# Yet another "help ID the story "request **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052 "2020-09-20T02:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/1 "2020-09-20T02:49:17Z")
When I was in grade school, in the mid-1960’s, I used to love buying books at the school book fairs. There was a fantasy, or sci-fi story I remember part of, but of course no title or author. It would be amusing to read it again, it would have been close to the first of those genre that I read. A boy from another world falls through a wormhole/portal/door into our world… He looks like us, and his world is siminlar, because I remember he is not surprised by the creatures he sees. But they are afraid of him, the deer and other wildlife. I guess on his world the people and animals live in harmony. The kid somehow becomes involved with a family from our Earth, parents and two kids, a boy and a girl.I don’t remember much of the main plot, but the boy is in peril, perhaps from the government. He figures out how to get back to his home, and the family decides to go with him. I mean, all those gentle critters. how sweet. Does this ring a bell with anyone? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/2 "2020-09-20T05:20:34Z")
Sure sounds like The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/3 "2020-09-20T05:21:23Z")
[![](https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780590085342-us.jpg) ](https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780590085342-us.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/4 "2020-09-20T05:24:12Z")
Sure sounds like The Forgotten Door. I remember reading the book and the cover shown above. I recall something about the kid from elsewhere being able to somehow ‘lighten his feet’ or something like that so he could run really fast. There was also some old lady, a judge maybe, who helped out, I think, that part is pretty vague. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/5 "2020-09-20T05:32:54Z")
Thanks to all. The title I wasn’t sure about, but when I saw the picture my memory was triggered. That is it. I don’t remember anything about a judge or old lady, or running fast, but it had been a long time. I can look for a copy online. It’s surprising what’s still out there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/6 "2020-09-20T16:24:02Z")
How in the world did that happen? We literally had another thread on this story [just yesterday](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-misremembered-the-name-of-that-science-fiction-story/920973). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/7 "2020-09-20T16:25:30Z")
Ok, that is weird. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/8 "2020-09-20T17:07:41Z")
And _that_ is the cover I remember. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/9 "2020-09-20T18:08:49Z")
I knew that was probably it, even though I never read the book. My older brother had a copy that he would have gotten in the sixties, and I’ve gotten it as an unsolicited library donation a few times in my career. How did I know without reading it? Librarian sense, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-help-id-the-story-request/921052/10 "2020-09-20T20:14:13Z")
Good grief, I didn’t see the other thread. For such an old book this is strange.