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

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Summary: an amazing tale of survival
Review: Movies and television are filled with graphic images of violence and suffering. But as I flipped through the pages of David Pelzer's A Child Called It, the gripping tale of his childhood was far worse than anything portrayed on film. Because the book, David, and his suffering are real, a new and haunting dimension is brought to the pages of this autobiography. Told through the eyes of the young David, the reader is brought into the hell he was forced to call home. His mother, an abusive alcoholic, beat David day after day. She constantly dreamed of new ways to make "the boy" suffer. David went days without food, was forced to swallow ammonia, and was stabbed in the stomach with a kitchen knife... all actions from the woman whom he still sought acceptance from. He was sent to school every day in the same clothes, dirty and hungry. His life was a life of misery instead of luxury and of survival as opposed to love. But David did survive. He remained strong during the times when his body was weak and his mind wanted to give up... strong enough to put to paper the events of his childhood into a 3-part series. A Child Called It is the first in the trilogy. David's life, unique in its own merits, is truly an eye-opening tale.

Rating:
Summary: A child called it
Review: I give the book a Child called it 2 thumbs UP! IT is suspenseful, thrilling, scary, and amazing all in one simple easy reading book. The book basically makes you feel like you are each and every character. IT makes you get a little feeling of who and what each character. IT makes you get a little feeling of who and what each character is about. And what their role is in the story. The book makes you want to help the characters in the book to make them better people.
After you read this book you just want to be a nicer person all around. It makes you think twice about how lucky you really are to be living your life the way that you do. You might not have your favorite CD or play station game or even movie, but look at what you do have, and be thankful for that. IF you have a roof over your head, food to eat, clothes on your back and one or two people that love you then you are one of the luckiest people in the world. Sometimes it isn't even what you have physically that makes you lucky but its what you have mentally.
No matter how good of a person you are sometimes you just don't' deserve what you get. People aren't fair and neither is life. The young boy in this story learned that very quickly at a young age. He grew up thinking that he was a bad person, thinking everything he did was wrong. When really his mom brainwashed him into thinking this.
The book makes you want to live your life to the fullest. Not day-by-day but minute-by-minutes. Don't think about what might happen. Think about what is going to happen. It also makes you want to help out other people. Get people out of trouble if you have the power to do that. Maybe even if it means just to brighten up some ones day. Don't you feel special when you have the power to make someone feel good? Well if you can do it then why not?
I enjoy this book a lot. This is the first chapter book I have ever read in my entire 16 years of living. I really hope you decide to read it. But I'm telling you your going to read the first book and then your going to want to read the sequel to it.
Take what life hands you, and make the best of everything each and everyday.

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Summary: My Review on "A Child Called It"
Review: The book "A Child Called It" was such a great book. It was a very fast reading book. I love it because it brought out so many feelings and emotions. My feelings went from sad to happy to angry in a matter of minutes. I kind of felt like the little boy David was myself.
I also kind of liked the book because I can relate to the story. I, myself was not abused at all, but my foster brother was taken out of his house because he was abused a lot. (...) Reading this book made me realize how lucky I am to have parents that actually and really do care for me and love me. (...) This book is very realistic, because it is a true story about a boy named David who was abused throughout the younger part of his life.
I am thinking about borrowing the next two sequels. I hope they come out with a whole line of books based on this story. Once I started to read this book, it was hard to put down!

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Summary: Chid Abused
Review: This book is about the author, Dave Peltzer, who was abused by his depressed, alcoholic mother. Through the story, all of the boy's struggles are expressed in very vivid detail. The descriptions of what goes on are so real that you get a mental picture of exactly what is going on. The subject of imagery is very good to connect with this book. "A Child Called It" is an excellent book to use for a college literature course. This was an excellent book, not because it was positive. Some of the things that David's mother did were so horrible. It is hard to believe that a parent could do those things to their child. The issue of child abuse became very aware to me through the reading of this book. Child Abuse is so much more common than we think. Cases of abuse are not always reported so sometimes people never know.

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Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: "A Child Called It" was definitely a suspense novel. I came in one night and saw that my sister had left is lying on the floor of our bedroom that we share. I had heard her discuss it, but I had never really paid attention. I picked it up, planning only to flip through it and then set it aside. I found myself over two hours later, still reading the book. I fell asleep reading it that night [literally, i slept on it] and rushed home from school to finish it. It was the best book I've read it awhile. It made me so angry at the mother, and so compassionate toward David. I cried at the end. I still haven't gotten my hands on a copy of his next book, The Lost Boy, but I'm planning on getting it soon. You should really read it, and see what it's about. It opened my eyes to how horrible child abuse is, and how it's more than just a parent hitting and screaming at a child, it can be deadly, and it's got to be stopped.

Rating:
Summary: A Child Called "It"
Review: This book is an autobiography written by the victim of the third worse child abuse case in California history. In this book, David Pelzer talks about his plight, which began when he was at the tender age of five, and continued until he was twelve. From the very first page, David's personal story horrifies the reader. Throughout the book, David tells of the countless horrible and inhuman acts, from brutal beatings to poisonings, to starvation, heaped upon him by his own mother, while his father turned a blind eye. Even David's own brothers and schoolmates ridicule and reject him, until finally his teachers risk their jobs in order to save his life, and help to remove him from his abuser's home. David survives this torturous abuse because of his strong faith in God and his innate will to live. I recommend this book for anyone, because it reminds us that we do not live in an ideal world, people sometimes are not as they seem, and we must protect our most precious commodity, our children. This book is a good resource for any person who works with children, such as teachers, social workers and foster parents. I would not, however, recommend this book for children because of it's graphic and disturbing contents. I am a preservice teacher attending the University of Mississippi. By reading this book, I have come to realize that I might someday encounter an abused child in my classroom. Because I have read this book, I am aware that I must be watchful and wary of children who display the tendencies that David displayed. Perhaps I will be a beacon of hope to some child, as David's teachers were to him. Thank you, Mr. Pelzer for sharing your story with the world. By sharing your story, you have most certainly saved many precious young lives.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: This book is very heartbreaking. It opened my eyes to the horror of child abuse. When I think about a child abuse incident, I simply think about a child being hit. This book points out the many kinds of physical abuse and mental abuse. I feel great sorrow for all the gruesome abuse inflicted on abused children. This book made me realize how severe some abuse cases really are. I think it is great that Pelzer can share his experience with others.

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Summary: WOW!
Review: This book is absolutely heart-wrenching. I read the entire book today. I could not put it down. We've all heard about child abuse and neglect, but I doubt anyone can fathom how bad it actually can be. This book is inspirational. A must-read for anyone who thought they had it rough as a child. The graphical nature of this book left me astonished with my mouth just hanging open in disbelief. With the turn of each page, I just kept hoping for the acts to stop. I kept wondering what more could be done to a human being. I still can't believe that anyone could have survived this torture. My heart goes out to Dave Pelzer and all of the unknown children who have and are living this same nightmare!

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Summary: A CHILD CALLED "IT"
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK. IT WAS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER THIS CHILD LIVED THROUGH. I ADMIRE DAVE PELZERS COURAGE TO SHARE HIS LIFE STORY WITH THE WORLD. HE IS A VERY BRAVE MAN WHO DESERVED MUCH BETTER THAN HE GOT. NO CHILD SHOULD HAVE WENT THROUGH WHAT HE WENT THROUGH. THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY AND I MADE ME REALIZE HOW GOOD OF A LIFE I HAVE. I COUNT MY BLESSINGS EVERYDAY KNOWING WHAT DAVE PELZER WENT THROUGH WHEN HE WAS A CHILD. I HOPE THAT THE WORLD REALIZES WHAT A GREAT BOOK THIS REALLY IS. I AM A "CHILD" MYSELF AND I FEEL THAT EVERY TEENAGER SHOULD READ THIS BOOK AND REALIZE THAT LIFE IS NOT AS BAD AS MOST OF THEM THINK. I HOPE THAT YOU TAKE MY ADVICE AND DEFINITELY READ THIS BOOK!

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Summary: The sadness
Review: When I read the book "a child called it" I felt as though I should be happy with my parents who they are and how they discipline me. When I read this book I felt sad and started to cry. That was the first book that made me sad and start to cry.I think if you like an emotional book you should buy this one because a young reader like me wouldn't really cry but that's how sad it was.