A Child Called It (A Child Called 'It' - Dave Pelzer)

Name: NewYork2006

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Product:	A Child Called 'It' - Dave Pelzer
Date:	22/06/07 (305 review reads)
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I have wanted to read this book for many years but for some reason I never did. Until another member on readitswapit asked to swap with a book in my list a couple of weeks ago and I saw this on theirs, so thought I would take up the opportunity.

I wasn’t going to write a review on this book as I thought it would be hard to rate it with the 5 stars it should deserve, marking it as excellent, because of the devastating content of the book. However, I decided that the book, despite its content, was far too good not to give it a mention.

The main thing that struck me all the way through this book was the fact that what I was reading was real life and that these horrible things that were making me feel sick, had actually happened to a frightened, lonely little boy and I could not understand how any woman could treat her own son like Dave Pelzer’s mother did.

That said – I guess I should tell you about the book and about the boy that was called ‘It’.

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Dave Pelzer has written this book in the words of a child and begins by telling the reader of his rescue. What follows, however, are the details of his tortured childhood. At the end of the book is a testimonial from Steven Zeigler, his 5th Grade homeroom teacher, and extracts from the next books in the series "The Lost Boy" and "A Man Named Dave".

Dave’s life started off seemingly perfect. He tells the reader of family life with his two older brothers, his hard-working Fireman father and his wonderful, loving mother who would spend hours cooking fantastic meals in a well cared for home. He remembers Christmas decorations and holidays and his favourite place in the world - the Russian River at Guerneville, California.

However, we soon discover that the good times didn't last and there does not appear to be any reason for this. It is not clear to the reader why Dave is singled out and I guess this could be because Dave was never given any reason himself. He writes it as he felt it at only 4 years of age and so this naivety is portrayed to the reader. What we read though is how, at 4 years of age, his now alcoholic mother spent her days on the sofa in front of the television, giving out her orders and treating Dave more and more like a slave. Although occasionally she would give orders to his older brothers, it is clear that Dave took the brunt of her evilness. (and on further reading, it seems as if his brothers begin to join in to get him into trouble)

I wont go into too much detail of the torture and pain he suffered, in case you want to read the book, but what we see is a boy whose horrible life begins with his mother breaking his arm and leaving him overnight in pain. She finally takes him to the hospital the next day - only to tell the doctor that he fell out of his bunk – and Dave doesn’t even question her as he understands the reality of the consequences of his actions. Thus begins the pattern of behaviour that takes over the next 8 years of his life.

He was given chores to do and if he didn’t complete them within her ridiculous time limits, he was not given any food – on one occasion he was starved for 10 days. When he was given food, it was usually only the scraps left over from his brothers’ meals or what he could find in the bin. He would steal from his classmates’ lunchboxes at school in order to survive but his mother soon became suspicious of this and would put her fingers down his throat when he returned so he was sick.

He was made to sleep, shivering and uncomfortable, in the garage and was forced to sit in a POW (Prisoner of War) position out the back – sitting on his hands and not moving a muscle, otherwise he would feel his mother’s rage and endure her horrific beatings.

He was made to lay, submerged, in a freezing bath, not moving for hours and then once he was given permission to get out, he was not allowed to dry himself but had to put his dirty, smelly clothes back on and was forced to sit in the back garden, shivering.

The most disturbing attacks he had to endure, which made me feel physically sick, was firstly when she ordered him to eat the contents of his baby brother’s nappy and when he refused, his face was thrust into the nappy. The contents of the nappy went into his nostrils and down his throat. Secondly, when she grabbed his hand and held it over the lit stove, burning him, then demanding that he climbed onto the stove and lay down on it. The only blessing he received was when his brothers came home and so he did not have to obey his mother and lay on the scalding stove.

A harrowing part to this horrific story, is his father’s acute awareness of the torture that Dave is suffering, but his lack of action to do anything to prevent it. He tries to sneak Dave some food whenever he can but when his wife realises, this too soon diminishes. He is also aware of what his wife is capable of and so feels it easier just to ‘go along’ with it, until the time comes when he can take no more and leaves the family home, leaving Dave completely on his own.

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However, on the 5th March 1973, Dave heard the words that he had longed to hear for such a long time - "David, you're free. Your mother is never going to hurt you again.". The words were spoken by the Policeman who had taken the twelve-year-old Dave away from Thomas Edison Elementary School, after the staff there put their jobs on the line to protect him. They contacted the police and then Dave was taken into the care of the San Mateo Juvenile Department.

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The book states that his is the third worse case of child abuse recorded in California and I cant help but wonder what tortures the other two worst cases had to endure

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The book is only 216 pages and took me a total of about 6 hours to read. Despite the horrific content, the book is very easy to read and the pages just kept on turning. I had a great empathy for Dave Pelzer as he was recounting his story and it reduced me to tears on a number of occasions, particularly on his rescue towards the end of the book when he realised that he was finally free and I too felt his relief.

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I don’t have any children of my own yet but when that magical time finally comes, I know I will embrace them with the love and affection that my wonderful mother, a then single parent, showed me and helped me to be the person I am today. I cannot even understand what sort of woman could torture her own flesh and blood the way Dave Pelzer’s mother did and the only blessing for Dave is that he finally managed to escape the suffering.

I haven’t read the second or third instalments in this ‘series of events’ but I definitely will now as I want to, or rather, need to know what happened to Dave and his family and how he fully overcome what happened to him.

It is hard to recommend books such as ‘A Child Called It’ as everybody is different and some may find it very difficult to read his story but if after reading this review you want to find out more then I do suggest you pick up a copy as you may feel differently about the world by the time you reach the final page.

I have read other books of this kind, written by abuse sufferers, such as ‘The Little Prisoner’ and ‘Don’t ever Tell’ and I have enjoyed them all. I feel terrible for saying that I ‘enjoyed’ reading these books due to the realness of it all and obviously the content but I think it is part of being human to voyeuristically observe the ins and outs of the lives of others in "real life" situations, be it on television or on pages and to observe brutality, to look on and detach ourselves in the hope that our non-intervention will keep us safe from harm. However, in reading books such as this one, hopefully we can learn and become brave enough to take action, not be mere head-shaking observers. I am overwhelmed, when reading stories like this one, by the ability of the human to overcome such anguish and suffering and not to just ‘give up’ and I think this is another reason why I read stories like this – it restores my faith in mankind.

Thanks for Reading and to all the sufferers of any kind of abuse out there, past and present, I hope you find the strength, like Dave did, to finally be free and to get rid of your demons.

-x-

A Child Called It is available on Amazon from 1p (Used) or about £5 (New) and I’m sure you can pick up a copy from most bookstores. If you are a member of readitswapit.co.uk then you will also find a copy on there and from your local library.

Summary: The true story of a harrowing and abusive childhood.