The Light in the Forest

Rating:
Summary: Not one of my favorites yet very interesting to read
Review: "The Light in the Forest", written by writer Conrad Richter is a very famous Young Adult Fiction book written in 1953. The setting is in the wilderness of the early American frontier, during the time where the white people and Indians were not necessarily enemies, yet were wary and scared of each other. The main character in this book is True Son, his real name John Butler.

John Butler was only four years old when he was captured by the Lenni Lenape Indians. Instead of being killed, he was kept alive and adopted into the tribe by the warrior chief Cuyloga. John Butler is renamed True Son, and grows up to think, feel, and fight like an Indian. He does not remember anything of his life before he lived with the Indians, nor does he care because he hates the white people. Now he is fifteen years old and the Indians make a treaty with the white people, agreeing to return all white captives to their own people. True Son is very angry and does not want to return to his people. He thinks like all Indians that white people are evil and that the Indian way is the right way. He tries at first to hide but is soon caught and because he tries every opportunity to escape, they tie him up and bring him forcefully to Peshtank, or renamed Paxton by the white people. There he goes back to live with his real father, mother, aunt, and younger brother. But True Son despises all of his family and relatives, especially his narrow-minded uncle, Uncle Wilse, who believes that all of the 'savages' should be killed. Only True Son's younger brother, Gordie, is somewhat his friend. True Son feels like he is a captive living with his family, he does not agree with their ways and scorns them. But just as he was about to become settled down a little bit, Half Arrow, True Son's Indian cousin, comes to visit him with very bad tidings.

Like I said, this book is not really one of my favorite books to read, though really interesting. Also, when I read this book I fell so depressed thinking about how narrow-minded the people were back in early American history, both Indians and the white people. Yet that is why I think the book is very interesting because it describes well how life was back when the Indians and the white people were enemies. I do not think younger kids will enjoy this book much though I think that maybe older children should at least read "The Light in the Forest" one time.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read for a History Buff
Review: 'The Light in The Forest' is a book about a young White boy from 18th century America who was born as a "frontier child" but was then stolen by Indians when very young and brought up as an Indian for ten years. His Indian name is True Son, and his white name is John Butler. When he is about 15 years old, he is forced to go back and live with his real White family. He is devastated because he was brought up to hate the Whites, and now he is being forced to live with them and to practice their culture. At first True Son refuses to comply at all with the Whites and tries to escape. After a while, and after spending much time with the Whites though, it seems that True Son is beginning to accept and become used to their culture, and is starting to lose his Indian ways. It looks as if all of the Indian in him has been run over and destroyed, when one night, he finds his old Indian friend / cousin and escapes with him from the Whites to a long journey back home to his old Indian town. It seems now that all the Indian he left behind has been renewed to him and most of what the whites forced into his head is gone when, with little warning, True Son must make a life-altering decision that will decide his fate, and that will decide what culture he is to live with.

I really enjoyed this book; it showed the conflict between whites and Indians in 18th century America very well. It was filled with action and adventure, and although short, it still developed the characters and the plot so that you had a broad understanding of what kind of decisions this young man had to make, how it must have been like being bounced from culture to culture (especially in that day), and how hard things must have been in general. This understanding of the character is what keeps you reading and keeps you itching to find out where fate will put John Butler/ True Son. I would recommend this book because of these reasons, and because of the way the author attacked the overlying conflict between Whites and Indians: he spoke of it from both the White's and the Indian's sides. Because of this the reader can understand the conflict from both sides, and can not easily pick a side to support, which made things interesting. Lastly, in my opinion, this book is quite unpredictable, and you can't tell how it will complete itself until the very end, which made the book more fun to read. If you enjoy history, and adventure you will probably enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Book Review of A Light in the Forest for Social Studies
Review: A Light In The Forest centers around a fifteen-year-old boy named True Son, who lived with the Lenni Lenape for eleven years, ever since the Indians had captured him during an attack on a farm. He was adopted by Cuyloga and Quaquenga, a family of the Lenni Lenape, and became one of them.
One day, his village learns that all white prisoners must be returned to their birth families, and his father takes him to the camp of soldiers that will take True Son to Pennsylvania. True Son's experiences in an English town and his desire to return to his village are the storyline of the book. This book is appropriate for eight graders, though the author, Conrad Richter, portrays some scenes almost too vividly. Children who have been in a divorce situation can relate to True Son and his feelings of abandonment. The book does an excellent job of informing readers of how the English and the Indians viewed each other, and gives the reader the unique viewpoint of True Son. For entertainment, the book falls a little short, occasionally losing your attention by attempting to summarize events without going into any detail. Overall, the book is not a bad read, and would be especially enjoyable if you like historic novels from this period.

Rating:
Summary: Horribly dull book that does nothing but drag on and on
Review: Probably one the most boring and meaningless stories I have ever read. It's just a childish fight between Indians and White Men that in the end proves nothing. If you wanna hear about Indians scalping white men and white men hunting down and shooting Indians, then for sure, read this book. Its about a white boy who was kidnapped by Indians when he was a baby and then raised by those Indians. Then he is forced to return to live with his white family and hates them, thus resulting in scalping, hate, depression. Those are usually things that make a book good, but in this case, they tear it down and kill it.

Rating:
Summary: The Whites vs The Indians
Review: THE BOOK WAS GREAT BUT I HAVE READ BETTER ONES I LOVE INDIANS SO I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY GOOD IT WAS ALL ABOUGHT A BOY NAMED TRUE SUN WHO HAD LIVED WITH HIS INDIAN FOR A COUPLE OR MORE YEARS THEN A LAW WAS PASSED THAT EVERY INDIAN TRIBE HAD TO GIVE UP THERE WHITE CAPITIVES AND GIVE THEM BACK TO THE WHITES TRUE SONGOES TO LIVE WITH HIS BIOLOGICAL PARENTS IN THE WHITE TOWN TRUE SUN DID NOT LIKE HOW THE WHITES WERE OR ACTED HE LIVED WITH THEM FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND HE SCAPLED HIS UNCLE AND THEN DECIDE TO RUN AWAY HE RAN OFF WITH HIS INDIAN FRIEND THEY STOLE A BOAT FROM THE WHITES AND WHENT DOWN RIVER TO HIS INDIAN TRIBE WHEN HE GOT THERE THEY WERE DOING A WAR DANCE THEY WERE GOING TO WAR WITH THE WHITES HIS PEOPLE THAY HAD JUST SCALPED A YOUNG GIRL AND HER DRESS WAS THERE LIYING ON THE GROUND AND TRUE SUN HAD TO PUT IT ON B/C THERE WAS A RIVER BOAT COMING DOWN THE RIVER HE WAS GOING TO DRES LIKE A WHITE AND STOP THE BOAT ANDTHE INDIANS WOULD ATTACK THEM WHEN THE BOAT GOT THERE HE WADED INTO THE WATER AND FLAGED THE BOAT DOWN WHEN THE BOAT GOT THERE HE TOLD THEM THAT IT WAS A TRAP HE HAD DISOBEYED ORDERS THE INDIANS KICKED HIM OUT HE HAD NO WHERE TO GO HE WIL DIE IN THE WILDERNESS IH HAS BETRAYED BOTH OF HIS FATHERS AND COULD NEVER RETURN

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Horrendous
Review: The Light in the Forest was the worst book I have ever read. The book is boring and wordy and the lack of action is unacceptable. I had to read this book for class and I barely had the patience to get past the first page, let alone the entire book. I would reccomend this book only to Seven Years War afficienados with nothing better to do!

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: This is a good book. True Son, originally John Butler, faces many difficult challenges as he is forced out of his beloved Native American lifestyle into the strange world of the whites.

The third-person point-of-view is just perfect, and the awesome conclusion is leaves you something important to think about.

Light in the Forest opens up your eyes, and makes you more aware of the ancient struggle back then between the conflicting Indians and settlers.