[This book] is [an] account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played torturous, unpredictable games - games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it." -Back cover.

Originally published: Omaha Neb. : Omaha Press Pub. Co., 1993. Dave Pelzer's story is continued in The lost boy : a foster child's search for the love of a family (1997) and A man named Dave : a story of triumph and forgiveness (1999).

The rescue -- Good times -- Bad boy -- The fight for food -- The accident -- While father is away -- The Lord's Prayer -- Epilogue -- Perspectives on child abuse.