Spokane Is Reading announces author Tananarive Due and her novel, The Reformatory, for this year’s community-wide reading event!
Update as of October 2025: Because of unforeseen circumstances for the author, she is unable to travel to Spokane, despite the original intent to have her visit us in person. We are still delighted to host her virtually at 1pm at SCLD and 7pm at Central Library.
Tananarive Due is the recipient of an American Book Award and an NAACP Image Award. She was an executive producer on Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror and she teaches Afrofuturism and Black Horror at UCLA. Due is the author of several novels and two short story collections, Ghost Summer: Stories and The Wishing Pool and Other Stories. She is also co-author of a civil rights memoir, Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights, written with her late mother, Patricia Stephens Due.
The 2025 Spokane Is Reading selection is The Reformatory, her latest novel. The Reformatory has been named a New York Times Notable Book, an ALA Notable Book, and has received the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Chautauqua Prize. In its pages, Due delves into haunting historical fiction, unraveling the untold story of a deeply wronged ancestor. The narrative sheds light on the tragedies of Florida’s infamous Dozier School for Boys, exposing a painful chapter of our nation’s history with honesty, imagination, and compassion. No wonder Stephen King says that The Reformatory is “one of those books you can’t put down…Due hit it out of the park.”
Spokane Is Reading will host a virtual talk with author Tananarive Due about her book The Reformatory on October 23, 2025. Join us for a live watch party at 1pm at SCLD’s Spokane Valley Library (22 North Herald Road, Spokane) and at 7pm at Central Library (906 W. Main, Downtown Spokane). Both events are open to the public with free admission.
Spokane Is Reading is an annual one-book, one-community reading program in partnership with Spokane Public Library, Spokane County Library District, and Auntie’s Bookstore. Designed to encourage reading, dialogue, and literacy among adults, Spokane Is Reading is one of the longest-running community read programs in Washington State. Over the years, the program has celebrated such authors as Debra Magpie Earling, Madeline Miller, Amy Stewart, Jess Walter, Kate Lebo, and Maria Semple. This program would not be possible without financial support from the Friends of the Spokane Public Library, Friends groups of the Spokane County Library District, Spokane Arts, and donations and participation from the community.
Get a copy of The Reformatory from Spokane Public Library, SCLD or Auntie’s.
Spokane Public Library: Physical Book | Audiobook | eBook
SCLD: Physical Book | Audiobook | eBook
Auntie’s: Buy a copy
