Name: A Child Called It
Rating: 3.88936170212766 (235 reviews)
ISBN: 9781558743663

David J. Pelzer

Tells the story of a child's abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother

One Child's Courage to Survive

A Child Called It

Dave Pelzer

This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it." Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive--dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.

Jennifer

Horrific, unimaginable story of child abuse. This was an appropriate book to read on Halloween because the reality of this situation is scarier than anything else. This was rough to get through. I can’t believe people are so terrible and other people are so resilient. I want to know why the mother was the way she was and how she got away with her behavior for so long. 

Dave Pelzer was beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother. This book covers the early years of his life and is an affecting look at the horrors of child abuse and the determination of one child to survive against the odds.

An Abused Child's Journey from Victim to Victor

A Child Called "It"

ayoni

Painfully intriguing. You want to put the book down every pages but you physically just can’t. 

lex 📖

Pojken som kallades Det

Emelie

Discusting how a mother can treat her child this way!

Lana Palacios

This book is absolutely heartbreaking in the best way possible. When Pelzer lists all of the horrid things his mother did to him, the reality of these situations really sets in. This isn't another fiction book with a character and crappy parents—no. This story was real. And there are so many other children going through it right now across the globe. Hearing that he has children of his own must have been terrifying for him, but he used his experience with his mother to raise his children so much better, and much less cruel. 

I'd recommend this book to older youth, or adults, seeing as people on the more mature side of the scale would understand this and its devastating tale much more.

Alexandra Gillgrass

This book is not an enjoyable read, but it's a story worth reading. 

I pretty much went into this quite blind only knowing it was about child abuse. It will definitely have more of an impact that way. I won't review this as I would a normal novel because it isn't a novel, it's real life, and all the horrible events that occurred really happened to David. 

This is a really short book and you could easily read it a day, which is probably just as well as any longer it would have been unbearable. This book is written very well and is very engaging with the reader. You can feel David's pain and suffering through the pages and will get you incredibly emotional at times. 

It is one of the most gripping and heart wrenching books I have ever read, and will leave you feeling incredibly numb, and for most people, incredibly lucky.

A real eye opener about pain, suffering and one child's courage to survive. 

Would highly reccommend

Signe

Serran

Maria youngberg 

ikkychan

Eki Teebi

Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother, a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games - games that left one of her three sons nearly dead. She no longer considered Dave a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dog's bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. But throughout Dave kept alive dreams of finding a family to love him. This book covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspirational book of the horrors of child abuse and the steadfast determination of one child to survive.

A Child Called It One Child's Courage to Survive

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