A Child Called "It" was known as one of the worst abuse cases in California's history. It all came to an end on March 5, 1973 but it couldn't have been soon enough. Dave Pelzer begins his incredible story as an abused child with his rescue in part one of a series.This book was easy to read, but difficult to understand how any mother could treat her child this way.
Besides being horribly beaten, Dave was forced to eat his own vomit, swallow soap, ammonia, and Clorox. But this was just the beginning of his mother's dangerous games. Dave's childhood wasn't always a hi bad. There were the "good years" until Dave was about 4 years old. In the beginning Dave devotes a chapter describing the feelings of warmth and safety provided by his mother.But by the time he was 4 these feelings were replaced with fear, starvation, and lowliness and there was nobody to help him.
Dave refered to himself as a "King".The "I" statement is used a lot in the book. As Dave discovers the power he felt when he distracted his mother from getting burned on the stove and in his mind he won. Trying to find food, making plans, and succeeding with the prize of eating frozen dinners from his family's deep freeze. He is proud of his accomplishment and uses the statement, "I was the king".
The novel A Child Called "It" doesn't leave the reader empty minded as we know that the child survived this abuse. We begin with the rescue and then led through the happy times, and then into the abuse Dave suffered. The book is written through the words of the child. It is eye-opening to see how Dave perceived the treatment of his mother, as she didn't treat Dave's brother's this way, and how the abuse affected his self-worth. Yet Dave still had this incredible will to not only survive, but to rise above it all.
Once you are done reading this book you will fall in love with it. You will not want to stop reading. There are sequels to this book. Part two is called "The Lost Boy" and it's about Dave's life after getting taken away from his family and being in foster care. Part three is called "A Man Named Dave."This book is about his life after foster care when he gets to leave at the age of 17 and his life in the military and how he becomes a man.
