Book Review #2

"A Child called It", by Dave Pelzer, depicts his tragic childhood where he was constantly and relentlessly abused by his mother, for almost no reason. When David was a young child, he was respected by his mother. But when he got around the age of 1st grade, he devilish "games" began.

In this book, Dave Pelzer writes from the viewpoint of himself as a child going through these horrific events. He also emphasizes the fact that food is scarce for him and not so much for others in his family. In many parts of the book, he describes how much he would like to eat, and be accepted as a member of the family. 

"Sitting there on my hands, I could hear my brothers opening the refrigerator to get their desserts, and I hated it. I looked at myself. My skin had a yellowish tint., and my muscles were thin and stringy. Whenever I heard one of my brothers laugh at a television show, I cursed their names."

Throughout the book, he has many of these occurences. He is sitting in the garage in the prisoner of war position, listening to his family eat. I have noticed in Pelzer's style of writing that he does not show that his mother does bad things, but that his father and brothers also lack compassion for him. I liked his style of writing. not only did it show that his mother did horrible things to him, but his father did not show any sign of helping him, and he just left. Also, his brothers were pretty rude to him. This leaves less room for wonder in the plot.
What surprises me in this book is that his brothers also are brainwashed by their mother to do mean things to their brother. They kick him and help their mother with her devilish games. I realize that some may not know better but they should be able to distinguish right from wrong.
I think that Dave Pelzer wrote this book very well. Barely any questions remained in my mind when I finished. Also, I like that the ending was put at the beginning so there was hope in the book.