The Child Called It

A Child called "It" is an touching story about a young boy's feelings about when he was physically and mentally abused by his drunken mother. It is an extraordinary true story about one of the most severe child abuse cases in the state of California. Dave Pelzer's autobiography describes his feelings about his mother, and all of the sick things she does to him. In the coldness of the garage, my entire body trembled from both the cold anger and intense fear. I wanted to scream, but I refused to give Mother the pleasure of hearing me cry." Dave suffered for years. Catherine Pelzer was once a wonderful Mom, but a serious drinking habit and illness took over her life. She would hit, slap, burn, starve, poison-anything to hurt Dave. He felt so alone, and had no friends at school. People always made fun of him. "David the Food Thief" and "Pelzer-Smellzer" were two of the playground favorites. Personally, I think child abuse is so horrible and destructive. It should be looked out for more throughout schools, and by friends because sometimes kids are too scared to stick up for themselves. I suggest everyone should read this book because it shows you how precious life is, and how lucky most of us are. I most warn you though that there is some pretty tough stuff, and it can be very hard to read at times.

A Child called "It" has taught me many things. Child abuse is more real than most people would think. In 1991, more than 2.7 million child abuse cases were reported. The saddest thing is that the number keeps increasing! Child abuse is a very serious issue that our country probably doesn't focus enough on. Dave was very strong, and survived for himself.