FREE ESSAY ON THE LOST BOY

THE LOST BOY

The Lost Boy
Could you imagine your own mother beating you, burning you, and 
treating the family dogs better then you? Quite unimaginable to me, but that is what 
David Pelzer had to go through. My book is the second of a three book series 
about the true story of David Pelzer. 
Ever since David was the age of 5 years old to maybe nine, his mother started to 
hurt him. She told him that he was a "bad boy" and deserved it all; it was some kind of 
game to her. At times she would curse at him, beat him vigorously, burn him, make him 
eat out of the trash, and starve him for days. The only time he really ate was at school

during lunch because he would just steal food. When he got home from school he was 
givin a long load of chores. Sometimes he got the scraps from dinner, but often times on

weekends he didn't eat the whole weekend because there was no school. At night, he 
would sleep on an old army cot with no blankets. Very rough and harsh living conditions 
for a little boy, but he thought he deserved it because she [his mother] always said he 
did, and he had no one to tell him that she was wrong.
Every night he would hear his parents after he was in "bed." He heard them 
fighting about him. His father knew little of what was going on because he was often at 
work. He noticed the significant difference in the way his mother treated David 
versus his other two brothers. He often told her she was wrong and she would just 
talk about David as if he was some kind of animal, only referring to him as "It" or 
"the boy." When things came down to it, however, David's father would 
always defend his mother.
One incident was at about seven to eight at night, and David's parents 
began to fight once again. Them both being alcoholics did not much help the 
situation. David heard his mom screaming about how she wanted David just to 
leave. David took this as a chance of a lifetime, but still kind of risky, walked right
out 
the door. He expected to get about a block away and hear his mom coming after him in 
her car, but nothing happened. He ended up getting picked up by the police that 
night, and David's father just told the police a fake story and took him home.
About two to three months later, some of the teachers and staff of David's
school caught on to what was happening and reported it to The Services of Children 
and Family; they took him away to a foster home. It was a great relief to David because
he would no longer be hurt. Even though his mother had hurt him so much,
he felt like a traitor for exposing the "family secret." He was not sure what to think;
he 
diden't even know if wanted to be away from his mother.
Soon after he received a social worker, Ms.Gold, who to David was an angel. He 
told her everything about what went on in "the House", so that when they went to court 
that they could file it against his mother, but David still felt horrible inside.
About a week before the trial came, he got to have a visit with his mother. She 
told him that no matter what she would get him back. This scared him greatly and his 
story quickly changed. About four days before the trial, Ms. Gold came to visit him and 
to talk about the case and what he was going to have to do. David immediately started to

claim that he started all the household problems, that he had fallen down the stairs, ran

into doorknobs, beaten himself up, stabbed himself, and then he started saying how his 
mom was a beautiful, kind woman. Things like that could seriously put him back with his 
mother. 
When the court case came along, David realized that he did not 
want to go back to "The House." The court granted him as a legal ward to the 
court, but his mother would not let it stay like that. No way would she let him 
embarrass her like that.
Soon after, David moved into his first real foster home. Over the next four to five
years, David moved from foster home to foster home. When David was about 15, 
his mother tried to convince people David was mentally unstable. Because of that 
he was placed in Juvenile Hall for a while, until the trial was over, proving David 
was quite stable.
From the age of 16-17, David began to take some responsibilities. He got 
jobs and bought his own things. David greatly feared his 18th birthday; that day 
was the day when he was forced to leave foster homes and fend for himself. 
When the day came, David joined the airforce, which was a dream of his. David went for
his dreams!
I learned a great deal of information from this book. I learned that children 
all over the world who aren't even born yet have a chance of this horrible fate. 
I also learned that if you have faith in yourself and try not to be someone you 
aren't, you get farther in life. 
I would definitely recommend this book to a lot of people. It was the overall 
best book I have read, and I look forward to reading the first and last book to this 
inspiring trilogy.