Customer Reviews

The Martian Child: A Novel About A Single Father Adopting A Son

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David Gerrold was caught off guard when trying to adopt his son when the caseworker said that the boy thought he was a Martian. I was a bit put off by the cover, which seemed to be poking fun at "the Martian child".

But the story itself is excellent. A child's "I am a Martian" comment CAN be handled without ridicule, and in a way which makes the truth of that statement irrelevant to the relationship.

The important part of this book IS the relationship, and the process of becoming a father. In fact it shows what it MEANS to be a father much better than any book I have read. This is not "Father knows best", where the father is perfect and knows all the answers. It isn't a cute story for children, though I would recommend it for adopted children AND their parents. Instead it is a process of discovery from the father's perspective, where he learns and grows as he goes on. It about the FATHER's insecurities, worries and joys -- something that is rarely discussed or explained.

I strongly recommend this for anyone considering adoption, for any parents with "problem" children (ALL perents, in other words<g>) and for the children themselves, so that they can gain a rare look into what it means to be a parent.

David is a single man who wants to adopt a boy and start a family of his own. As soon as he sees a photo of Dennis, he knows that Dennis is the one. But Dennis is a hyperactive child with emotional problems resulting from his being abused by former guardians. And he believes that he's a Martian. Can David deal with this troubled boy and love him unconditionally?

I read The Martian Child last night in just a couple hours. While it's a short read, I teared-up several times. Dennis is a truly amazing child, and David is a wonderful father. This is a beautiful and humorous heartwarming story about a man who is willing to put the son that he loves above everything else in his life. We not only get to see the change in Dennis as he slowly adjusts to stability and a father who loves him, but also a change in David as well.

I happened upon this in the local bookstore today, and read it in one sitting. Quite effective novel that appears to be very closely tied to the author's own experience as a single father in adopting an 8 year old boy. Mr. Gerrold doesn't sugarcoat the experience, as chroniclers of adoption often do. He makes very clear the doubts and indecision that can bedevil anyone taking this step. But he also doubly underlines the rewards.

He has found a unique way to give a structure to the story, by wrapping it in the concept of a child who thinks he's an alien. But for the first half, this book seems pretty much a typical journal of the the adoptive experience, when it makes a 180 degree turn. Not right or left either, but up. I was really worried at first at what the heck Gerrold was up to, but by the ending, it all makes more than sense--or logic.

This book has has helped me realize that I really do want to make this the next step in my life.

In 1992, David Gerrold adopted 8 year old Dennis. Two years later, he wrote a surprising novelette about the adventure of adoptive parenthood. The novelette version of The Martian Child won well-deserved (and long overdue) Hugo and the Nebula awards. Now, David Gerrold has expanded his original story to novel length and answers the two questions he raised in the original story: Why did he want to adopt a son, and who is the real Martian child here? Gerrold writes about parenting as if it is a privilege. Dennis is a very lucky boy to have a dad who cares so much. The people who like David Gerrold's other fiction (The War Against The Chtorr, The Dingillian series) might be puzzled by this book, because it's such a departure from his usual style of hard-nosed adventure. This book is light-hearted and intensely personal, but it's also courageously honest in several startling ways, because David Gerrold has been neurotically candid about his own journeys; in many ways, it's a breakthrough effort. Parts of this story made me cry, other parts had me laughing out loud. (Pickled mongoose!) I read it in a single sitting. It's a feel-good book with an ending that's both satisfying and uplifting. This is the very best story that David Gerrold has ever written. I'm giving a copy to my Dad for Father's Day.

After seeing the movie version of "The Martian Child" I just had to read the book. It did not disappoint although there are some differences between the book and the movie. In the book, the father is a gay man and in the movie he is a widower who vows to follow through on the plan he had with his wife to adopt a child. These are only surface differences because the whole point of both the book and the movie is the relationship between a single dad and his "hard-to-place" adopted son. The young boy, Dennis, is riddled with insecurities which manifest themselves in everything from wild tantrums to his insistence that he is from Mars. The father is unbelievably patient as he alternately enters his son's fantasy world and then coaxes him out of it. This is a touching story of two human beings who learn to trust each other and to be better together.

I know the author. His son, is my best friend. And The Book is amazing. I can't wait to read it. I am ready to buy it asap. Mr.David Gerrold is a awesome, and cool dad. In my opinion, I wish more fathers were like him. Honestly, to God, I wish my dad was like him!!!

The Martian Child (2002) is a singleton story about a man adopting a boy. The novelette on which this novel is based won the Hugo and Nebula in 1995 and it has the feel and flavor of SF. It is by one of our well known authors, so it has been claimed by the SF community. Yet it is not really science fiction.

In this story, David decides to adopt a child. Being a writer (and an SF one to boot), he researches the subject of adoption extensively. After finally being approved by the authorities, he faces the decision as to whom to adopt.

As he browses through the adoption catalogs, he notices that most available children have moderate to severe problems. He resolves to only adopt one with minimal problems, since he is not sure that he can handle the stress of raising a child with very demanding needs. Then he sees the picture of Dennis at the very back of a listing and instantly relates to the boy. This is the one!

After meeting the boy in his group home surroundings and then visiting with him twice a week for a while, David is finally ready to keep the boy overnight. However, the boy's caseworker then calls and requires a go/nogo decision on that very day, for the group home is closing and all the children must be reassigned. While feeling uncertain about his parenting skills, David discovers that he can't let the boy go back to the foster/group home environment. He has already made his commitment and has already adopted Dennis in his own mind. When Dennis declares that he would like to be adopted by David, the match is made.

Dennis goes through the whole gamut of behaviors listed in the adoption manuals. However, David responds to everything with love and humor; in fact, one of his first big successes is teaching Dennis the enjoyment of jokes and the use of inside jokes as play. In the end, David's insight and Dennis' intense need to be loved overcome all obstacles.

This story is about aliens -- others -- dwelling among humanity. As with the autistics in Moon's The Speed of Dark, these children differ from most of their peers. Often such children are rejected by their parents and other children their age and are ignored by most adults. Usually such children are accepted only by their siblings.

Unfortunately, there are too many damaged, abused and neglected children in our society who don't have happy endings to their stories. Sometimes they can't be adopted because of legal entanglements or never find an empathic person to adopt them. Sometimes the adoption occurs, but the child's defenses are impossible to breach; the child acts out to test the commitment of the adoptive parent and eventually destroys their relationship.

It should be said that David is an exceptionally empathic person and Dennis has an unusual willingness to lower his walls to David. Many children with a similar history would have not been able to overcome their defenses against rejection even with someone as empathic as David. So this is an unusual story, but not totally unique. Sometimes things just work out, despite all the odds against it.

The story is an unusual self-portrait of a person during a crucial time in his life. His frank self-appraisal and willingness to change are unusual in themselves. Add to that his insight into his own history and self-image (David realizes late in the story that he is as much a Martian as Dennis is) and the story becomes exceptional. Then, too, Dennis is a real scene stealer.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys stories of human compassion and self-enlightenment.

-Bill Jordin

I just bought and read this book, after reading the original novella in an anthology (Probably the Hugo winners for that year, but I'm not sure). I just wanted to say that the reviewers who don't understand the "whole martian concept" or who wonder why the book is presented as fiction are missing what I see as the central point. That is, if the book is nonfiction, we must immediately leap to the conclusion that Dennis's social worker does in the book (and that many reviewers do), that saying he's a martian is a psychological defense mechanism. However, since the book is presented as fiction, and is written by a science fiction author, we the readers are forced to wonder if Dennis *really is* a Martian. Casting the book as fiction also allows the author's real-life adopted son to maintain some privacy--we, the general readers, don't know which details are made up and which come from real life. I do agree that if you're only going to read one book in order to form an impression of older-child adoption, this one probably shouldn't be it. However, no one is limited to only reading one book, so that isn't really a problem.

I may have heard this story maybe a dozen times, first I read (more than once) the novella which won the coveted Hugo award, and which I recommended to everyone. Then I listened to the story on CD, and I have now read the expanded story in book form. I have to confess that David is a good friend and I know "the martian child" personally. While I loved the novella, the expanded book blew me away. I thought I was immune to the emotion that it evoked, but the book sent me back to the Kleenex box as I re-read the story of the adoption of David's son. Yes, this is a fiction book (I don't *think* Dennis is really a Martian--if so, I can think of a couple of Martian wishes he owes me), but so much of this book is factual that it reads like an autobiography. I gave this book to everyone I care about for Christmas and am still ordering copies of it to share with people. It's a short read, but one of the best books I read in 2002. And I don't just say that so David will send me chocolate either.

What a sentimental and beautifully told story. A semi-autobiographical novel about a single man, who is a fiction writer, and adopts an 8 year-old boy named Dennis. Dennis, who was abandoned by his mother, and listed by the adoption agency as "hard to place", is an unwanted child of many foster homes, who believes his real home is the planet Mars. The story is based upon Gerrold's own experience as a single, gay, adoptive father. However, Gerrold puts all the "gay" and "single" problems in the background, and focuses on the struggles, disappointments and obstacles, that make becoming & being an adoptive parent so difficult. It's a wonder that any of these unfortunate, abandoned children ever get adopted, with all the red-tape and processing that one has to go through before adopting. Gerrold finds Dennis more than a hand-full, with some difficult issues to resolve, but his perseverance, love, and dedication to his new son are stronger than any hardships he may have to endure.

I found I got so involved in this story, I could not put it down, and finished the book in one night. You will find yourself drawn into the emotional turmoil and heartache that the author faces, and celebrate in the joy that he finally realizes in sharing his love, home and happiness with his son. As a single gay parent, Gerrold adds his name to the list of many gay men and lesbians who are helping to redefine family by giving these troubled and abused children an opportunity to live a life of love, happiness, and stability. Three cheers for David Gerrold! A caring and dedicated father.

Joe Hanssen