The Reformatory Book Review

Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory is a heart wrenching, haunting look at 1950s Jim Crow South through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy and his older sister. The bond between Robbie and Gloria Stephens is unbreakable. Due shows us that real family doesn’t always have to be blood and just how far they will go to save one another.

The Reformatory a Horror Novel by Tananarive Due

We first see this when Robbie puts his own life at risk by kicking a local white boy in the leg to protect his sister, Gloria. As a result, Robbie is sent away to The Gracetown School for Boys, an institution known as The Reformatory.

There are many stories and rumors surrounding the school and none of them are good. Robbie, like Gloria, is blessed with his own gifts. He can see haints and there are plenty to see at the Gracetown School for Boys.

But the haints may become the least of his worries when he figures out just how bad the superintendent or “Warden” Haddock, as Robbie calls him, can be. Even when Robbie is lucky enough to dodge bullies, he still finds himself in trouble.

Left to the sadistic punishments of Warden Haddock, all Robbie can think about is escaping and all Gloria can think about is how to break her little brother free.

Due based some of the characters on real-life people, one of which died at a similar school, the Dozier School for Boys in Florida. It is obvious that Due’s research paid off because she paints a vivid and gruesome picture of what life would’ve been like at The Reformatory.

She also gives readers a glimpse into the life of young Black people in 1950s Jim Crow South. The events surrounding Gloria, even though she is not incarcerated are just as horrifying as the school itself.

She shows us that there are many “Warden” Haddocks in this world and just how far they will go to inflict their hate. That no matter how hard you try, even if you do it the “right way” sometimes the world is against you. When fighting racism, sometimes you have to fight dirty.

Let me tell you, I tore through this book. I could not put it down. Every time I sat this book down I kept thinking about Robbie, Gloria, and their struggles. I couldn’t stop myself from picking it up to see what happened next.

This one is a five out of five-star read for me.

Comment below and let me know what you thought of The Reformatory.