Witherwood Reform School by Obert Skye

My name is Tobias. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have put tadpoles in the gravy, but our nanny shouldn't have taken such a huge bite. And that's no reason for our father to leave my sister and I stranded on a mesa, outside a spooky school. The people here treat us like prisoners. We work for hours in kitchen, and the only class we've had is about adapting to the school. My sister is still brainwashed, but I'm now thinking more clearly. There are dangerous, clawed creatures wandering outside the walls, and I noticed some strange things in the rooms upstairs while exploring in the middle of the night. I need to find some way out of here, but I'm worried about something called Catchers. I overheard a comment about an extraction tomorrow. Not sure what that is, but I don't think it's anything good.


I enjoyed the overall book, but I had some issues with it. The problem of kids "imprisoned" in a strange school was interesting, but the actual conflict was still a little foggy. I wasn't sure WHY the kids were being kept there. However, I wanted to read on in order to find out what was going on. Also, the minor characters weren't developed, so it was difficult to connect with them. It was hard to feel totally sympathetic for Tobias, because he was frequently mischievous and disobeyed almost all adults. He had a motive to disobey later in the book, but he seemed to be simply defiant earlier. In contrast, his sister's shirt symbolically displayed the word "Hope". Tobias developed a strong sense of smell during the plot, and his sister's hearing became stronger; I feel like that will be important in the future. This book is the first in the series, but I haven't decided if I'll read the next one.