Talk Back

[Melissa]

I told some friends about the 25 in '05 and they recommended this book saying, "It's really good." So I got it and started to read the cover to see what it was about...

"A Child Called "It" is the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history."

So it's a "really good" child abuse book. hmmm.

After reading it, I'm tempted to use the words "really good" but I don't think that's quite right for the nature of the story - captivating and shocking are better. It is also autobiographical - Every time I stopped reading I turned to the Pelzer's picture on the back cover to look at the person who lived through this and many times I caught myself wondering if the story really happened, but I decided that you couldn't make this stuff up.

Although the cover says it's an "Inspirational Story" I don't think it is. This book takes place from ages 4-12 and there is another book (The Lost Boy) that is from 12-18, which may be more uplifting, but I wasn't too inspired by this part. I guess it's inspiring because if he can survive his childhood I can handle 100 7th graders all day long, but it was too depressing to be inspiring.

Well that was a mixed review... It was a good book, but a bad story. Well written but hard to read. Somewhat inspiring, but terribly depressing. I don't know if I should tell you to read it, but I can tell you that I'm reading the next book to see what happens.