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.

Product Description

This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it."

Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive--dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.

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!


HUGE disappointment   May 25, 2005
 71 out of 112 found this review helpful

DISCLAIMER: Please bear in mind that ENGLISH IS NOT MY NATIVE LANGUAGE, so instead of deconstructing my every single sentence and nitpicking every word (as some have done to excuse some pretty insulting remarks), just focus on the general idea which, I'm pretty sure, leaves no doubt as to my opinion on the book.

I have conflicting feelings about this book. It is Dave's autobiography, a man who was brutally abused between 4 and 12 years old during the beginning of the 70s. According to him, his case wast the third worst in history of child abuse in the state of California.

When I began reading, I did it from the idea that every autobiography is a lie. Please, do not misunderstand me: I didn't begin with the intent of disbelieving. What I mean is that every person, when recoung their life history, manipulates (be it consciously or unconsciously) their memories. It is impossible to be 100% truthful when narrating facts that happened years ago (or even a minute ago) becuase their emotions (and even the facts themselves) are processed by their minds and it is wishful thinking to believe they can be reproduced accurately.

The abovesaid, like I stated, didn't predispose me to disbelieve. Quite the opposite, in fact: it predisposed me to give him a certain leeway between the limits of credibility and disbelief, in order to accept his story as true. With this in mind, I expected to find a story of courage and survival; instead, I found little more that a very detailed description of a series of abuse. What he describes is truly awful, but at times I found myself doubting his words. One of literature's main rules is that it is preferable to narrate false facts, but believable, than true facts, but unbelievable.

One of the tortures told is that Pelzer's mother used to lock him in a bathroom without ventilation, with a bucket filled with ammonia and clorox. From this combination emanates a toxic gas that was one of the first (if not the first, I'm not totally sure) chemical weapons used during World War I. I find it hard to believe that a child would survive after being repeatedly exposed to this. So, like I said, a series of abuse of this extreme kind are narrated, which makes me believe the author exaggerates.

At the beginning of his book, Pelzer states that he writes from the viewpoint of the boy he was back then; however, his way of processing things do not pertain to a boy.


From a literary point of view, this book has no redeeming quality. It is poorly written and nothing more than an extremely graphic and detailed depiction of different instances of (horryfying) abuse. I find no inspiration value in that. At all. To me, it is the equivalent of a film which's only value is showing detailed images of slaughtered bodies.

Come to think about it, I do not have conflicting feelings at all. I utterly disliked it. At first I thought mine was an 'improper' response, because this autobiography has received spectacular reviews in different places and has been a best-seller for years. Giving it more thought, I think this is due to the pity it inspires in those who believe in Pelzer's every single word. From this point of view, my review is not 'improper', but heartless. If everything he narrates is true (which I seriously doubt), I have a seat waiting for me in Hell.


A Child Called "It"   March 28, 2000
 67 out of 125 found this review helpful

I have read all 500+ customer reviews of this book and was astonished that only three people questioned the validity of Pelzer's story. My review makes four.

Dave, answer some questions for your readers:

At no time, through all the torture and torment -- both physical and mental -- did it occur to you to run away from "Mommie Dearest"? To seek help from outside the home?

Why is there no corroborating evidence from other family members? Your father, brothers and grandparents simply deserted you?

How does one survive starvation for three weeks? Especially a very young child?

How does one survive a deep stab wound to the stomach? Especially when packing the wound with dirty rags from the basement? No serious infection? No medical attention needed?

No serious illness from being forced to eat feces? Nothing?

How about the family physician? He didn't suspect anything during checkups?

School teachers didn't notice filthy clothes and no food intake? They didn't ask why you weren't eating lunch? How about the unexplained weight loss? Nobody noticed?

Too many unanswered questions, Dave.

My advice to anyone who is considering this book: Don't believe everything you read.


Powerful story of survival.   May 27, 2001
 58 out of 68 found this review helpful

Dave Pelzer shares his horrific childhood at the hands of an insanely sadistic mother in this powerful memoir. You will be shocked by the increasingly bizarre tortures his mother inflicts and amazed by David's ability to withstand it all. Ultimately, the book left me feeling frustrated - I wanted to know why David's mother singled him out for her abuse and why his father, siblings and neighbors did so little to protect him. Then I realized that these were the same frustrations David has lived with most of his life. Furthermore, it's unrealistic to expect that there could be a rational explanation. Just as David does, the reader has to accept that the abuse was senseless.


laundry list with no context   September 9, 2005
 42 out of 60 found this review helpful

If the abuse was real, or if even part of it was, my sympathy goes out to the author and my praise for rising above it. However . . .

The book is horrific. The abuse is terrible, but those of us who grew up in the post-Auschwicz, post-Hiroshima, post-Jim-Jones world know that people can do horrible things. What makes the book terrible is that it is little more than a laundry list of abuses, many of which strain credibility as at least two of them would result in death.

The worst part of the book is the lack of context. Essentially it is a nightmare. I say that because the author leaves out the end. Basically he wakes up. No mention is made of what happened to either parent or any of the other children. If he is the only one to have suffered as he did--that makes zero sense based on what we know of abuse. So if it did happen that way, the mother was insane. But all we have is a series of monsters in a dream. What would make it real would be for the author to finish the story. Instead of focusing solely on the abuse, he could have offset the abuse with the story of what happened to those who made it happen.

I agree with another reviewer that took issue with the grammar. Just because something terrible happened to you doesn't 1)mean that you automatically get a book contract (and the mention of how long it took to get his story published might give light to my second point) or 2)free you from the bonds of using correct grammar to tell the story. For fiction, that can point to a character's lack of sophistication, but this isn't bundled as fiction, therefore, the lack of proper grammar just points to sloppiness on the part of the author and the publisher.

A note for those who would take offense at the comments regarding grammar and structure: This is a book, written in English. This means that, just as a matter of publishing professionalism, it needs to conform to the structures of the language. If this was a piece of samizdat or an appearance on Oprah, then the same rules don't apply as sternly.