Pelzer, David J. Title rated 4. Rate this title Rate this. Book , 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.
Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. 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 dea Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE] ACE 1 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. 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. Get A Copy. Paperback , pages. Published September 1st by Health Communications Inc first published More Details Original Title. Dave Pelzer 1. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about A Child Called "It" , please sign up.
Did Dave's mother, Catherine Pelzer, ever go to jail for child abuse? Jason Society finds it hard to accept a mother is capable of abuse. Just look at some of the comments in the reviews to see this. She went onto abuse anothe …more Society finds it hard to accept a mother is capable of abuse.
She went onto abuse another son after David left. Miranda H Khevin04, Dave Pelzer went on to write several more books about his childhood and how he persevered beyond the abuse he sustained and grew up to becom …more Khevin04, Dave Pelzer went on to write several more books about his childhood and how he persevered beyond the abuse he sustained and grew up to become a motivational speaker and advocate for others with similar childhoods filled with abuse.
His younger brother Richard Pelzer also wrote an account of his own about growing up with their abusive mother. His book is called "A Brother's Journey. I use these books in my high school classroom I am a teacher and we have located several articles and interviews in addition to the books which help you better understand the Pelzers' unique and heart-wrenching accounts.
Good luck! See all 70 questions about A Child Called "It"…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4.
Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Aug 12, Laura rated it did not like it Recommends it for: The very credulous. Shelves: fiction , overrated. This book is very likely made up from start to finish. The events in it read like Pelzer imagined the worst child abuse possible and then said, "And it all happened to me! His brother and grandmother said in an interview that it was all rubbish, too, which casts more doubt upon the whole thing. Pelzer also bought his own book in bulk so the sales numbers would put it on the bestseller list -- he just doesn't have a whole lot of credibility.
Perhaps worse than the fact that Pelzer i This book is very likely made up from start to finish. Perhaps worse than the fact that Pelzer is, shall we say, probably somewhat fluid with the truth, is the fact that he's a dreadful writer. I no longer own the book didn't put it through a shredder, like I did with "A Million Little Pieces," but I got rid of it as quickly as I could , so I can't list any examples here, but I do recall that I've seen better writing in sixth-grade themes.
View all comments. Mar 10, Eric rated it it was ok Shelves: addiction , abuse , memoirs , mental-illness. View all 68 comments. Aug 13, TK rated it it was ok. This book was horrible. A waste of my time.
You see, what really pisses me off with this book is this: I have known kids that have come from horribly abusive situations that are more genuine than Pelzer is in his "memoir. Now, before anyone wants to crucify me, look at the facts: His family members were interviewed and stated that this was pure fantasy.
I can concede This book was horrible. I can concede that the family members may have lied. He bought numerous copies of his own book to inflate sales records so that the book would have a better chance at getting on bestseller lists.
Again, I can concede that he was only helping his writing along by wanting his book to be seen by a greater audience. However, and here is the kicker for me, if this story is true, then shouldn't just writing it and getting the story told redemption enough for Pelzer? A story of this magnitude should be told, there's no doubt about that.
But it should be told with grace and humility. Pelzer should have approached this book as an avatar to the thousands of other kids out there that don't have a voice. Instead, Pelzer grandstands and makes the issue of child abuse seem like a sensationalistic piece of family trivia.
Very disappointing. View all 72 comments. Easily the most terrifying book I've ever read. I think I had literally repressed the memory of it, until I randomly happened across the title this week. I experienced this book in a fairly odd way, during a week-long cheerleading camp my sophomore year of high school.
My coach was reading it and somehow ended up reading the entire book aloud to my squad during breaks and at night. Once she started, we were all addicted and spent every free moment listening with rapt and horrified attention. I r Easily the most terrifying book I've ever read. I remember with almost painful clarity the way in which we sat at her feet listening to this story of a boy who endured a long childhood of astonishing, sadistic abuse at the hands of his mother.
Girls were crying for long stretches, and not being a crier myself, I listened in a sort of shell-shocked, wide-eyed paralysis. After every single part of the reading, I was convinced it couldn't get worse, that she couldn't possibly do anything worse to that little boy.
And every single time I was wrong. I'm not sure I would actually recommend this book or not. It is good - very good - but reads with the sort of harrowing inhumanity of a Holocaust memoir. Not light reading, and not a feel-good "I survived the odds" story. It kind of just makes you want to go home and tell your parents that you love them, and then bawl your eyes out. View all 12 comments. Oct 05, Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it Shelves: united-states , 20th-century , adult , non-fiction , memoir , biography.
He is best known for his memoir of childhood abuse, A Child Called "It". It is the story of the early years of a boy's life, and a real and moving memory.
It is Dave Pelzer's childhood, under torture and brutal starvation by his mother who was unstable and constantly intoxicated. From the mother's point of view, her son was no longer her beloved child, he was a slave, nor a boy, but "nothing" and that was "It".
The boy's bed, or old military blanket, was in the basement. His clothes were torn and frail. If the mother allowed him to eat, he would eat only the leftovers in the dog foods. He endured years of struggle, deprivation and despair, to fulfill his dreams, and to leave something of himself in this world.
Mar 23, Kohei rated it it was amazing Shelves: school-year-book. Dave Pelzer, the author of the autobiographical book, A Child Called It, shows the very dark corners of child abuse by viewing to the readers his horrific life as a young boy living with his mother that constantly abused him.
Dave Pelzer, who lived with his unstable, disturbed, alcoholic mother in a town in California during the early 70's, explains his story about his torturous unforgettable years as a young boy. Throughout the story, he does his best to survive from his mother and tries to stay alive from the pain of hunger, bruises and cuts he receives. The only thing that keeps him alive are his dreams, wanting a happy and safe family, and also being someone.
Once you have read the last word of the story, and closed the book, you will definitely know that this book has just changed your life, and your perspective of issues like these around the world, trust me, that is a fact. View all 16 comments. Jul 05, Maria Elmvang rated it did not like it Shelves: biographies , not-owned , , non-fiction , 1-star.
I did not like this book. But that's okay. You're not supposed to like it. It's a horrible, horrible book. A trainwreck of a book. I wanted to look away, but just couldn't. I know it's the first part in a trilogy, but I doubt I'm going to read the other two books. It was too, too depressing. Actually, the person I got most angry with was the father.
The mother was obviously sick and needed help. There's no other explanation for the awful things she subjected her son to. But what's the father's ex I did not like this book. But what's the father's excuse? He just stood by and did nothing? No, that's not true - he stood by and did nothing I don't get it. Nowhere in the book was it stated that he seemed afraid of his wife, so why did he allow her to treat their son so horribly?
You don't just stand by and let your SO practically kill your son, you just don't! There were two things I would have liked to know: 1 What made David different from the rest of his brothers? Why was he the one who was treated so horribly? If his mother had had some kind of reason, just something that set him apart, it would at least be part of an explanation even if it's no excuse, but it seemed totally random.
I guess it was Did she get some kind of help? Were her other boys taken away from her too? The book ended in a cliff-hanger fashion which annoyed me. Too many loose ends. I don't recommend it. Most of you would never treat a child like that anyway, and if you would, no amount of reading about it would change your opinion that you're in the 'right'. The only time I would encourage reading it is if you know somebody you fear may be subjected to child abuse, or if you want to be convinced that you should become a foster parent.
View all 22 comments. Oh my god, what can I possibly say about this book? Therefore, the lesson that Dave teaches us is that courage, hope, and faith can help you get through the hardest times in life.
Dave Pelzer Memoirist was born on the 29th of December, He was born in s, in Baby Boomers Generation. His birth sign is Capricorn and his life path number is 3. What does this all mean? This worked at first when people started making fun of him, but David got used to it. Bullies started beating the scrawny boy up everyday, it became a routine , but he was so frail and weak from being starved he couldn?
David looked muddled, he had a very terrible physical journey that made him mentally stronger. Loving God and hating his own mother kept David strong. David loved God, he prayed every night to God. He hated his mother so much he wanted to outthink her tricks, he did. He used different tactics like over exaggerating his pain when he got beat, putting a wet cloth over his mouth when his mother put cleaning products in a room with him. David kept counting time in his head in order to make the time pass faster.
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