Godchildren

Aaron Dodge, ``the Fat Man,'' 300-pound, longhaired inventor from Phoenix, Ariz., is, at 33, a confirmed bachelor and latter-day hippie. But his lifestyle changes when he falls in love with trim, cheery 19-year-old Kennedy St. James and moves in with her. Soon Kennedy's sister Laura and her six children became part of Aaron's and Kennedy's chaotic menage. Meanwhile, a private eye and a midget cop ask Aaron to help them track down a kidnapped young girl. A clue to her whereabouts--a lottery ticket with six numbers and her name scrawled on it--tips off Aaron that the kidnapper may be part of a scam involving lottery-machine tampering. Rescuing the girl becomes an obsession that tests Aaron's skills as an inventor, his love life, friendships and self-image. Despite an overwrought narrative that lumbers along like its heavyset hero, this is a promising debut, an authentic study of survivors of the '60s counterculture adapting to the '80s. (Mar.)