Only Child

by Helen Mary Hoover

Cody Oakton is the only child aboard the starship Annie Cannon. His parents, who he calls Gus and Olivia, were fined a year's pay and demoted for his birth, yet he hardly knows or interacts with them. When the Annie Cannon visits the planet Patma, Cody leaves the ship for the first time in his life. As the only human child on Patma as well, Cody is left somewhat to his own devices, but he never dreams what he will discover on his own - or what will discover him.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens

115 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 1992

About the author

http://www.orrt.org/hoover/

Over the course of her twenty-three-year career as a writer, H.M. Hoover won eight awards for her writing, including three Best Book for Young Adult designations from the American Library Association and two Parent's Choice Honor Awards. Another Heaven, Another Earth received the Ohioana Award in 1982.

H.M. Hoover lived in Burke, Virginia. Her last published work was The Whole Truth - And Other Myths: Retelling Ancient Tales, in 1996.

Hoover changed her pen name to H.M. Hoover before Children came out because there was already a children's author named Helen Hoover.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a smart and interesting story, although the pacing was a bit off. The part listed in the blurb, Twelve-year-old Cody discovers that the Terran Corporation, in colonizing the planet Patma, is illegally destroying the intelligent native inhabitants, giant insectlike creatures with their own language and religion, is all in the second half. In the first half we meet Cody, who was born (illicitly) on a spaceship and see him visiting a planet for the first time, experiencing nature, etc.

The first half moves slowly, and seems to be setting up a different plot. Cody's parents barely acknowledge him (they were fined for having a baby in space) but his mother seems to be recording notes and video about him, and it is suggested that perhaps she is writing a research paper on him. This plotline disappears once he encounters the aliens. His mother does later give him a tracking device, but nothing comes of that. Chekov disapproves, Hoover!

Overall, it felt like she had started to write one close-POV story about a kid growing up without other children or culture, changed her mind to making it about human exploitation of resources and accompanying genocide, run out of time before a deadline and hastily wrapped it up in a somewhat ambivalent way.

Still good, but definitely the weakest book I've read from this author. Hoover's This Time of Darkness is highly recommended if you can find it -- I reread that a few years ago and felt it really held up and was enjoyable as an adult as well as for kids.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[LeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unresolved ending invites discussion. when Cody grew up and became a lawyer, did he succeed in ending the injustice?

[SBC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit lighter than her other children's SF I've read (shorter, too), perhaps aimed at a younger audience. However, still an enjoyable read with interesting characters and settings.

[4adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy born on a star ship and he was born while he was on the ship they were light years away from earth so they could not bring him back. He is 12 and the people on the ship are landing in a pod on a planet they thought was uninhabited by intelligent creatures. He leaves every day to go on the beach even thought he is not allowed to. One day he sees some creepy creatures that can talk but not in his language they take him and bring him to their island and their he discovers that their is a whole land of them and one of them can speak. He finds out that a long time ago 300 hundred years ago people first came an tortured them and killed them for experiments and they are scared of the humans so they send him back home because they are scared they will die.
The author could of made more action because I just love action. She could of made the parents more caring to the boy. I love how she used her imagination and made weird yet cool creatures I love the colorful colors of them she described them perfect. I liked her Idea of what the future would be like.
I can connect with her in many ways but one of the ones i can connect the most is her imagination all of these hundreds of animals that inhabit the planet I like it. Man i thought when you get older you lose your imagination but hers is still growing. I can connect only with imagination but i connect with it so well i still use my imagination but try to hide in front of friends because they will judge me.

[Mr · Rating 5 out of 5]

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I would recommend Only Child because just by reading the title children acn relate to ebing the only child and if read on you would find at the end it was the boys imagenation. -skylar mattis