A Child Called It

‘A Child Called It: One Child’s Courage To Survive’, a New York Times best seller for 6 weeks and an International best seller, is a heart wrenching true story about the author David Pelzer, a victim of child abuse.

‘A Child Called It’ was nominated for a Pulitzer award. It is part of a trilogy ‘A Foster Child’s Search for the love of a family’ and ‘A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness.’ The author describes how his once caring mother, Ms. Roerva, went from being a loving mother, to an abusive alcoholic who would beat up and torture her son. Her beatings resulted in a broken shoulder, he was stabbed in the stomach apparently by mistake, was made to live in the basement, forced to consume his own vomit, the feaces from his brother’s diaper, and consume ammonia. His mother even found it cumbersome to call him by his name, referring to him as ‘‘that boy’’ or ‘‘it.’’ At the age of twelve, "A Child Called It" fought back and prevented his mother from burning him. The author saw this event as a great victory just as he found scavenging for food in the freezer and eating it in the garbage dump a victory.

David Pelzer came out of his ordeal hurt but not broken and is a great inspiration for others like him the world over. In 1994 he became one of the only U.S. citizens to receive the Young Persons of the World award, for his endeavour of helping others overcome and prevent child abuse.