Stonebender reviewed Jumping Off The Planet by David Gerrold
Review of 'Jumping Off The Planet' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Another, of what seems to be becoming a genre of its own, Heinlein juvenile. This one's about a family of three boys whose parents recently divorced. The parents have been continuing their animosities through a custody battle for the three kids. The story is told through the middle boy, Charles a.k.a. "Chigger" who is 13 and much smarter than he, or anyone else gives him credit for. The boys are with their father for an unusual extended vacation. They're going on a surprise trip to the "beanstalk" (an elevator that goes up to a space station in geosynchronous orbit). While they are on their trip, the planet Earth is collapsing under the weight of 17 billion people. Humanity has established several settlements in the solar system: Luna, Mars, the asteroid belt, a few of Jupiter's moons and even a few extrasolar planets. The family's vacation turns into the father's planned …
Another, of what seems to be becoming a genre of its own, Heinlein juvenile. This one's about a family of three boys whose parents recently divorced. The parents have been continuing their animosities through a custody battle for the three kids. The story is told through the middle boy, Charles a.k.a. "Chigger" who is 13 and much smarter than he, or anyone else gives him credit for. The boys are with their father for an unusual extended vacation. They're going on a surprise trip to the "beanstalk" (an elevator that goes up to a space station in geosynchronous orbit). While they are on their trip, the planet Earth is collapsing under the weight of 17 billion people. Humanity has established several settlements in the solar system: Luna, Mars, the asteroid belt, a few of Jupiter's moons and even a few extrasolar planets. The family's vacation turns into the father's planned emigration to one of the settlements. In order to fund their emigration he has agreed to smuggle "something" off the earth. So they are being chased by the kids mother, a raft of other people trying to get at whatever Dad is smuggling while all of Earth's infrastructure is dying and everyone is trying to get off planet.
I thought the family dynamics were more realistic than Heinlein, but still had his flavor. Everyone is flawed and yet I found myself rooting for Charles and his brothers to find some way to be a family. Lots of references to Heinlein and his work. Think; "Have Space Suit Will Travel", "Podkayne of Mars" and "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". Fun!
