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Title details for The Reformatory by Tananarive Due - Wait list

The Reformatory

A Novel

by Tananarive Due
Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Audiobook
0 of 5 copies available
Wait time: About 24 weeks
Place a hold Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
0 of 5 copies available
Wait time: About 24 weeks
*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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    October 31, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797160139
      • File size: 600824 KB
      • Duration: 20:51:42

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 21, 2023
      NAACP Image Award winner Due (The Wishing Pool) takes an unflinching look at American racism in this masterful work of historical horror. When Robert Stephens Sr., a Black man, is accused of trying to rape a white woman in 1950 Gracetown, Fla., there’s no chance for justice. He flees to Chicago, leaving his 16-year-old daughter Gloria and 12-year-old son Robert “Robbie” Stephens Jr. behind with promises to be reunited one day. The siblings’ plan to keep their heads down is thwarted when a local white boy makes unwanted advances on Gloria and Robbie kicks him in her defense. He’s sentenced to six months in an austere, prisonlike reformatory school where dangerous punishments, cruel wardens, and the ghosts of past students abound. As the thinly veiled history of the reformatory’s wardens murdering their charges comes to light, Due toggles between Robbie and Gloria’s POVs, with Gloria fighting to free her brother and Robbie fighting for his life against wardens and haints alike. Throughout, Due shows off her undeniable skill for characterization and voice, impressively capturing Robbie’s youth. This harrowing, supernaturally inflected depiction of racism’s unbridled cruelty and the generational trauma it can inflict is sure to stick in readers’ minds. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Joniece Abbott-Pratt masterfully re-creates a 1950s Florida reformatory in this story based on a relative of author Tananarive Due and other actual people and events. Listeners meet 12-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., and Gloria, his 16-year-old sister, after Robbie is arrested for defending her from a white boy. While in the segregated reform school, Robbie experiences and witnesses unfathomable punishment for tiny infractions. As Gloria attempts to free him, Abbott-Pratt's finest creations emerge: 83-year-old Miss Lottie and her ancient pickup truck. Abbott-Pratt expertly portrays the story's crushing atmosphere, as well as fearless Gloria, terrified boys, and, most movingly, the "haints"--ghosts of dead boys--who assist Robbie with his escape. Although painful, this is essential listening about a shameful blot on American history. S.G.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from March 1, 2024

      Due (The Wishing Pool and Other Stories) revisits Gracetown School for Boys in her horrifying new novel. While it's true that Gracetown is particularly haunted, and most of its students come across haints on campus, the real horror Due communicates is the cruel racism of 1950s Florida. Robbie Stephens Jr. is sentenced to six months at this particularly hate-filled and abusive institution after kicking a white boy to protect his sister Gloria. He immediately catches the attention of Warden Haddock, whose cold, barely concealed violence makes it no surprise that the grounds are haunted by countless children. Meanwhile, Gloria fights in to secure her brother's release. Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt voices Gloria's strength and despair alongside her chilling performance of Robbie's terror. Her narration leaves no doubt that behind the siblings' soft voices and fear is an unshakable strength born from their family and community bonds. An afterword lets listeners know that Due based the novel on actual events and family history, which deepens the horror even further. VERDICT Incredibly written and performed historical horror that, though heartbreaking, might give modern readers a spark of hope.--Matthew Galloway

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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