The book so far:

The book began with the main character, David, going to the nurse’s office being examined. The principal of the school had decided to call the police after the nurse reported another set of bruises and marks. The police that takes David away assures him that his mother won’t hurt him anymore. The next few chapters takes the reader back to the beginning, before the abuse had even started. David Pelzer walks the reader through the family’s life when everything was picture perfect. He describes how his mother was the most caring person he had known at the time, but also pointed out early signs of her abusive behavior. Then her abusive behavior worsened as time went by. David took note of when she was at her worst, which was when nobody was around, but also took note of when she was kindest, which was whenever she was in front of his father.

Related news articles:

The two articles I found are about child abuse. In one, a Malissa Miller had abused her daughter by sticking cigarettes right underneath her child’s eyes. In the second article, Wayne Sperling had kept his sons locked up in darkness and unsanitary conditions. I found it interesting in how both cases, the parents didn’t give any reason as to why they did what they did to their children. It’s as if the only reason behind their actions was that since they we’re their children, then they had the right to treat them light possessions, or pets. In the book, it’s like this as well. The mother of David tells him that he’s been a bad boy, and received a letter from the North Pole confirming this. Because of that, she turns on the stove and places his arm right on the flame. She then tries to get him on top of the stove. David has no idea what he did to deserve this, and the same probably goes for the kids of Malissa and Wayne.

http://www.cecildaily.com/news/local_news/article_24ead79c-b191-5369-a09a-287a1bd90828.html

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27228433/denver-father-set-be-sentenced-horrific-child-abuse