The Reformatory: A Novel
*Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner * New York Times Notable Book * Locus Award Finalist * Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award *
“You’re in for a treat...one of those books you can’t put down...Due hit it out of the park.” —Stephen King
A gripping, page-turning “masterpiece” (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Gracetown, Florida
June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
“You’re in for a treat...one of those books you can’t put down...Due hit it out of the park.” —Stephen King
A gripping, page-turning “masterpiece” (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Gracetown, Florida
June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
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Readers say *The Reformatory* is a gut-wrenching, powerful historical novel that vividly portrays Jim Crow-era brutality and systemic dehumanization, ...
Robbie and his journey through his time at the reformatory. The story is a telling of hope, commitment and courage during a time when he is only considered as black and being black in a time and place where you didn’t even exist to white folk. Being raised by his sister and coming into himself as a young black boy in the south. Life has dealt him a hand of cards and he has no choice but to play his hand, this game of survival in the dirty south. Evil is all around and for a boy who is left to figure things out on his own Robbie has to grow up faster than what his family would like. Robbie has a family that is determined to get justice for him. Gloria, Mizz Lottie, and uncle June but sometimes that’s just not enough, you have to get it for yourself. That’s the only way Robbie can make it out the Reformatory but he has to leave the 12yr old boy who first went in behind. He is has to fight against the devil himself and only one of them can win this fight.
WOW! This book was a wonderful historical horror that I am so pleased to have picked up from my library's shelf. Due is an exceptional author that writes with engaging stories and historical accuracy. I am always amazed at the level education in the US only slightly touches upon the horros they caused to African Americans. They claim the Civil Rights Movement solved racism, when only a couple years before, they were doing all the things this book built a plot around. I know it is a ghost story, but it was also such an educational and beautifully written testament to the rise of those under opression. I really hope it gets turned into a movie.
Excellent book. Historical fiction with a great plot that includes twists and turns that keep you turning the pages. Great writer who gives each character depth and a distinct voice.
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