A Child Called It - Dave Pelzer > Reviews (152)

"It" vanished for ever on 5th March 1973 with the words, "David, you're free. Your mother is never going to hurt you again."

These twelve words were spoken by the Policeman who had taken the twelve-year-old Dave Pelzer away from his school.

They were spoken the day after he had been thrown down the garage stairs by his mother.

They were spoken on the day the staff at Thomas Edison Elementary School laid their jobs on the line to intervene to protect him, a 5th Grade student. Following a weekly inspection of his bruised body, his injuries recorded in detail by the school nurse, they contacted the Police and he was taken into the care of the San Mateo Juvenile Department.

His is the third worse case of child abuse recorded in California. I shudder to think about those two worse cases.

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I first heard of this book some years ago, when it was serialised in the Daily Mail. Last Saturday during my trip to the library I spotted a copy on the shelf and brought it home. Yesterday evening I started to read.

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It has taken me around 4 hours in total to read the whole 216 pages of the book.

Written using the words of a child, the book begins with an introductory chapter telling of his rescue. The following pages relate the details of his tortured boyhood and are followed, in the latter part of the book, by a testimonial from Steven Zeigler, his 5th Grade homeroom teacher, and extracts from the next books in the series "The Lost Boy" and "A Man Named Dave".

The first one hundred and sixty nine pages held me mesmerised, bewitched as if I was reading a Grimm's Tale. I devoured the story in its horrific detail, unable to believe I was reading autobiographical fact. It is not fiction. This story is true!

In these few hours I have read of a little boy whose first years were magical, a perfect life. He tells of family life with his two older brothers, his hard-working Fireman father and an enthusiastic mother, who would spend hours cooking fantastic meals in a well maintained and well cared for home, a home that would sparkle with Christmas decorations. He tells of holidays and introduces his favourite place in the world - the banks of the Russian River at Guerneville, California.

The good times didn't last. There is no clear reason given, perhaps the boy was louder than his older siblings. In any case, how would a child know the cause? When Dave was four his now alcohol dependent mother took to spending the days on the sofa watching television, and increasingly treated the young Dave as less than a servant and worthy of only derision. His brothers were, apparently, treated normally, looking on and as they grew older they began to join in, egged on by the younger Russell who made up stories to get Dave into trouble.

I have read of a little boy whose arm was damaged by his mother, who left him overnight and in pain, only taking him to the hospital the following morning so that she could claim he fell out of his bunk.

He didn't question her decision and here begins a pattern for the next eight years of his life.

I have read of a boy who was starved, for sometimes as long as ten days in succession, only able to drink water out of the tap in the garage where he had an army camp bed to sleep on, no heat and no decent covering.

I have read of a young child given the responsibility for keeping a house clean, a little boy who is beaten, his face smashed against a counter if his chores take longer than the time limit allocated by his mother.

I have read of a boy who is given only scraps of food. In desperation he takes that of the family pets, eating out of their bowls and gulping the food down in case he is spotted, which would only result in further beating. Here is a boy who steals food from his classmates in order to survive.

I have read of a boy who was tortured. Dave is forced to remain for hours at a time in "POW position", sitting on the ground with his hands beneath him and his head arched backwards. He is left alone in the garden, seated like this whilst the rest of the family have a day out, he daren't move. He knows his mother could be watching for him to break the rules, resulting in the thrashing he deserves for such misdemeanours.

I have read of a boy who is locked in the bathroom where his tormentor had placed a bucket containing a deadly combination of Chlorox (bleach) and Ammonia, the fumes strip the lining of his mouth. He is made to lie in a cold bath, face down, for hours on end, his skin wrinkling and turning white. His brothers use the bathroom, only glancing at his partly submerged body they make no attempt to rescue him. When allowed to climb from the water he is forbidden to dry himself, only permitted to dress in his ragged, stinking clothing.

I have read of a boy who is stabbed by his mother and who treats his festering wound himself, cleaning it with a filthy cloth moistened from a dripping tap, a tap he is too scared to turn on properly in case his mother hears the water running through the pipes.

I have read of a boy ordered to eat the contents of a soiled nappy and who, on refusal, had his face pushed into the faeces.

I have read of his school tormentors, led by Clifford and Aggie, aggressors who suggest he should kill himself, his only way out.

I have read of a dysfunctional family who have learned their own survival strategies, letting David be the scapegoat, fearing for their own safety should they make the slightest attempt to support him, stand up for him or try to defend him. He feels abandoned by his Father who leaves home, for ever, unable to cope any longer and just a few months before Dave's own rescue.

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I have saved just two quotations from the book ~

"For years, Mother had brainwashed me by having me shout aloud, "I hate myself! I hate myself!" Her effects paid off."

He had to repeat this whilst looking in a mirror.

and ~

spoken by his mother when David was 12 :-

"You are a nobody!

An It! You are non-existant and I wish you were dead!"

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I cried while reading this autobiography.

Not during the first part, but whilst reading the latter section detailing Dave's rescue and the time leading up to the court case, when his fear of his mother's wroth made him change his story and brought Ms Gold, his social worker, to her knees in despair.

I always knew he was to be rescued from his tormentor; the first chapter contains the details. I know there are other books detailing his later life. I knew he had survived. Without that knowledge I don't think I could have read on, unless some morbid fascination compelled me to do so. I knew it came to an end and that the boy survived to become the man who has been able to tell his tale.

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Right now I'm shaking and my stomach is churning. It's only two hours since I finished reading. I opened the book last night and was compelled to finish it this morning. Why? I don't know, perhaps I had to be sure the brutality came to an end that something good in came from amongst all that evil.

I wasn't shaking when I started writing this review, I had a clear picture of what I was going to share on this page and how it was to be presented, but as I have recorded and recalled some of the details I have found it harder to move forwards through my plan. My thoughts have become disjointed, my emotions in tatters.

My son is called David; he is called Dave by his friends. He is sixteen, a tall young man of whom I'm immensely proud. Throughout his growing years he has made me laugh, he has made me cry too, when he has been hurt and I haven't been able to take the pain away. I just can't imagine how anybody can treat another person, let alone their flesh and blood, in this appalling way. I'm struggling for words to explain how I feel.

I have thoughts whizzing through my head of other cases of torture I have heard and read about, of crimes against humanity and how the perpetrators were brought to answer for their crimes. In the past, when torture led to death, those who did the deed were themselves punished by losing their own lives. This little boy Dave wasn't killed, he was however scarred both physically and emotionally and I, somehow, need to know what happened next.

I need to know what happened to Dave and his family. I know he grows to adulthood, joins the Air Force and has at least one child of his own, but what about the rest of his family ~ his brothers, two older than him and two younger? How did they deal with the aftermath of their appalling childhood, where they had been forced to see this treatment meted out to their brother? They weren't taken away, or were they?

I'm also questioning myself. I know that for some writing is cathartic, I believe that was the purpose behind this book and the other two that tell Dave Pelzer's story. For me I am questioning my compulsion, just why did I have to read on?

Why couldn't I put the book down at its gut wrenching worst? Is it part of the mindset of today, where we voyeuristically observe the minutiae of the lives of others in "real life" television? On balance I don't think so, I think it is a part of the human psyche to observe brutality, to look on and detach ourselves in the hope that our non-intervention will keep us safe from harm. We hope that "somebody else" will deal with it and bring it to a halt.

However, in the safety of our own homes we can read books such as this one and can learn, absorb, and hopefully become brave enough to intervene, not be mere head-shaking observers, and have the courage to help the helpless and to halt brutality in its tracks.

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I hesitated for a moment when deciding on the ratings, selected "Excellent" because I truly believe those of you who choose to read this book will experience something unforgettable.

Those brave enough to read about "It" can borrow this book from your local library or can buy it from any usual store.

"A Child Called 'It' is currently listed on Amazon.

Paperback

ISBN: 0752837508

£6.99 reduced to £5.99

There is also an audio version.

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Buy it, or borrow it, and weep.

It will change your life.

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