Literature Help: A Child Called "It"

By Students' Academy

A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer was first published in 1995. It was the author’s debut book, a nonfiction memoir.

Between the age of four and twelve, he used to be abused by his mother. The memoir tells the story of that period in his life. As the child, the author had to go through some frightening experience.

His troubles would not have ended if a teacher at school had not informed the police about the predicament of the child. He was later sent to live in a foster home, away from his mother’s atrocities.

Literature Help: A Child Called "It"
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Major Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: May 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310774058

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Literature Help: A Child Called It

Copyright

Literature Help: A Child Called It

Students' Academy

Copyright@2016 Students' Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer was first published in 1995. It was the author’s debut book, a nonfiction memoir.

Between the age of four and twelve, he used to be abused by his mother. The memoir tells the story of that period in his life. As the child, the author had to go through some frightening experience.

His troubles would not have ended if a teacher at school had not informed the police about the predicament of the child. He was later sent to live in a foster home, away from his mother’s atrocities.

The book proved to be highly successful, and consequently it was able to make its place on the New York Times bestseller list. After its publication, more than 1.6 million copies of the book were sold in five years.

The author became a celebrity in a very short time, and he began to appear on several talk shows on television channels. He would tell the audiences about his experiences and the book.

He has not stopped giving lectures across the country even today. People really want to know about his experiences during those difficult times in his childhood. He is asked several questions; particularly what inspired him to write this memoir.

Although the book proved to be highly successful and a bestseller, it has been highly controversial since its publication, because there are the other members of the family who give differing accounts of the author’s childhood.

His book is primarily about the abuse he had suffered in his childhood, but his maternal grandmother and brother have constantly refuted the author’s claims, declaring that no such abuse had taken place during the author’s childhood.

They do not even agree that he had ever been abused by his mother. Some accounts given by the family members say that he used to be abused but not as severely as the author has claimed in his book.

The New York Times once openly criticized the author for the claims he had made in his book. His brother Richard has supported the author’s claims of abuse in his own book, a memoir, A Brother’s Journey.

For all that, the book has remained in limelight for several years and the number of its readers has constantly increased.

After the success of his first book, Dave published two more books The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave. However, they were definitely as successful as A Child Called It.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

As the book opens, we are introduced to Dave Pelzer. He is twelve years old. His school nurse is examining him. He has some bruises all over his body, but he happens to have lied to the nurse about those bruises. However, the