good book even though it was sad

I remember reading the first memoir from this author in university for a sociology class and I loved it (rare for something you're forced to read). It's a sad story but written in a way that keeps your attention and the second book is just as attention-grabbing. I feel for this author.

Setelah penantian bertahun-tahun, akhirnya saya membaca buku kedua dari trilogi Child Called It yang berjudul The Lost Boy karya dave Pelzer. Saya membaca Child Called It ketika saya SMP sekitar tahun 2007.

Buku Child Called It membuat saya terkagum akan perjuangan David untuk mempertahankan hidup. Dia tersiksa hidup bersama ibunya. Setiap hari sangat mencekam. Dipukuli bahkan dipaksa meminum racun. Dalam buku kedua ini David berhasil berpisah dengan ibunya. Ada kebimbangan di hati David. Dia merasa berat meninggalkan ibunya. Saya jadi berpikir, seseorang yang sudah terbiasa tersiksa akan punya pikiran yang aneh, dia merasa berat meninggalkan ketersikasaannya itu dan tak tegas ingin berubah. Hehe. Sepertinya ini dialami juga oleh saya. mungkin ini penyebab mengapa kita selalu melakukan kesalahan yang sama padahal kita tahu apa yang kita lakukan itu salah dan membuat gelisah, karena kegelisahan dan salah itu telah jadi biasa dan habitat diri, akhirnya ketika mendapat kesempatan untuk merubah keadaan kita tak acuh padanya.

David mendapat kesempatan untuk memulai hidup yang baru. Buku ini menceritakan perjalanan David melalui kesempatan barunya.

Saya belum membaca seluruh bukunya. Saya menikmatinya. Enak dibaca walaupun ceritanya berjalan sangat lambat. Mungkin karena bahasanya mengalir dan saya terbawa oleh denyut emosi buku ini.

Ayo baca!

#Catatan Dan Hikmah

-Kesempatan baru bisa datang. Jangan pernah sia-siakan kesempatan baru
-Kepercaayaan itu sangat mudah hilang. Menjaganya mesti ekstra hati-hati. Klo sudah hilang sangat sulit kembali sob
-Ketabahan itu penting banget dalam hidup
-Harus berani bilang tidak untuk segala hal yang tidak sesuai dan berani melawan bila tertindas
-Bersyukurlah punya keluarga yang penuh sayang dan kasih. Tidak semua orang punya anugrah itu lho :’

I loved this book. Very insightful and heart touching. There was never a dull moment and the author is very inspiring. Best autobiography I've read.

This is a continuation of the series from the book A Child Called It. This takes place after Mr. Pelzer is removed from his home and into foster care at the age of 12. The book starts off with a heart wrenching scene of the gross mistreatment to him by his mother. I couldn't even get through the first chapter without practically crying on the outside and screaming on the inside, "Why did this happen to him?" Throughout the book I wanted to know why his mother was such a monster and why did she single out Dave? A person would think that once a child is put into foster care that they would be safe from the one who tried to harm them, I found out that this is not always the case especially in the mid to late 70's. Even after being removed from the home, his mother tried to mentally abuse him by visiting him and letting him know that she would be watching him and if he messed up she would make sure that he would pay for his transgressions.

The foster care system is a place of refuge for Dave and the families that he is placed with are kinder to him than his real parents. He had his issues and acted out on them because of the confusion he had on the inside, but he wasn't necessarily as bad or dangerous of a kid as he could have been due to the circumstances of his life. He was aggressive, but only to those who sought to harm him. He stole, in order to be accepted by others. He retreated into himself when he was in public forums because people treated him as an outsider. He hung out with the wrong crowd, but during all that time he never lost himself to the madness because he always knew what was right and eventually got himself back on track with the help of the foster parents around him.

It was a good story, but being told from the child's POV continually left questions that were never answered because the details may or may not have been discussed with Dave, or it could be that children remember what they want to remember so some details are lost in the shuffle. The book goes from Dave being placed in foster care up until the time he phased out and entered the Air Force.

I had to read this after reading A Child Called "It". It was obvious that the author survived and turned out okay as he was an author and known advocate for foster care. I was curious what happened to his mother and if she was prosecuted. She never was. I just do not understand how a parent can be horrifically abusive to their children so much so that the child is removed from her custody and nothing is ever done to her for her actions.

This book is the sequel to A Child Called "It". It does a great job at continuing Dave's journey where it left off in A Child Called It and at showing what Dave had to go through after he was removed from his mother's abusive home.

To me this book was sad because i couldnt believe that a mother would treat her own flesh and blood like an animal.I couldnt believe that a mother would hurt her child the way david pelzer mother hurt him for so many years.I feel that this book is a good way to get children that are going through some of the things that david go through out of this situation.This book an so many ways could be helpful because at the very end of the book theres like an phone book of numbers that can be of some help to abused children or adults.I was very EAGER about him moving out cause it was a start to a new beginging in his life.I like the way Mrs.gold PERSERVED him made me very happy.To all mothers around the world if your going to PENALIZE your child dont get drunk and try to kill them,dont beat them to where there little bones feel like there broke.A mother to a mother no child deserve to be beating.I rated this book a five because it can be helpful in so many ways.I have a question for parents all around the world if you have ever beating your child to the point where they can't move how do you live with yourself knowing that your child is n great pain?

I read the first of this series and it was really good but I didn't like this one as much. I didn't like that it went so fast and didn't really explain each foster home well enough. I did like that at the end it showed the perspectives of each of the characters that played a role in David's life. My favorite character was David because he went through so much but still overcame it and had a son that he loves very much and is going to treat good.

Sadness continues.

Unglaublich herzzerreißende Geschichte. Ich musste oft Pausen einlegen, da ich beim Lesen immer alles mir bildlich vorstellen musste. Das arme Kind. Was für eine schreckliche Kindheit.. Ein Trauma für das ganze restliche Leben.

This is the second of Dave's books that I have read, and I know that they will both stay with me forever. It also incomprehensible what we went through, and my heart yearned for him throughout each page. Growing with a mother much like Dave's - although, thankfully, not as violent towards me, until the very end - made this book a rough one to get through, but it also helped a lot to know that it wasn't just me and my mother. There are other people out there who have suffered at the hands of people who were supposed to be their parents, and that's awful, but it's never the child's fault, and this book helped me understand that about myself. I have his third book waiting for me on my shelf, but I'm going to need a while to properly absorb this one before I can move onto the next.