A Child Called "It," by Dave Pelzer, is a first-person account of a child's struggle through a traumatic and abused childhood. The book begins with Dave telling us about his last day at his mother's house before being taken away by law enforcement. At first I didn't understand why he started at the end of his story, but after reading the whole book it became clear to me that it was easier to read knowing that there was indeed a light at the end of the dark tunnel. This horrific tale of extreme abuse leaves us with a lot of questions to which we unfortunately have no answers. He tells us what happened to this little boy and that, miraculously, he was able to survive and live until the day he left this hole that was his home. However, it doesn't tell us why or even give us a good sense of context. which allows us to speculate on the why of this abuse. Catherine Roerva Pelzer, Dave's mother, is depicted as the mom, mother and dog. Dave tells us about mom right after his story of “The Rescue.” He tells us about “The good times” when mom and dad were happy, when they were all a normal family. Mom was a dedicated nurturer, homemaker, and teacher. She wore dresses, her face always had makeup, and she always prepared delicious meals for the family. Mom took outings with her sons when the father was away, and vacations with the whole family, the most memorable being their trips to the Russian River. Mom was sweet and loving; she recognized his achievements, showed pride and physical and emotional affection around her son. The mother is introduced to us in "The Rescue" and we continue to learn more about her tortures throughout the book. The mother is a woman who is angry, especially towards Dave, especially when he needs to be punished. Mom no longer takes care of her appearance, she walks around in dresses all day, watches television, never bothers to put on makeup and often smells of alcohol. She is vindictive, cruel and abusive, always barking orders, assigning impossible tasks and finding even more sickening ways to break Dave. The mother attacks Dave's self-esteem by making him repeat and believe that he is a bad boy. Dave's self-esteem deteriorates further as she treats him worse than a dog, but acts towards his brothers with care and affection and even teaches them to despise Dave..