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Angelina Vasington(: Mrs. Laurencot __A Child Called "It"__ Non-Fiction assignment 10/2/09   The non-fiction book that I have read for this assignment was A Child Called "IT". The story that the author; Dave Pelzer wrote was about his childhood growing up being abused by his alcoholic mother. Dave had a really peaceful and normal childhood in till he was about 4, then after that his life went from his mother being warmthful and sweet to Dave then suddenly those feelings were replaced with fear, starvation and lowliness. Dave didn't know what he had done wrong to make his mother angry with him to be so hurtful and cruel. The statement "I" is used a lot in this story as Dave discovers the power felt when he stalled his mother from burning him on the stove and "won". Dave struggled to find food and making plans, and succeeding with the prize of frozen dinners from his family's deep freezer, Dave was proud of his accomplishments even though he knew what he would be getting into if he got caught, but he used the statement "I" was the king" and that just goes to show the neglect that he endured to consider the frozen dinners to be a prize and then hiding in the garage to gobble them up, but these are not kingly accomplishments. A lot of readers are always surprised to know that he survived the harsh abuse it is an eye-opener to see the treatment from his mother as his mother didn't treat his brothers the same, they had a normal life, never got yelled at, never abused, got to eat and feel like a part of the family. This abuse impacted on his self-worth. Yet, Dave still had this incredible will not to only survive, but to rise about it all. The abuses we extremely heartbreaking from a mother to treat their own flesh and blood this way, Dave lives in the basement in his house in the cold, and dark and he sleeps on a army cot as flat as a board with no pillow or blanket, he doesn't even have a light to see anything, his clothes are torn up and had a horrid smell to them and the only luxury of food that he got nothing more than spoiled left over scraps that even dogs refused to eat. The abuse became so terrible that his mother referred him as "the boy" instead of her child, her son or Dave. Dave entered foster care when he was twelve; he went through abuse for nine long years. The damage his mother caused him by her burning him with cigarettes, and iron, she made him puke up food to see what he ate without her permission, she even locked him in the bathroom with chemicals sprayed and it made him pass out and she just would hit him in any way possible for her to be satisfied, now remember Dave was only four years old when his mother started abusing him and when she became an alcoholic it took all control of her, his mother played unpredictable and tortuous games, games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mothers games in order to survive because she no longer considered him as her son but a slave and no longer a boy but an "It". The outside world had no idea of his living nightmare. He had nothing, no one to turn to, Dave's dreams were the only thing keeping him alive his dreams were he just wanted someone to love him, take care of him and call him their son. Can you just image how Dave must have felt basically his whole life being an abused young child, who never did anything wrong and had to go along with his mother's painful games just to see the day of tomorrow? My perspective on this book and story is that this about a real guy telling us about his childhood and how horrible it was, and hearing everything that happened to him and knowing what his mother has done to him has even scarred me for life. A mother is someone you look up to, to follow there instincts and follow their path to grow up and succeed and to never back down in something you love, knowing that we of all people had that right to do, Dave did not for nine years, NINE YEARS! that is so sad, a young boy being mistreated by his family, the people who are suppose to take care of him and love him as one, but they didn't instead they loved him by torturing him and making him feel as if he was nothing to them but dirt on the floor. This story has made me realize that any parent that abuses their children should be arrested, this is something that we do not want in our community, letting other families see family's letting people abuse their so called 'loved" ones is wrong. This problem is at the top of any lists in this world, abuse is the key word, this is an affect people have in their life time, and all the kids and adults that go through it all, i say god bless, if i ever went through something like this in my life i would hope to go to sleep and to never wake up the next morning and to just let god take me in his arms and cherish me as the angel I was supposed to be known for right when i stepped into this world. Dave is an angel for sticking through his abusive life and letting his mother do things to him, he couldn't run away they would find him, he had no way to turn to break out of hell, he was stuck there, he thought that it would never end, he loved him mother through everything she had done to him, he tried to find the inner love in her and to see through the bad side of her but it was difficult. The worst part of this story and the part of Dave's abusive life is that his brothers didn't do anything to try and help him and tell their mother to stop or to calm down and said he had enough, they let this happen to him, either because they were scared of their mother or that they knew they couldn't stop her, and that it was no longer their mother who was living in her body and they knew they couldn't control her and make her stop. This book defiantly has an effect on whoever reads it, and at some point everyone cry's knowing that this young boy survived through everything he's been put through. This story relates to society because many other children, baby's even grown ups are going through the same thing that Dave went through and are many are still today, because no one did anything about it or they had no chance to be free and to tell someone what was happening to them. This story kind of relates to history because back then gentleman/husbands were allowed to beat their wives and woman in general, guy's had all control over them, in till someone changed that rule and the woman became free t o do as they please and not have to be beaten for trying to move on in their daily life style. This story defiantly has to other the reader that abuse is a no tolerance in this world and shouldn't be brought up to any standards and no human being should have to live with it, abusive is not the way to solve anything or any emotional or physical problems anyone has. This book has changed my way of looking at people and watching how or what i say to others, because i have no idea what goes on in their families or when they come home from wherever, you should respect one another no matter what. Dave has successfully moved on and is now free from his alcoholic mother and when he turned eighteen he was old enough to live on his own. Dave joined the U.S Air Force and was happy to know how it feels to be free and to live like a normal person but his past will never leave him, he will always remember how he grew up and knowing that he had nothing and that when he then had a loving family of his own that he would NEVER treat them with disrespect and to love them and to call them his kids. This book was very good and it has made me see things in life more differently and i hope it also has this affect to others who also have or will read this book.