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

Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. His only possesions are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother, his real hurt is just begining -- he has no place to call home.

This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to A Child Called "It". In The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now considered an F-Child (Foster Child), Dave is moved in and out of five different homes. He suffers shame and experiences resentment from those who feel that all foster kids are trouble and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a "real" family.

Tears, laughter, devastation and hope create the journey of this little lost boy who searches desperately for just one thing -- 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.


Imagine being a child that has no place to call home.   January 10, 2000
Crystal (US)
31 out of 47 found this review helpful

Imagine being a child that doesn't have a place to call home or parents to call his own. IN the book The Lost Boy, David Pelzer is the main character, also the author. This real life experience is a history of David's awful life. I not only was interested in his life to read on but I felt that I was in his shoes while I was reading. When I read about David moving from foster home to foster home, only carrying a paper bag with all his belongings, my pupils got huge and I had to keep on reading. I saw no way I could stop reading in the first chapter. I ended up reading this book in just a few days. I feel David had alot of courage and didn't deserve to live this way. I thought in the first book when he got away from his abusize mother that he was free. Than I read this one and some homes that he was in were worse than the one he lived in with his "family." I can't believe that in one foster home that he was in the foster parents allowed him to see his mother. As the police dropped him off at the Catanzes, a new foster home, they tole them that, despite the fact that David's parents did only live down the road, he could have no contact with them. This was made very clear to the new foster parents. The mother in this home, however, felt that David was sad because he couldn't see his mother. (Really he was sad because he didn;t want to leave his other foster home.) HIs foster mother thought that if she just called his mother and told her how David was diong, his attitude would be better! Wow, was she wrong! When David went to his mother's house on a daily basis, she still beat him, let him starve and told him he was worth nothing. One day while David was at the psychiatrist, he told the doctor that this was going on, and the doctor told his caseworker, and he was switched again. Daivd could no longer stay at this foster home. He had to go far away from his house and start a new school. I think this is awful to do to a child. Can you believe that the worker didn't take away the ladies foster care license? I think that is crazy; she may do this to another child! I thought the fact that his foster parents called him by his name and not "it" was wonderful. David's parents always called him "it" or "the boy." Although in one foster home David became very attached to Aunt Mary, she started being mean to David and tell ing his he was a no one and then told him they had to switch his foster home because David was getting too attatched to her. As Daivd left her house, he said, " The first two ultimate rules of being a foster child that I had learned while at Aunt Mary's were never to become too attatched to anyone and never takes someone's home for granted")Pelzer 221). HOw sad is that? THis hurts me to know that at the age of 10, David felt that he coldn't become close to anyone because when he did, they were seperated. David builds a layer in him that didn't let anyone in due to the problems he has had. Doing this made even more problems for him. The part in the book whilch made me smile was when his social worker started crying because she had to switch his home again, the one he stayed at for over two months-his 3rd foster home in half a year. He hugged her and held her close to comfert her. Ddavid had a feeling she was going to react the way she did when she tol him this awful news. This made me smile because what David did was so sweet. He needed that hug, and the bonding time that made this special. Over all, I feel incredibly bad for David. By reading this, I realized that what I have is greater than what most people have. I didn't realize that this could happen to a child until I read this teeth grinding book. Although I thought the plot just carried on, once I put myself in David's shoes, I couldn't believe the punishment a child has to go through while trying to be loved.


Foster Mom's Perspective   April 14, 2000
Michelle (Connecticut)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful

I am a 31 yr old single foster mother to a 4 yr old boy. By chance I saw "The Lost Boy" in a grocery store & bought it immediately. The insight into the mind of an abused child was invaluable to me. Since then I have purchased and read his other 2 books. The excerpts in the back of the book from the adults involved in Dave's life were especially helpful to me. When things get tough, I go back & re-read them to remind myself that somehow I am impacting my child. I hope that no matter what happens in my little guy's life, that he will remember me in a positive light. These books are painful to read, but shows how it IS possible to beat the odds. I hope that everyone who reads the series becomes more involved in some way, politically, financially or otherwise to make a difference. God bless you Dave.


A terrific book that I would suggest to everyone   June 9, 1999
17 out of 21 found this review helpful

I have read this book and the first book, A Child Called It, a thousand times. I love them. These books capture the reality and truth of an abused boy. In the first book his alcholoic mother almost kills him in several ways(making him eat his brothers poop, sitting him on a hot stove, not letting him eat unless it had ammonia on it) I love this book. I have bought both books and look forward to Dave Pelzer's upcoming book A Man Named Dave. I am only 12 years old . I look at this book as an actual play taking place in front of me. As I read I can see this going on. It makes you almost wish that you could go in and save this boy. The Lost Boy is based on David Pelzer from ages 12-18 when he is in foster care. He has at adverage4-18 foster homes a month. This book will bring you tears, love, determintation, and leave you with a new perspective on foster children. You will see it in Dave's eyes.


Amazing   November 3, 2003
Sara Swihart (Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

When I met Dave Pelzer a few years ago, you could see the chips still in his teeth from his head being slammed against the counter. He showed off pictures of his wife Marsha and his son Stephen. Also in his wallet, his father's badge, which choked him up as he talked about it.

This 2nd book in Pelzer's trilogy follows his journey through California's foster care system. I learned a lot about his past and how his abuse affected his adolescent life, a time that is tough enough if you've had a pretty good home life. I didn't find this book as captivating as the first, but this one will still grab your attention. I knew that he'd made it out okay and had made something positive out of his life, but just following him until he found his 'home' with his final set of foster parents. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to have all of those attachments just severed.

My favorite line is one of the last lines in the book, "Aboard my first plane rise, I opened my eyes for the first time as a man named Dave."