Visitors

by Caroline MacDonald

It's the school holidays and Terry is bored and lonely. The only thing he enjoys doing is watching television. But one winter's day he realises he isn't alone - somebody, or something, is trying to get his attention. The mysterious Visitors have come to the end of their centuries long wait and have finally made contact.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Born in New Zealand, Caroline Macdonald moved to Australia in 1982 and passed away in Adelaide, South Australia.

She wrote mostly fantasy and science fiction for older children and young adults and her stories were often set in New Zealand or Australia.

Reviews

[SBC · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was winner of the 1985 New Zealand Children's Book of the Year Award, and I've read some other books by Caroline MacDonald which I enjoyed.

Possibly this one was for a younger audience and there was not a lot of action. Terry is about 12 if I've remembered (or guessed) correctly. He has a slightly weird relationship with his parents, calling them both by their first names, and they're really around, both caught up in their careers. He doesn't like the child carer they have for him and doesn't enjoy school either, just does his best to keep his head down and avoid people noticing him (when they notice him they want him to be the way they want him to be, and he can't just be myself and do what he wants). He enjoys TV - and TV is how the Visitors (aliens) contact him.

It's quite a weird tale. The aliens have been stuck here for a very long time - they need help with getting off Earth, and the help they need from people involves drawing something like symbols that represent light waves (or waves of colour). We never meet the visitors so have no idea what they look like, but somehow they have been able to "record" moments in the past (Terry's own past, and the past of other humans they have tried to communicate with in history). By seeing all these pieces of the puzzle, and working with his neighbour Maryanne (who everyone thinks is mentally retarded because she is physically unable to communicate well, but who is actually incredibly bright and can show it with a computer keyboard) to figure things out, they're able to help the visitors get what they need. The (fictional?) teacher of Isaac Newton makes an appearance, due to the study of light. (Interesting how often that shows up in fiction!).

It was an OK read. It didn't thrill me, but I was interested enough to keep going to the end (which was rather abrupt). Overall it left me with a fairly emotionless impression, a bit like the greying out of colour that occurred when the Visitors came to visit. I'm not sure that I would have enjoyed it any better as a child. My child self was probably more forgiving as a reader and every plot and setting was newer so more interesting to read, but my current self found it a bit prosaic to read.