By Dave Pelzer

Adventure, Non-fiction, Autobiography

The main theme is child abuse. The whole book is a flashback, except for the very beginning, when a policeman is taking the boy away from his mother, to freedom. The boy's mother, when he was very young, was the "perfect" mother. She taught them something new every day and took them on many fun family vacations. Then, she got hooked on alcohol and singled out one of her children to be the family slave, but it didn't stop there. She also played cruel games, just for her pleasure with the boy. Some of her favorites were the gas chamber, the dishwashing soap, and the starvation tease.

There were three main characters, Dave, (the boy,) his mom, and his dad. The writer makes me believe that these people are real by describing them in very fine detail.

I...