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A Child Called 'It': One Child's Courage to Survive
by: Dave Pelzer

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.76092
EAN: 9781558743663
ISBN: 1558743669
Label: HCI
Manufacturer: HCI
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 195
Publication Date: September 01, 1995
Publisher: HCI
Sales Rank: 308
Studio: HCI

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:

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.

Amazon.com:
David J. Pelzer's mother, Catherine Roerva, was, he writes in this ghastly, fascinating memoir, a devoted den mother to the Cub Scouts in her care, and somewhat nurturant to her children--but not to David, whom she referred to as 'an It.' This book is a brief, horrifying account of the bizarre tortures she inflicted on him, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy being starved, stabbed, smashed face-first into mirrors, forced to eat the contents of his sibling's diapers and a spoonful of ammonia, and burned over a gas stove by a maniacal, alcoholic mom. Sometimes she claimed he had violated some rule--no walking on the grass at school!--but mostly it was pure sadism. Inexplicably, his father didn't protect him; only an alert schoolteacher saved David. One wants to learn more about his ordeal and its aftermath, and now he's written a sequel, The Lost Boy, detailing his life in the foster-care system.

Though it's a grim story, A Child Called 'It' is very much in the tradition of Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul and the many books in that upbeat series, whose author Pelzer thanks for helping get his book going. It's all about weathering adversity to find love, and Pelzer is an expert witness.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Five Stars! An Inspirational Read.
A Child Called It is a wonderful story about courage, tenacity and redemption. Although heart wrenching to read in parts it's inspiring to know that a person can survive the most tragic of events and come out living a prosperous life filled with family, success, love and joy.Crossing 13

Rating:

- I'm not sure...
I thought the book was well written, everything the good reviews said, but the nightmarishness just made me physically sick to my stomach. It you are a sensitive person I would not recommend this book. Really. Not inspiring at all. Just horrors.

Rating:

- The most disturbing book I've ever read... still!
A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer is a memoir I read about 8 years ago. I could not put this harrowing book down, Pelzer is a child abuse survivor. He recounts the physical and mental abuse he suffered from the hands of his alcoholic and deeply troubled mother. This book brought me to tears and just broke my heart. I highly recommend this unsettling but important book.

Rating:

- lies
I recently had the displeasure of seeing Mr. Pelzer in person. He has either told his lies so many times that he actually belives them to be true or he is a just a snake oil salesman like so many others in his "profession". Being that he claims to have survived several Mustard Gas attacks(keep in mind that Hitler found this to be to cruel to use on "the enemy", durring WWii, but a mother used it against her own offspring), a stabbing(in person he claimed the wound was in his heart), being burned for "58 seconds"(who is counting while being burnt???)and being beaten daily, while neither his father or brother(s) came to his aid, im guessing that the guy is a complete fake. Either way don't waste your money on this rubbish. dont take my word,look him up on google! --please note these "facts" come from his speach not the book, he may make even wilder claims in print--

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