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    The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family
    The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family
    The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family
    Audiobook7 hours

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

    Written by Dave Pelzer

    Narrated by Brian Keeler

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The Lost Boy has spent over two years on the New York Times best-seller list and has profoundly influenced more than one million readers' lives. Following the tremendous success of Pulitzer Prize nominee A Child Called "It", this book continues the extraordinary tale of author Dave Pelzer's childhood. On the verge of adolescence, Dave is rescued from his terrifyingly abusive, alcoholic mother and made a permanent ward of the court. Then the real journey begins. He is moved from one foster home to another searching for identity and family. A rebellious, defiant boy, Dave seeks attention by shoplifting, and even spends time in juvenile detention when suspected of arson. Finally, after five sets of foster parents, he finds a mother and father who love him. Pelzer--who has received commendations from Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton--travels throughout the world inspiring others through speeches and work to prevent child abuse. His courageous story is enhanced by Brian Keeler's thoughtful narration.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJul 18, 2007
    ISBN9781436112444
    Author

    Dave Pelzer

    Dave Pelzer has experienced a truly adventurous extraordinary life. At age 12, Dave was rescued and placed in a series of foster homes until he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at age 18. As a member of the armed forces, Dave was hand-picked to midair refuel the then highly secretive SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Stealth Fighter. Some of Dave’s distinctive accomplishments have been recognized through several prestigious awards, as well as personal commendations from four U.S. Presidents. In 1993, Dave was honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans, joining a distinguished group including John F. Kennedy and Walt Disney. In 1994, Dave was the only American to be honored as The Outstanding Young Persons of the World! In 2005, Dave was the recipient of the National Jefferson Award, which is considered the Pulitzer Prize of public service.   Unbeknownst to the general public, from 2006 to 2010, while at extreme risk plus using his own time and expense, Dave spent weeks at a time visiting the troops in the Middle East and South West Asia, providing counseling and comedic presentations to embedded troops. For nearly a decade, when not on the road speaking, performing radio presentations, or offering counseling services, Dave serves his community as a volunteer Fire Captain for two separate districts. He has served in many explosive fires, floods, and other natural disasters. For his efforts, Dave was twice selected as Volunteer Firefighter of the Year. Dave is the author of nine inspirational books. Dave’s first book, A Child Called “It” was on the New York Times Best Sellers List for a record setting six years. His books were on the same Best Sellers List well over twelve years. Dave was the first author to have four # 1 International Best Sellers and to have four books simultaneously on the New York Times Best Sellers List. Dave is a living testament of a self-made man who has dedicated his life to helping others . . . to help themselves. He is the host of the podcast, The Dave Pelzer Show, providing humor, advice, and tools to help listeners make positive, productive changes. Visit: www.davepelzer.com.

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    Reviews for The Lost Boy

    4/5

    893 ratings38 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Glad to read about David. What a resilient young man.
    • 5/5
      heartbreaking true story with an impressive ending. it shows we humans can overcome anything.
    • 5/5
      A very sad very uplifting very eye opening book. Great follow up to a child called it.
    • 5/5
      So many people do not understand the hell that can be experienced for far too many children. Reading this book I got a detailed look at the life of one child, a life I couldn't have imagined. Written by someone who experienced such unbelievable child abuse first hand, this is a must read for anyone trying to learn about how to recognize the signs of child abuse and prevent this from happening in our world.
    • 4/5
      3.5 starsThis continues Dave Pelzer’s memoirs after “A Child Called ‘It’”. At 12(?) years old, he is finally rescued from his abusive home life (particularly his mother) by a police officer and placed in a foster home. Until he turns 18, he goes through a number of foster homes, though except for the first one, through no fault of his own. None of his foster homes were bad to him. This was good. The first chapter did back up just a little bit to give the reader a taste of what he’d had to endure previous to being removed from his biological family’s “care”, before moving on to follow him until he no longer needed to be taken care of via foster homes. He has all good things to say about foster care and the love and support he received after coming out of his previously abusive life. He talks more about this in an Afterword, as well as adding notes from one of his foster mothers, a teacher, and other people who helped him during this stage of his life.
    • 4/5
      Learned so much from the INSIDE of the foster care business. I wonder how much has changed? What on earth is the Maximum that one home can take. Seemed dangerous at times. But each situation interesting. Amazing that Dave can remember all these details. Wonderful success story. I can't understand why his father kept such a distance between them. First book "A Child Called 'It'" and this follow up are well worth reading.
    • 4/5
      David Pelzer continues the story he began in A Child Called It, picking up from the time he entered foster care. A very confused boy who wants to be 'good' and be loved, he seeks out approval in sometimes disastrous ways. I found this very true to the lived experiences I've witnessed as a social worker. These days, David would have been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder and provided additional services, as well as his foster parents would have been. Taking place in the early days of the child protection and foster care system, it was evident that all the people involved were doing the best they could with what they had to work with. I commend Pelzer, his workers and his various parental figures for their fortitude. People who call Pelzer's memoirs unbelievable or unrelatable have no idea what they're talking about.
    • 3/5
      I believe I did read "A Child Called 'It'" to which this book is a sequel. It chronicles the author's time from around age 9 to around age 18 most of which was spent in foster care.The author wants his mother to love him yet he also fears that he will have to go back to living with her. He also wants answers to questions that no one can answer. I too question what happened that changed his family dynamic since he remembers being part of the family and going to the river prior to the abuse--especially since it seemed to all be directed at the author. I wonder if one of the other boys ended up on the receiving end of her abuse once David left home and was put in the foster system. I wonder what was going through the mind of the first mental health professional David saw. Had he been "poisoned" by the mother's thoughts prior to talking to David? Or was he just a quack?As a result of David's struggle for acceptance, he falls in with some of the wrong crowds while growing up because they pretend to accept him but then use him as the patsy when the occasion suits them. That's sad.
    • 4/5
      This is Dave Pelzer's sequel to the heartbreaking "A Child Called It". It goes through Dave's live from age 12 when he was rescued from his abusive and alcoholic mother until age 18 when he left foster care and joined the Air Force.The book demonstrates his two goals... to hide his hideous past as he was guided into mainstream society. During his teenage/foster care years, he continued his life of misbehavior as he bounced from foster home to foster home. Eventurally, his search for acceptance and love found him enlisting in the Air Force, the military would help him get his GED after he dropped out of school. The will of his determination to overcome his past and the willingness of a few choice people around him who did not want to see him fail, overcome what would have been a bad outcome in his life.Although not as graphic as "A Boy Called It" I found this book just as eye opening. There are many "Lost Boys" all around us.
    • 5/5
      good book even though it was sad
    • 5/5
      More heartbreak in this second novel of Mr. Pelzer's youth. But some healing and growth as well. It's a good thing to see that not all of the abuse and foster care situations end badly. It's wonderful that this man was able to grow and move past the horrors of his childhood, not everyone can say the same.
    • 4/5
      Vivid & moving, a wild look into the real life of foster care and the results that it often doesn't set up to produce.

      Dave Pelzer is a great storyteller, although sometimes I feel like he is very distant in his writing. As if he remembers the events in a almost relaxed and non-emotional way. I feel like this book - plus A Boy Called "It" - are deeply depressing in the events but almost monotone in the actual storytelling. I don't know if other people feel this way..
    • 3/5
      The second book in the Dave Pelzer trilogy is The Lost Boy, chronicling Dave’s life in foster homes from the age of twelve to eighteen. Again I have come to the end and feel immediately like I have to put a few other books in between this and the next and final book, A Man Named Dave. I don’t feel like another book is necessary but have decided to read it for the sake of completeness.At the start of the book, Dave insists this one is written using the language and perspective he had at that age. He also insisted the same thing in the last book. This is not a completely accurate description as many times I felt the writing to be reflective and also some of it beyond the years of the under-educated teenager he was at the time. We catch up with Dave where we left him in the last book, in the passenger seat of a police car heading outside the city limits, where after medical examinations he meets his social worker and is placed in the first of five foster homes.Living in a foster home is very different from where Dave has come from and throughout the years that follow he struggles to find his place in the homes and in school. He has a stint or two in a juvenile detention hall and is passed around a bit until he settles down and decides where he wants to go in life.More than anything I found this book to be a testament to the hard work of social workers and foster parents. Their job is far from easy and yet they strive to remove child from abusive homes and place them suitably, and provide them with the help they need. The part of the book I found most worth reading was after the Epilogue, the section entitled Perspectives on Foster Care which contained statements from Dave’s foster mother, a juvenile detention worker and a teacher. I found this to be an eye-opening view on the foster system and I appreciate the acknowledgement of foster carers and other authors of works on being a child in the foster system. If this content could be expanded further it would make for a great read on the work of foster carers and an insight to the foster system. Just maybe leave Dave Pelzer out. He’s got plenty of books under his belt already and we all know his perspective.As for the content itself, I enjoyed reading this book more than I did A Child Called ‘It’. But considering it is supposed to be an autobiographical memoir, some of the recollections from his life as described in the first book had facts that didn’t match up, which makes you question the credibility of the ‘memoir’. It could simply be due to the passage of time, he was only a child so of course he’s not going to remember everything and things get mixed up. I would have hoped that the editor would fix this up but clearly it wasn’t noticed or was ignored. These kind of things can be infuriating for a reader like me.A slight improvement. 2.5 stars.
    • 5/5
      the lost boy , part two of the book " the child called it" tells you about an amazing true story on how a little boy who is trying to survive through his mothers sick and twisted games .... suffering from hunger , and abuse
    • 4/5
      TheLost Boy by David Pelzer isa powerful, must read book dealing with David own personal story as a foster kid. It takes a new look at the system and certainly clears up much preconceived notions about foster care. A stark look at the reality of the foster care system and how one child overcomes difficulties and turn negatives into positives even though he was horribly abused as a child.
    • 4/5
      Dave Pelzer is an author that writes about his personal life. The book “The Lost Boy” is a book about a boy who just wants a family. He just wants to fit in and be loved. Dave’s book made me want to read more and more. The detail he puts in makes yo, and some could bring tears to your eyes because of all the strong detail. As you read, you would think about how lucky most kids are, and how so many others aren’t. A young boy switches from foster home to foster home, makes friends and looses them. He desperately tries to find a way to fit in. This book should touch the heart of others. It has definitely made a difference in my awareness of the horrors around us
    • 5/5
      This book was really touching, when i read it it was so sad .. all he wanted to do was fit in he got downed by adults and children only because ha was a foster child ... they did not know his story though thats what shows you how easy it is to judge a book by its cover ... I know that if the people that downed him new his story they would feel bad for him and treat him alot diffrent... So the next time you try to judge a person by what bthey look like think about this story it might make you think twice.....
    • 4/5
      Dave Pelzer was a young boy, isolated from the rest of the world by his abusive mother. In The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer, the sequel to A Child Called “It”, Dave is rescued from his family and is put into foster care. There, he is moved in and out of five different foster homes and has to go to court several times against his mother and for charges against him.While Dave was living with his foster parents and going to different schools, kids, and even some adults, looked down on him and ignored him because he was a foster child. He tried so hard to fit in that it got him in a lot of trouble.When Dave turned eighteen, he was out of the foster care system. He went off on his own, started his own family, he wrote his books and made a better life for himself and his children.Dave Pelzer is an amazing writer and brings true emotion to his work. There is suspense, surprise, strength, and sorrow throughout the entire book. This book really brings peoples’ true colors out, in a way that can only be explained if you read the book.Dave Pelzer writes about his dramatic journey during his childhood. There is so much hope, devastation, smiles, and adrenaline rushes incorporated into the story that you get lost in it all and you never want to put the book down.The Lost Boy is a great book with an even greater purpose, but there are a few chapters where it slows down a bit. There are also a lot of names to remember that when he is switching from home to home, it get s quite confusing trying to keep track of them all.Over all, this was an excellent book to read. I would recommend this book, and A Child Called “It”, to both my peers, and to adults of all ages. They are both amazing reads and have an inspiring story of will, hope, and freedom.
    • 4/5
       A lot of books that are depressing you might pick it up read a little bit and then put it down. Such as The Child Called It, Sold and Lovely Bones. But that wasn’t the case when I picked up the book The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer. This book shows what kids that get abused go through.The Lost Boy is an autobiography about a boy named Dave who gets brutally abused by his mother and is taken away from her and sent to live in a foster home. As he is in the foster home he gets into trouble trying to fit in with the other kids. He mostly steals stuff from stores to impress the kids. The kids were impressed and they started to like him because they would just tell him what they wanted and he would go into the store and get it for them. The only part of the book that I really didn’t like was when Dave was stealing from a hobby store to impress the kids. I think the author Dave Pelzer spent too much time explaining what was going on and I just found it really boring. I think he should have told a little more about the kids and what they would do after Dave would steal the things they asked for. I found this book interesting because it showed what it’s like for kids to be in a foster home and some of the things they have to go through. One of the very happy moments in the book was when he got away from his mother. After all those years of getting abused.This is one of the few books that held my interest. So if you have a hard time finding books or you really don’t like reading I would recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      While this book wasn't as graphic as the first novel, " A Child Called IT", it was heart-breaking nonetheless. I cannot believe the strength that Dave Peltzer demonstrated throughout his young life, and the "problems" that he had as far as his struggles seemed mundane compared to what he went through. It irked me to the core that his mother was not thrown in jail for the rest of her life, regardless of her "mental illness", so should have been tossed in jail, or even a mental institution for the remander of her life for what she did to her own child, but instead she walked free. This story goes into depth looking at the trial between the state and Mrs. Pelzer, as well as Daves journeys through different foster families and trying to find his place in the world, as well as his on-going struggles to fit in and live a normal life. Not only did his mother torment him, but the kids in his schools as well as his foster families tormented him as well, and it goes to show that you should NEVER pick on another child, because you NEVER know what they are going through. My heart absolutly broke for this little boy, and at an age when kids are going to be a reality to me in the near future, it breaks my heart even more to know that a parent can subject there child to such a horrific childhood. Everyone should read this book, it's not going to make you happy, or uplift you, but it's still essential to read if only to open your eyes to the realities of child abuse and the need for not only foster parents, but for exceptance for children that are different, and for the parents that foster them.
    • 3/5
      The Lost Boy is the second book by Dave Pelzer following his first book "A Child called It" where he writes vividly his encounters of abuse with his mother. In this book David recounts his life after he was taken away from the mother who abused him and taken into foster care. I took to the first book better than the second because the second book deals more with the aftermath of abuse.
    • 4/5
      I just finished "The Lost Boy". It really gave a look into a childs view of being a foster child. It makes me look at children different who are not always seemed as "normal". The book also gives hope to others who have doubted their furture as either a foster parent or foster child. I recommend reading all 3 of David Pelzers books.
    • 5/5
      I'm not sure if I had a dry eye on any page on his first two books. Its amazing the things he went through and he was still able to write a book and give lectures.
    • 5/5
      good book, but i like te first oe better.
    • 5/5
      I thought this book really gave insight to just how bad a child can suffer from child abuse. How some parents can be so cruel to their children and this story shows how the so called "system" does truly the best effort to help children that are vicitms of abuse. And how children that are foster children and abused as small children can grow up and become something great. It is a very touching and sincere book and i enjoyed reading it.
    • 4/5
      This book is about a boy who use to get abused by his mother and in up in a foster home. He was happy to be a foster kid into he found out how people treat them. So he stared tyo think he"s not going to be anything in life. He started to hang with the big kids and he started to steal. and he really didnt care about school anymore. so now he's jumping from house to house meeting new foster familys.
    • 5/5
      Dave Pelzer continues his life story after being rescued from his parent's home. He shares his experience in the foster care system. While his behavior as a child left a lot to be desired, he continued to persevere and make something of his life.This book contained just as much heart-wrenching turmoil as in A Child Called "It". David's childhood years were continually spoiled by almost every classmate or friend he tried to make. His desire to have a place to call "home" was consequential, but something always seemed to get in the way. All he wanted to do was to fit into this world - just like everybody else. His sad experiences may not be unique, but they were relentless and he didn't give up. My heart went out to him every step of the way. (4.5/5)Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy...
    • 4/5
      The Lost Boy continues where A Child Called It leaves off. Dave is finally rescued from his mothers abusive home. The Lost Boy talks about Dave having to go to court to hopefully become a ward of the court. Dave is afraid and thinks of saying that everything was fine at home and that he should go back. He does not understand things and thinks he is the bad boy and is wrong. Dave then continues about the wonderful people that took care of him during the ages of 12 to 18. You get to see how it is for children living in foster homes and the stigma that society has placed on being a foster child. I enjoyed this book and hearing from Dave the troubles he went through trying to figure out why things happened to him. I look forward to reading the final book in this trilogy.
    • 4/5
      This book is about a boy, David, who is being abused by his mom physically and mentally. His mom has an argument with his dad and tells David to leave there house.. A long time later he ends up in a foster home. He lives with a lot of different people before the end of the story. He is still scared of his mom even though he is almost an adult. What I like about this book is that it shows you how in life people can be really cruel. Even though I think that is also the bad thing about this story. The way that the author describes the way that David suffers in the story is scary especially the fact that he is only 9 years old is scary. It has a lot of really good examples of how alcohol can make you act when you are under its influence. In the end of the book it has a lot of websites that you can go to for help if you have a similar problem’s would recommend this book to everyone but first you should read “a child called it” witch is the first part of the book and after you read this book there is more books after this. David Pelzer writes really good books and I liked it a lot!
    • 5/5
      I thought is book was very sad because i couldnt believe all the violence he was going threw i would never treat my son or daughter that way. This book was based on a child called "IT". I believe when you give birth to a baby its a present that god is giving you and that you should and have to treat them as good as you possilby can. This book was like one of the books that ive actually finshed it was great and i recomend others to read this book too i personally like it alot.