Pieces of night;: A novel of childhood

Review: I am an avid reader and have found most of what I have read throughout the years to be forgettable...Not so with Pieces of Night. This book has stayed with me since reading it in the 7th grade many years ago (I snuck into the high school section of the library). The subject matter is disturbing, it is dark and it will make you think. If you had a "normal" childhood Mr. Elliot has given you a ringside view into what it truly means to be trapped in a VERY abnormal childhood. No sugarcoating here. This book is as close to reality as fiction gets. A prequel to "Listen to the Silence" (1969) by David W. Elliott. This book didn't have much of a plot; it was very episodic and not much was explained ... Much of what occurs in the story will horrify people. The protagonist is a 14-year-old boy who is, for unclear reasons, in a mental hospital. (The only explanation he gives is "My foster parents didn't want me anymore.") There are 1500 patients and, I think, about 18 doctors, which may explain why this kid never gets anything resembling psychiatric treatment for whatever's wrong with him, and why one of his roommates dies slowly and painfully from some mysterious illness for which he apparently gets no care. The hospital staff and some of the patients physically and sexually abuse the boy, altering his age in the records so he can be placed in an adult ward. He just drifts along until he is released, just as suddenly and inexplicably as he was admitted. --Meaghan at www.goodreads.com