A Stark Insight Into Child Abuse (A Child Called 'It' - Dave Pelzer)

Member Name: cazkins

Product:	A Child Called 'It' - Dave Pelzer
Date:	17/02/09 (135 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read as it's well-written, elicits the right level of emotion

Disadvantages: Abrupt ending

I've got a feeling I might get a bit of criticism for what I'm going to say about this book because I knew it seems to be a very highly thought of autobiography. That doesn't mean I didn't think it was well-written and touching, but I was a little disappointed after reading it.

I don't think there will be many people who haven't heard of David Pelzer's 'A Child Called It' as it certainly seems to be very well-known. It was published in 2001 and quickly received the 'number one bestseller' title that features on the recent covers. I was intrigued to read it, partially because of the good reviews I've read and because I've been reading a lot of similar autobiographical styles lately. There seems to be a fine line between getting the emotional impact just right; enough to elicit empathy and feeling without sounding, dare I say it, like a 'sob story'. I'm glad to say that Dave manages to get his story across very well without it sounding like the latter.

The begins with an overview of how family life was for Dave at a young age. His mother sounds very caring and loving, and it's hard to imagine the story changing to the one expected of horrific abuse. Things seem to change very rapidly, almost like him waking up one morning to life with a new mother. Over the remaining pages we read of how Dave, as a young child, was starved, beaten and abused by his mother. The thought of any of that is bad enough but thinking that a mother could do some of the more inventive things she dreamt up is stomach-churning. For instance, shutting him in the bathroom with a bucket of chemicals for him to breathe in and potentially kill him.

The physical punishments must have taken a great toll on this little boy, though I imagine the psychological harm was far worse. Not being able to understand why your mother was treating you the way she was and growing up with such constant abuse would make anyone start to believe it was a normal occurrence. His mother would get him to repeat that he was a 'bad boy' and say out loud that he hated himself. Without anyone to tell him otherwise and without any intervention, it appears this could have gone on endlessly with him subject to believing it was normal and that his mother was right. Dave however seemed to be resilient and desperate to keep his head above the water to survive, whether that meant stealing lunches or finding other small ways to survive the abuse on a daily basis.

What's strange, and downright infuriating, is the fact that his father was present. There was someone else in the household, a responsible adult, who should have been there to ensure his safety and wellbeing. It appears the husband was scared and oppressed by his wife who was not to be challenged, though I feel that as an adult and a father he was able to, and most definitely should have, intervened right from the start. Although there are moments when he tries to help, like attempting to get David some food when his mother was starving him, it was very little and far between. Eventually, his dad became passive and allowed his wife to do as she wished. Which, in my opinion, is like condoning what was happening. Not surprisingly, Dave lost respect for his dad as his hero and we see the young boy gradually blocking himself out from emotion so as to escape what was happening.

I believe that there is also a book written by another Pelzer, one of Dave's brothers, though I haven't read that yet. I'd be interested to see his perspective though, as these boys were only young and although they didn't seem to be subject to the same abuse as Dave, they were all under the same roof and living in the same atmosphere of tension and misery. All the way through the book, I couldn't help but get angry because I kept thinking.. 'if I was his brother', 'if I was his teacher' or 'if I was his dad' then I would have spoken up, I would have got help..I definitely wouldn't have turned a blind eye or let it continue the way it did. But then again I've never experienced any of what any of these people have, I don't know what it's like to live in that fear or to have someone so controlling and manipulative for a mother.

All in all, I found that Dave's writing style, written from the perspective of him as a child, was easy to read. It was emotional with enough factual information to really get a good idea of what happened and how he felt. Why did I say I felt disappointed? Well, it looked as though I was about ¾ of the way through the book. I had just finished a chapter and was eager to turn the page to find out what happened next after Dave said he feared for his life... only to find the book abruptly ended there. The following pages consisted of an epilogue and chapters from his next two books. I don't like the fact that you get so drawn in to something and want to know how it ends, and then get told you need to buy the next book to find out. We're left with David still at home suffering at the hands of his abusive mother, where I think it should continue further. Perhaps there really was too much to cram into one book, though I was a bit disappointed by this (as the book has only 7 chapters and a lot of the page are taken up by the excepts from the next books).

The RRP is £6.99, though Amazon sell it for £5.49 (check your library first just incase). It gives you what it says on the cover; a story of 'one child's courage to survive'.

Overall, I think it's an emotional read that qualifies as a 'page turner'. But be warned, you'll end buying the next one (and probably the one after that), just to find out how it ends.

Summary: A very emotion-provoking read