Helicopter Man  (English, Paperback, Fensham Elizabeth)

Written for young readers, the Helicopter Man by Elizabeth Fensham is the story of a young boy who struggles to understand his mentally disabled father even as his life takes on a bizarre turn every time his father suffers from delusions.

Summary Of The Book

Pete Sinclair, the protagonist of Helicopter Man, loves his father intensely, even as he is deeply puzzled and bewildered by his increasingly bizarre behaviour. The book is a diary of Pete’s journeys with his father, both literally and metaphorically.

After Pete’s mother abandons the family, he and his father live a lonely life with just the bare essentials. Pete notices that his father seems to be driven by his fears all the time, and he keeps moving all over the country with Pete. Father and son hide out in barns, stay in shelters, and keep away from any kind of authorities.

Initially, Pete is unable to understand the reason behind his father’s behaviour. He later discovers that his father suffers from schizophrenia and is terrified of helicopters and policemen. He keeps shifting Pete around in order to ‘protect’ him.

As the duo move around, Pete writes down everything in a diary. He observes the people around them, and this brings about several pithy observations of life in general. The entire book is thus in a diary format.

Pete’s life takes a turn for the better when the authorities catch up with his father. The child is taken into foster care, while his father undergoes treatment. Will his father’s mental condition return to normal? Can Pete and his father get back to a normal life and relationship? This real-life story gives a glimpse of the hard realities that the children of mentally challenged parents face and how they learn to cope.

In 2006, Helicopter Man was chosen as the Australian Children's Book Council's Book of the Year for Younger Readers.

About Elizabeth Fensham

Elizabeth Fensham works as a teacher in a semi-rural setting, near the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria. She has been an avid writer throughout her life.

Her other novels include Miss McAllister's Ghost and Goodbye Jamie Boyd. Helicopter Man is her first published novel. She wrote it for the son of a friend who suffers from schizophrenia.

Elizabeth Fensham first started story-telling at a young age when she used to narrate horror tales to other students at her boarding school. The author has tried out several professions, including working in a meat factory, being a caregiver in a home for the mentally-challenged, an aide in a children’s hospital, and finally teaching. She is married to an artist.