Book Review!!

After getting hold of some discount vouchers at the book store, I treated myself to a book shopping spree...

Unfortunately, the 4 books were only enough to last me 3 days... but here's a quick review anyway...

A Child Called 'It' by Dave Pelzer

This is one amazing account of a boy's will to survive. Set in the 70s, it depicts the horrors of the author's childhood between the ages of 5 to 12 as he suffered, survived through and escaped from terrible abuse under his mentally deranged and alcoholic mother.

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer

This is the sequel to A Child Called 'It' and talks about his life as a teenager between 12 and 18 years growing up under the care of different foster homes and parents. The book depicts his struggles of fitting in with society, something he has never learnt as an abused child. Despite his terrible childhood, he is still constantly drawn to his mother and father in his quest for answers to the kind of life he had to deal with. The author also never fails to talk about his learning points and his determination to survive and do good in life.

A Man Named Dave by Dave Pelzer

The last book in the trilogy describes Dave in his adulthood as he starts his career in the air force. Determined to become a pilot, he works through countless challenges, starting as a cook and working his ass off before he got to where he wanted to be. As an adult, he has to deal with issues such as career, future, managing a relationship, marriage, fatherhood, divorce, while constantly still on a quest to get closer to his family and to find the answers to his childhood. In this book, he learns to forgive the atrocities committed by his mother onto him, he learns to love and open up and he finds his place in the world through a career as a speaker and helper around child abuse related issues.

All in all, the three books are written in an extremely real way... it's very real because the author reveals his emotions and thoughts in the way someone at that age would really do so... so it's not written from the perspective of "this happened back then and I reacted so" but more of "This is happening now and this is what I am thinking right now"... the issues brought up are also extremely real and pertinent, yet the author doesn't go overboard in self-pity or expounding the evil that he has witnessed in his life... Definitely a very inspiring set of stories that shows the power of love and the human spirit...

p.s. There's another book that I have bought and finished reading but the nature of that book is so different from this series by Dave Pelzer that I will save that book review for next time :)