A Child Called It

[Bane]

Has anyone read this book? It's about one of the largest child abuse cases in California. So if you don't like that kind of thing, don't read it, get a friend to and then tell you about it.

I thought it was very good. This book is written by the victim and is very descriptive of what not to d to a child. No more than that will I say.

[pern_queen_rider]

Lovely terrific horrific view of child abuse. That's all Im going to say.

Read if you want.
Read even if you sdont.
YOu should.

[Tony]

Taken from the Author's website........



A Child Called "It" is the unforgettable story of a child whose courage and unyielding determination enabled him to survive extreme life-threatening odds.

As a child, Dave was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous games--games that left him Dave nearly dead. With only his willpower to survive, Dave learned how to play his Mother's sinister games in order to survive because she no longer considered Dave a son but a slave, and no longer a boy but an "It."

Although A Child Called "It" contains situations of mistreatment Dave suffered, it is a real life story of the indomitable human spirit. This gripping account is told through the eyes of a child--who will pay any price in order to succeed.

The first part of a trilogy series*, A Child Called "It" is currently translated in nearly forty languages and has been read by millions throughout the world. As stated by Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Dave is the living example that all of us have the capability to better ourselves no matter what the odds. One's life is forever changed after living through the eyes of A Child Called "It."



Author's website; http://www.davepelzer.com/CCI.htm


The other books are;


The lost boy.
A man called Dave.

[Crysania]

I read it and I thought it was horribly sad. I'm really glad that he could write about it when he grew up because people should be more aware of things like tihs. His brother Richard wrote a book about him too recently but I can't remember the title of it.

It's worth reading though, definetely. Just so you know.

[§Honeymouse§]

i have read i think its all three of them or it could be two but i loved them , i didnt however get was the mother, how can anyone be that horrible?

[Bane]

Munchausen Symdrome (or the like) works wonders on the human psyche, don't it? I just wanted to reach into the pages and tear her ****ing head off. :darkside:

[leahiniowa]

I don't think she had Munchausen's.

The thing that gets me, is that the father in this family does nothing. He just walks out - the mother is left to do anything she wants. I mean, what kind of a father knows his wife just stabbed his kid and does nothing about it?

[GoldLizard]

The mother doesn't have Munchausen's, she's just psycho. The father could do it because he wasn't strong enough to stand up for his children. Even though they fed the other kids and treated them fairly decently (ignore the fact that they witnessed it and didn't do anything either except for help to torture Dave), those are two people who should not have had kids at all.

Those books are some of the best books currently in print and I think they should be read by everyone in the world. If you can't stomach reading about a child who is locked in a bathroom with no fan or open window and a solution of bleach and amonia mix, then skip "A Child Called It" and read "The Lost Boy." "The Lost Boy" takes you on Dave's next adventure growing up in the foster care system. It'll give you a different view on the kids the state "cares" for.

[TamTam]

Horrifying, yes, and still worth reading. My only advice is that you must also read The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave. Even if you get squeamish with A Child Called It, the next two books get better (less graphic) and really reveal the purpose for writing them.

[Bane]

The thing that gets me, is that the father in this family does nothing. He just walks out - the mother is left to do anything she wants. I mean, what kind of a father knows his wife just stabbed his kid and does nothing about it?

I think a lot of that was just sheer dumbassiness. The father didn't know what to do about his wife. This happens a lot when it's the woman that's abusive. The man doesn't know what to do. The mother was abused (most likely) as a child, so she abused her child. It happens that way.

[Miss Scarrlet]

I read this book and it gave me the same feeling of "How could someone do something so evil?" as when I read about some of the experimentation on children during WW2. (Not equating the evilness, but just asking HOW? WHY?)

[Bane]

HOW? No one knows.

WHY? only the shadow knows...*twilight zone music here*

I don't know. It is a mental disorder that makes people do this to their own, or others children.

[HarperBrandyAlexander]

and is very descriptive of what not to d to a child. No more than that will I say.

*Marks do not feed your child hazardus chemicals* off the list.

Seriously though, good book. Man, it was a downer. After reading that... ugh, I got the chills for weeks every time I thought of it.

[B'lanna]

I read the entire trilogy, and I felt so sorry for him, then I heard a rumor that it had all been made up and he was being sued for it, which kinda made me worry about him.
But the mum was just sick, she obviously had something very wrong with her, and the father was a spineless coward.

[selket]

i could never read this book. i'd go brole trying to keep myself in tissues. :sad:

[leahiniowa]

As much as those kinds of books frightened me as a child, I find them even more horrible now as an adult.

[Miss Scarrlet]

I just finished reading 'The Lost Boy,' and while this book was not descriptive as physically traumatizing, it definitely emotionally scarred the author, and did give me a insight into the foster care system, and the lack of 'appropriate' homes for children that forces them into unfortunate situations.

[Bane]

I only read A Child Calle 'It'. I didn't want to read more. It made my childhood look like heaven, and most social workers would disagree with the idea of my childhood being like that.