A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive

3 out of 5

By robert kingett on Jan 5, 2011

One could say that A Child Called “It” is good literature if good literature is, in fact, supposed to illicit an emotional response from the reader. However, from a purely literary perspective, this book, the first of a trilogy about Pelzer’s life, is not really “good” literature. Pelzer’s writing style is simple at best; there is no great effort to employ the literary tools we associate with the classics: foreshadowing, detailed metaphors, analysis of motivation, etc. Pelzer relies on “language that was developed from a child’s viewpoint” he tells us in the author’s notes, resulting in a straightforward “This happened, then this happened, and this is how I felt” approach. What makes the book so compelling is the tale itself, as Pelzer describes incident after incident of cruel torture at his mother’s hands and the ineffective and lame efforts of his father to protect him. Indeed, Dave Pelzer is an admirable man, not only for surviving a horrific childhood and growing up to be a man of many accomplishments, but also for taking us on a journey in A Child Called “It” that forces us to reevaluate our own lives and the world around us. I have yet to read the other two books in Pelzer’s trilogy, The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave, but I am eager to follow the progression of this man’s life. Now a doting father, Dave Pelzer provides affirmation that the cycle of abuse can be broken. It is a message that must never be forgotten in our legislatures, our schools, or our hearts.