Alexander Key (1) (1904–1979)
Autor de The Forgotten Door
Para otros autores llamados Alexander Key, ver la página de desambiguación.
Series
Obras de Alexander Key
Fortune has horns [short story] 3 copias
Saltwater scramble [short story] 2 copias
The devil's jaw [short story] 2 copias
A Whip for the Colonel [short story] 2 copias
A bunch of keys : the autobiography of Alexander Key, written for the occasion of his 90th birthday, 27th October 1998,… (1998) 1 copia
Breeze 1 copia
???? ?????? 1 copia
Breeze O' Wind [short story] 1 copia
Obras relacionadas
The Book of Dragons: Tales and Legends from Many Lands (1931) — Ilustrador, algunas ediciones — 22 copias
Escape to Witch Mountain [1995 TV movie] — Original story — 1 copia
Etiquetado
Conocimiento común
- Nombre legal
- Key, Alexancder Hill
- Fecha de nacimiento
- 1904-09-21
- Fecha de fallecimiento
- 1979-07-25
- Lugar de sepultura
- Memory Garden Of Eufaula, Eufaula, Alabama, USA
- Género
- male
- Nacionalidad
- USA
- Lugar de nacimiento
- La Plata, Maryland, USA
- Lugar de fallecimiento
- Eufaula, Alabama, USA
- Lugares de residencia
- Florida, USA
Georgia, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
North Carolina, USA - Educación
- Chicago Art Institute
- Ocupaciones
- science fiction writer
children's literature writer - Biografía breve
- [from Escape to Witch Mountain, 1968]
Though Alexander Key was born in Maryland, he looks upon Florida as his native state. His people were early settlers there, and his childhood was spent on the famous Suwannee River. With the youthful dream of becoming a painter, he studied at the Chicago Art Institute, but it was long before his ambition was realized. Instead, he became nationally known as a book illustrator, then as a writer. His articles and short stories have appeared in many publications for young people, as well as in The Saturday Evening Post, Argosy, American Mercury, and other periodicals. He has written two adult novels and many books for younger readers.
It was during World War II, while he was serving in Naval Intelligence, that he became interested in robotics and man's future with machines -- a future that seemed almost unbelievable at the time. Later, home again in Florida, excited neighbors called him out one night to view two strange flying objects in the sky. Flying saucers? Whatever they were, they led him upon a fascinating line of research that today makes science fiction his favorite reading. Sprockets -- a Little Robot was his first book on this subject, followed by Rivets and Sprockets and Bolts -- a Robot Dog, all for younger readers. The Forgotten Door is a strange tale of a boy from another world for readers of all ages. Mystery of the Sassafras Chair is laid in the Carolina mountains where Alexander Key now lives, with his wife and son, and paints murals when he is not writing. His son, naturally, keeps a sharp watch for stray flying saucers, and hopes to be the first boy to go for a ride in one.
Miembros
Debates
Mysterious visitor/alien? boy jumps like a deer - rural setting pre-1998 en Name that Book (diciembre 2018)
Sci Fi Boy from a peaceful planet Stuck on Earth en Name that Book (diciembre 2018)
middles sci-fi: boy falls out of hole, learns English by reading minds en Name that Book (enero 2018)
YA Science Fiction, boy on the run, Blue Boy? en Name that Book (agosto 2013)
Reseñas
The Strange White Doves; True Mysteries of Nature por Alexander Key
Stories of unusual animal abilities, are they psychic abilities or animal instinct? Strange things from an animal finding it's lot mate, to animals finding a far away owner. The author speculates on these abilities, how does the animal do these things? Can they read people's thoughts?
This book was written for a young audience, but still had a lot of suspense. I remember being pretty scared when I watched the movie as a kid.
A young brother and sister are in a sort of orphanage/juvenile detention home. They are different from the other kids - they can speak telepathically, can move objects through telekinesis, and a few other unusual skills. A long lost "uncle" turns up to claim them. They barely recall this "uncle", but they are so afraid - with good cause. So they decide to hit the road with the help of a priest.
As they make plans to escape, they start to recall bits and pieces of their childhood. A process that accelerates on their journey. They end up with a large number of people hunting them down leading to a very dramatic ending.
The book was good but the movie was a bit better.… (más)
A young brother and sister are in a sort of orphanage/juvenile detention home. They are different from the other kids - they can speak telepathically, can move objects through telekinesis, and a few other unusual skills. A long lost "uncle" turns up to claim them. They barely recall this "uncle", but they are so afraid - with good cause. So they decide to hit the road with the help of a priest.
As they make plans to escape, they start to recall bits and pieces of their childhood. A process that accelerates on their journey. They end up with a large number of people hunting them down leading to a very dramatic ending.
The book was good but the movie was a bit better.… (más)
Little Jon tried to think. Everything was so unbelievably tangled in this world, with their laws and their money and their hates and their fighting for power. He could see only one solution that might help . . .
While gazing at the night-time sky with his people, a boy falls through a hole in the hillside, ending up in another world. What surprises the reader is that the world “Little John” falls into is the human one. Impaired by amnesia from the impact of crashing down among the rocks in a cave, Jon tries to navigate the mountainous new landscape he finds himself in. Initially he relies on the guidance of animals with whom he can communicate telepathically. However, even they cannot save him from a nasty first encounter with a gun-toting malevolent human, Gilby Pitts (and his equally repugnant wife, Emma), after he unwittingly walks onto their land.
Shortly after this, Jon, who has the ability to sense the emotions and thoughts of others, makes contact with benevolent humans. The Beans—Mary, Thomas, and their children, Brooks and Sally—stop their pick-up truck on a nearby country road and take the boy home with them. However, Jon’s unfortunate confrontation with the unsavoury Mr. and Mrs. Pitts has already set him on the wrong track. The couple quickly spread the rumour that a “wild boy” is on the loose, a foreign-looking, “unnatural,” and strangely dressed being. Soon the hateful pair will report him for breaking, entering, and robbing a summer home that Mr. Pitts is responsible for minding when its owner is away. Gilby, it turns out, is intimately acquainted with stealing, having done so much of it himself. Lying and blaming come just as easily to him. He’s a classic vindictive and ignorant local yokel.
The Beans quickly figure out that Jon is not of this world. While some objects (books and radios) and concepts (kindness) are familiar to him, others (like automobiles) are not. That laws (and a government to make them) should really be necessary to keep people in line and that humans should actually use animals for food and clothing are ideas both foreign and troubling to Jon. The Beans marvel at the boy’s ability to read minds, know others’ intentions, and effortlessly learn an entirely new language, English.
Thomas and his family willingly take on the job of protecting Jon from wrongful criminal charges. They recognize that they must help the boy recover his memory and get him back to the world he came from. Their mission becomes urgent when Jon’s ability to read minds is widely publicized by the media, ultimately coming to the attention of government agencies which recognize just how useful the boy could be for intelligence purposes.
Although it was originally published in 1965, only recently did I became aware of this novel for children. When I was a kid, readers’ advisory was not a service commonly offered by children’s and school librarians. They mainly ordered and shelved books and reminded you to keep quiet. If any adults knew of this novel back then, they unfortunately didn’t share that information with me. I’m glad to report that the novel has withstood the test of time. Yes, there are a few mentions of Jon’s “Indian” or “gypsy” appearance, wich might get some present-day, zealous, politically correct library-book-purgers worked up—I’m well aware of Ontario teacher-librarians weeding excellent children’s literature, even classics, for even slighter reasons—but I see nothing in the book to warrant its removal from shelves. Considering a book within its historical context strikes me as a better approach than the removal or outright banning of it. Why throw a lovely baby (with a birthmark) or two out with the bath water?
This is a delightful and insightful book that illuminates and critiques some of the very big problems with human beings. Some might argue that the good characters are too thoroughly good and the bad, too entirely bad, but that’s the case with fairytales, which have also endured over time. This is an enjoyable, fast-paced, accessible little novel for kids and, in my opinion, it’s well worth reading.… (más)
While gazing at the night-time sky with his people, a boy falls through a hole in the hillside, ending up in another world. What surprises the reader is that the world “Little John” falls into is the human one. Impaired by amnesia from the impact of crashing down among the rocks in a cave, Jon tries to navigate the mountainous new landscape he finds himself in. Initially he relies on the guidance of animals with whom he can communicate telepathically. However, even they cannot save him from a nasty first encounter with a gun-toting malevolent human, Gilby Pitts (and his equally repugnant wife, Emma), after he unwittingly walks onto their land.
Shortly after this, Jon, who has the ability to sense the emotions and thoughts of others, makes contact with benevolent humans. The Beans—Mary, Thomas, and their children, Brooks and Sally—stop their pick-up truck on a nearby country road and take the boy home with them. However, Jon’s unfortunate confrontation with the unsavoury Mr. and Mrs. Pitts has already set him on the wrong track. The couple quickly spread the rumour that a “wild boy” is on the loose, a foreign-looking, “unnatural,” and strangely dressed being. Soon the hateful pair will report him for breaking, entering, and robbing a summer home that Mr. Pitts is responsible for minding when its owner is away. Gilby, it turns out, is intimately acquainted with stealing, having done so much of it himself. Lying and blaming come just as easily to him. He’s a classic vindictive and ignorant local yokel.
The Beans quickly figure out that Jon is not of this world. While some objects (books and radios) and concepts (kindness) are familiar to him, others (like automobiles) are not. That laws (and a government to make them) should really be necessary to keep people in line and that humans should actually use animals for food and clothing are ideas both foreign and troubling to Jon. The Beans marvel at the boy’s ability to read minds, know others’ intentions, and effortlessly learn an entirely new language, English.
Thomas and his family willingly take on the job of protecting Jon from wrongful criminal charges. They recognize that they must help the boy recover his memory and get him back to the world he came from. Their mission becomes urgent when Jon’s ability to read minds is widely publicized by the media, ultimately coming to the attention of government agencies which recognize just how useful the boy could be for intelligence purposes.
Although it was originally published in 1965, only recently did I became aware of this novel for children. When I was a kid, readers’ advisory was not a service commonly offered by children’s and school librarians. They mainly ordered and shelved books and reminded you to keep quiet. If any adults knew of this novel back then, they unfortunately didn’t share that information with me. I’m glad to report that the novel has withstood the test of time. Yes, there are a few mentions of Jon’s “Indian” or “gypsy” appearance, wich might get some present-day, zealous, politically correct library-book-purgers worked up—I’m well aware of Ontario teacher-librarians weeding excellent children’s literature, even classics, for even slighter reasons—but I see nothing in the book to warrant its removal from shelves. Considering a book within its historical context strikes me as a better approach than the removal or outright banning of it. Why throw a lovely baby (with a birthmark) or two out with the bath water?
This is a delightful and insightful book that illuminates and critiques some of the very big problems with human beings. Some might argue that the good characters are too thoroughly good and the bad, too entirely bad, but that’s the case with fairytales, which have also endured over time. This is an enjoyable, fast-paced, accessible little novel for kids and, in my opinion, it’s well worth reading.… (más)
The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key
The Forgotten Door is a middle grade science fiction novel, published in 1965. The author is Alexander Key, who also wrote the more famous Escape to Witch Mountain.
The Forgotten Door is the story of a young boy who accidentally falls through a hidden interdimensional portal and finds himself in a cave in a mountainous region on Earth.
Jon finds a kind family, the Beans, who take him in and gradually come to realize that he originates from a society very unlike our own. The Beans are eager to assist Jon, but others in the community are suspicious, prejudiced, selfish, and greedy, and conflict inevitably ensues.
Jon incurs amnesia during his fall into the cave. He only remembers his name, and while he can recognize certain things like books, he is totally unfamiliar with other items commonly used by the society of the 1960s. At first, he speaks no English, but learns astonishingly quickly, and possesses other abilities which the local people begin to fear.
As the Beans work to help Jon recover his memory, they find themselves surrounded by enemies and in great danger.
The Forgotten Door is relatively short and fast-paced, with tension mounting continuously up to its climax.
Is the book perfect? By no means. The characters, while well drawn, are either good or bad, with no gray areas in between. Jon's thoughts on matters and his observations could also be considered somewhat moralizing. However, I only realized this when I had finished the book and was thinking about it analytically. While I was reading it, these criticisms did not occur to me.
I think what is special about The Forgotten Door is the underlying concept - that there could be civilizations so advanced that its members would be genuinely bewildered on encountering anyone who wished to do them harm.
Judging by the online comments and reviews, many people who were teens in the 1960s have very favorable memories of this book, and some have read it over and over again in order to savor the atmosphere and sense of wonder it evokes.
Since it can be read on different levels, young people and adults can enjoy it, and I consider it an excellent example of thought-provoking middle grade science fiction literature.… (más)
The Forgotten Door is a middle grade science fiction novel, published in 1965. The author is Alexander Key, who also wrote the more famous Escape to Witch Mountain.
The Forgotten Door is the story of a young boy who accidentally falls through a hidden interdimensional portal and finds himself in a cave in a mountainous region on Earth.
Jon finds a kind family, the Beans, who take him in and gradually come to realize that he originates from a society very unlike our own. The Beans are eager to assist Jon, but others in the community are suspicious, prejudiced, selfish, and greedy, and conflict inevitably ensues.
Jon incurs amnesia during his fall into the cave. He only remembers his name, and while he can recognize certain things like books, he is totally unfamiliar with other items commonly used by the society of the 1960s. At first, he speaks no English, but learns astonishingly quickly, and possesses other abilities which the local people begin to fear.
As the Beans work to help Jon recover his memory, they find themselves surrounded by enemies and in great danger.
The Forgotten Door is relatively short and fast-paced, with tension mounting continuously up to its climax.
Is the book perfect? By no means. The characters, while well drawn, are either good or bad, with no gray areas in between. Jon's thoughts on matters and his observations could also be considered somewhat moralizing. However, I only realized this when I had finished the book and was thinking about it analytically. While I was reading it, these criticisms did not occur to me.
I think what is special about The Forgotten Door is the underlying concept - that there could be civilizations so advanced that its members would be genuinely bewildered on encountering anyone who wished to do them harm.
Judging by the online comments and reviews, many people who were teens in the 1960s have very favorable memories of this book, and some have read it over and over again in order to savor the atmosphere and sense of wonder it evokes.
Since it can be read on different levels, young people and adults can enjoy it, and I consider it an excellent example of thought-provoking middle grade science fiction literature.… (más)
Listas
1970s (1)
Premios
También Puede Gustarte
Autores relacionados
Estadísticas
- Obras
- 31
- También por
- 11
- Miembros
- 2,366
- Popularidad
- #10,847
- Valoración
- 3.7
- Reseñas
- 47
- ISBNs
- 93
- Idiomas
- 2