Name: The Degenerates
ISBN: 9781534419360

J. Albert Mann

In 1928, Maxine, Rose, Alice, and London face vicious attendants and bullying older girls at the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded, each determined to change her fate at all costs. Includes historical notes about eugenics.

The Degenerates

“Respectful, unflinching, and eye-opening.” —Kirkus Reviews “Historical fiction that not only depicts a cruel, horrifying reality but also the strength and courage of the people who had to endure it.” —Booklist In the tradition of Girl, Interrupted, this fiery historical novel follows four young women in the early 20th century whose lives intersect when they are locked up by a world that took the poor, the disabled, the marginalized-and institutionalized them for life. The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded is not a happy place. The young women who are already there certainly don’t think so. Not Maxine, who is doing everything she can to protect her younger sister Rose in an institution where vicious attendants and bullying older girls treat them as the morons, imbeciles, and idiots the doctors have deemed them to be. Not Alice, either, who was left there when her brother couldn’t bring himself to support a sister with a club foot. And not London, who has just been dragged there from the best foster situation she’s ever had, thanks to one unexpected, life-altering moment. Each girl is determined to change her fate, no matter what it takes.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher! Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Degenerates

Author: J. Albert Mann

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: Slight LGBTQA+ relationship (makeout scene) and based on the covers one of the girls is black and the other might be Asian, but it wasn’t well described in the book.

Publication Date: March 17, 2020

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Recommended Age: 16+ (TW torture, violence, gore, some language, and 

Pages: March 17, 2020

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Synopsis: In the tradition of Girl, Interrupted, this fiery historical novel follows four young women in the early 20th century whose lives intersect when they are locked up by a world that took the poor, the disabled, the marginalized—and institutionalized them for life.

The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded is not a happy place. The young women who are already there certainly don’t think so. Not Maxine, who is doing everything she can to protect her younger sister Rose in an institution where vicious attendants and bullying older girls treat them as the morons, imbeciles, and idiots the doctors have deemed them to be. Not Alice, either, who was left there when her brother couldn’t bring himself to support a sister with a club foot. And not London, who has just been dragged there from the best foster situation she’s ever had, thanks to one unexpected, life altering moment. Each girl is determined to change her fate, no matter what it takes.

Review: I thought this book was well done. The world building was amazing and I like that the author kept to the historical points in the book. I felt the author did well to subtly describe the horror that people faced in the early 20th century. The book didn’t shy away from showing a light on some of the darkest moments of our history in America. The book was also very well even paced.

However, I didn’t like how the book was told. The book kinda bounced between events and timelines a bit recklessly and that made it hard to follow. The book also didn’t develop these characters very well and I had a hard time caring for them as a reader. I feel like the book could have been told from one POV and worked much better than with three. I also didn’t like that the girls just accepted their given labels. It fits with the time, but I think it would have been more impactful if they outright rejected it in them.

Verdict: A great read, especially for those who like history!

Leelynn Brady

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and Atheneum Books for Young Readers for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.



No, these girls aren’t bad in the traditional sense. They just don’t belong in this school and the reasons why they were put there are utter crap. So this book really worked up some emotions in me because I absolutely hate it when girls are treated like something is wrong with them for dumb reasons and then they get branded as something like this: degenerates. Stuff with such negative connotations that they don’t deserve to be.

So this is what I was thinking of basically and I was just really into this book because I love that the girls didn’t just let these people dictate their lives. They wanted to change their fate, and they were going to do whatever it took in order to change it. I love that they had the strength to want to do this, to make themselves better than their circumstances, especially during a time where girls just weren’t allowed to succeed in life.

The Degenerates

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