The Reformatory

A Novel

De: Tananarive Due

Narrado por: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

*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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Narrator Joniece Abbot-Prat voices Gloria’s strength and despair alongside her chilling performance of Robbie’s terror." ( Matthew Galloway)

“…Set during the Jim Crow era and inspired by the real-life Florida School for Boys in Marianna, The Reformatory is a terrifying, nerve-wracking novel, steeped in ugly truths about racism and American history. Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt manages to heighten the considerable tension with her heartfelt interpretations of the shifting, powerful emotions of Robert and Gloria: their anguish, fear, longing, sorrow, and, eventually, furious determination. She never lets you forget that they’re children facing the unthinkable, like so many children before them…Abbott-Pratt’s precise vocal inflections also bring to life the secondary characters, among them Redbone, a boy who befriends Robert at the school; Boone, a corrupt prison guard obsessed with haints; Miss Lottie, the elderly church lady who doesn’t leave home after dark without her pistol; and the warden himself, whose soul is a murderous black hole. It’s a tour de force performance, a worthy enhancement to Due’s vision.” (Connie Ogle)

“…Set during the Jim Crow era and inspired by the real-life Florida School for Boys in Marianna, The Reformatory is a terrifying, nerve-wracking novel, steeped in ugly truths about racism and American history. Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt manages to heighten the considerable tension with her heartfelt interpretations of the shifting, powerful emotions of Robert and Gloria: their anguish, fear, longing, sorrow, and, eventually, furious determination. She never lets you forget that they’re children facing the unthinkable, like so many children before them…Abbott-Pratt’s precise vocal inflections also bring to life the secondary characters, among them Redbone, a boy who befriends Robert at the school; Boone, a corrupt prison guard obsessed with haints; Miss Lottie, the elderly church lady who doesn’t leave home after dark without her pistol; and the warden himself, whose soul is a murderous black hole. It’s a tour de force performance, a worthy enhancement to Due’s vision.” (Connie Ogle)

Amazing as always!

Tananarive Due never disappoints! Phenomenal read! This is only my third book by Due, and I plan to read everything else she has written as soon as possible!

Riviting

As unreal as many scenes in the book were, the Jiim Crows are nearly unbelievable and should be there unreal parts of the book. Even though I already listened to many parts multiple times, I'm going to have to start over right away.

The Suspense 😰

Whew! This is the most anxious I've ever been listening to a book. Tananarive Due is a master of suspense. It's impossible not to become emotionally invested in her characters. My feelings about this book ranged from anger to fear, sadness, and sometimes even smiling.
Due proves again what an incredible writer she is.

A riveting tale of bravery in the face of injustic

I picked up this novel after seeing a Joe Hill newsletter touting the brilliance of this story. I'm glad I did. The saga of Robert and his sister Gloria is mostly heartbreaking, despicable, infuriating, but in the end, uplifting. I expected more horror in the form of the ghosts depicted, not in the ways of the adults in the story. It sickened me when I thought of real people being treated this way as I know has happened in the past, and still happens to this day. I'm not sure how to change the world so this doesn't keep happening, but all I can say is be kind to others. You don't know what that person has going on in their lives. They may just need one person to show them kindness to make a difference in their lives.

Incredible read

This book is amazing and must read. I love the incite to help feel what the characters endured.