The Reformatory

In the Jim Crow South of June 1950, twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens Jr. is sent to the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory that becomes a chamber of terrors. This gripping novel, a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Locus Award, plunges into the horrors of racism and injustice.

Robbie possesses a unique ability to see ghosts, or haints. What once offered comfort after his mother's passing now reveals the chilling truth of the reformatory. As boys disappear, the spectral visions hint at unspeakable events. Alongside his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie navigates the school's brutal realities, learning not only its rules but the art of survival.

Meanwhile, his sister Gloria mobilizes family and friends across Florida, desperately seeking a way to free Robbie before it is too late. This award-winning Historical Fiction, recognized with the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award, is a haunting exploration of a forgotten tragedy. It is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit against overwhelming darkness.