A Child Called It by Chelsea

A Child Called It by Chelsea - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

There are so many books out in the world, so many words printed on pages. For most of these books, there’s a fairly significant meaning behind their words that evokes some kind of emotion. Those books are the good reads, those are the books that change your perspective and make you a well-rounded person. Literature can change everything about you, but you have to find the right books to make it do so. When it comes to high school students, a book can do a lot to shape their personality. Because we’re so young, we’re still learning a great deal about who we are as people, therefore a book can do a great deal to contribute to our world perspective and help us form our opinions without the help of parents or other adult figures in our lives that might think they know everything. It’s good to get a second, third and fourth opinion on what the world is really like, what this disease actually means, how this person honestly grew up. That’s what books can do for people, but more importantly, teens. The book I suggest everybody read before graduating high school? A Child Called It.

This book, while horrible and emotional to read, provides a lot of lessons that can give a person a lot of humility. Throughout the book, the narrator goes through the unspeakable acts he had to go through as a child, highlighting on some of the more horrible ones, like getting burned over the stove, having to eat his brothers’ food leftovers, and defecating on himself in his basement bedroom, because he didn’t have bathroom privileges. As he explains these horrendous events, the reader feels a sense of dread and horror, but to him, this was his everyday life, he was used to it. This can provide a lot of context to people, and make them less judgmental in school and everyday life. Repercussions of reading about such a horrible event not only can give these people that humility but can also make them more grateful for the things they have, such as loving parents or parent, a safe home, food to eat, and clean clothes to wear.

This book is definitely a difficult read, which is exactly why it needs to be read before graduation. It only makes sense that a person read this while they’re in the stages of growing up and finding their sense of self. It can mature a person very quickly, and provide a lot of perspective on how some kids have a rough home life. More often than not, it’s not this extreme in terms of abuse, but after reading this book it can make you more sensitive to any kind of abuse a child may be facing. As it was shown in the book, the narrator had a very hard time in school, because of how horrible his home life was. Based off of this and general statistics, the reader can start to realize that their peers at school may have more to their story than shown, therefore gaining more humility and sensitivity to people that don’t fit the “normal” mold they've grown up learning. It’s always better to spread love and support, and as you near the end of the book, you see how greatly that can affect somebody. All he needed was somebody to care about what was happening to him, and his whole life changed. The narrator was uprooted from his home, away from his abusive parents and emotionless brothers, and put into a home that fed, clothed, and bathed him properly.

The book was made to recount the horrible events that happened to this boy at a young age, but I believe there’s an underlying message to it all. There’s always going to be horrible people in the world, and there’s always going to be abusers, but it’s almost never the victim’s fault, and they shouldn't be punished for it. Spread love and support, because just a little bit can go a long way. After reading this book, I've personally seen some of my peers go and talk to kids who usually sat by themselves, and make a new friend. I've seen people connect through mutual interests that at once were nonexistent until the entire 8th grade had to read A Child Called It in English class. It can change your perspective, and it’s a damn good read. I highly suggest that this book be a must-read before you graduate high school.