The State Boys Rebellion by Michael D'Antonio

Author Michael D'Antonio takes you inside the desolate and decaying walls of one of Massachusetts' oldest institutions, Walter E. Fernald State School. Built in 1848 and still operates as a home for developmentally disabled individuals. However, the institution was the site of extensive Cold War research and scientific experiments conducted on children who were deemed "deficient". The book chronicles the life of Freddie Boyce who was sent to Fernald in 1949 after having been labeled feebleminded based on an IQ test administered by the state.

Almost sixty years later, the story of a group of boys who refused to believe they belonged in an institution is finally available for the world to read. Freddie Boyce and his friends were locked away in wards where they were beaten and forced to fight each other for survival. After seeing the results of the Civil Rights Movement on television, The State Boys protested by locking themselves into Ward 22 and rioting uncontrollably. It wasn't until long after their release in the 1960's that The State Boys began to learn what had happened to them while they were incarcerated at Fernald.

The early 1920's saw the creation of a science referred to as Eugenics, a belief that a more perfect breed of human being could be created by controlling heredity. By the 1940's when Freddie Boyce was committed to Fernald, state schools were prime locations for experimentation with sterilization, lobotomies, shock therapy, and psychotropic drugs. The children were also used as guinea pigs by MIT and Harvard for testing the effects of radiation on the human system. Those who were released from Fernald discovered in the 1990's that they had been exposed to often fatal levels of radiation that would eventually cause cancer in some, sterility in others.

Though the institution operates much more effectively in the twenty first century, the story of The State Boys resonates for everyone who has ever been touched by developmental disabilities. At times almost too much to absorb, D'Anotonio's depiction of the horror of the boys' time at Fernald leaps off the page. His extensive research and interviews with the surviving boys and former employees helps to bring the institution to life and to keep the need for institutional reform alive.

This book earns a definite 5 out of 5 stars for readability, subject matter, level of interest, and overall enjoyment.