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

~ Dave Pelzer (Author) "Winter 1970, Daly City, California-I'm alone..." (more)
Key Phrases: other foster children, Aunt Mary, The Defiant One, The Runaway (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Following A Child Called It (Health Communications, 1995), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and appears frequently on high school reading lists, this is the second in a planned trilogy from motivational author and speaker Pelzer. Here he tells his story from the time he left his abusive mother and alcoholic father, through his experiences in five foster homes and juvenile detention, and how he eventually made it into the Air Force. He was a defiant, rebellious boy who, despite his background and personality, managed to endear himself to many guardians, social workers, and teachers. Pelzer writes in an honest, sometimes rambling, style; he is never bitter, and his story will find many sympathetic readers. However, he leaves many questions unanswered (which may appear in the third book), dealing with his adult-life relationships, his son, the mother of that child, and the ways he turned his life around. This is sure to be popular among students and readers who await a sequel to A Child Called It. Well recommended.?Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

"The Lost Boy" is the harrowing but ultimately uplifting true story of a boy's journey through the foster-care system in search of a family to love. This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to "A Child Called "It". The Lost Boy" is Pelzer's story--a moving sequel and inspirational read for all.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: HCI; Revised edition (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558745157
• ISBN-13: 978-1558745155
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (465 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Parenting & Families > Family Relationships > Dysfunctional Relationships
  #4 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Family & Childhood
  #56 in	Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-wrenching, amazing and uplifting true stroy., May 12, 2000

By	Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in California, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will there ever be Justice for abuse?, March 24, 2000

By	Stacey Thienes (Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This book is a sequel to the book, "A Child Called It." Like the first book, this one is also a very emotional experience for the reader. I experienced feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration. The first chapter reveals how the first book ended with the boy being rescued from his abusive mother. The proceeding chapters go in depth of the child's life in foster care and institutions, always in search of a loving family to care for him. Whats frustrating about this particular book, and like the first, is that it never reveals any consequences the abusive mother recieved. In fact, in this sequel, she still tries to get to him and continues to manipulate the system. What's appalling is she is allowed to do this with little or no consequences. I feel this book should be read by everyone in order to make anyone who can make a difference in our society aware of this issue. It's my hope that in the last sequel, it reveals some of the consequences the abuser recieves to put closure to this issue. Thats why, I feel, the reader feels so frustrated and helpless. These are excellent books by Dave Pelzer. I highly recommend them.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not the first, September 29, 2002

By A Customer

a Ken Grant of Massachusetts and New Hampshire is said to have wrote the first such book of this kind on the market but to have been harassed and blackballed in preventing its publication,"The Wanderer". Grant once lived at the New England Home in Boston.

Grant wrote of the experiences and people Bad and Good that he encountered while an abandoned,abused,handicapped child in state child care for over 15 years, representing less than 1% of the children who end up in state-sponsored care.

Grant later went on to receive a college degree and even to lecture grad students on issues facing such children.

This book serves a valuable purpose in forwarding little known issues for general public review and consumption.