A Child Called It

Summary: David Pelzer writes about his childhood in this novel of a boy’s courage to survive. When David was a young boy, he was involved in one of the most brutal child abuse cases ever recorded in California. His father left him and his two brothers with his abusive, alcoholic mother. Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable and alcoholic mother. His mother would play sick games leaving David almost dead. One of the most twisted “games” was to see how long David could stay on a lit stove without screaming. If he would scream, his mother would beat him. The luxury of food was no more than a few spoiled scraps from the garbage. The more twisted thing about his story is that no one on the outside world even suspected him getting abused or neglected. David finally figured out that the only way to survive was to learn how to play his mothers “games”. His only motive to survive was his dreams to find a loving family who would actually consider him as a son and not a slave. Later in the book, David’s principle, nurse, and teachers finally figure out what’s been going on in the Pelzer household. They don’t notify his mother that they know, but all of them are in on a plan to get David’s mother arrested. Whenever David would come to school, they would check him for marks, bruises, etc. and record them for any new ones they hadn’t seen. After about six months, they called the cops and they took David to a children’s crisis center to put him up for adoption.

Review: I thought this book was really good. This book can strongly relate to other peoples problems. I hate reading because it’s boring, but I didn’t want to put it down. The beginning of the book is kind of confusing because it starts off when the police save David Pelzer from his abusive and alcoholic mother. But in about the second or third chapter, it begins with him explaining about what his mother does to him. I can’t really explain why I liked this book, but I just did. It was probably the best book I have read. I heard there is a movie about the book, but I haven’t seen it. The most intense part of this book was when his mom put him on the stove and tried to see how long he could stay on it without screaming. The worst part of this “game” was when his mother beat him when he did scream. The sad parts about this book are that David always wants his father to come home because when his father is home, his mom doesn’t beat him. But his father left him when he was about 5 years old. But his father only goes to David’s house around holidays, and those still aren’t good days for David Pelzer. The best part of this book is when the cops come and rescue David. David gets placed into an adoption center and his mother gets arrested.