A Child Called “It”

By Dave Pelzer ~ Release Date: SEPT. 1, 1995

A Child Called “It” is the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history.

A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer is a non-fiction book that’s one hundred fifty-three pages long and every page illustrates Dave’s life story from ages four to twelve and how he dealt with the abuse of his alcohol mother who no longer saw him as her son or a boy, but saw him as a slave and an “it.” A mother who played unpredictable and excruciating games that would leave him nearly dead. He soon learned that to survive he had to learn how to play his mother’s games. Dave’s bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and filthy. When his mother allowed him the privilege of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scrapes. The outside world had no knowledge of his living nightmare. He had no one to turn to, but his dreams that would keep him alive by helping him escape to a world where someone was taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son. A Child Called “It”, is an extraordinary book that’s structured by Dave Pelzer to take you through the struggles he had to face and what he had to do to survive. Through every struggle you feel Dave’s pain, his loneliness and his willpower to survive. Dave uses descriptive words to illustrate and help you imagine his world through his words. For example, he uses the following sentence “Mother would simply grab me and smash my face against the mirror, smearing my tear-streaked face on the slick, reflective glass.”, to describe an abusive moment in which his mother smudged his crying face on the mirror. A Child Called “It”, illustrates some similar concepts from the movie Room, which is about a young woman named Joy Newsome who has been held captive for seven years and who has a five year old son named Jack who was born in captivity in a shed they call Room. This movie shares the emotions of captivity and loneliness that Dave’s story shares. Both pieces illustrate the life of helpless boys who only want to be free and live a happy life. They also share a similarity in scenery since Dave slept in the basement and Jack slept in a shed which imprisoned them to room filled with pain.

I would consider A Child Called “It” American literature because the author Dave Pelzer is an American who was born in Daly City, California, which is also the setting of this story. Also mentioned in the back of the book is that in 1993 Dave was honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans and in 1994 was the only American to be honored as one of The Outstanding Young Persons of the World. I also believe it should be considered American literature because Dave talks about his experience with child abuse which is an issue still happening and talked about in America and all over the world. I’ve recently read an article called “Why child welfare experts fear a spike of abuse during COVID-19”, which talked about how in the last month Dr. Jamye Coffman saw seven children and infants who had been severely abused that they had to be hospitalized at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. It also explains how the hospital in most cases sees fewer than 10 cases of fatal child abuse in a year, but that week, two died from their injuries. It explains how the pandemic could play a role in this situation because we are all unsure of how long this pandemic will last, and that uncertainty can cause anxiety, tension and irritability for children and caregivers. It also shares that “when life is disrupted by a natural disaster, research has shown that incidents of abuse have increased, and children in dangerous situations can fall through the cracks in the system.” That may be happening now, since before the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers at schools would recognize signs of abuse on the children and would report it, but because of social distancing that is no longer possible. This article demonstrates how child abuse is still a recurring event happening in today’s time and how their many more stories out their like Dave’s that aren’t being shared or helped. Dave described his school as his only hope of escape, which is as mentioned above hard to attain during these times of quarantine. A Child Called “It” can be related to the text “Bookstore At the End of America”, that we’ve read in class because Molly provided books so that the people could escape from their reality and the school provided an escape for Dave to have some time away from the abuse of his mother. These pieces are different in the sense that “Bookstore At the End of America”, is a fictional text and A Child Called “It” is a non-fictional story, but that doesn’t take away the message that everybody needs some type of distraction that can help minimize the worry. I also would have wished all that love and support that Molly gave to her daughter Phoebe; Dave’s mother would have given him.

A captivating story of love, pain and disbelieve. This compelling story will awaken us to the truth about child abuse and the ability and responsibility we all have to make a difference.