The Child Called "It" by Hannah Schwefel

The Child Called "It" is about a young boy struggling thought the horrendous stages of child abuse. He starts out being accepted like the other children in his family, suddenly his mother starts to treat him like the family slave. The things that this young boy encounters, are hard to imagine. The boy goes though, things like cleaning, and other household chores. Then the mother refuses to feed him, he tries many different techniques to get food, but his mother always catches him. When hes caught, he is beaten. The boy is also tortured, he is forced to swallow ammonium as well as be in a room filled with gases. At one point in the story, the boy is stabbed by his mother, at this point his mother takes it a little easier on him, and he longs for the love that they share at that moment. When the boy is hugged, or praised, he enjoys is to much. I makes my heartache, he seems like such a good kid in the story, and he only wants to be loved like the other children. In the story, he starts out believing that things will change, and that God will help him soon. In the end of the story, his views change, and he believes things will be like this forever and that God is nonexistent. Towards the end of the story, he wants to die. It makes you feel so bad, you want the boy to get out of the hell of his house. He does end up getting out of the house, because people from the school find out that he is being beat. The story is really hard to relate too, I can't imagine this ever happening. It is so cruel. I am not sure many moments in history really relate either, I am sure things like this have happened, but not that I have heard of. I believe this boy has many great strengths, he is very brave when he stands up to his mother. He never gives up, even though he really wants too. In the beginning, he loved his whole family even though they were so mean to him. I think this boy was very brave and courageous. I look up to him for getting out of the horrible situation he was in. He overcame an obstacle that most adults couldn't overcome. He was truly a very strong, witty child. I am so glad that he survived to write such a bold and informational story, to inform the public of the horrors of child abuse.