A child called "it"
1987
- biography
- abused children
- foster home care
- abusive mothers
- family violence
- family relationships
- children of alcoholics
- biografía
- violencia en la familia
- hogares adoptivos
The story
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.
What it’s like
Stark, unadorned prose in the first person, written as a child's blunt survival record: short declarative sentences, little metaphor, the basement and its cold concrete, scraps and torn clothing rendered with a flat clinical eye that makes the horror more unsettling than any lurid description. The feel is bleak and claustrophobic, the emotional register one of endurance and quiet dread, with fragile hope surfacing only in the child's dreams of being loved. Pacing is relentless in the early chapters and moves toward a slow, hard-won sense of agency as the boy learns to read his mother's moods and find small ways to hold on. The arc follows a neglected boy learning to survive a home where love has been withdrawn, then tentatively reaching toward the people who might help him. Intensity is high and unrelenting: repeated physical abuse, beatings, starvation, and cruelty are described directly and are the core of the book, though there is no sexual content and no gore beyond what the abuse itself implies. Child abuse, alcoholism, and family violence sit at the centre throughout. Written for readers who want an unflinching true account of resilience and are prepared for a harrowing, emotionally heavy experience, and not for anyone seeking gentle or comforting reading.
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