Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Day 14/30

Day 14/30 - a non-fiction book

I'm really not big into reading non-fiction, to be honest. I like books that are based on true stories and history, but most of those have some extra stuffs added in to make it more interesting. this book though, was written by the man who experienced this story, and it's such a compelling story that I have to share it.

A Child Called "It" by David Pelzer 



in all seriousness, David Pelzer didn't have to add anything extra to this book to make it read-worthy. David spent his childhood suffering from extreme abuse by his mother, and to this day, his case is still considered one of the most horrific child abuse cases in the state of California. 

it was honestly really hard to read this book, because of how harsh the abuse is. Dave's life wasn't always so terrible - when he was a young child, he described his family as "The Brady Bunch," but as his mother started drinking more often, her behavior became more and more erratic. his abuse included receiving special and grueling punishments, as well as being starved for days at a time. 

this tale of a boy's courage is unbelievably moving. I cried through many chapters of this book... it was absolutely heart wrenching to imagine ANY child being subjected to this kind of abuse. I would recommend everyone to read this book, if only to get a glimpse of how some children end up to be in foster homes.

I would also recommend reading David's books that follow A Child Called "It" - The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave complete the story of his life, and you finally get a sense of relief and the message is worthwhile.



to see the entire 30 Day Challenge, click here.


4 comments:

  1. My favorite book ever. I read it when I was about 13, I hated reading at that time, but could not put this book down when my mom gave it to me. I've also read The Lost Child and have A Man Named Dave (but never read that one) Now you're making me want to!

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  2. I read it when I was really young, too! I think I loved it even more because it made me look at my life from a different perspective. A Man Named Dave was my least favorite, but it's nice to know the end of his story. :)

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  3. I read his books and just had to get involved. I became a foster parent soon after.
    His story just breaks my heart.

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  4. I didn't realize there were follow-up books. I definitely need to read them.

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I love getting comments from readers, so thank you for being so awesome!