When David decides to adopt a boy from foster care as a single father he’s prepared to deal with the boy’s ADHD, reactive attachment disorder and history of abuse … but he’s not expecting to hear that little Dennis also thinks that he’s actually a Martian. Fortunately for both of them, this David is David Gerrold, an accomplished science fiction writer best known for writing the Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles, so a boy with a fantasy of being a Martian isn’t going to be a problem. But as the pressures and demands of fatherhood mount, soon David begins to wonder … maybe it isn’t just a fantasy after all.

This is a true story about adopting from the foster care system and the process of trying to become a good father. Gerrold is wholly honest without being brutal, depicting not only the realities of foster care and adoption but also the emotional challenges that are an everyday part of fatherhood. Every father, regardless of how he is parenting, will recognize himself in the story of Gerrold’s journey. Review by Book Dads ( )

When David decides to adopt a boy from foster care as a single father he’s prepared to deal with the boy’s ADHD, reactive attachment disorder and history of abuse … but he’s not expecting to hear that little Dennis also thinks that he’s actually a Martian. Fortunately for both of them, this David is David Gerrold, an accomplished science fiction writer best known for writing the Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles, so a boy with a fantasy of being a Martian isn’t going to be a problem. But as the pressures and demands of fatherhood mount, soon David begins to wonder … maybe it isn’t just a fantasy after all. This is a true story about adopting from the foster care system and the process of trying to become a good father. Gerrold is wholly honest without being brutal, depicting not only the realities of foster care and adoption but also the emotional challenges that are an everyday part of fatherhood. Every father, regardless of how he is parenting, will recognize himself in the story of Gerrold’s journey. ( )

An interesting peek into David Gerrold's heart and mind, this is the true story of his first year with his adopted son. Gerrold, a single father (and the talented writer who wrote Star Trek's "The Trouble with Tribbles" original episode, as well as the War with the Chtorr series) and a gay man, had little difficulty with the legal barriers of our national adoption system. He seemed to have sailed through those with only the usual bureaucratic hassles. So this book is in no way a "how-to" guide for prospective adoptive parents.

It is instead an intense examination of Gerrold's struggles to determine just what kind of a father he wants to be. Written in Gerrold's trademark conversational style, the book is much more of an examination of Gerrold himself than it is of the daily strains of living with the demands of a special needs child.

And that may be my only real criticism of the work. While it was fascinating to peer into the mind of one of my favorite authors, at the end of the day I found the book strangely lacking in the very real clashes that take place between any child and its parents. I'm not an adoptive parent, but I am a single mom, and there were many times I found myself teetering on the edge of abusive behavior. And even when I overcame my early conditioning and learned to be the loving and supportive mother my kids deserved, the constant second-guessing I engage in about how much to say to my children and when to say it can be exhausting. Gerrold's account is strangely lacking in this area.

Oh, there are a few internal struggles, where he seems to half-heartedly confront the desire to chuck the adoption and go back to childless freedom -- but the issue is never really at stake. And for me, that gives the entire story a pretty bloodless feeling. My children, though not adopted, were all desperately wanted -- but I could write a tome the size of WAR AND PEACE about my struggles to appropriately parent each of them, and their struggles to live with me. At the end of the day, Gerrold's account, though interesting, just seems too facile.

To give the man credit, there are circumstances that might play into the seeming ease of his transition to full-time parenting, that I lacked. For one thing, Gerrold was older than I when he first entered fatherhood -- and he was a very successful author and teacher. His financial circumstances were certainly far removed from mine when I found myself a single mother -- and from long acquaintance with the truly economically disadvantaged, I can tell you that lack of money makes a real difference in a parent's peace of mind. Gerrold had also soaked up every piece of information he could on being a dad -- and though I had read a myriad of parenting guides in my time, when I was struggling with my children's issues there wasn't a lot of literature out there on their particular needs. Gerrold also had a strong local support system -- a close-knit and loving family and good friends who backed his decision to become a parent one hundred percent. My own family fairly defines the word dysfunctional, and my children and I had to become our own support system -- which became all too much like the worm Oubourous, devouring its own tail.

Still and all, when I closed the covers of this book, I felt that there was something missing in Gerrold's account. I had just read his LEAPING TO THE STARS, and found more seriously engaging introspection in the characters in his science fiction series of a family struggling to overcome its past than in his real life account of parenting his son. I just don't buy that parenting any child, much less a special needs one, is that easy. Gerrold, by his own account, seemed to have few internal doubts about his parenting skills, and to make almost no mistakes in dealing with his troubled boy. Oddly enough, I found that breeziness off-putting. Life is just not that simple, is it? I found much more internal self-examination when I went back and reread Gerrold's WAR WITH THE CHTORR books. It seems to me that those books, and his painstaking investigation of what it means to really be part of a family in the JUMPING OFF THE PLANET series, offers a more realistic glimpse of the real Gerrold than the too facile practically perfect dad presented in THE MARTIAN CHILD. It may be just me, struggling single mother of three, desperately struggling to keep my family afloat financially and emotionally, but my own story of being a parent is a good deal grittier than Gerrold's account.

Worth reading -- with a grain of salt. ( )

This was a quick thoughtful read. I'd seen the film (because of John Cusack truthfully), but it drew me in to the point where I wanted to see the book. The book is both more frightening and comes across as more universal. In other words, the boy in the film is ONE of a kind. The boy in the book is one that, by admission, is comparable in needs and problems to many other children in need of a family. There are many similarities, but the film and book are two very separate works. For anyone interested in father child relationships, in adoption, or in a simple and emotionally worthwhile story to escape in for a while, I'd recommend this. One additional surprise from the text which I did not expect based on the movie was the on-and-off discussion of writing, and a writer's perception of the world. I do a great deal of writing myself, and I found Gerrold's observations at times fascinating, at times familiar to what I've thought myself. This isn't overall a book About writing, but anyone who writes might very well find this one worth reading for both style and occasional comments/tangents on the craft. My only criticism is that I wanted more. This was a very short book, and there easily could have been more depth on various points/situations, though the narrator and the child were both flawlessly portrayed, and given a perfect allowance of detail. I recommend it if it sounds at all interesting. If you're doubtful, you might curl up in a Barnes&Noble armchair with the book and a cup of coffee--you'll probably be done in a few hours. ( )

The Martian Child: A Novel About a Single Father Adopting a Son, by David Gerrold, is based on his true experience.

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. ( )