Savage Girls and Wild Boys: A History of Feral Children

by Michael Newton

Book Overview

This is an account of feral children - those brought up with no human contact, sometimes raised by wild animals, unable to speak or perform many of the functions we consider human. The cases discussed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312423357
• ISBN13: 9780312423353
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Solid Introduction into the Topic of Feral Children

I think I had too much anticipation for this book. Ever since viewing, late at night in a Dublin hotel, a History Channel documentary on feral children, I have been very curious about this subject. And while this is the first non-fiction book that I have read on the topic, I must admit that I was disappointed at how little new information was presented within its pages. The book more or less covered exactly what was in that documentary and a similar one presented on TLC, plus a rented one that I think originally aired on BBC. Added to that my Internet reading of the topic, and, well... I guess I just had much higher hopes for his decade of studying feral children. Not that his information was boring or poorly written, just the opposite in fact... it just wasn't new. Still, I am at least relieved to have finally read the book that I was so curious about. And it has lead to the addition of a few books to my list of books that I want to read, which is good - and hopefully there will be some new information there.

That Savage,Wild,Elusive spark

I found the author's fasination became my own.By the end of the book I felt a bonding with some of those kids.But,for quite some time I felt only tantalised by the almost voiyeristic approach to the subject;not getting to the science of it all.The facts' opportunity to be observed lessened with each page read. Then I saw that there were no facts, we all are different,eh? By WE I mean all those kids, all us kids..Dogs are people too.My cat knows she's not a person, but that's another topic;one Rudyard was more than likely aware of. Thanks for the book.Thanks for the journey.

Remarkably Moving Book

This book is well researched and well written. As engrossing as it is disturbing, this is a must read for anyone interested in the history of lost or abandoned children. A study of personality developement as well as a case by case study of some of the most interesting and well documented cases of lost children. A must read for those interested in discovering what effect isolation or early contact with others really has.

A haunting and beautiful book

This is a fantastic book, bringing together six very different case studies of wild children. It is a book about innocence and its vulnerability. Exquisitely written, Newton brings together each tale with a great deal of feeling and consideration and is a book that will stay with you long after you have read it.

Humanity from the Wild Side

There are many myths about abandoned children who become heroes, like Moses and Oedipus. These had the good fortune to be found by humans and raised by humans. But there are other myths, some as modern as Tarzan, about abandoned children who are taken up by animals. Romulus and Remus were raised by wolves, and Semiramis, who founded Babylon, was raised by birds. Such stories seem to be of intense interest to humans, and when a real "wild child" is produced, it can cause curiosity, sympathy, and sensation. The stories of six such wild children are recounted in _Savage Girls and Wild Boys: A History of Feral Children_ (Thomas Dunne Books) by Michael Newton. The individual stories, full of contradiction and wonder, are all intriguing, and the responses to the children and their fate have something to tell us not so much about feral children, but about ourselves. These poor children lacked human contact when they should have been learning how to talk, eat, and behave; the result of such deprivation brings up profound questions about what language means, and what it is to be human.Peter, the "Wild Boy" came naked out of the forests of Hanover, and became an attraction at the court of George I. He lived on for sixty years, described in 1751 as "more of the Ouran Outang species than of the human." He could say only three words, "Peter" and "King George." Memmie le Blanc was lured out of a tree in France in Champagne in 1731 when she was about ten; she seems to have been a Native American dropped for some reason by the slave trade. She could run and swim well, used a club to kill prey, and lived on roots and raw meat. She eventually learned some French, and made artificial flowers for her living. Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron was captured in the woods and lost twice over the years before being finally taken in 1800. His development is among the best documented, as a young doctor set out to make the wild boy social. Victor learned to say the French word for milk. Kamala was about eight years old, suckled by wolves in the Indian jungle, until she was captured in 1920. She lived nine further years, and learned a few words. The famous Kaspar Hauser had a strange tale of being kept prisoner in a cellar for sixteen years. He is the one feral child here that might be fraudulent. The most modern example, the sad Genie who was tied to a chair in Los Angeles until she was about thirteen, acquired lots of words but no grammar. What was going on in the minds of these children?Probably no one knows with any confidence, but that does not stop curiosity or speculation. One of Genie's caretakers found her "unsocialized, primitive, hardly human." By the time we get to her case, we can see that the same thing was said of all these wild children, and that their suffering struck cords in those around them. But like Victor, Hauser, and Le Blanc, Genie was rescued, received intense caring attention, became a celebrity, and then was consigned to obliv