Author: Dave Pelzer
Title: A Child Called It
Rating: 5
Reviewer: Lizard Grade: 7
Review:
The Child Called It is an exciting autobiography. It is the story of David Pelzer as he struggles and suffers through one of the most severe cases of child abuse in California history.
David's life was normal, he was happy, he had a good meal, he played with his friends, and he watched TV. Until he was about four years old. David's mother and father would have "happy hour." They would line up all the beer, wine, gin, and rum and drink themselves to sleep. From then on David was the target for his mother's headaches and sleepiness, but worst of all her anger. On a good day he would be called "him" and receive lighter beatings and scraps of food leftover from his brothers’. On a bad day David and his mother would play "games." Games that would leave him nearly dead. His mother's favorite was the bathroom prison. David was forced into the bathroom where his mother would mix cleaning chemicals to make a gas chamber effect. This would leave David to choke and suffer.
David was no longer aloud to sleep on the first floor he had to sleep in the basement on an old army cot with nothing but newspapers to keep him warm at night. When David wasn’t doing “chores” or having dirty diapers shoved down his throat, he was sitting in Military Position. This is a very uncomfortable position, you have to sit on your hands with your feet and legs stretched out in front of you and tilt your head back to look at the ceiling. Poor David had to do this for two to four hours every day!
When David went to school he would steal frozen lunch trays from the cafeteria and eat them in the bathroom, when he was caught doing this the principal told his mother about it, she was furious! David continued to do this, so as a way of making sure David didn’t digest the food “the” mother would shove her hand down David’s throat and make him throw up the food. David’s strategy was not working and he needed food. So on his way to school he would pretend that he had forgotten his lunch and ask people if they had spare food they could give him. David figured that if he ate the food in the morning, he would have time to digest the food. This plan worked fine until he knocked on the door of one of his mother’s friend’s house, she told David's mother about it and David was punished severely.
The Child Called It is a book that you will not be able to put down. It is the kind of book that will have you feeling his every emotion, pain, and desire. You might even find yourself cheering him on! Another reason that this book will keep you captivated is that this is a true story, and will keep you wondering about how he survived. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to stay up all night and read it!
9/6/2004
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