Review: The Lost Boy

The Lost Boy: A Foster Child’s Search for the Love of a Family by Dave Pelzer.
Health Communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, Florida, 1997.
Memoir, 340 pages.
Lexile:  720L  .
AR Level:  5.1 (worth 9.0 points)  .
NOTE: Despite the reading level, this is an adult book, not suggested for MG readers.

Peltzer’s first book is all about the inhumane treatment he suffered at the hands of his mother.  The second, after a brief recap of the abuse, focuses on his life in the foster care system.

I believe this was the first book that I ever read about foster care.  Many years later, I found some of the series in a thrift store and decided to read through it again.  After the sensational story of the first book, this one is significantly milder.  Peltzer’s mother still has a lot of power over him – mentally, emotionally, and legally.  But her physical control of his body is limited and he starts to heal in some ways.

Review: A Child Called “It”

A Child Called “It”: One Child’s Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer.
Health Communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, Florida, 1993.
Adult memoir, 184 pages.
Lexile:  850L  .
AR Level:  5.8 (worth 5.0 points)  .
NOTE: Despite the reading level, these are books written for adults, not MG readers.

The early childhood of a severely abused boy.

This is the first, and most well-known, book in an autobiographical trilogy.  Dave Pelzer was one of the most severely abused children in California.  His father kept his mother from murdering him, but otherwise he was routinely tortured, starved, beaten, and otherwise maltreated.

The entire book should probably not be read by anyone who might find these events triggering.  His parents also rely heavily on alcohol and his mother occasionally turns her rage from him to his father or others.  It’s interesting that few reviews remark on this being an example of domestic abuse from a woman to a man.  Male perpetrators are certainly more common, but it’s important to recognize that women can be abusers as well and to validate and hold a mirror up for male victims of abuse.

While the book is intense, it’s not overly emotional (although it can feel overwrought at times).  Pelzer narrates with a steady, precise flow, documenting what it felt like for him to be a child in the total control of a sociopathic parent.  I remember crying and crying on my first read through.  However, after hearing or reading the stories of other children, this book is not so affecting on the second readthrough.