The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key is another older science fiction title, published in 1965, and it reads like a vintage episode of The Twilight Zone. The boy, Jon, has lost his memory and does not know who he is or where he came from. He only knows that he has fallen through the forgotten door to this strange planet, Earth, and that he is in great danger.
Jon first meets up with some unfriendly, even hostile, people who chase him and are frightened by his exceptional abilities. Then, the Bean family—Thomas and Mary Bean and their children Brooks and Sally—befriend Jon and try to help him remember and return to his own home. But this story takes place back in the hills of the Carolinas, and not everyone is as welcoming as the Beans are to strangers, especially a strange boy who can run like a deer and who can possibly read minds.
As I said, this short 140 page juvenile novel reminded me of a TV episode from the 1960’s. I could picture the story played out on the small screen. The Beans come to realize that Jon is from an “advanced civilization” where things are simpler and more honest than they are on Earth. Jon doesn’t understand money or airplanes or killing animals for meat, but he does seem to understand some things quite well and learn things exceptionally quickly. The question is, how can Jon return to his own planet before his presence gets the Beans into serious trouble?
The science fiction of that time was more hopeful, much less dystopian than nowadays, and may even sound a little hokey to an adult reader of the 21st century. Nevertheless, I would be happy to recommend this book to children who are less jaded and more optimistic about the possibility of human perfectibility—or at least human improvement. Mr. Key also wrote Escape to Witch Mountain, a book with many of the same themes as this one. Escape to Witch Mountain was made into a Disney movie back in the seventies, and I remember reading it and seeing the movie back then, although I don’t remember much about it.
Read this one for a gentle introduction to science fiction and paranormal fiction (with no occult undertones). It’s a precursor to E.T.
The Forgotten Door is one of my favorite books. I re-read it every few years. I love Jon and the Beans and the judge. I also like Key’s Escape to Witch Mountain, which is quite different from the movie. Thanks for writing about the book (which I’ll probably have to read soon, now).