40 pages 1 hour read

Dave Pelzer

The Lost Boy

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1997

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Essay Topics

1.

How do David’s experiences with child abuse affect his behavior and relationships with other people as he is growing up in foster care? How does his mother–through his memories and his sporadic contact with her–continue to haunt his adolescent years?

2.

What is the significance of the title, The Lost Boy

3.

How do Ms. Gold, Lilian Catanze, and Alice Turnbough each serve as surrogate mothers to David at different points? How do Harold Turnbough, Michael Marsh, and Dan Brazell serve as important father figures?