{"id":18839,"date":"2020-11-27T14:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T18:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=18839"},"modified":"2025-11-02T22:00:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T02:00:43","slug":"a-child-called-it-discussion-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"A Child Called &#8216;It&#8217; Discussion Questions: 5 Exercises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are you looking for <em>A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221;<\/em> discussion questions? How can you better understand the perspective in the book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221;<\/em> is about horrifying abuse and it highlights that abuse and neglect are not that rare. <em>A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221;<\/em> discussion questions can help you think about Dave Pelzer and how he overcame the trauma of his childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading for 5 <em>A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221;<\/em> discussion questions and the context behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Background for <em>A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221;<\/em> Discussion Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All the alarming statistics about child abuse and neglect\u2014millions of cases reported each year, killing nearly five children each day\u2014don\u2019t begin to illustrate how victims experience abuse. In <em>A Child Called \u201cIt<\/em>,<em>\u201d <\/em>author <strong>Dave Pelzer provides a rare and grisly glimpse into his experience of severe physical and psychological abuse at his mother\u2019s hands.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In one of the worst child abuse cases reported in California\u2019s history at the time, Pelzer was starved, burned on the stove, regularly locked in the bathroom with a noxious mixture of ammonia and Clorox, and forbidden from speaking to or looking at any of his family members. Through it all, <strong>Pelzer maintained an indomitable will to survive that\u2019s a testament to the strength of the human spirit even under the bleakest circumstances.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the ages of 4 to 12, Dave Pelzer suffered brutal physical and psychological abuse at his mother\u2019s hands. When he was finally taken from her custody, Pelzer\u2019s case was one of the worst cases of child abuse ever reported in California<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A Child Called \u201cIt\u201d <\/em>is Pelzer\u2019s autobiographical account of his experience, told through his childhood perspective; <strong>the book is a rare look at the epidemic issue of child abuse through a victim\u2019s lens. <\/strong>This is the first in a trilogy chronicling Pelzer\u2019s experiences\u2014first as a child enduring abuse, then as a teen in foster care, and finally, as an adult rehabilitating from his traumatizing experiences. Throughout them all, <strong>Pelzer demonstrates resilience and determination in the face of horrific abuse and adversity.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Exercises on Overcoming Obstacles<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Pelzer\u2019s story of persevering and triumphing through adversity offers inspiration for overcoming any obstacle in life.&nbsp;These <em>A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221;<\/em> discussion questions can help you apply this concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Describe a recent incident when you had to overcome a major hurdle.&nbsp;<\/li><li>How did you maintain the will to persevere?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>What\u2019s your biggest takeaway from Pelzer\u2019s story?&nbsp;<\/li><li>How could this have helped you through your recent hurdle?&nbsp;<\/li><li>How can you apply this next time you face a challenge?&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221; discussion questions? How can you better understand the perspective in the book? A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221; is about horrifying abuse and it highlights that abuse and neglect are not that rare. A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221; discussion questions can help you think about Dave Pelzer and how he overcame the trauma of his childhood. Keep reading for 5 A Child Called &#8220;It&#8221; discussion questions and the context behind them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1882,33],"tags":[157],"class_list":["post-18839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-discussion","category-people","tag-a-child-called-it","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Child Called &#039;It&#039; Discussion Questions: 5 Exercises - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you looking for A Child Called &quot;It&quot; discussion questions? These exercises help you think about Dave Pelzer&#039;s life and story.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Child Called &#039;It&#039; Discussion Questions: 5 Exercises\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you looking for A Child Called &quot;It&quot; discussion questions? These exercises help you think about Dave Pelzer&#039;s life and story.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-27T18:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-03T02:00:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1474\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"A Child Called &#8216;It&#8217; Discussion Questions: 5 Exercises\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-27T18:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-03T02:00:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/\"},\"wordCount\":444,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"A Child Called 'It'\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Book Discussion\",\"People\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/\",\"name\":\"A Child Called 'It' Discussion Questions: 5 Exercises - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-discussion-questions-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-27T18:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-03T02:00:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Are you looking for A Child Called \\\"It\\\" discussion questions? 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