Julie F. Parker

Everything You Need to Know About Living in a Shelter, by Julie Parker, brings about the stark aspects of actually living in a shelter, especially if one is a teen. All the woes of such a place are presented alongside the benefits, and Parker doesn't mince words when it comes to the pitfalls awaiting teens in a shelter or on the street. In this book, asides are made concerning several individuals and how they came to living in a shelter or other specific place allotted the homeless. In their small stories, elements of alcoholism, street violence, chemical dependency, prostitution, and violence are sprinkled throughout to show the very real negative side for teens facing homelessness. Parker then has her characters find methods of coping with the sad hand dealt them and furnishes ways to seek out professional help such as clergy, social workers, guidance counselors, teachers and, last but not least, shelter staff and volunteers. Fourteen organizations are listed at the back of the book for further assistance to the homeless. This book would… (altro)