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

Pros: Written in a style that is very readable despite the graphic content presented.
Cons: Author leaves you hanging with how the rest of his life unfolded.

Although I completed reading this book some time ago, it's extremely difficult to decide just what to write about it. I came into it thinking that I was going to read a story of inspiration. I thought that although the topic was not a happy one,...

Pros: A very engaging read.
Cons: Some parts are just a little TOO unbelievable.

David Pelzer's A Child Called "It", the first in his trilogy (followed by The Lost Boy and A Man Called Dave) tells the story of his first 12 years of life, most of which was lived at the abusive hand of his mother in "one of the...

Pros: This story will grab you and not allow you to put it down.
Cons: That any mother could do these horrible things to her own child is unimaginable.

This review is my contribution to the Helping Hands Write-Off sponsored by bgoodday. All proceeds from these contributions are to be donated to the cause of the author's choice. Please read below the review for more information and a ...

Pros: That Pelzer is alive today to share his tale
Cons: That Pelzer had to go through it to share this tale; also badly written

In just a few short hours, I started and completed A Child Called "IT". And when I was finished, I sat in deep thought. Unlike many others, though, my thoughts were a bit different. Am I cold-hearted and unfeeling? And why would I ask such of...

Pros: emotionally charged, very well-written
Cons: will make you angry at what he was forced to go through and will break your heart.

Child abuse. Cold, cruel, heartless, unbelievable. Something that no one wants to talk about, yet it happens to the most vulnerable members of our society way too often.

Don't read this book unless you are prepared to have your heart broken....

Pros: Brutally Honest
Cons: Ending is Incomplete

Author David Pelzer's first book, "A Child Called It", details his early years of child abuse that he received at the hands of his downright evil mother. I read this book completely, from cover to cover, without stopping. This is a definite ...

Pros: True story, excellent writing
Cons: Very sad

This is the stuff Stephen King books are made of: absolute horror; cruelty beyond imagination. Except it’s a true story. I heard about Dave Pelzer and his childhood of abuse from other social workers I work with, so I thought I knew what I was getting...

Pros: Not written in a way as to instill pity in the reader
Cons: It happens.....

What could possibly provoke a woman once so loving, nurturing and seemingly happy to wreak such deadly havoc on the life of a small child? And what was the motivation behind her choosing to torture this one out of an eventual five sons.

...

Pros: Chilling saga of child abuse and neglect
Cons: Almost too tragic to read

Tortured, physically and mentally, from the time he was four years old to thirteen, David Pelzer's story compels you to understand and think about the amount of abuse and torture a physical mind and body can take before reaching a breaking point, if...

Pros: A page-turner.
Cons: Inspires guilt with its entertainment factor, ungainly writing.

"Miss H? Have you read it yet?"

"No, I still haven't read it."

"When're you gonna read it?"

"It's in the middle of the book stack. I'll get to it!"

"C'mon, Miss H! You hafta read it!"

It's rare that...

Pros: a story everyone should be aware of
Cons: it is a sickening tale of horrifying child abuse

Like many others who've reviewed this book, I've had A Child Called 'It' just sitting on my shelf for awhile. Why you may ask would one buy a book only to let it sit there? Well, I wanted to read this book. I wanted to read the story of this...

Pros: A page turner
Cons: Disturbing story, incomplete ending.

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer is the disturbing story of one of the worst cases of child abuse documented in California history. I had actually heard about the living hell Pelzer endured at the hands of his own mother years ago when he...

Pros: shows the strength and fortitude of this tortured young boy
Cons: this story is so disturbing that I could not sleep after I fini shed it

David Pelzer is a survivor. He is my hero. He is also one of few seriously abused children who miraculously made it to adulthood. This painful emotional true story, A Child Called It, is the first of a trilogy describing in vivid, horrific detail the...

Pros: It reminded me of how special my life and that of my family is.
Cons: Need a box of tissue to finish.

As I was reading this book, I cried as I looked back on my own life. While my struggles were not near as horrific as David's, I saw some similarities. I also was in a large family where I was the only child who was the outcast. I, too, did not ...

Pros: Inspirational, Courageous
Cons: Very difficult to endure the horrible passages

What can be more demoralizing to a child than losing his identity in the world? Can you think of anything sadder than a child who was not considered human by his own family?

This book is an autobiography written by David Pelzer about the...