Did you read A CHILD CALLED IT?  That book has haunted me for years.  I have never understood how a parent could do that to their child, their own flesh and blood.  Many of us have heard Dave Pelzer’s story and have been puzzled why help didn’t come sooner.  A BROTHER’S JOURNEY tells the story from a different viewpoint—younger brother Richard. 

While his brother was in the Pelzer household, Richard was safe from his mother’s rage.  She relied on him to tell her when Dave was misbehaving.  However, at the age of twelve, Dave was no longer at home.  He was, thankfully, tucked away in foster care.  Richard became the target of his mother’s rage.  Her violence didn’t abate after Dave was removed from her home; instead she learned to hide the evidence.  Richard became her new punching bag. 

Trapped and helpless, Richard craved to be out of there.  He blamed his brother for leaving and making him the victim, but he also admired his brother for getting out.  A BROTHER’S JOURNEY is Richard’s story. 

My heart breaks when I read the lives of the Pelzer boys.  I also become outraged.  I have to admit that I don’t think these books help with your blood pressure.  Richard is subjected to having his head bashed into a concrete floor, lapping up Tabasco sauce like a dog, being kicked, punched, slapped, and treated like the scum on the bottom of a barrel.  Richard became his mother’s child called It. 

I get furious as I read these books.  Authorities knew that his mother tortured Dave, yet no one stepped in and removed all the boys, including Richard, from that household.  Their father sat back and was too scared to put an end to it.  How any of the Pelzer siblings ever learned to trust another human is beyond me. 

I think EVERYONE needs to read these books—feel the outrage.  If you know of an abused child, for God’s sake, please don’t sit back and let it continue.  There are children like the Pelzer boys in today’s world that are crying for help—don’t sit back and let the abuse happen.