What Tobias and Charlotte have learned is that their ordeal is just beginning. Sure, people don’t always ask to be taught, and some of us are reluctant to learn anything at all, but what lies ahead for Tobias and Charlotte is going to wise them up, whether they like it or not. Yes, I’m afraid that great changes are still in store. And even though life is pinching them hard, you can take comfort in the fact that it’s not you. Of course, if Tobias and Charlotte don’t find a way to bring down Witherwood, it very well could be you someday.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Obert Skye is an award-winning author. He has been to Witherwood and seen the grounds firsthand. He has slipped through the gate and studied the animals. He has tasted the pudding and spent time in the courtyard. One of those first four sentences is true. One of the last four isn’t. Obert is the author of the Creature from My Closet series: Wonkenstein, Potterwookiee, Pinocula, and Katfish. He has also written the Leven Thumps series and the Pillage trilogy. He is an exceptional juggler. He has been bitten by three different snakes on three different days.
Visit Obert at worldofobertskye.com or @obertskye. Sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Dear Reader
Prologue: A Giant Seed
Chapter 2: How Not to Punish Your Children
Chapter 3: Slick Roads and Hidden Rivers
Chapter 4: The Iron Gate
Chapter 5: One-Man Welcome Party
Chapter 6: There’s Something in the Trees
Chapter 7: The Mourning Morning
Chapter 8: The Gardens of Witherwood
Chapter 9: Door Number Nine
Chapter 10: Starting from Scratches
Chapter 11: Waking Up Is Hard to Do
Chapter 12: A First Look at Floor Two
Chapter 13: Erasing One’s Mind
Chapter 14: A Little More Learned
Chapter 15: A Taxi Driver Named Sam
Chapter 16: Student Morale Day
Chapter 17: Libraries Are Not Storage Lockers
Chapter 18: A Small Mention of Something Important
Chapter 19: Window of Opportunity
Chapter 21: Rest Stop
Chapter 22: Hope
Chapter 23: The Looking Glass
Chapter 24: Abhorrence
Chapter 25: Glimmer
I Might Add
Witherwood: Lost and Found
About the Author
Copyright
Text copyright © 2015 by Obert Skye
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Keith Thompson
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
Christy Ottaviano Books
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All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Skye, Obert.
Witherwood Reform School / Obert Skye; with illustrations by Keith Thompson. — First edition.
pages cm
“Christy Ottaviano Books.”
Summary: “Siblings Charlotte and Tobias are trapped within a creepy reform school—and entangled in its dark secrets”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-8050-9879-2 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-250-07347-1 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-62779-320-9 (ebook)
[1. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 2. Reformatories—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Brainwashing—Fiction.] I. Thompson, Keith, 1982– illustrator. II. Title.
PZ7.S62877Wi 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014041797
eISBN 9781627793209
First hardcover edition 2015
eBook edition March 2015