Critique of Dave Pelzers Autobiography, The Lost Boy...

The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer is the sequel to A Child Called It. This book focuses more on Daves adolescence, rather than his abusive childhood. It is a moving story, starting out with a brief glimpse into the horrible abuse that he experienced as a child from his mother, and then moving into the difficult trials of being placed in numerous foster homes. The abuse that he went through is tear-jerking. His mother made him sleep in the basement on a cot without blankets, would only feed him when she wanted to which was rarely, and played evil mind games with him, leading him to believe that he had done everything to deserve the abuse that he got. The abuse he encountered was everything from being intentionally burned, to being physically†¦show more content†¦Although he didnt actually commit the crime, he was an accomplice, and the boy who had started the fire left David to take the blame. Because of Davids past record of stealing, and now alleged arson, his mother uses these t hings as ammunition to try to defend the abuse that she put him through, saying that he is incorrigible and warranted punishment. She tries to have him put in a mental institution based on lies that she created about his behavior while living at home. Soon after his release from juvenile hall, David leaves his first permanent foster home. He goes to a handful more before he ends up at a temporary home that turns out to be more permanent. He is about 13 or 14 at this time. It seems that he has finally straightened out. David gets a job, stays in school, and becomes self-sufficient and responsible. He stays there, with the Turnboughs, for about a year and then leaves of his own volition because some other foster boys are stealing money from him. At his next foster home, he makes his first two real friends, and they get into harmless trouble. David feels really at home here, but ends up by going back to the Turnboughs because he is uncomfortable with the amount of fighting that is taking place between his foster parents. He stays at the Turnboughs until he is 18, and after getting his G.E.D, enrolls in the US Air Force. This is basically