Richard B. Pelzer's sequel to A Brother's Journey, A Teenager's Journal, is a
heart-wrenching account of an abused teenager.
As the reader picks up the account of Pelzer reaching his teens, the same question
keeps popping up: how could any mother be that cruel to any child, much less her own
son? Of course, the constant shame and embarrassment that is heaped on Pelzer forces
him to find comfort in other sources -drugs and alcohol. This decision only exacerbates
the horrific relationship between Pelzer and his mother.
Pelzer has several opportunities to rid himself of the demons of alcohol and drugs, but
his deep-seated embarrassment would not permit him to open up enough. Each time, he would
turn to drugs and alcohol for comfort.
In the latter part of the book, Pelzer observes closely the lives of the Nichols children
to see what a normal childhood and family is like. His life had been nowhere near what
a normal life should be.
The memoir highlights how far we have come in detecting and preventing child abuse.
With the number of people who were aware of what was happening in the Pelzer household,
this should not have happened and more than likely could not happen today. This abusive
mother would be in jail in 2006.
Anyone who reads this memoir will be more sensitive to those individuals who have
experienced abuse.