any of the characters except for maybe True Son, but I think the story could be a success if more thought was put into the plotline. Yes, I do realize this book was published in the early 1950s and was probably a literary sensation back then, but this is 2021!!! My opinion is MY opinion and I will do with it what I please. Thank you. As I mentioned before, the plotline was kinda lost. I didn't really see the story going anywhere, alas...I guess it didn't have to go anywhere because it was just a simple story about a white captive living with Indians and what it was like. Three stars is a generous amount, y'all. I feel very conflicted right now. I'm not sure how to feel! Maybe later I'll come back to this review and actually have sympathy for the book and its characters, but for now, I'm going to continue ranting in my head about the ending and the NO. SENSE. OF. CLOSURE!!!!!!!
-Becca da UGH Queen<3
Let me get straight to the point. I did not hate this book. However, I was not highly fond of it either. I am not a big fan of historical fiction which might be the main reason why I didn't rate this book five stars and also I wanted to fall asleep in most parts, but kept trudging along, like a good girl.
I didn't really get a sense of closure from this book whatsoever. The ending was emotional and heartfelt, but I feel that Mr. Conrad ruined the "idea" and message with the last sentence. The last sentence is what really made me feel meh. It was sad, so sad, but WHERE IS MY SENSE OF CLOSURE??? Things felt unresolved and the author's intentions got lost somewhere in the last few pages. Not only that, but things ONLY started to get interesting in like, the last 2 or 3 chapters. I will not say that I absolutely despised this book, though the only strong emotions I feel toward this are hatred and disappointment. I really couldn't relate to any of the characters except for maybe True Son, but I think the story could be a success if more thought was put into the plotline. Yes, I do realize this book was published in the early 1950s and was probably a literary sensation back then, but this is 2021!!! My opinion is MY opinion and I will do with it what I please. Thank you. As I mentioned before, the plotline was kinda lost. I didn't really see the story going anywhere, alas...I guess it didn't have to go anywhere because it was just a simple story about a white captive living with Indians and what it was like. Three stars is a generous amount, y'all. I feel very conflicted right now. I'm not sure how to feel! Maybe later I'll come back to this review and actually have sympathy for the book and its characters, but for now, I'm going to continue ranting in my head about the ending and the NO. SENSE. OF. CLOSURE!!!!!!!
-Becca da UGH Queen<3
December 21, 2020
So, this wasn’t an awful book, and it contained some deep thoughts about the relationships between Indians and white people after the revolutionary war. It helped point out faults on both sides, and not just the rightness of one side or the other.
What, I did not like was the ending.
There was no real resolution!!!!!
*slight spoilers ahead*
The boy’s Indian father disowned him, and he couldn’t with a good conscience go back to his white family, and his Indian father basically said that he would end up back with his white family!!!! It ends with the boy sad on a trail, and you can’t win for losing.
*spoilers over*
My mom read this as a read aloud. I didn’t realize that she had finished it, so the next day when she asked what we should read next, I was like, “What?!? That was the end?!??”
I was slightly horrified that the book would end in misery, with nobody happy.
Maybe that was the point-that skirmishes between the white and Indians were pointless-but it didn’t make for a satisfying ending.
So I’m not really recommending this, unless you want to be confused.
What, I did not like was the ending.
There was no real resolution!!!!!
*slight spoilers ahead*
The boy’s Indian father disowned him, and he couldn’t with a good conscience go back to his white family, and his Indian father basically said that he would end up back with his white family!!!! It ends with the boy sad on a trail, and you can’t win for losing.
*spoilers over*
My mom read this as a read aloud. I didn’t realize that she had finished it, so the next day when she asked what we should read next, I was like, “What?!? That was the end?!??”
I was slightly horrified that the book would end in misery, with nobody happy.
Maybe that was the point-that skirmishes between the white and Indians were pointless-but it didn’t make for a satisfying ending.
So I’m not really recommending this, unless you want to be confused.
Read
July 31, 2024Picked this up on recommendation (possibly because I went to college on the Susquehanna river). The ending did surprise me!
March 9, 2009
John Butler was abducted from his family in Pennsylvania by Native Americans when he was very small and has grown up with the Lenape tribe in Ohio to the point that he considers himself one of them, which is a mutual feeling. The Lenapes have named him True Son, treating him as a full-blooded Indian. When Butler is ordered to return to his biological family he is crushed and feels his life is over. He suffers a lot of angst over this but ultimately discovers his new life is not as bad as he originally thought, thanks much to his younger brother, Gordie, who is fascinated by the Indian culture.
I think this is one of those books that kids have to read a lot in school, but I have no recollection of actually reading it, though it has been on my family's bookshelf for as long as I can remember. It was about time I read it. Dated in its writing (published in 1953, taking place in the late eighteenth-century) it often felt dry. However, the local references to Fort Pitt, etc. was sort of fun for me, knowing that had I read it as a child when I first remember looking at it on the shelf a lot of the historical and geographical references would have been lost on me.
I think this is one of those books that kids have to read a lot in school, but I have no recollection of actually reading it, though it has been on my family's bookshelf for as long as I can remember. It was about time I read it. Dated in its writing (published in 1953, taking place in the late eighteenth-century) it often felt dry. However, the local references to Fort Pitt, etc. was sort of fun for me, knowing that had I read it as a child when I first remember looking at it on the shelf a lot of the historical and geographical references would have been lost on me.
January 10, 2011
Well this book is just a great read for anyone looking for an adventure tale dating back to the indian wars in America. This story is a story about a young white boy who was captured by the Lenni Lenape indians. These are for the most part a kind indian tribe but if you do something to offend them they wont hesitate to fight back. When i say fight back i mean they will completely burn your house to the ground and scalp you. The story is about this boy and how the military makes a treaty saying they wont settle on the indian territories if the indians agree to give all the captured whites back to the white people. This boy name John Butler or a.k.a. TrueSon is the chiefs adopted son and the boy takes a very long while to get over the fact that if he wants to keep the peace he will have to learn to adapt back to the white ways and not be a indian. He cant to start out with, and is always fighting back but then he finds a friend among the whites and tries harder and harder sometime with brute force to help this boy accept his white blonde and name. Then unknowingly falls in love himself and begins to take up farming.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 637 reviews