What readers think of A Child Called It, plus links to write your own review.

A Child Called It and The Lost Boy, by Dave Pelzer, is a story of a young boy who is sentenced to a life of beatings, poisonings, burnings and many other unspeakable horrors in the world of his crazed lunatic mother. The book A Child Called It, starts out explaining how life was before alcohol and a separation of his parents began in his house. Life was wonderful for Dave; he received toys, watched TV, played with his brothers and was showered with love from his mother and father. His mother was a stay at home wife and his father was a brave firefighter. Everything went south as soon as his mother began drinking excessively as did his father. These things happened when Dave Pelzer was about seven. He started being punished for no reason and these punishments would become worse until they evolved into beatings. As the beatings grew worse and worse, he would go to school with scars and other such scratches and bruises and be questioned by his teachers and staff. Dave would simply reply with a pre-told lie that his mother brainwashed into him. Eventually he was not allowed at the dinner table and began segregation in his own house.

His mother began to refer to him as, “The Boy”, and would treat him horridly. She forced him to sleep in the garage on an old army cot and would have him in fear of even falling asleep at night. She grounded him constantly. She prevented him from playing with his brothers and watching television. He was forced to do chores and other menial tasks as his mother drank alcohol and watched her shows. Suddenly, he was not even allowed to eat food for periods of time ranging from hours to days.

He would then steal food from his classmates and would lose friends. If he was caught, the principal would call home and he would be beaten by his mother. His mother, who was never appreciative of her own imagination, would look towards the newspaper to see what new ways she could torture her child. She would play sick mind games to hold food away from him and tempt him to near death starvation on multiple occasions. With these sick images I end my point while leaving some mystery for the rest of the book.

The Second Book, The Lost Boy, emphasizes on the fact that he went through foster care and his exploits and troubles in the foster care system. Throughout the second book, Dave struggles to fit in and his struggle to fit in ranges from his thefts to posting as a lookout for a “friend” who burned down a classroom. As this book starts out, it flashes back to a period before his freedom from his mother’s torment. After this, he is taken to court to decide if he should stay with his mother or be a ward of the court. Luckily, he is a ward of the court and is sent to a foster care facility. During his time in this facility, he made friends, enemies, was tried and convicted of a felony and served time in juvenile detention.

These books are an inspiration to me because this man has been through hell and back several times in his life. Yet he just kept going in spite of it. A part that stuck out most to me was when, “Mother then ordered me to climb up onto the stove and lie on the flames so she could watch me burn.” This is one of the most sadistic things that she did to him just for her own amusement. The horrible things she ended up doing to him scarred him for life and affected his opinion towards others in a negative fashion where he was in a defensive shell.

I honestly loved the books completely and could not think of other books that has the same impact. It is inspirational yet heartbreaking, with gut wrenching horror. It is a mother, who we all love unconditionally yet she was the devil in the flesh. David’s young mind was poisoned due to this tragic series of events. Yet in spite of it all, he overcame the evil. These books are intended for teenagers to adults. Those who read this would be interested in a story of survival and struggle. I would recommend these books as survival, strength and inspirational stories.

When I read the book i would have to say by the 3rd chapter I was already crying. knowing that this is only some of the things that go on with abuses in the society. To me Dave Pelzer is a hero. Having to put up with that and finding a way to escape the horror is a sign of dignity and I love him for that.

This book was really good. I cried every time I read it.

I had to read this book for my English class and it was amazing. I thought that I had it bad when I was a kid, but what I went through is only a fraction of what David Pelzer went through. His story of his life's ups and downs has inspired me to do the best that I can and pursue my dreams and not to take so much for granred. His story was put into this world to help us, teach us, and make us aware of what really goes on in this world. well anyways it is a great book and anyone can enjoy its lesson.....

I just read the book, and I have to say it brought tears, and hearfelt emotions. It made me love my children even more and just hug them so tight, and pray for those kids who are in that situation right now. I am studying human services, and I have a very sensitive spot when it comes to that topic. It is an amazing story and he is an amazing man. Everyone should read this book....

Hey!! That book is soo inspiring.. I mean I love it. I'ts written in an amazing point of view and I know so many people who read it and want to read it over and over again. Writing a book like this inspired me to write a book of how I feel deep inside me, Dave.. you are an amazing person, to me you are an actual hero that managed to go thorough your life this way, I seriously adore your books all 3 parts I mean they are all so inspiring to me and helped me a lot through my life. even though I'm from a country that is barely heard from its an amazing place where people love to read books Dave your book is the best/most sold book in the whole of Kuwait! You are a lucky man! ;] and you deserve it! I think you should actually make a movie it would be great and trust me lots of people will enjoy it like they enjoyed your book! ;D well good luck in your other books I just know that they are all going to be a success since you are the writer! ;*

Wow this book gave me a lot to realize. I guess i can say I'm thankful that my mother never abused me in any such ways and now I see what the kids on T.V feel like. Many kids go on talk shows to share their story and people often don't take them seriously and don't respect them but after reading this book my whole prospect changed towards them.

This book really made me realize what abused children go through in there lifes. And I cant imaging what they have to go through every day of there lifes. There were paragraphs that I really couldn't believe that a child would have to go through. And to know that it was the mother that who were doing the damage to her own blood, made me disappointed. This book really made a difference in my life!