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The book A Child Called "It" was written by Dave Pelzer. "In the years before I was abused, my family was the "Brady Bunch" of the 1960 s. My two brothers and I were blessed with the perfect parents. Our every whim was fulfilled with love and care. " These are Dave's words about his family before he was abused by his mother. Dave Pelzer has experienced a truly extraordinary life. As a child, he was abused by his alcoholic mother, which included physical torture, mental cruelty, and near starvation. Upon Dave's rescue, he was identified as one of the most severely abused children in California's history.
At age 12, Dave's teachers risked their careers to notify the authorities and saved his life. Upon Dave's removal, he was made a ward of the court and placed in foster care until he enlisted in the U. S. Air Force at age 18. As a young adult Dave was determined to better himself -- no matter what the odds. In the book it tells about him and his relationship with alcoholic mother, who beats him, starves him, refuses to give him new clothes, and doesn't call him by his name but refers to him as 'it' or 'the boy'.
At first Dave and his mother have a perfect relationship. Soon his mother starts to drink and singles out one of her sons as the family 'slave'. She begins her abuse by sending him to school with the same cloths on for a year and no food at all. So for a while Dave steals food from others student's lunch bags to fill his stomach. Soon his mother found out and everyday when he got home his mother made him puke it all out.
After that it just got worse. She started to burn him on the stove top, she stabbed him with a knife, she would put him and a bottle of ammonia in the bathroom and lock him there for hours, and eventually made him sleep in the garage on an old army coat. Soon after that she starts to play cruel games with the boy, just for her pleasure. Some of her favorites were the gas chamber, the dishwashing soap, and the starvation tease. When Dave turns to his father for help the father ignores him, like nothing is going on because he doesn't want to deal with Dave's cruel mother. Being only an innocent little boy, Dave has to go through all that all alone, through all the cruelty that his mother puts him through, having no one by his side.
After years and years of struggle and torment finally his school principle and some of the teachers risk their careers to save Dave and send him to another state to a foster care, rescue him from his mother's torment. When I was reading this book, it really affected me. The way the author wrote the book made me go through all that, all the struggle, all the torment, by just reading it, I felt myself feeling what he felt, I felt his struggle, his pain, his hungriness, it was like I was leaving through him. I was so happy at the end that finally after all those years, those heroic teachers risked all they had back in those days, to help an innocent child from her vicious abuse. I can't imagine how strong of a person Dave Pelzer is, if after so many years of abuse his confidence is there, and that he found a mercy in his heart for his mother. Definitely if I had to rate this book then I would have given it a perfect 10.
Honestly this is one of the best books I have ever read in my whole life. I would definitely recommend this book to all of my friends and I can't wait to read Lost Boy and Man Named Dave, by Dave Pelzer. Pelzer, Dave. A Child Called "It." Deerfield Beach, Florida Health Communications, Inc. 1993
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