the book is significant because it details the day-to-day life of inmates in america's first reform school, the lyman school for boys. written from the perspective of a resident who, because of earlier experiences, thought that this school was a good place to live, it provides a unique view into the problems and solutions facing the juvenile correctional facilities at the time. the book also details some of the many problems encountered by children growing up in institutional settings such as institutional foster homes. for instance, there is a particularly poignant story about a boston police officer beating johnson when he was discovered playing a church pipe organ that he had recently repaired. the management of the foster home could not do anything about that because such police activity was considered “normal,” so johnson should have avoided the police.