The nurse is one of the few kind adults in Dave Pelzer’s life. She treats him with warmth and compassion, even after other people at Dave’s school shun him and make fun of him. She’s also one of the first people in the book to recognize that someone is hitting Dave. In 1973, she’s instrumental in bringing the police’s attention to Dave’s condition and ultimately freeing him from Mother.
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The timeline below shows where the character The nurse appears in A Child Called It. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Rescue
...narrator reports to the secretary. The secretary, noticing the narrator’s bruises, sends him to the nurse, who asks him what’s happened. The narrator repeats, “I ran into a door.” When the...
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...called to the principal’s office. There, he finds Mr. Hansen, Mr. Ziegler, Miss Moss, the nurse, and a police officer. He has no idea that these adults are risking their jobs...
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Chapter 6: While Father Is Away
One morning, Dave is sent to the school nurse. At first, Dave tells the nurse the lies Mother has instructed him to repeat. But...
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