Dave Peltzer the author of "The Lost Boy" tells his story from the time he left his abusive mother and alcoholic father, through his experiences in five foster homes and juvenile detention, and how he eventually made it into the Air Force. He was a defiant, rebellious boy who, despite his background and personality, managed to endear himself to many guardians, social workers, and teachers. Pelzer writes in an honest, sometimes rambling, style; he is never bitter, and his story will find many sympathetic readers. The main purpose for Dave to write this book is to show at what lengths children and adolescents have gone to over come the unmentionable hardships of and abusive family. The three most valuable things I have learned from this book are very hard to choose. The book was full of many things to help me in my everyday life. Ranging from how to deal with kids who have been through abusive situations to how kids of abuse act in general.
             The first one has to be, Dave was very tactful in how he handled his thoughts and feelings. Many children his age were running around chasing girls and hanging with the guys. Not him, he was studying hard and trying to be better then his parents. He would always squander away what he had, so no one could take what was rightfully his and that includes his life.
             The second thing that was useful was how Dave was never angry at his situation he would just look at it as another challenge. Many times through out the book Dave would have to change foster homes after being fairly settled in the way of living there. Most teens his age can't handle a great deal of change, but Dave would just go with the flow and never bat an eyelash.
             The third valuable thing has to be his willingness to help. I would think that since no one would help him he would not help anyone else. On the contrary, Dave was always helping with chores, making dinner, and doing little extra things he didn't have ...