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A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

A Child Called It

One Child's Courage to Survive

by Dave Pelzer
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Oct 1, 1999, 184 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 1995, 184 pages
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Reviews

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There are currently 270 reader reviews for A Child Called It
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crazy

all lies
First all this story is fake because the teacher didn't notice right away that he was abused. Until he got kicked out of school and put in a different school. Why would someone write this story after his parents died that is just sick. He is sick to his head. Plus the school board would have caught it right away. Here's hint dirty clothes, bruises, and stealing food from school and classmates. I could just see right through the author. He wants to be look at. That's why he wrote a Lie!!!
reader

People Lie
This book so smacks of inauthenticity that I googled it to find what I suspected would be factual disputes. I did. Read "Dysfunction for Dollars"; This guy is a charlatan.

As a teacher, I know that some kids lie like crazy, and get away with it. I'm appalled that any teacher would use this in a classroom. I hope that the truth will come out in time. I also find it disturbing that so many take it in as truth without better evidence or research.

This book was not originally published by a reputable publisher. Perhaps none could verify the"facts" that appear in it.
Realitybites

Get Real!
Have all the reviews here been written by the same group of 13 year olds only to alternate with some real reviews that I'd say are closer to reality, only to get crushed by a fictionally raving imaginary group of fans?

Get Real.

; )
saša

i don't know...
I'm reading this book, and I don't think I will finish it.I sympathize with the boy,II believe he was abused, but still... the writing style is poor. He doesn't explain how it all startED. in one moment they were happy family, and suddenly his mother hates him, but we don't know why. If she was sick, why didn't she abuse her other sons? There must be some reason why him. It was not just punishing, it was killing a child. And what about his father? He might be weak, but how weak to let his wife starve his child???
I don't know... to many whys. Again, I feel so sorry for him, and I would protect him if I was his father, but I don' like this book
Julie

Check your facts first
One of reviewers cites a reference on Wikipedia to a book by Dave Pelzer's brother, Stephen, entitled "Dysfunction for Dollars". There is no such book. "Dysfunction for Dollars" is an article by Pat Jordan in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, July 28, 2002.
Mom

From a Mother's view
This book is great for college classes. It is far from appropriate for 10 - 15 year olds. The gruesome, graphic details of abuse over shadow any meaning that one may get from the book. The shock value for young readers is high. It definitely robs one of their innocence. Check to see if it's available in your child's school. What a horror.

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