Book Four: "A Child Called It"

This book was on a suggested reading list of one of my education classes in college, but I never got around to reading it until now. I completed this book in October, when I had parent/teacher conferences at my school. I only have eight students in my class, and so my conferences were over pretty quickly. Another teacher at my school lent me this book and because I was done with meeting so soon, I decided to read it while I was "working" on lesson planning.

If you've never read this book before, I defiantly recommend it. Because I heard about it in college, I knew the premiss of the book, but was so taken a back by the severity of the abuse, both physical and emotional, that this little boy was put through. I'm told the story ends on a happy note, but not in this book. The entire thing is about the abuse the boy is put through and how no one, not teachers, neighbors, or other family members help him. The other two books in this trilogy continue this story and do show how he escapes the situation and copes with what he went through.

I'm not cold-hearted by any means (I cry pretty easily), but this book did not bring me to tears. I was saddened by the story, but was more shocked at what I read, and since I read it while at school, I didn't want to red and blotchy while meeting with parents or other teachers. If you work with kids in any way, I recommend you read this book ASAP. It's a real eye-opener.