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

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.

This book is a perfect example of how the human spirit can provide strength in the toughest of situations. David's spirit helped him to survive through his mother's emotional and physical abuse. He refused to let his mother win. He had no one to help him so he learned how to fend for himself. His courage and determination saved him from all of the suffering that he endured at such a young age.

David is a living testament of resilience. His faith and personal responsibility helped him transform into an emotionally healthy and competent adult. A large percentage of emotionally and physically abused children become abusive in their adult years. The abusiveness could be a cycle, passed down from generation to generation. Their rage and pain of being abused could be turned on themselves or the ones they love. David, at a young age, showed strong signs of being a planner as well as a problem solver. These character traits, along with caring adults (nurses, teachers, social workers, etc.), help him to become resilient. David's inner strength helped him turn shame into pride and rejection into acceptance. A Child Called "It" sends an inspirational message of resilience and the human spirit. A person has the ability to leave their dark past and look forward to a better tomorrow. If David Pelter could do it than anyone can!


A Great Man of Survival   April 1, 2002
George L. Ramas (Walnut Creek, CA USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

After seeing Dave Pelzer on the Oprah show, I just had to buy his first book 'The Child Called It". Well needless to say, if you truly love children you'll need a box of tissue to get through this first book. I am now Dave's third book in the series, A Man Called Dave. I shared these books with four other people and they all swear that if they ever met Dave's mother they'd probably end up in prison for what she did to this man as a boy and even later on in life. It is truly remarkable that "any" human being could possibly survive such a life like Dave has lived. Especially, when you see him on TV, he seems like such a wonderful person who has survived such a monumental life of torture at the hand of his insane mother. I can't say enough to those who read this review that when you order the first book, you'll be forced into ordering his other two. We truly found it so compelling of a story that when we all finished each book we couldn't wait to start the next hopefully to find that the wicked witch of the west would finally get hers. God Bless Dave Pelzer. There definitely will be a place in heaven for Dave when the time comes for him.


GOOD JOB DAVE!   March 9, 2000
Corey Roggen
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer is an easy read, but full of idea, advice and emotion. The book goes into detail of how a young Dave Pelzer survived in his years of torment and abuse controled by his mother. The conversation used to show how dreadful Dave's growing up was, shows the reader very specifically the events that occured in his daily life. This story is one that will make your angry at times, happy at times, and cry many times. It is an autobiography explaining how to live being raised as a slave to your own family, and the courage that Dave had to survive. It does not only tell a story, but it educates people on how to live for yourself, and value what you have. This book is short, but contains graphic abuse, given both mentally and physically. People who are not in the mood to cry, should not read this book. Middle school children through adults can read this story, but middle school children may not pick up on small writing style changes used to show Dave's change in emotion. A Child Called "It" is a "never put downer" as well as a good literary piece with a respectable theme. It is an excellent read for enjoyment or education on abusive lifestyles. A Child Called "It" was a fantastic book.


A Child Called "It"   April 4, 2000
Rachelle Jacobson (Duluth, MN)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

A Child Called "It" was one of the saddest stories that i have ever read in my life. This is a the first part of a trilogy. The book is about a little boys life from the time that he was 4 until he was 12. The book talks about the severe abuse and torture of a little boy. The more that I read the more that it brought me to tears to think that anyone could be so cruel to their own child. This little boy was forced to sleep in a garage on a cot with no blankets and was not considered a part of the family. Everyday this child was forced to do all the family chores and if it was not done in a very speedy manner the boy was not allowed to do anything. The child was called "the boy" as if he had no name or even existed at all. The boy was starved for days on end while the rest of the family ate like a family. If the boy was good he was able to eat the leftovers from the rest of the family's plates but never given a plate of his own to enjoy. At one time the mother didn't like that he was eating leftovers and from the trash and began to pour bleach over the food in the garbage. In another effort to either get the boy very sick or to stave him again. It got to a point that the boy was so hungry that he began stealing food from other kids lunch boxes at school. When he was caught he then would leave school at lunchtime and run all the way to the nearest store and steal what ever food that he could then he would hide it to eat later. When the boys mother found out that he was getting food some way she would make him come home from school and throw up all that he had eaten and at one time she even forced him to eat the vomit. The boys mother would also have torture sessions with the boy she locked him in a bathroom with a bucket of ammonia mixed with bleach. The boy talks about how bad that his lungs are burning and that he had to put his head near the heating vent in order to breath. There are many other sessions talked about where the mother would make him hold out his arms and burn him on the fire from the gas stove. The one that I found to be very hard to read about is when the mother actually stabed the child. This mother had no concern about the fact that the child was bleeding or that the wound had became infected. The boy kept looking to his father to be his savior but that was not what happened either. Father was a hero to the boy for years and then one day the boy realize that the rath of mother was more then father could handle either. This poor child was miss treated and abused for years with no help from anyone. I think that the biggest upset to all of this was that in the years that this happened no one really knew a lot about abuse or perhaps didn't want to get involved. Finally the school did get involved and I believe that is what saved this childs life. I am now reading the second part to this trilogy and am really looking forward to some answers to the questions that I have in my mind. Such as what happened to this mother after this child was taken away because the boy was taken. I am also wondering why the other children were not beaten like David. I am hoping that as i get done with the second book an begin the third that it all has a happy ending and that Davis's story will help a lot of other children that are going through the same thing to speak out because there is no excuse for the way that this child was treated.


One child's courage to survive   January 7, 2002
Bubbles (Rochester, NY)
27 out of 34 found this review helpful

David Pelzer suffered from and survived the third worst case of child abuse in California. After living through his nightmare, he managed to re-visit his childhood and write the autobiography in a three-book sequence. His first book titled, A Child Called "It", portrays his life from when his family life was too perfect, to when each day he woke up to fight to stay alive. Throughout the book he tells of his abuse, life at home, and his only hope of living, his father. As the story progresses and the severity of David's abuse grows worse every day, he comes to the same decision; do I fight to live or hope to die?
With the exception of the first chapter, the rest of David's life is told as a flashback. The fact that the book begins with David's rescue gives you reassuring hope that soon his torture will end. The way in which David Pelzer writes, matures at the same rate as his age and character. In many instances, this makes one feel David's pain and anguish. This technique creates an imaginary sense of friendship between the reader and David. The author builds loyalty to the reader through his narrative approach. David Pelzer is uncomplicated and innocent, just as a child would be. His genuine, child-like dialogue draws you to his life, and feeds your compassion and desire to save him.
David was born to something commonly known as the "Perfect Family". His early childhood was spent on trips to the Golden Gate Bridge and Russian River where they would go camping for weeks at a time. He was born to a loving and devoted mother, a proud and brave father, and two brothers that only exceeded his own age by a few years. For whatever reason, he never explained what exactly had started his abuse. He mentions his parent's love of drinking, yet it was never mentioned to be at a cause of his dramatic lifestyle change. When the abuse begins, he mentions how he remembers his parents fighting. Yet even their marital issues never seemed to have gotten in the way of their love for their children. Throughout the book he never formally addresses a specific cause to the start of what he once thought would be the end of his life.
As his mother stripped him of his very own humanity, his spiritual self was all he had left to keep himself alive. His father, who he once thought would someday save him, gradually faded out of his life. When his dad finally moved out, David hated the world. He claimed that his far worst enemy was God, for not answering any of his prayers. David learned to hate anyone that knew of his situation, yet failed to help him. David Pelzer also learns to become his own hero. He knew that if he didn't have his own heard, he would die. Yet there were times when he even doubted that much. There are points in the book where he describes waking up and hoping that today would be the day she finally killed him and woke him from his never ending nightmare. This compelling story will take its reader from heart-wrenching torture and discipline, to David Pelzer's rescue and recovery of his own life.