Mr Adams has kindly submitted his review of the book, 'Helicopter Man'...I found this an interesting story, supposedly the diary entries of a 12-year old Australian boy. He's an only child whose single-parent Dad - it becomes clear - is now suffering from a mental illness. Although the Dad's a kind and generous person, he's become terrified to go out in case the helicopters get him. His Dad's irrational fear distorts his son's lifestyle as much as it does his own. They're living rough and the Dad refuses send his son to school. The boy has few friends apart from a couple of pet mice, and struggles alone to reconcile the internal conflict between what's best for his Dad's mental health, set against his natural loyalty to him as a much-loved parent.
Although the author's motive for writing 'Helicopter Man' was 'to ease the pain and bewilderment' of youngsters who find themselves in a similar situation, this doesn’t mean that the book is not of interest to anyone else. It's written as a 12-year old really might speak, which makes it entertaining. A friend described it to me as 'quirky' meaning, I suppose, a bit unusual. So it is, but none the worse for that.
O Adams
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