Born Into Light

Told in the first-person, this old-fashioned science fiction novel looks back upon the childhood of an old scientist. The narrator has puzzled over certain events for more than seven decades, events set into motion one morning when he was 10. A child appears out of a flash of light in their backyard and, believed to be feral or abandoned, is taken in by his family. But, before long, the child, Ben, reveals extraordinary intelligence and development. He matures quickly, finishes college in two years and ages much quicker than the narrator. The narrator's stepfather begins to investigate the other children who appeared on Earth in the same mysterious fashion as Ben; an alien race has seeded the human population with some of their own, strengthening their bloodlines and stimulating human progress. Ben gathers together as many of the aliens and their half-human offspring as he can find, and, in a flash of light, they return to the stars. While this is not a revolutionary novel, its themes of otherworldliness and superhumans will still appeal to SF fans. Ages 12-up. (March)