53. A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

This story is supposedly an autobiographical recount of the horrific child abuse suffered by Dave Pelzer at the hands of his mother. She calls him "It" as a powerful symbolic label of his unimportance in the family and the descriptions of horrific psychological and physical abuse *should* turn your stomach. There's been lots of press debate about how true it actually is but the fact that it *could* have happened is scary enough. I was moved by the first novel but I feel Pelzer is cashing in a bit with the subsequent volumes. Still, why not? Not great writing generally but at least it's raised an important issue that is ignored too often in society and send the message loud and clear - child protection is everyone's business.