Dave Pelzer, the author of a bestseller A Child Called “It”, wrote this book about his unhappy childhood and abuse that was coming from his alcoholic mother. When he was 12, he entered foster care, because such terrible attitude could not be tolerated any longer. His mother even stopped referring to him as Dave or son and used plain “the boy”, when she needed to call him. When Dave turned 18, he left foster care to join US Air Force.

Dave has won many awards with his writing, as he made a lot of efforts to teach about child abuse and the ways it can be prevented. His other works include A Man Named Dave, The Lost Boy, Help Yourself and others. He also received personal awards and commendations from US presidents Bush, Reagan, George W. Bush and others. Nowadays, Dave’s childhood is nothing but a terrible memory. He lives happily with his wife and children in Rancho Mirage, CA.

The book tells about one of the cruelest cases of childhood abuse that ever happened in California. Dave’s mother was not only an alcoholic, but also emotionally unstable. He was regularly brutally beaten by her and starved. Dave did not have any luxuries during his younger years, as his mother deprived him of normal food, clothing or toys. His nightmare came to an end in 1973, when he entered a foster care system. It is truly unimaginable how a mother could treat her own son in such a way. The abuse was truly horrific. Not only was he beaten, but was also forced to swallow deadly chemicals and soap. These deathly games of his mother could have had dire consequences.

Surprisingly, there were some good years in Dave’s childhood. Thus he begins his story with a chapter that describes the positive feelings of safety and warmth, that his mom provided him with. However, as the boy turned 4, these feelings were strangled by fear, loneliness and starvation. Dave’s father, who once had been his angel and protector, left them because of all the arguments and misunderstandings he had with his mom. This might have been the last drop towards insanity, as she was left alone to raise a son and clearly could not cope with this task.

This book is sure eye-opening, and can change the reader’s perspective on such issues that are happening every day, everywhere around the world.