Return to the River: Reflections on Life Choices During a Pandemic

Dave Pelzer, the #1 international bestselling author, speaker, and humanitarian, has written a new book about his struggle to save himself after spending decades saving others. Despite a brutal childhood of abuse and neglect, Pelzer has risen to become a successful author, speaker, and humanitarian. In his book, he shares his journey of healing and self-discovery, offering hope and inspiration to anyone who has been hurt or feels alone.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 11 May 2023
Publisher: Health Communications

From the #1 international bestselling author, speaker, and humanitarian Dave Pelzer comes the next chapter in his life—how, after spending decades saving others in the military, as a fire captain, and an internationally acclaimed advocate, he needs to confront a way to save himself.

On the surface, Dave Pelzer's life seems like an action movie—he's walked the red carpet with celebrities and stood shoulder to shoulder with soldiers in Iraq; he's flown top-secret missions for the U.S. Air Force, obtaining the rank of chief, and battled wildfires in California as a volunteer fire captain. And now—on the eve of the 50-year anniversary of this rescue from the horrific childhood of abuse and into the safety of the foster care system—he reflects on the battles he's fighting in his own heart.

From a lifetime spent serving and saving others, can he learn how to serve and save himself?

Banished to his basement at age five, Dave Pelzer had cried a river of tears before most children learned to tie their shoes. His now classic books, A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy, chronicled how he was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who nearly killed him multiple times. But despite the odds stacked against him, he rose to become a #1 New York Times bestselling author, inspirational speaker, and internationally recognized humanitarian.

After fighting for years to vanquish his pain and to channel it into service for others, Pelzer sifts through the psychological rubble of a life that has seemingly crumbled around him. What he shares is deeply transformative and unflinchingly honest.

In his struggle to simply survive, he never learned how to just be.

Reeling from the loss of a love—and a broken spirit—Pelzer must reconcile his life ch.

Weight: 240g
Dimension: 189 x 128 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780757324543