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

by Dave Pelzer

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558745157
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: Health Communications
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.5" x 0.7" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

The lost boy

I love this book it is very heart felt and touching it really makes you realize your life isnt as bad as it could be, it could always be worse.

Everyone Needs to Read This!

Everyone needs to read this book. Many people don't understand child abuse or how it happens, or even who it happens to. This book shows a child searching for answers to all of these questions in the heart breaking detail of his every day abusive home life. Some people think child abuse is hitting a child too much or not giving the child enough to eat at meals. The Lost Boy shows how much worse it actually is and how sick some people, namely abusers, really are. If you ever are going to work in the mental health profession, especially with children or adults who have survived child abuse, you need to read this book!

powerful

The first time I read this book, I cried several times. This is a powerful, true story about one of the worst cases of child abuse. Many of the child-abuse laws in place today came about from Dave Pelzer's case. Just as remarkable as the horrendous abuse is the author's life as an adult. I was inspired by Dave's ability to forgive his parents and live a normal, healthy life. I have seen him on "Oprah" and he is confident, funny, and well-adjusted. It is amazing that someone could live through such horrors and not be destroyed by it. This book is a testament to the human spirit and the will to survive. I highly recommmend this book to adults and teenagers, especially if read with a partner or book group so that it can be discussed. The vocabulary level is low enough for reluctant and remedial readers, but the content pulls them in. I feel that the content is too intense for elementary age readers and for sensitive/immature middle school students. For mature middle school and up, it's a powerful read that will change the way you look at your own life.

Awesome book to read!

This book is one of the most thrilling and adventurous books I've ever read. Even though it is very sad and emotional, it an amazing book to read. It helped me to realize how bad some people have got it. The author is so fluent with his word choice and sentences. He is so descriptive that I could actually picture the events that he encountered. I could imagine him at school, and how he felt when he sat down in the basement motionless. It's almost like I interacted with the author and felt every beating that he felt. It's an easy book to comprehend, but at the same time, it uses very good decriptives and word choice. This is honestly one of the best books I've ever read in my life. I would recommend it to anyone, anywhere, anytime!

Heart-wrenching, amazing and uplifting true stroy.

The Lost Boy is an absolutely amazing true story of Dave Pelzer, which chronicles his years from 12 to 18 years of age as a foster child. This is book two of three and now I must go and read the other two books in the trilogy. I could not put this book down. I would recommend this book to everyone.This will book will make you cry, it will make you mad, and at the end, you will be cheering and crying tears of joy for Dave. This book will break your heart and if you are a parent, you will be outraged at the abuse. Sadly, child abuse is so prevalent, and there are so many cunning, and devious parents out there, that some children do not get out and the abuse is "allowed" to go on and on or the child is killed.Dave's strength, determination, and unbreakable spirit shine throughout this book. How he survived the brutality can only be called a miracle. It breaks my heart to read of such incredible abuse and one does have to thank the foster parents, social works and teachers in this child's life. Dave says, "It takes a community to save a child", and I wholeheartedly agree.Dave takes you through his five different foster families during his adolescent years and his desperate determination to find the love of a family and a "home" propels him by not abandoning hope. Dave's inner strength, courage, and fortitude are a shining inspiration to us all. God bless you Dave and the work that you are doing to help other children. Thank you for opening our eyes and sharing "your" story.