From back cover Del Ray paperback February 1990:

Sandy Washington was a pretty normal guy. He was a good friend, sensitive and caring. He respected his elders, and obeyed his teachers. He loved basketball, old movies, and writing poetry. And he worshiped the photograph of his long-dead mother. The only real difference between Sandy and any other young man his age was that Sandy had been raised by aliens on their spaceship.

The Hakh'hli had done everything they could to give Sandy an Earth-type boyhood. THey had even altered some of their own young people to be a bit more humanoid -- to make for better playmates for the young man.

Now, finally, the Hakh'hil were bringing Sandy home to Earth. And while there were at it, they intended to humanity some extraordinary gifts that would improve the quality of life on Earth and perhaps even get human space travel off the ground.

The Hakh'hli seemed to have Sandy's -- and humanity's -- best interest at heart. But the people of Earth were not so sure...