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

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.


Will there ever be Justice for abuse?   March 24, 2000
Stacey Thienes
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

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.


Amazing   March 22, 2000
Debi (Newark, CA)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

After reading A Child Called It, I of course, had to read Lost Boy. Though, I was very happy to see David got away from his mother, I was more compelled to learn that the school system got involved, finally! Being in foster care itself, can't be a easy task, i.e. living out of a paper sack with the only prized possessions he ever owned, but not knowing from moment to moment if you are going to be pulled out of that home. This book is one of those books that you just can't put down, you have to turn the page to see how David pulls through each situation. Don't pick up this book if you don't have a few hours to spend starting and finishing this book. It is a MUST read! I have purchased A Man Named Dave and have begun to read it. This series is compelling!


From a Foster Mother's Heart...   June 9, 2000
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Thank you, Mr. Pelzer, for writing your heart in this book. As a foster mother of three little ones, 5, 5, and 3, my heart always breaks for what they have seen and what I do not know yet that they have seen or experienced. You have let the world know that all foster parents are not monsters--and in fact, we try very hard to make our homes better and safer than some biological families' homes. The reason people become foster parents varies as widely as the reason children go into foster care. Each child is special and each child deserves the best care and the sweetest love they can receive. I could not put your book down after I bought it at the airport. My heart broke for your loss and your continued struggle to understand why your mother did those horrific things to you and your family. One could quickly blame the alchohol, but my heart ached as you continually tried to uncover what it was you could have done to make things turn out differently. Sometimes, we do not find the answers in this lifetime---your courage and honesty are appreciated. I highly recommend this book to any parent or anyone who is curious about "the system." My hat is off to you, Mr. Pelzer.


Provides insight into the needs of rescued victims of abuse   May 12, 1999
mcweyel@flash.net (San Antonio, Texas)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

This book and the previous A CHILD CALLED IT provide an engrossing view of child abuse and the needs of those rescued from its grip. It is most helpful precisely because it comes from the point of view of the child as he is living it rather than from well-meaning experts who look from the outside in. As the guardian of a formerly abused youngster, I was particularly interested in the emotional stages that David went through after his rescue. His skill in expressing his own frustratation with himself and his reactions to those who wanted to help him is extraordinary. His story has helped me to help my own "foster" son and to better understand what he has gone through even though he himself cannot yet explain much of his behavior. I hope he will someday feel comfortable about reading THE LOST BOY and perhaps telling his own story after the wounds of his experience have become less raw. I anxiously await the third book in the series, for I wonder how the final healing has taken place for Mr. Pelzer. What has happened to his parents; did he ever learn why his mother behaved as she did? How has he learned to parent his own child in the absence of a proper example in his childhood? I think the answers to these questions might show the way for many like him who are even now struggling not to survive, or to find a family, but to heal.