What is the author trying to get across?

[Kiana]

Since this is based on the life of the author, he is trying to send a message across that child abuse to any extent is wrong. Because he went through this as a child he wants to share his story and in a way speak out for those who are going through similar real life situations like he did. He wants to tell his readers that there is much more to people. What hides behind a smile or even a personality can be much more different. For example his mother. Around others she was kind and no one wouldve expected her to be the way she was, but at home with David was a different story, and being treated the way he was is something to never be wished upon another person.

[Shari]

I've read the entire series as well as the book by his brother.

I find the entire system failed him in a huge way.

I'm also thinking he deals with his past issues on a daily basis

[Empress]

I really think he is just trying to bring awareness, to realize that an abuse might be happening in the door next to us, and there is no way of knowing how bad it is. So if you suspect abuse report it.
I think he was unfortunate to live in a time when abuse was not as popular topic as today

Shari I did not know there was a book by his brother. Will look into it. Thank you for mentioning it.

[C.A.]

I can speak as a survivor! In 1970 I was adopted by people who should not have adopted me. I spent most of my teen years running away in order to get away. I am getting ready to publish my own book on this very subject. My childhood was horrible from my first night with my new family. I wrote September,s Child to help myself get over it, and to show the world this kind of thing happens to even the most normal looking families. Not all abuse is physical, and not all physical abuse can be seen. Child abuse also follows the survivor through their entire life. The memories never go away. They do fade a little.

[Empress]

Carol wrote: "I can speak as a survivor! In 1970 I was adopted by people who should not have adopted me. I spent most of my teen years running away in order to get away. I am getting ready to publish my own book on this very subject. My childhood was horrible from my first night with my new family. I wrote September,s Child to help myself get over it, and to show the world this kind of thing happens to even the most normal looking families. Not all abuse is physical, and not all physical abuse can be seen. Child abuse also follows the survivor through their entire life. The memories never go away. They do fade a little."

I'm always surprised when people can talk and write about this things.

I was just thinking last night that a parent doesn't need to use words or fists to scare the sh*t out of a child. A lot of child abuse is invisible.

\Off-topic:
P.S. Are you going to publish the book? I see the preface is on GR. You can add an entry of the book and apply for author's profile. Then you can upload excerpt or the book it self if you wish

[C.A.]

I am going to publish September,s Child. I thought I had applied for author's profile. Still learning about this Goodreads.

[Empress]

Carol wrote: "I am going to publish September,s Child. I thought I had applied for author's profile. Still learning about this Goodreads."

You need to add the book first I think but I might be wrong. Just add an entry and apply from the profile. Approval takes 2 working days
http://www.goodreads.com/book/new

[C.A.]

As it is not published yet, I can only give previews. So it seems anyway. Thanks for the link though.

[C.A.]

I will be self publishing September's Child, because for one I am not patient enough to go through years of agent denials. The book is finished, and will be ready for Amazon for November publishing. I am offering pre sales of the book on my Facebook fan page, as well as my Facebook writers group.

[Levi]

I consider this an autobiography type story because it tells of his childhood and the abuse he went through. But most stories I find gives people a sense of an adventure, even if it is a realistic story, it gives them some kind of an experience of there own based on the story. So for some, reading this story could result in more life experienced based on this story.
However there could be a lot of opinions on what the point of this story was, or what the author was trying to get across. That, however, is up to your personal opinion. Some people may believe he was just telling his own story while others may believe it is a story telling how bad abuse can get and how wrong it is. It may be there to give you an idea on how the victim feels about the abuse, however some could argue by saying it is simply there to give you life experience of your own. There are many possibilities as you can see, however none of them are particularly wrong or right. As I said, it depends on your personal opinion.

[C.A.]

Well putLevi!

[Timothy]

Myself, think its just a statement how the system failed him, what's sad, is it still happens. That jaycee dugard comes to mind. How many times did the people who were supposed to be watching this guy miss her in the back yard. I mean really, lazy and lack of common sense.

It also says to me, we tend to turn a blind eye and refuse to accept what your seeing is worse case senerio.

[C.A.]

Exactly the point being made in September's Child. " my memoir"

[Keisha]

he was being abused whenever he was a young boy.

[Angela]

I agree that he is just trying to bring awareness to the issue and tell people that things will work out in the end if you persevere with strength from whatever Higher Power yours may be. I'm also in strong agreement that not all abuse is physical. I'll be looking to read September's Child.

[C.A.]

I have an author website where I am doing presales for September's Child. There is a preview there, also there is a preview of my next book Dark Mountain. Grab a cup of your favorite drink, enjoy my video book trailer, look around, and please let me know
what you think. www.authorcarolstaff.net

[Leeann]

I read "A Child Called It" many years ago. One of the highest compliments I have received on my own book, "Cat's Eye Marble" is that it has been compared to "A Child Called It." I can imagine that Mr. Pelzer was using the book as a means of bringing awareness to the horrors of child abuse but also as a means of healing. I know for myself, a big reason I wrote my book was to give survivors an avenue to realize they are not alone.

[[deleted user]]

I think he's trying to prove sevrel points. First, he's trying to say that child abuse is wrong. Second, he's saying that you should not keep it a secret if it is happening to you. otherwise it'll get worse. And with his third book, he is trying to say that you can make it through. You just have to be brave.

[Hanna]

I think the author is trying to say, that you shouldn't abuse your child, because it's wrong. And he is trying to say that you can survive through it all, and you just have to be strong

[Sarah]

Isn't it obvious? I'm not saying his objective was accomplished - but I think his message is clear.

[C.A.]

I think everyone agrees child abuse is wrong. His message was indeed clear. My point is that so many little ones never get the chance to be strong, besides you can only be so strong, before you end up breaking.

[Steven]

Writing is a very cathartic process. Any message he might have been attempting to 'get across' I believe is secondary to his need to memorialize what happened to him as a child. Although Pelzer is certainly a kind individual and would want to bring attention to the issue of child abuse, I can almost guarantee his first reason for putting down on paper what happened to him, was for his own sanity and well-being.

[Bianca]

Shari wrote: "I've read the entire series as well as the book by his brother.

I find the entire system failed him in a huge way.

I'm also thinking he deals with his past issues on a daily basis"

What is his brother's name?

[Bianca]

First, he wanted to write about his experience. Writing can be therapeutic. Second, he wanted to shed the light on something that is very 'hush hush'. A lot of times people see abuse as a family matter and feel like outsiders should not intervene. In reading this book I think many people can see how important it is to intervene when you think something could be happening to a child. Third, it also sheds the light on appearances. Just because there is a family that seems to be very clean-cut and well to do does not mean there is nothing going on behind closed doors. Appearances can be and are very deceiving. Fourth, it is part of a series which can be seen as motivational to other vicitms of child abuse. Abuse does cause a lot of emotional issues such as depression and feeling like one is not loved/wanted/worth anything, etc. With his books other people who have gone through abuse can feel like they are not alone and know there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Lorraine]

I wrote a book that has been compared with ''A Child Called It''.

In ''The Pencil Case'', I tell my husband's story of being stolen from his family, incarcerated, and abused in institutions, then denied the right to choose his own path as an adult and kept effectively ''incarcerated'' for another 8 years, before being thrust into a world he couldn't cope with after years of institutionalization and abuse.

Writing the story served multiple purposes, and I suspect the same is true of ''A Child Called It''. Firstly, and most importantly I think, it was cathartic. My husband wanted his story told. He wanted people to know what was done to children like him, and to know about the effects of it. But until I started to write, he had kept most of it a deep, dark secret. Letting it out helped the healing process. Telling the story is therapeutic, and it really assists healing when readers let him know that they care - when people show empathy.

The second objective was to create awareness, so that - hopefully - this kind of crime is stopped. The more people who are aware of the crime and of the damage it causes, the less likely it is that it will be repeated (hopefully!). While ''A Child Called It'' addresses certain failures in the child welfare system, and abuse by a child's own mother, ''The Pencil Case'' focuses on bureaucratic bungling and corruption that led to tens of thousands of children being deprived of the love of family - and goes on to expose the flawed system and heartless cruelty that destroyed so many of those children.

Thirdly, the story was intended to inspire - to show the strength of the human spirit and the amazing power of family love, and hopefully to impart some of the wisdom that enabled Paul Wilson to survive and build a life for himself, and his shattered parents to endure the heartbreak and destruction of soul that they suffered for being poor and powerless in an uncaring world.

And yes, these stories are written to help others who suffered - to show them that they are not alone, and hopefully to encourage them to speak out. Paul Wilson suffered needlessly in adulthood because he was trained never to cry for help - to be ashamed of his past and keep it secret. Today, so many who knew him when he was a young adult say ''I wish I'd known. I could have helped''.

Hopefully his story, and others like it, will shine a light that will enable sufferers to speak up and ask for help, and the world to recognize the signs of suffering and extend a helping hand.

Finally, one of my objectives in writing ''The Pencil Case'', and the specific purpose of the later chapters that some have criticized, was to show that the suffering doesn't end. Those who suffer abuse, deprivation of love, and deprivation of opportunity as children endure pain all their lives, and pass on pain to their children by their inability to parent effectively, because they were denied a good model of parenting. The cycle can only stop when society recognizes that this is not a problem of history that has been addressed. This is a problem of damaged people who need help NOW. Governments in Australia have turned a blind eye. They have apologized, but they regard changing the system as a remedy. It isn't enough. The victims of that flawed system are still suffering, and still in desperate need of recognition and help. I hoped the story I wrote might open some eyes to that need.

[Steven]

Lorraine wrote: "I wrote a book that has been compared with ''A Child Called It''.

In ''The Pencil Case'', I tell my husband's story of being stolen from his family, incarcerated, and abused in institutions, then ..."

Lorraine is completely correct. Though not at the level her husband experienced, I can relate. As a child or young person you develop coping habits, habits that might seem odd or off-putting later in life, such as being a 'loner'. Though over time you learn to recognize and adjust, it never really goes away completely.

[Cathy]

For those of you who have read the entire series, does David ever give a reason why his mother became so abusive? What made her go from a loving mother to a savage?

[Lorraine]

I haven't read the entire series, and I can't answer, but I do know that there isn't always a clear, identifiable reason for personality disorders.

One of my husband's friends was abandoned by his mother. She had more than a dozen children and left them all at the hospital as tiny babies. Another of his friends was put into a home by his parents because he had cerebral palsy - he was 'flawed'.

In some cases, tragedy causes PDs that lead mothers to abuse their children. I know of a case where a mother hated her baby because the father died shortly after the child was born and the mother felt trapped as a widow and single mother. Without the baby, she could have gone back to a gay single life. The child was repeatedly 'punished' for destroying the mother's life. Deep down, the mother loved her child, but she frequently lost perspective and the ability to cope, and lashed out at the child.

It seems incomprehensible to me that any mother could carry a child and not love it and want to protect it, but we are not all made the same. It seems equally incomprehensible to me that nuns could abuse innocent little children and destroy them emotionally, or that priests could use small boys for sex - but they did!

I'll look for more stories about David, because I'd be interested to know if there was a specific trigger that caused his mother to be abusive.

[Zahara]

In my English class a few other students and I created a blog on the next two books in the series. If you`re interested, please check it out! I would appreciate any feedback.

http://291888.blogspot.com/