Survival – that’s his main goal. But is survival feasible when you are “no one” to your family and you are not considered a person but an “it” ?
The answer could be found in the book A Child Called ‘It’ written by Dave Pelzer. I doubt that anyone could read the book (or in my case listen to its audio version) without being moved by the story. It’s about a young boy who is being severely abused by his mother. The best thing about the book is that the story is told in the first person, which allows you to look at the world through the eyes of David, and feel his pain, hunger and desperation. The story is so well told that the reader can easily empathize with the young David and his experiences. This book made me appreciate my own family which, even if not perfect, gave me a chance to have a normal childhood.
The really horrifying thing about the book by Dave Pelzer is that the events in it are based on the memories of his own childhood. As I have learned from Wikipedia , there is a bit of controversy about that. But even if everything in his own childhood didn’t happen as he’s stated, it does not make the experiences portrayed in the book any less horrible. What happens behind closed doors often remains secret and many people are forced to fight for their lives and dignity in unbearable conditions.
The book is excellent and I would like to recommend it to all readers of the blog regardless of your age. Social workers and anyone interested in child psychology may also benefit from reading A Child Called ‘It’ . The book is a part of the curriculum of schools in the United States and Canada.
To finish this mini book review, I would like to provide you with few quotes from the book:
“”You are a nobody! An It! You are nonexistant! You are a bastard child! I hate you and I wish you were dead! Dead! Do you hear me? Dead!”
“My relationship with mom drastically changed from discipline to punishment that grew out of control. It became so bad at times, I had no strength to crawl away–even if it meant saving my life.”
To read the review of the second book in the series “The Lost boy ” – please click here