The story A Child Called "It," by David Pelzer is one of the most astonishing chronicles about his survival through child abuse. The biography is viewed through the child's eyes for the purpose to help others heal from traumatic pasts. The story of David Pelzer's childhood is imperative to be available to readers because of the life lessons the book bestow and the quality of Pelzer's compelling writing.
             A Child Called "It" is basically about one child's courage to survive. During the 1970's, Pelzer's child abuse was recorded to be the third most severe in the state of California. He endured both physical and mental cruelty to his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother, Catherine Roerva. David Pelzer was brutally beaten, starved, and tortured so much that she no longer considered him a son or a boy, but just "it."
             Many lessons can apply to the book and one can interpret the theme in dissimilar ways. I believe the story's primary lesson is that ones courage and willpower is liable to facilitate ones survival. Life will go on no matter how atrocious circumstances seem. "I wanted to show the bitch that she could beat me only if I died, and I was determined not to give in, even to death." [Pg. 91] The passage shows David Pelzer willpower and determination; he believed he could win and attain his mother's torture and cruelty. Even though his ambition to survive consisted of loathing his mother, the lesson exemplifies how good determination can result in triumph.
             Overall, the biography of David Pelzer's childhood was ghastly. Though each struggle he goes though, the reader can find himself enduring his pain, comforting his loneliness, and fighting for his will to survive. The detail Pelzer writes gives the readers an awakening to the truth about child abuse. When his mother forces David to eat ammonia, he vividly describes "My thro...