A Child Called It- David Pelzer

Summary:
Six year old David got beaten until he was 11 years old. From warnings like yelling, to being forced to lie down on a hot stove.  From discipline to punishments. David's mother was once a caring, loving mother who cared for her children just like any other mom. David's dad was always away working. As a result of this, David's mother became addicted to alcohol and began beating David for being a "bad boy" even though he did nothing wrong. David got angry and started disobeying her. David later regretted being disobedient to his mom because the outcome was tragic. Since he was being disobedient, his mother decided she would stop feeding him. First 3 days without food, then later 10 ten days without food, to him just having to steal food from the stores and his school cafeteria. In the story it says that David would fall asleep fantasizing about food. Also from his peers lunches. One day his mother had a knife in one hand and David's baby brother, Russell, in the other. As she was yelling at David, she lost control and the knife went flying to David's chest. While he was there bleeding severely, his mom quickly went into action. She treated the wound with cloths. David wasn't shocked because he knew his mother wouldn't just let him bleed to death, no matter how evil she was.  The author says, "Mother was still on her knees wrapping a cloth around my lower chest."Weeks later David's mom started treating him like a normal child. At first he couldn't believe what was happening. As the days went by, things became clearer. The reason she had started acting all nice and sweet was because an agent from Child Services came to speak to David about his mother. Just as soon David said the wrong thing, his mother's smile faded. You can guess what happened after the agent left. David was called down into the nurses office and was instructed to take off his clothes so they can inspect his bruises. Once the nurse saw the beating scars, she called the police officer into the office. He then inspected his body, instructed him to put his clothes back on. The police officer called David's mother and told her she had just lost custody of David then hung up the phone. The text says, "Mrs. Pelzer, this is Officer Smith from the Daly City Police Department. Your son David will not be coming home today. He will be in the custody of the San Mateo Juvenile Department. If you have any questions, you call them." David and the cop took the police car and went to the orphanage where David would live freely until he was adopted.


Character Analysis: David is a sweet, loving little boy. Just as soon as his mother stops feeding him of course. He's not so sweet. In the text it says that David would take up weeks of planning on how to steal food from the stores and from lunch boxes in the classroom. He was very obedient to his teachers and would respect his classmates. In the story it says that David would get along with his teacher and his peers. He would play very well with the kids at recess time when he wouldn't be planning on stealing food.

Summary/Character Analysis- Life as We Knew It

Summary: 

Something surprising happens, but we already saw it coming. November 25: Thanksgiving Celebration. Each person was allowed one leg and two bites of thigh off a chicken. November 26: Miranda’s mom asks her kids if they have done any of their schoolwork yet. The text states,” Have any of you done a bit of schoolwork all fall?” She then asks them to pick one subject and to work on that. Miranda chose history, Jon picked algebra, and Matt decided on philosophy. December 1: The temperature was above zero so Miranda took  her mom’s skates and decided out to the pond. No one was there, so she enjoyed her time alone. 

Character Analysis: 

Brandon is an ice skater from their hometown who is training for the Olympics. He is loved by fans worldwide. As in the text it said that Brandon has his own fan-site (website) dedicated to him. He gets along with Miranda very well, maybe because they both connect to ice skating in their lives. 

Life as We Knew It/ Character Analysis

Summary: 

Trouble has struck for Miranda’s family.  Miranda’s water and stopped working just as she was washing her mother’s bedpan. Miranda told Matt who was mad that Miranda hadn’t told him immediately. Matt said,  “You should have told me right away! If the pipes are frozen I might have been able to do something.” Only the pipes weren’t frozen. The well ran out of water they could've used. Matt suggested since the well had run of water, they should just conserve the oil and move into the sunroom with their mother. Miranda didn’t feel very supportive of that. The author wrote, “No! I won’t!” Her mother, (Laura) came to a compromise and said, “Tomorrow morning, we’ll bring the mattresses in then.” 

Character Analysis

Mrs. Nesbitt is an caring, old woman. When she calls Miranda over to discuss something, she ends up telling Miranda that when she dies, whenever that may be, that Miranda should not be scared to come and take stuff that she needs from her house.  “Now after I’m gone, go through the house and take everything you can possibly use.” She says. She also tells Miranda to take two paintings for Matt and Jonny. She says,” Matt’s to have the painting of the sailboats because he always liked that when he was little, and Jonny should have the landscape in the dining room.” 

Life as We Knew It/ Character Analysis

Miranda wanted the guards at the hospital to deliver a message to Peter, (Miranda's mom's boyfriend) that her mom had twisted her ankle but the guards said, "We can't leave our post to bring someone a message." So, Miranda waited until her brother Matt showed up. Then, the guard realized that Matt was one of his students, so he let him go on inside. Matt had delivered the message to Peter and Peter was in such a rush to get to Miranda's mom, he told Miranda to hook up her bike onto the bike rack on the car to get there faster. The text states, "Hook it up to my car, I have a bike rack."

When they got home, Peter put an Ace bandage and wrapped up Miranda's moms' ankle tightly. The author writes, "Don't even think about stairs for a week, stay in here."

       Horton is the family cat. Horton has unbreakable bond with Jonny. In the book, it says that Horton will always sleep with Jonny or at dinner be sitting on Jonny's lap while he eats dinner. Horton is comfortable with anyone, as in the story it says that he will curl up with anyone, and just fall asleep. 

Life As We Knew it/ Summary & Character Analysis

The first sense of coldness rolls into August. Miranda asks her mom if things can get  any better, her mom says that there is still volcanoes erupting, and much more life threatening things happening. The text states, "She said no, that once the moon's gravitational pull had changed, things could never to where they'd been." Miranda and her mother get into an argument which results in Miranda leaving her house & biking into town. While there, Miranda witnesses a gang with a gun breaking into a store. Several days later, Miranda and her brother, Matt decided to be homeschooled rather than going to public school.
      Lisa is Miranda's step mom and also the soon to be mother of Miranda's sister. Miranda's mom and Miranda herself accept Lisa into the family, Lisa also accepts them. While in the story it states that Miranda's dad asks Miranda to be the godmother of their child & Lisa also wants her to be the godmother.

Life as We Knew It- Summary/ Character Analysis

Miranda finds Horton at the kitchen after he dashed off eight days earlier. Miranda's mom gets a letter from Miranda's dad and Lisa (girlfriend), stating that they will be visiting them right before they take off to  Lisa's parents house. The text states, "You know things are. Anyway, Lisa is desperate to see her parents, to be with them when the baby is born." When Lisa and Miranda's father finally arrive, everyone was happy. They had bought Miranda and her family canned foods, boxes of pasta, powdered milk, and mashed potatoes, jars of meat sauce, applesauce, cases of bottled water, and a half dozen hugs of distilled water. Then the next day they decide to chop wood and store into the dining room because they hardly ever eat there anymore. The author writes, "Mom thought about it, and decided the best place to store the firewood was the dining room, since we never eat there anymore." After gathering the wood, they had a dinner party. Miranda's dad was telling jokes, while Miranda's mom and Lisa roll their eyes.


Character Analysis.
Megan is overly-religious. She picked church as an interest soon after her friend Becky died. She always tries to get Miranda into being religious and to pray to God with her, but she does care for Miranda's safety.  The text states, "I pray for you Miranda, and Mom and Dad and even for Dad's other family." This shows that Megan is trying her best to keep Miranda safe even though Megan knows Miranda has sinned before.

Life As We Knew It/ Summary-Character Analysis

Summary

     Miranda finds out the pond she swims at is pretty soon going to be too cold for her to swim, so she better start swimming while she can. The text says, "What about the pond? I can keep swimming can't I?" "I think so, for the time being. Of course if the temperature really plummets, it might get too cold." This means that if it gets to cold due to the lack of sunlight because of the ash in the sky, Miranda won't be able to swim for a while. Miranda also loses their cat named Horton because Horton ran out the door as soon as she opened it to go inside. The author writes, "I guess Horton's as confused about what's day and what's night as the rest of us. He raced out as soon as I opened the door."

Character Analysis

Johnny is Miranda's younger brother who has a passion for baseball, he also is attending a baseball camp. In the text it says, "He's fine, camp is fine, he's eating okay, playing baseball is fun, etc." He is being secretly voted the "most likely to survive" because of how much he is eating and also because he's also active at playing sports. The author writes that Johnny is eating three meals at camp while his family is skipping lunch or even breakfast in order to save some food for Johnny when he comes back from camp.