Perceived Histories by Sam Smith
Electric eBook Publishing - 2001
ISBN: 1553520173 - eBook
Adult Fiction - England
Explicit language, mild sexual content

Reviewed by Jen Oliver, MyShelf.com
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If you ever wondered about what it is like to work and live in a group home setting with female adolescents, then this is the book for you. Mr. Smith does a good job in telling the story from both the staff and adolescents' points of view. He does not dwell on the staff or on the adolescents. He shows how staff interacts with each other, how the adolescents interact with each other and how both interact with each other.

There was some confusion while reading the story because throughout the story, there were quotes from handbooks and other types of textbooks. This reader thinks that they were placed there so the reader could have some definitions and clearer ideas of what was happening. Some of the quotes seemed out of place.

Overall the story was good and surprising that it only covers a 24-hour time period, or the shift of one worker, Barry. Many things happen to these adolescents, such as prostitution, robbing, cutting themselves, fighting, and having a good time with staff and each other.