Rating: 
Summary: A Child Called It Review
Review: I don't like to read books too much, but for my summer reading we were required to read a book. I picked A Child Called It and it was the best book I've ever read. It really reaches out to you and touches you on the inside and out. I would read it over and over again and again. You would never imagine what a child can go through, until you read this book. You feel like you are actually there, the way that David Pelzer tells the story. The best part is that this book is an autobiography so you know theres no lies or fiction in it. If you read this book, you will understand what I am talking about. I'd say that the age range to read this book is about 14 and up. Thanks!
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible abuse...but massive denial still persists
Review: 'It's two stars go to the first chunk of the book, in which the factual portrayal of abuse against the boy took place. He amazingly remembered a lot of it, to his credit, and it was horrific! As far as I was concerned, however, the rest of the book was junk. Book's weak points: 1) 'the third worst case of child abuse in the state of California' ' pure grandiosity! Yes, that boy went through living hell, but c'mon, who's rating? 2) His idea that he's so completely turned his life around, worked through his abuse, and is now living a purely positive life ' gimme a break!?! I didn't feel he really worked through his abuse all that much. What I did feel was that he walled off all his feelings around the abuse and simply moved on with his life, put his abuse past him. Only in that way, I believe, could he have written such an emotionally dead story of his own abuse. This book lacked feeling! It was more like he was just retelling what happened on a surface level'but not on an emotional level within. 3) And the tell-all: supposedly the author has really worked through his abuse, but I don't feel he's broken the abuse cycle at all, with the dead giveaway for me being what he did with his adult life: joined the Air Force, and 'played a major role' in Desert Storm, joining in the slaughter and destruction of Iraq, a great way for an out-of-touch person to act out the anger and hostility for one's own deeply buried (but still perfectly alive) emotional wounds of childhood. Incidentally, didn't the U.S. destruction of Iraq's infrastructure and economy (surely in part by Air Force bombing) leave something like a million or two Iraqi children destitute'sounds like abuse to me! (perhaps even worse than the Third Worst Case In California') And yet, does Dave Pelzer speak against that? No, he brags about his 'unique' accomplishments!
Rating:
Summary: The awful tale of a young child
Review: When I first read this book, I thought that it was a piece of fiction. But once I started searching for information on the author, I learned that all the cruel and horriblwe things that happened to Dave actually happened. I felt appauled that a mother could do this to her own son: starving him; beating him; forcing him to swallow ammonia and the worst part - putting him in a room with poisonous fumes that would have killed him slowly. I don't know how Dave did it - put up with all of that for eight years. But why did his mother turn against him in the first place? I would like to know what would cause a mother to turn into such violent and evil person. Parents who do that obviously have a problem with their brains...
Rating:
Summary: A must read.
Review: As a Foster parent for eight years I felt this book was a "must read" and I was not let down. The book is very well written and has an excellent balance of the unimaginable interspersed with moments of hope so the reader is not completely left in despair. If you wish to begin to understand what is going on in the minds of the thousands of children who endure abuse on a daily basis, this is one book that can not be ignored.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrifying tales of child abuse...sad but true.
Review: I do not want to sound negative but this was not what I consider an inspirational book. It was very depressing and I just couldnt imagine that a parent could do so many horrifying things to their own child. I have to read the next book in the series to see how David survives in the world after he is taken out of his abusive home. I could not put the book down but it was a depressing read. With the help of God and the substitute teacher, he was able to escape this nightmare of a life. I am sure the next book will be more uplifting than this one was.
Rating: 
Summary: Not good for my emotional health
Review: Child abuse is such an ugly reality to too many. I first became aware of Dave Pelzer from watching Montel Williams back in 1997. Dave was on the show, as well as some teenager who also a victim of gross child abuse named Wesley. Dave was allegedy the third worst case of child abuse in California history, and if you're wondering whatever happened to the victims who suffered worse abuse than Pelzer, unfortunately they died. The problem I have with this book is I find too much of the content hard to swallow. It's really hard to believe anyone could survive any of this, the stabbings, the swallowing of ammonia and other poisonous liquids, the Clorox and ammonia combination to form a poisonous cloud, the burnings on the gas stove, not to mention the stabbing without sending Dave to the hospital immediately. Plus I am wondering why I never heard that he had any broken bones (aside from the incident where Dave was made to sleep on the top bunk bed, rather than the usual bottom), especially from abuse that severe. What I'm really disturbed about is why didn't teachers, social workers, and the police not rescue Dave much earlier? How on Earth could Dave's neighbors not notice? The Pelzers weren't exactly living in some remote wilderness, they were living in a San Francisco suburb where I'd find extremely hard to believe anyone living next to the Pelzers would not hear Dave scream in the most terrifying manner because of one of those gruesome "punishments" his "mother" inflicts on him (I refuse to think of Catherine Roerva as a mother). This book is a wakeup call for all those who live in denial about child abuse. Too many people have that "it can't happen here" attitude. But the problem I have with this book I find what Dave went through a bit overexagerrated. Of course I don't doubt he was abused as a child. In fact I met way too many people in real life who have been abused as a child, most of them never seemed to have came to terms with themselves over the past, unfortunately. It just disturbs me greatly to no end even if they went through only a fraction of what Dave Pelzer said he went through. The problem I have is I seriously doubt Dave would even be alive had he gone through thoses abuses he said he did. And no matter what, when Dave was taken away by the Children's Service Division, they should've taken away all of Catherine Roerva's other kids away as well since she was totally unfit to be a mother. Not to mention, thinking about this book or Dave Pelzer in general just makes me an emotional wreck.
Rating:
Summary: A Child Called It
Review: I found that I could not put this book down. I read it cover to cover in three hours. It wasn't until the author described how he loved his baby brother Kevin that I began to cry. This book brought back to me the feelings that I had of hopelessness and despair, and the survival skills that I learn that continue to help me today. Not everyone survives childhood abuse, but in this book the author carefully details his every waking minute and the fact that he could continue to feel love and overcome insurmountable odds. This book is a diagram of the miracle of the strength in the human spirit. I cannot wait to read the follow up books. This book fell into my lap, and I needed to read it.
Rating:
Summary: The hidden truth
Review: Dave Pelzer tells the harrowing story of his severely abused childhood, his struggle to live through beatings, torture and neglect by his sadistic, alcoholic mother. And his father never raised a finger to help. This book is a real eye-opener for those of us who were fortunate enough to have lived safe, secure childhoods in a loving home. It is almost beyond belief, the depths to which Dave Pelzer's mother sank. And yet there's a message of hope, because Pelzer pulled through and now helps children who find themselves in similar predicaments. READ THIS BOOK even if you're sqeamish, even if the thought of child cruelty is as abhorrent to you as it is to me. READ THIS BOOK is you've ever been tempted to abuse your child. READ THIS BOOK if you think that kids today are safe under the umbrella of community social protection. JUST READ THIS BOOK.
Rating: 
Summary: Heart wrenching
Review: This is a very good book but so sad. I could barely contain myself reading this. I wanted to jump into the book and just take that woman (if you can call her that) and give to her what she really deserves. I cant believe that she was allowed to keep her other children after the awful things she did to David. I've read this book and the one following and now I am going to begin the 3rd. I really hope the 3rd book helps bring some closure because this woman really deserves to pay for the terrible crimes she instilled on her own children !!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A child called it
Review: This book was unbelievable to read. I could not set it down. I found myself thinking about so many things related to the book with many unanswered questions.
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