The Martian Child — David Gerrold

A gay man adopts a troubled boy who insists he's a Martian in this charming and heartwarming autobiographical novel.

When science fiction author David Gerrold decides he wants to adopt a son, he thinks he's prepared for fatherhood. But eight-year-old Dennis turns out to be more than he expected -- a lot more.

Abandoned as a baby in a seedy motel by his addict parents, Dennis suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome. Since then, he's been shuffled between eight different foster homes in less than eight years -- and was severely abused in at least two of them. 

Prone to violent emotional outbursts, Dennis was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, put on Ritalin, and then Disipramine. His case history identified him as “hard to plac”" -- a euphemism for "unadoptable."

But for David Gerrold it was love at first sight . . .