3.5 stars // Somehow I had never heard of this tragedy while it was in the news, but WOW what a horrific place the Dozier School was. This book is written by a forensic anthropologist who worked to excavate marked and unmarked graves of boys who died while in the custody of the state at the Dozier School for Boys during the 20th Century. The fact that these boys suffered extreme abuse and trauma at the hands of the people tasked with caring for them is heartbreaking and unacceptable. This is a tough read, but written well and very informative.

An interesting look at the Dozier boys school in Florida. I remember reading about this in the news years ago, but I appreciated the deep dive into the world. These men deserved to have their story told, and this did a good job of that. It also opens conversations for the numerous other reform schools that used to exist in the US.

I never heard of this horrible story before reading We Carry Their Bones. I finished reading this book a little bit ago but I really struggled writing the review. The story about the children who were thrown away was heard breaking and I felt some sort of responsibility in writing this review. I’m sure Erin Kimmerle felt the same responsibility while researching and writing this book. I felt that Erin really connected with this horrible story. The crimes that happened at the Dozier School will haunt me forever.

Received a free copy from NetGalley. This was a hard book to read, not because there was anything wrong with the writing, but because the recap of the Dozier facility is so gripping. This is a story of archaeology but reading about it in ancient time would have been easier than reading a heartrending story and knowing that it all happened basically within the last century. Not my normal faire but still an excellent read.

I was interested in this book because I read Nickel Boys and I wanted to get a different point of view. The author is a forensic anthropologist who was hired to find out what happened to the boys in the graves that were found. This book is a really informative read about the author and her colleagues who fought to get justice for these boys. It's a tough read, but I think everyone should read it.
4 stars

This is the true story behind the book "The Nickel Boys". In this book, Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle explores the notorious Dozier Boys School and the search for graves so that the bodies of these boys can be reunited with their families. This school was a horrendous place to be sent to. Abuse, horrible, horrible abuse happened there. Many "mysterious" deaths occurred there. It wasn't until over a century later that they place was investigated and eventually shut down. This is a great exploration of this horrible place and the hope that the boys can be reunited with their families after all this time.

I enjoyed this book. I can not wait for more by this author! Thanks to publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book!

Books like this need to be read, they need to be talked about, and we as humans need to do better. Places like the Dozier School for Boys should have never existed, and people shouldn't still be defending why they were "necessary." I'm thankful for those who fought to expose these terrible acts and bring some closure to the families of all the boys whose lives were taken from them.

This book is very informative and emotional.

Highly recommend it even for people who do not normally read non-fiction.

I strongly believe that some places are haunted by the acts of cruelty and misery that took place within them, if so, this reform school located in Florida is likely one of the most wretched and haunted locations in the United States. The sheer and utter disgust and pain I feel having read this book, knowing what the boys at Dozier School were subjected to, eats at me inside. This book literally tore a hole in my soul with its recounts of the accusations of rape , physical abuse and torture including being hogtied into isolation. I am so very grateful to the author for her seemingly endless struggle to bring answers and justice to the families of these poor children. This book is not easy to read, I can only imagine how excruciating it was to research and write. Amazing in its attention to detail and sensitivity in dealing with grieving families.

This story is incredibly heartbreaking and was told in the best possible way by the author. Anything I have to say would not bring justice to the boys and men that suffered.

Having read The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead I was shocked to learn about the atrocities that happened at the Dozier School and wanted to know more. Erin Kimmerle is an amazing woman seeking justice for these boys and their families. Her attention to detail and ability to connect with people to overcome the city state and federal challenges along with those from the local people was impressive. I was glad to have the opportunity to read this advanced copy from #NetGalley.

I want to first start off with thanking NetGallery, William Morrow & Erin Kimmerle for a ARC to review.

As someone from Indiana, I had knew zero about this school or it's history. But I thought this was a very good book. A in depth look at the school's history & exactly how archaeology is done. Honestly I felt it got a little too in depth sometimes with terminology and how stuff is done.

Will also admit I skimmed through most of the 2nd chapter has it seemed to be a history lesson of the authors life. Which honestly, I didn't need to know.

But I'd still highly recommend the book.

This is such an important story to be shared. And it is very dense. It is definitely not one to be read in one sitting or devoured on a sunny day.

I first heard of the horrifying Dozier School for Boys when I read The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Of course being the giant nerd that I am, I read every article I could find on the internet and also The Dozier School for Boys by Elizabeth A. Murray. We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys is the final chapter to this story. Written by forensic anthropologist Erin Kemmerle, it tells of her efforts to find out how many boys were really buried there and the tremendous effort it took to wade through the political red tape to be allowed to excavate the site, identify the remains and give these boys the proper burial they deserved. I was flabbergasted at how much resistance she encountered by powerful political players who wanted this whole story to go away and even by the town itself. This is not an easy read but I thought it was well written. I think if you've read Nickel Boys you should definitely follow it up with this one.

"We Carry Their Bones" is a first hand account from a forensic anthropologist's experience trying to recover unmarked graves at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, FL. It has a sordid past that is contested with locals and the State of Florida. It was a fascinating story that included the history of the school and the author's attempts to get through bureaucratic red tape to help the families of boys who died and were unceremoniously buried on the grounds of the school before the land is sold off. It was well written, but I did find it difficult to keep up with the many names of past and present students. I would have liked pictures, but I was reading the kindle version, so that may be why I missed out. I give this 4/5. Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for the copy in exchange for a review.

"We Carry Their Bones" is a masterpiece. So much research and care went into this book. I appreciate Erin's work to make sure the stories of these silenced victims were able to be told and to shed light in the truth of this cruel "school." I would 100% recommend this to anyone that is a fan of history, forensics, archeology, and true crime.

"We Carry Their Bones" by Erin Kimmerle is the full account of the story behind and the actual uncovering of the remains of the many boys killed and buried at The Florida School for Boys. For decades, young children and adolescents were brutally tortured at the school and buried around its campus. Families were denied the true story of what happened to their murdered children and where their bodies were buried. Kimmerle provides a thorough account of the steps she and her team took to peel back the layers of what actually happened at the school, the hoops she had to jump through to get access to school grounds, and the technology used to unearth more bodies than were originally thought to have been buried there. Hopefully this book gains much attention to bring some sort of justice, albeit too little too late, to the families of the deceased and the overall treatment of the boys banished to this institution over many years. A really good read!

Deep insight into how tragedy lingers and the only way forward, is to face it head on. Using a mixture of history and science, this is a fascinating read.

Dr Erin Kimmerle is a forensic anthropologist. She became interested in the story of the Dozier School for Boys in the Marianna, located in the panhandle of Florida. The school was open for 100 years from the early 20th century to 2011. It had a horrible reputation for abuse of its residents. Despite numerous investigations and exposes by various authorities over the years, it continued to operate.
A group of men, known as the White House Boys, who were residents of the school, began to tell their stories of torture and undocumented death to anyone who would listen, including the media and eventually to Erin Kimmerle and her team of researchers at the University of South Florida. We Carry Their Bones documents the pain staking process of Dr Kimmerle and her research team as they fought to bring the truth of the Dozier School for Boys to light and to bring justice and closure to families of missing children that spanned generations.
I found this to be a remarkable testament to the efforts of some amazing people, including the author and her team and the families and the survivors of the terrible abuse inflicted at that school. Kimmerle tells this story in exquisite detail, and you basically live it with her. This is an important account of throwaway children, used and abused by a system that cared little for their well-being. This school was allowed to function well into the 21st century.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in Social Justice in a historical setting.
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars.

Super interesting case that I have never heard of! The story of these boys stuck with me and made me very curious to learn more about this history.