Bibliography:
Pelzer, Dave. The Lost Boy. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc. 1997.
The book that I have chosen covers the topic of child abuse and lives that children of abused families’ lead. This book shows how a child is moved out of the only home that he has ever known to several foster homes. On his journey he learns how to communicate in a society. He learns the dos and they don’ts. He learns what it is like to be part of a family and to have friends. Most of all he learns that he is not the bad child that his mother made him believe that he was.
I selected this book because I thought it would be interesting to learn more about this topic. It is not often that ones hear of such extreme abuse. It is almost unimaginable that someone could treat his or her child like this. I also had often heard from many people that this was a really good book to read. It turns out that they were right.
Imagine a young boy who has never had a home. His only possessions are the old torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. His only world is isolation and fear. Although this young boy has been rescued from his alcoholic mother, the real hurt is just beginning – he has no place to call home. This is Dave Pelzer’s long-awaited sequel to A Child Called “It.” Answers will be exposed and new adventures revealed in this compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now considered an F-child – a foster child – young David experienced the instability of moving in and out of five different homes. Those who feel that all foster kids are trouble – and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a real family – resent his presence and force him to suffer shame. Tears and laughter, devastation and hope: all create the journey of this little lost boy who desperately searches for the love of a family.
The Term Paper on Children Parents and Family needs
E1 Explain the needs of families which may require professional support. Families may have a variety of needs, in which they need professional support. Families with a large number of children may not have the required amount of living space, this could mean that children are sharing beds, or parents are not sleeping in a room. Children will lack of sleep are proven to concentrate less and develop ...
Dave’s mom is a brutal alcoholic mother who has a cold heart and no sense of love or affection anywhere in her being. Her character is despised by the reader because of her unmerciful and heartless nature despises her character. She relentlessly puts Dave through torturous punishments and cruel games that seriously harm him physically and emotionally yet bring her twisted pleasure.
A teacher rescues David from his abusive mother early in the book. He is than forced into a system that provides no stable home life. David is moved from home to home and can never find the stability he desires so much. “The first two ultimate rules of being a foster child…were never to become too attached to anyone and never to take someone’s home for granted” (221).
David is forced to jump form school system to school system and is consistently picked on by other children because he is different. Even some naïve adults refer to David as “that little F-child”. Friends for David are few and far between and most of the time he is alone, left to think about his past and how it must be his fault. Through his entire childhood and teen-age years he is convinced that these tortures of “the system are his fault since he told the “family secret” and he deserved all of the abuse his mother gave him. David is shuffled through the system while being passed amongst psychiatrists, probation officers, and social workers. David never knows what it was like to be truly loved by a parent. He constantly craved hearing “those three words” from his mother.
The Essay on History of Minority Populations in the Child Welfare System of the United States
Article 1 Love, C. (2005). Not in our country? A critique of the United States welfare system through the lens of China’s one child policy. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 14(2). 142-174. Retrieved May 21, 2010. The article mainly focuses on the Family Planning Law in China and the laws in the United States regarding society welfare. Both the countries aim to eliminate poverty from the ...
David ultimately ends up dropping out of school at the age of seventeen to focus on his future. Aware of the fact that he will not be “in the system” after he turns eighteen, he looks for work. He goes through several jobs and ends up as a car salesman. Unhappy in his career, he decides to join the military and take responsibility for his own happiness.
After all of the confusing homes and the constantly changing “parents” David was ultimately able to call Alice and Harold Turnbough mom and dad.
I would definitely recommend that this book. It is a book that kept me so captivated I finished all 300 pages in two days. It is horrible to think that there are children out there just like David, with no one to turn to and a mother so evil she could despise her own flesh and blood. This book gives a ray of hope for those suffering through similar circumstances.
In conclusion, The Lost Boy is an awesome book and one that I would highly recommend for everyone to read. After reading this book, not one person can go away unaffected. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Dave’s experiences. Personally, I was in complete shock at the way Dave’s heartless mother treated him. There were countless times in the book that I was brought to tears because of they way she treated him. I was angry yet sympathetic toward Dave’s father in his timid attempts to protect Dave from further harm. It was as if I could feel Dave’s emotions throughout the reading because Pelzer is such an extraordinary writer. His descriptions of the situations are so real and he recalls them so vividly that it was intriguing. It was like I received a slap in the face after reading the book. I was brought to the reality that some unfortunate innocent children are raised in broken homes that treat them like dirt. However, it made me thankful for the social services because in many cases they are the only source of freedom for the children. I was also thankful for the adults who give their lives to foster children in heartbreaking situations like Dave’s. They are true heroes in my eyes. I honestly can’t think of one aspect of the book that I disliked. Pelzer did an amazing job writing it and he successfully inspires the readers.
The Term Paper on Books And Reading
Topical Vocabulary 1. Categorisation: Children’s and adult’s books; travel books and biography; romantic and historical novels; thrillers; detective stories; science fiction/fantasy; non-fiction; pulp fiction. absorbing; adult; amusing; controversial; dense; depressing; delightful; dirty; disturbing; dull; fascinating; gripping; moralistic; obscene; outrageous; profound; whimsical; unputdownable. ...
