The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family

by Dave Pelzer

Paperback, 1997

Status

Available

Call number

B Pel

Call number

B Pel

Barcode

3921

Collection

Publication

Health Communications (1997), Edition: Revised, 340 pages

Description

Biography & Autobiography. Family & Relationships. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML:Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. His only possesions are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother, his real hurt is just begining ā?? he has no place to call home. This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to A Child Called "It". In The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now considered an F-Child (Foster Child), Dave is moved in and out of five different homes. He suffers shame and experiences resentment from those who feel that all foster kids are trouble and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a "real" family. Tears, laughter, devastation and hope create the journey of this little lost boy who searches desperately for just one thing ā?? the love of a f… (more)

Original publication date

1997

User reviews

LibraryThing member ctmsjamc
Dave Pelzer is an author that writes about his personal life. The book ā€œThe Lost Boyā€ is a book about a boy who just wants a family. He just wants to fit in and be loved. Daveā€™s book made me want to read more and more. The detail he puts in makes yo, and some could bring tears to your eyes
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because of all the strong detail. As you read, you would think about how lucky most kids are, and how so many others arenā€™t. A young boy switches from foster home to foster home, makes friends and looses them. He desperately tries to find a way to fit in. This book should touch the heart of others. It has definitely made a difference in my awareness of the horrors around us
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LibraryThing member crashmyparty
The second book in the Dave Pelzer trilogy is The Lost Boy, chronicling Daveā€™s life in foster homes from the age of twelve to eighteen. Again I have come to the end and feel immediately like I have to put a few other books in between this and the next and final book, A Man Named Dave. I donā€™t
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feel like another book is necessary but have decided to read it for the sake of completeness.

At the start of the book, Dave insists this one is written using the language and perspective he had at that age. He also insisted the same thing in the last book. This is not a completely accurate description as many times I felt the writing to be reflective and also some of it beyond the years of the under-educated teenager he was at the time. We catch up with Dave where we left him in the last book, in the passenger seat of a police car heading outside the city limits, where after medical examinations he meets his social worker and is placed in the first of five foster homes.

Living in a foster home is very different from where Dave has come from and throughout the years that follow he struggles to find his place in the homes and in school. He has a stint or two in a juvenile detention hall and is passed around a bit until he settles down and decides where he wants to go in life.

More than anything I found this book to be a testament to the hard work of social workers and foster parents. Their job is far from easy and yet they strive to remove child from abusive homes and place them suitably, and provide them with the help they need. The part of the book I found most worth reading was after the Epilogue, the section entitled Perspectives on Foster Care which contained statements from Daveā€™s foster mother, a juvenile detention worker and a teacher. I found this to be an eye-opening view on the foster system and I appreciate the acknowledgement of foster carers and other authors of works on being a child in the foster system. If this content could be expanded further it would make for a great read on the work of foster carers and an insight to the foster system. Just maybe leave Dave Pelzer out. Heā€™s got plenty of books under his belt already and we all know his perspective.

As for the content itself, I enjoyed reading this book more than I did A Child Called ā€˜Itā€™. But considering it is supposed to be an autobiographical memoir, some of the recollections from his life as described in the first book had facts that didnā€™t match up, which makes you question the credibility of the ā€˜memoirā€™. It could simply be due to the passage of time, he was only a child so of course heā€™s not going to remember everything and things get mixed up. I would have hoped that the editor would fix this up but clearly it wasnā€™t noticed or was ignored. These kind of things can be infuriating for a reader like me.

A slight improvement. 2.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member brianinbuffalo
Pelzer's ongoing tale of a boy struggling to overcome the ravages of abuse is quite interesting. The book does an excellent job presenting an overview of foster care that strives to shatter some stereotypes. This theme is further strengthened by an appendix that allows key players (foster care
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parents, social services workers) to chime in. Still, I found "A Brother's Journey" by Richard Pelzer (David's sibling) to be more compelling.
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LibraryThing member XxMak3aSc3neXox
This Book gets 5 stars out of 5!
this book is great!
it true and from the heart
youll never put it down!
READ IT!
LibraryThing member Katie_H
"The Lost Boy" is the sequel to "A Child Called It," and it continues where the first memoir left off. This, the second installment, takes the reader through the author's years in foster care after being taken away from his sadistic mother. It is refreshing to hear positive commentary on the foster
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care system, since most of what is reported is horrible. Dave's strength, perseverence, and unshakeable spirit are extremely inspiring, and it is heartbreaking to learn of his experiences. This is a moving and miraculous story of survival, but it is not quite as poignant as the first in the series.
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LibraryThing member hsreader
This book is about a child named David. David had been threw so many different obsicles in life. David had gone to court in the middle section of the book over the fact of how his mother treated him. He never had gotten along with anyone in his family except his dad until he showed his true colors
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to his son. David has been taken cusody of by the Cantzes at the well toward the end. David likes were hes at at this point. The david starts to go to school and gets into trouble with this kid john. John told david to flatten tires and help him burn the school down, he did. so david was sent to a different family at the end.
D.L
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LibraryThing member books123
it was a good book. Dave fought for his survival. He went from foster home to foster home. He finds his father.
LibraryThing member cguevarra
I only read the fist 54 pages, but this part of the book made me happy that Dave was in a safer place. This book is a continuation of the book "A Child Called It." David's parents were arguing about the way his mom treats David. The mom then lets David chose whether or not he wants to leave. David
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leaves the house and searches for food. He stops at a pizza bar and meets a man who gives him food and calls the police. Once he gets to the station, the dad picks him up with one of the mom's excuses. In 1973, teachers informed authorities about the child abuse and David is taken to a foster home. A few days, he meets his social worker and later finds out he is going to court with his mother. The mother pays a visit to him and he is frightened. She insists that she will win in court, but David's caretaker, Aunt Mary reassures him not to worry. Still, Dave is afraid of his mom, but he also is more open and feels loved. I think his mother only made him stronger. We can all relate to David only because we all eventually have to face our fears. And out of something bad, theres some good. People who care about kids, want to know about the REAL world, and basically anyone would love to read this book.
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LibraryThing member t1bnotown
When we finish A Child Called "It", we think that Dave's troubles must be over, but this book shows us how he struggles with more of his mother's mind games, the legal system of the early 1970s that did not offer adequit child protections from birth parents, the instability of a series of foster
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homes, and his own need for emotional freedom from his experiences. Dave struggles to adjust to what has happened and acts out in the process. Meanwhile, though Dave forgives his mother long after her death in the next book, my sense of justice was irked by the fact that she got away with everything without jail time and was able to threaten Dave with institutionalization (although if Dave had been put in a psychiatric ward, perhaps his mother's crimes would have been exposed to more active authorities who would have been able to do more). Dave struggles constantly in this book, but eventually he begins to grow past his experiences and fulfill his needs.
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LibraryThing member nm.fall07.b.ovalle
I thought is book was very sad because i couldnt believe all the violence he was going threw i would never treat my son or daughter that way. This book was based on a child called "IT". I believe when you give birth to a baby its a present that god is giving you and that you should and have to
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treat them as good as you possilby can. This book was like one of the books that ive actually finshed it was great and i recomend others to read this book too i personally like it alot.
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LibraryThing member wmswarriors
Soo sad, based on a true stroy. It's the sadest book i've read in my life! But it's an awesome book.
LibraryThing member AsRa6
I just started this book but soo far it is really touching and makes you wanna cry when Dave tells about his abusive mother.
LibraryThing member nm.fall08.d.calderon
This book is about a boy, David, who is being abused by his mom physically and mentally. His mom has an argument with his dad and tells David to leave there house.. A long time later he ends up in a foster home. He lives with a lot of different people before the end of the story. He is still scared
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of his mom even though he is almost an adult. What I like about this book is that it shows you how in life people can be really cruel. Even though I think that is also the bad thing about this story. The way that the author describes the way that David suffers in the story is scary especially the fact that he is only 9 years old is scary. It has a lot of really good examples of how alcohol can make you act when you are under its influence. In the end of the book it has a lot of websites that you can go to for help if you have a similar problemā€™s would recommend this book to everyone but first you should read ā€œa child called itā€ witch is the first part of the book and after you read this book there is more books after this. David Pelzer writes really good books and I liked it a lot!
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LibraryThing member kristineherce
132/331 The book is about a nine year old boy who gets abused by his mother and lives in the garage. He then is taking away by the police and put in a foster home. He testifies against his mother and his agent Ms.Gold loves him dearly. After court, he stopps living with his mother and moves to his
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new home with Mrs.Catanze. My favorite character is Ms.Gold! She's so nice and genuinely loves David! (the little boy) I was able to relate to how he had to adjust to new things such as new homes. Although my adjustment isn't as drastic, I adjusted to high school.I didn't like how his Mother kept visiting him at his new homes! When clearly, she was allowed too. I honestly have no idea who would play David in a movie. =T
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LibraryThing member df1a_jasminC
This book is about a boy who use to get abused by his mother and in up in a foster home. He was happy to be a foster kid into he found out how people treat them. So he stared tyo think he"s not going to be anything in life. He started to hang with the big kids and he started to steal. and he really
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didnt care about school anymore. so now he's jumping from house to house meeting new foster familys.
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LibraryThing member susiehinckley
In this sequel to A Child Called It, the book covers Dave from the ages of 12-18. In this portion of Dave's life, he is bounced from different foster care homes trying to fit in and belong. The one thing that hinders his efforts is that his mother (his abuser) is allowed to visit him. These visits
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make it even more difficult for Dave to recover and move on with his life.
I really loved this book as much as the first. It saddens me to think that people can actually be this way. I think back to my childhood and praise God that it wasn't that bad.
This book could be used to show how what happens to us as children leave an imprint on the rest of our lives. It also shows that every person is different and those differences need to be taken into consideration when playing with friends.
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LibraryThing member edspicer
It is a wonderful sequel to "A Child Called 'It.'" It has much excitement - when Dave brings his mother to court and gets free, but yet she still fights to get him back. AHS/TL

A little boy wants to be loved and goes through a lot to get the love he desires. I wasn't disappointed at all. I will read
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all the other ones. I heard about it and I could relate to it so I read it. AHS/KT
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LibraryThing member vanessadz1
I thought this book really gave insight to just how bad a child can suffer from child abuse. How some parents can be so cruel to their children and this story shows how the so called "system" does truly the best effort to help children that are vicitms of abuse. And how children that are foster
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children and abused as small children can grow up and become something great. It is a very touching and sincere book and i enjoyed reading it.
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LibraryThing member hannahepalms39
good book, but i like te first oe better.
LibraryThing member edspicer
This book is a very good sequel. It takes place where the last one left off, and foreshadows well.
5Q, 5P; Cover Art: Okay.
This book is best suited for highschoolers and adults.
It was selected due to reading the first book in the series.
Grade (of reviewer): 11th
(TC-AHS-NC)
LibraryThing member mannperkins
I'm not sure if I had a dry eye on any page on his first two books. Its amazing the things he went through and he was still able to write a book and give lectures.
LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
In many ways I found this book even more disturbing than the first one. That some families are totally disfunctional is sad, even tragic. But the fumbling way society goes about trying to help those who have managed to survive such a life is a condemnation of us all.
LibraryThing member crazy4reading
The Lost Boy continues where A Child Called It leaves off. Dave is finally rescued from his mothers abusive home. The Lost Boy talks about Dave having to go to court to hopefully become a ward of the court. Dave is afraid and thinks of saying that everything was fine at home and that he should go
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back. He does not understand things and thinks he is the bad boy and is wrong.
Dave then continues about the wonderful people that took care of him during the ages of 12 to 18. You get to see how it is for children living in foster homes and the stigma that society has placed on being a foster child. I enjoyed this book and hearing from Dave the troubles he went through trying to figure out why things happened to him. I look forward to reading the final book in this trilogy.
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LibraryThing member mzzkitee
It was hard for me to put these books down but I can't really say that I enjoyed them.
LibraryThing member tracylg13
I just finished "The Lost Boy". It really gave a look into a childs view of being a foster child. It makes me look at children different who are not always seemed as "normal". The book also gives hope to others who have doubted their furture as either a foster parent or foster child. I recommend
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reading all 3 of David Pelzers books.
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Rating

½ (771 ratings; 3.8)

Pages

250
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