The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

 

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is a historical fiction horror based on the real life reform school, the Florida School for Boys, which had a history of abuse, rape, and even murders during the 111 year span of operation. The book is terrifying and heart-wrenching. A must read for everyone.

The Reformatory tells the story of Robbie Stephens, Jr. who is sent to the reformatory for protecting his older sister Gloria from a white boy's harassment. The boy, Lyle McCormack, has a powerful family. The reformatory has a pretty scary reputation and Robbie is very scared. Gloria looks for ways to get him out. 

The reformatory is haunted by ghosts of the boys that were killed there. The author calls these ghosts "haints". Robbie can see the haints, while most others boys can't, except for a haint named Blue that seems to be visible to most. Robbie befriends two boys, Redbone and Blue (Robbie didn't know Blue is a haint at the time) when he's assigned to kitchen duties. Robbie is often subjected to abuse at the reformatory, much like other boys there. Robbie wants to try to escape. 

Gloria continues to look for ways to get Robbie out, going through her white employer, Miss Anne Powell, and Anne's secret girlfriend, lawyer in training, Channing Holt. She also gets in touch with lawyers at the NAACP. But after all her attempts, the judge won't let Robbie go. The judge is holding Robbie in hopes of luring Robbie's father out. Robbie's father, Robert Stephens, is wrongly accused of raping a white woman, and is in hiding.

The administration at the reformatory finds out that Robbie has the gift of seeing haints. They move him from kitchen duties to catching haints. The school believes by catching the haints and putting them in a jar with ash, it will stop the hauntings and better the school's reputation. The school's superintendent, Fenton Haddock, hopes to capture all the haints from the fire he set up in 1920 that killed several boys. Blue is furious. Robbie realizes Blue is a haint who had died in that fire. Blue instructs Robbie on stealing photographic evidence of Haddock's rape and murders from his office. 

After exhausting all avenues, Gloria decides to help Robbie by forming an escape plan, with the help of her godmother Miz Lottie and Miz Lottie's grandnephew, Uncle June. Robbie has been slow at catching haints, unwilling to help the school. The school retaliates by killing his best friend Redbone. Robbie decides he must do something. He follows the instructions from Blue and steals the evidence from Haddock's office and takes the haint jar with him before escaping.

Haddock unleashes his tracking dog, Colonel to follow Robbie. Robbie had escaped through a hole in a fence and is headed towards a creek. He got lost but Blue lead him the way. He comes to the creek where he breaks open the jar of haints. Blue tells Robbie that the haints have been freed. Haddock and Colonel catches up to Robbie. The creek is the meeting spot with Gloria, so Gloria is nearby as well. Haddock tells Robbie to give him back the photographs or Colonel would attack him. Blue and the rest of the haints haunt Haddock and Blue orders Colonel to kill Haddock. Colonel bites his throat. Haddock drowns and dies. 

Gloria, Miz Lottie, and Robbie barely make it out in the getaway truck. They make it to Chicago by taking the train, reunite with Robbie's father. Robbie's photographs help the boys at the school to be rescued. THE END.

Great book. However, I'm only giving this book 4 out 5 instead of what could have been 5 out of 5. Mainly because, while the parts about Robbie and the school are really moving and well-written, more than half of the book is about his sister Gloria, which is slow and repetitive. Also, for a book that's so well researched and historically accurate, the addition of the ghosts made me do a double-take. Robert's character is based on Tananarive Due's own great uncle, Robert Stephens, who died at age 15 at the school. I think I would have liked this book more if it focused more on Robert's experience at the school instead of catching ghosts.