First time visiting BookBrowse? Get a free copy of our member's ezine today.

Summary and Reviews of The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer

The Lost Boy

A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family

by Dave Pelzer
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 1997, 340 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Book Summary

The sequel to A Child Called "It" in which Pelzer answers questions and reveals new adventures through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent.

Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. His only possessions are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother, his real hurt is just beginning -- he has no place to call home.

This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to A Child Called "It". In The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now considered an F-Child (Foster Child), Dave is moved in and out of five different homes. He suffers shame and experiences resentment from those who feel that all foster kids are trouble and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a "real" family.

Tears, laughter, devastation and hope create the journey of this little lost boy who searches desperately for just one thing -- the love of a family.

From Chapter One

Winter 1970, Daly City, California-  I'm alone. I'm hungry and I'm shivering in the dark! I sit on top of my hands at the bottom of the stairs in the garage. My head is tilted backward. My hands became numb hours ago. My neck and shoulder muscles begin to throb. But that's nothing new -  I've learned to turn off the pain.

I'm Mother's prisoner.


I am nine years old and I've been living like this for years. Every day it's the same thing. I wake up from sleeping on an old army cot in the garage, perform the morning chores, and if I'm lucky, eat leftover breakfast cereal from my brothers. I run to school, steal food, return to "The House" and am forced to throw up in the toilet bowl to prove that I didn't commit the crime of stealing any food.

I receive beatings or play another one of her "games," perform afternoon chores, then sit at the bottom of the stairs until I'm summoned to complete the ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Library Journal
Following A Child Called It (Health Communications, 1995), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and appears frequently on high school reading lists, this is the second in a planned trilogy from motivational author and speaker Pelzer. Here he tells his story from the time he left his abusive mother and alcoholic father, through his experiences in five foster homes and juvenile detention, and how he eventually made it into the Air Force. He was a defiant, rebellious boy who, despite his background and personality, managed to endear himself to many guardians, social workers, and teachers. Pelzer writes in an honest, sometimes rambling, style; he is never bitter, and his story will find many sympathetic readers. However, he leaves many questions unanswered (which may appear in the third book), dealing with his adult-life relationships, his son, the mother of that child, and the ways he turned his life around. This is sure to be popular among students and readers who await a sequel to A Child Called It. Well recommended.?

Reader Reviews

Brandi

Good
I loved this book.
Martin

The best book ever
This book is the best book ever.
Andrea Bogart

The Lost Boy
The Lost Boy is a very sad story about a young boy that got very badly abused by his mother. I really enjoyed reading about the authors life. But what I didn't enjoy was the way his mother treated him. I don't understand how a mother can hurt her own...   Read More
VBALLER

Inspirational
This book really touches the heart about on boys journey to make it through the tough times. Dave Pelzer is telling a story that will get through to millions and just make you sit and think for awhile. Reading this book will change your perspective ...   Read More

Write your own review!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Lost Boy, try these:

  • Puppet Child jacket

    Puppet Child

    by Talia Carner

    Published 2002

    About this book

    More by this author

    When the justice system fails her daughter, one courageous mother takes matters into her own hands. In a wrenching race against time, the safety of one child becomes entangled in the theatrics of Family Court, bottled-up family dynamics, media frenzy, and the pressure of the political machine.

  • Finding Fish jacket

    Finding Fish

    by Antwone Quenton Fisher

    Published 2001

    About this book

    The memoir of Antwone Fisher's miraculous journey from abandonment and abuse to liberation, manhood, and extraordinary success. "A striking and original story of the journey from troubled childhood to self-aware adult."

Read-Alikes are one of the many benefits of membership. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Dave Pelzer
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Night Guest
    The Night Guest
    by Hildur Knútsdóttir
    Most mornings, Iðunn wakes up bloodied, bruised, and battered, sometimes missing fingernails. ...
  • Book Jacket: Colored Television
    Colored Television
    by Danzy Senna
    In Danzy Senna's Colored Television, writing professor and author Jane reflects on the advice of ...
  • Book Jacket: The Bookshop
    The Bookshop
    by Evan Friss
    Evan Friss's paean to bookstores, booksellers, and readers, The Bookshop: A History of the American ...
  • Book Jacket: There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven
    There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven
    by Ruben Reyes
    While it is common for children of immigrants to reflect on their ancestors' struggles through ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    We'll Prescribe You a Cat
    by Syou Ishida

    Discover the bestselling Japanese novel celebrating the healing power of cats.

Book Club Giveaway!
Win Before the Mango Ripens

Before the Mango Ripens by Afabwaje Kurian

Both epic and intimate, this debut announces a brilliant new talent for readers of Imbolo Mbue and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

As D A A D

and be entered to win..