The Martian Child By David Gerrold ISBN 9780765359766

David Gerrold is the author of many wonderful Science Fiction Novels. This is not one of them. This is the real life inspired novel (a wonderful term that means he can change what needs to be changed to protect people’s privacy without “cheating.”) of his quest to build his own family.

David Gerrold is gay, but without a partner. Yet he decided to try to adopt a child. Why? Why does anyone decide to have children? Because that is part of being human. There is an innate desire to provide for the future, and being gay does not negate it.

But there are some uphill battles for anyone to adopt, more for a single person to give a home to a child, and a huge battle for gay couples to adopt. But for a single gay male to ask to be given a child…it’s a rare thing. Of course, David is a rare man, a full time author, who makes a good living. (His book Jumping Off the Planet is brilliant.)

So David did his research, something he is very good at, and prepared himself to deal with the incredibly intricate social service web designed to help and protect our parentless children.

It is a true fact of life that it is easier to adopt a special needs child. Most two parent heterosexual couples are not looking to adopt a special needs child. They want a healthy normal child, one like them, to complete their normal little family.

But David is not really all that normal. He felt that he would know the child when he saw him. He felt that this relationship would be like his romantic relationships. He was sure it would be love at first sight.

And it was. Dennis was listed as a problem child. He had been taken from his drug abusing partents. He was diagnosed with ADHD, he might have fetal alcohol problems, he did not make friends, he lied, he stole, he set things on fire. He had been sexually abused in one foster home. And he thought he was a Martian.

And David knew that this smiling child in the picture was his son. I mean, if a martian was going to find a home on earth, where better than with a science fiction writer?

David gave his son a loving home, a built in family, ready to accept him as he was, and infinite patience. He did not try to convince his son he was not a Martian, but instead gave him the freedom to be a Martian for as long as he needed to be. He taught him, without intending to, how to form appropriate emotional responses to different situations. (Show me your silly face. Now show me your happy face. Now show me your “the puppy just pooped in your shoe” face.)

And slowly, Dennis opened. He formed an attachment. He did better.

He stole. He broke David’s things, the more expensive, the more likely to be targeted. He raged, he sulked. And he continued to be a martian.

David learned that a child is not a story. No matter what writers say about a character having a mind of its own, a child does not have an update button. And as they were together for almost two years, he saw how far and how hard Dennis was willing to push him to make David abandon him. This is how the world worked. You lived somewhere two years, then it all fell apart, then you lived somewhere else for two years.

Dennis learned that David was no more prone to being changed than he was. And finally, the little Martian decided, perhaps it would be okay to be human, and David’s son.

This book is incredibly simple. Gerrold’s plots are wonderfully interwoven. This is pretty much life as it happens. Gerrold’s characters are incredibly complex. So is Dennis, but he does not embellish his son for the sake of the story. (The movie did) This is just a journal of what happened, and what David thought, and how he felt. It is wonderful, deep and moving. It is also incredibly easy to read.

Watch the movie. It is a great little movie. Then read the book. It is an even better little book

Dedicated to all the Martians living amongst us.

Check out the Movie:
The Martian Child


The Lavender Quill
Gay Non-Fiction

Is It a Choice?
The Martian Child
What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality
Gay Tales of the Samurai


Gay Fiction.

Son of a Witch
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Raised by Wolves: Brethern
Raised by Wolves: Matelots
Raised by Wolves: Treasure
Raised by Wolves: Wolves
Master of Seacliff 
Ransom
Forbidden Colours
Lord John and the Private Matter
Lord John and the Hand of Devils
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

Comics and Graphic Novels

Side by Side
Fogtown
Black Wade: The Wild Side of Love
The Authority: Prime
Hellblazer: Highwater
Midnighter: Anthem
Midnighter: Killing Machine
Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather
Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather (part 2)

Recommended: Yes