A Child Called It

Character:

The main character in the book is David Pelzer. He is a 12 year old boy. David grew up in a family of two alcoholics. His mother Catherine abused him mentally and physically. His dad, Stephan, was a firefighter. He tried his best to protect David, but when he and Catherine got divorced he didn't care anymore. His four brothers Kevin, Ronald, Russel and Stan got treated completely different. They never once were abuse by their mother.

Theme:

The main themes in the book were hope, survival and fear. Davids mother abused him not just physically but also mentally. She stabbed, burned, beat and starved him for days without even feeling bad. David had to survive by finding food in trash cans, he was constantly in fear of his mother finding out about him finding food. She made him sleep in a cot in the garage and he also had to do all his siblings chores. Other themes in the book were alcoholism, and neglection. When David was young, his mother was friendly and kind, but as he grew older his mother changed. She became an alcoholic and started treading him different from all his siblings.

Plot: 

The plot of the story is that David gets abused by his mother. He has to do all the chores to avoid another beating. His mother tells him to lie when someone asks him about his bruises which he tries to do, but fails. The school nurse knows that his mother beats him everyday and eventually tells the principle everything that she knows. They call the police and David was taking custody of. He was sent to a home where he was safe from abuse.