ISBN: 0765306026 9780765306029

Category: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs

Page count: 192

<b>A Novel about a Single Father Adopting a Son</b><br><b>Based on a True Story</b><br><br><i>"Oh. One more thing: Dennis thinks he's a Martian . . . ."</i><br><br>Soon-to-be parents are instructed to "expect the unexpected." Good advice, it turns out. Especially for the anxious or apprehensive parent who is considering adoption. <br><br>How can one know about an adopted child?<br><br>All David Gerrold <i>knew </i>for certain was that he wanted to be a parent. As a single gay man he thought adoption would be the most direct route to fatherhood. But he soon found out-to both his joy and dismay-that the emotional route to fatherhood was anything but direct. In fact, it was a roller-coaster ride that changed his life forever.<br><br>When he first saw the picture of eight-year-old Dennis beaming up at him from the photograph in the adoption book, David <i>knew </i>this was the boy for him.<br><br>But these were the facts: Abandoned as an infant by drug-addicted parents. Documented abuse. Shuffled from one foster home to another. Deficit hyperactivity disorder. Ritalin to control his violent emotional outbursts. For his antisocial behavior: Disipramine. The conclusion from experts: Dennis was "hard to place." A polite bureaucratic euphemism for unadoptable. It was a depressing assessment that David could not-<i>would no</i>t-accept.<br><br>He needed Dennis. And he believed Dennis needed him. It was that simple.<br><br>Until the reality of single fatherhood set in.<br><br>A searingly honest, funny, moving, and heartfelt portrait of the joys and perils of parenting, <i>The Martian Child</i> is David Gerrold's valentine to the redemptive value of love...in this case a father's love for his son. A son who thinks he's a Martian.<br>