Summer Reading Reader's Journal Non -Fiction

#4                                                          Reader’s Journal                                          8/10/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            This week I finished reading A CHILD CALLED “IT” by Dave Pelzer. Its genre is classified as a memoir. A memoir is a type of book that is written about a specific memory or event in that person’s life. In this case, Dave Pelzer wrote about the harsh memories of his abusive childhood. The topic is child abuse and the main idea is one child’s courage to survive child abuse. The main idea is stated because it clearly written on the cover of the book, below the title. If I were to give this book another title I would name it “ Child Abuse Has Been Taken To A Whole Other Level.” I would name it this because in this book I read about the craziest and tragic things the mother tried to do and I really don’t think its right. I also think it would get people’s attention to read it. Three supporting details that supports the main idea is the title (A Child Called It) because just the title gives you a strong sense of word about a child not being called by his name and is considered a thing. Also, the book has a chapter or part of the book that states perspectives on child abuse. Another supporting detail is that Dave’s mother plays unpredictable “games” that left him nearly dead and Dave, at such a young age, went through it and stayed strong. The mother was not stable, meaning that she is an alcoholic and obviously, a horrible mother. These details were all viewed as factual.

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I checked if the book was “just right” for me since I heard that the abusive events were extremely terrifying and I just wouldn’t want it to be too hard or too easy to read. I also identified that the genre was a memoir so that I could keep track of what type of books I read. While reading I skim and scanned for any text features or things that would be needed to write my readers journal. I also tried visualizing each tragedy Dave had to face to put myself in his position and see how much pain he went through. After reading I analyzed the book to write my readers journal and I reread the parts I was confused about or was interested in.

            The author’s purpose is to share personal experiences and the author’s perspective is subjective and biased about child abuse. He explains the time he was abused by his mom and his opinion and beliefs is that child abuse isn’t right and that it shouldn’t be done to any children because it has an effect on their lives and can end up ruining them. The point of view is written in first person because the author is talking to the reader from his perspective, using the words I, me, my etc.

A quote that sparked my interest most was located right at the beginning of the book, on page three. “ I’m late. I’ve got to finish the dishes on time, otherwise no breakfast; and since I didn’t have dinner last night, I have to make sure I have something to eat. Mother’s running around yelling at my brothers. I can hear her stomping down the hallway towards the kitchen. I dip my hands back into the scalding rinse water. It’s too late. She catches me with my hands out of the water. SMACK! Mother hits me in the face, and I topple to the floor. I know better than to stand there and take the hit. I learned the hard way that she takes that as an act of defiance, which means more hits, or worst of all, no food. I regain my posture and dodge her looks, as she screams into my ears. I act timid, nodding to her threats. “Please, I say to myself, just let me eat. Hit me again, but I just have to have food.” Another blow pushes my head against the tile counter top. I let the tears of mock defeat stream down my face as she storms out of the kitchen, seemingly satisfied of herself.” I chose this quote because it showed me how hard it must have been to live that way. I learned that you should be thankful for everything you have. Also it showed me how strong and smart he was at such a young age. This was just one of the many parts of the book where Dave was abused and this passage was to show how tragic Dave’s past was.

The essential message I earned from the book is to appreciate what you have and to be thankful to have parents that take care of you. Also, it shows others how great of an effect child abuse have on people. It is just a horrible thing that no one should do.  The pattern of organization is chronological order. Chronological order is one of the many ways a book is written. It is the order in which the events or ideas occur, from first to last. The cause and effect is that if he didn’t listen to what the mother told him to do, the minute she told him to do it, he would get beaten and abused. When I think of compare and contrasting the book, I think of how the mother acted differently when other people were with her. Like for example, when the social worker came, the mother bought Dave new clothes, gave him good food, was really nice and loving, to show the social worker she was a good mother. But, when the social worker left, she didn’t care about Dave, she dressed him in rags, and didn’t feed him. This is to show you her actions compare and contrasted.  

There were many different text features I was able to sensor while reading. One text feature was quotations. Quotations helped me listen and tell the difference when Dave is talking and when he was thinking to him self. Also, I noticed that there were many italicized paragraphs it the beginning of the book, which grabbed my attention into reading it. Another text feature were titles and headings. These were at the beginning of the chapter, giving me an idea of what the chapter might be about. The next thing I noticed was a table of contents at the beginning of the book, which told me each chapters heading and its page number. This helped me locate where I was in the book.

I was able to identify five new vocabulary words while reading that I previously wasn’t familiar with. One of them was a word called mundane. Mundane means to have no interest of excitement and I was able to learn it by using context clue number five. Also, by using context clue number five, I encountered the word scalding, which means very hot water. Another word I learned was morsel, which means a small amount of food. Unlike the others I used context clue number four. Also, I learned the meaning of monotone, which means completely without emotion by using context clue number one, being definition or restatement. Finally, the word elated means to make someone happy; I used context clue number four to learn this new meaning.

The tone was to be sad and worried and the mood was to feel sorry and sorrow. Their weren’t many signs of figurative and descriptive language but I was able to identify one simile; “I was like a disabled animal being nursed back to health.” In order to understand the validity and accuracy, I used my prior knowledge on what I learned about child abuse and used it to better understand the situation.

While reading this book, I was able to make many different connections. For example, a text-to-world connection was that there are many other children in the world that are child abused just like Dave and can relate to the book this way. I couldn’t make a text-to-text connection because I have never read a memoir or a book about child abuse. Also, even though I was and am not abused, thank g-d, a text-to-self connection I was able to make was that it seems that I have a similar personality as Dave, being smart and determined of myself.

All in all this was a great book! Since it was only written from the ages of four to twelve, I am really looking forward to reading Dave Pelzer’s next book, called “The Lost Boy”, which is biased on his life from the ages twelve to eighteen! I rate this book a ten out of ten because it was truly my favorite book! I could never put it down, as if the whole book was a cliffhanger. I really recommend it to everyone, especially children who are or were abused so that they can see how strong Dave was towards it so that they can act the same way.

Love,

Joelle Ben-Nissan