1934. At the penal colony of Belle-Île-en-Mer, fifty-six young inmates aged thirteen to twenty-one rise up and escape. Hunted down by local residents, fishermen, and summer visitors, they are captured and brutally punished. The affair sparks outrage and shocks the entire nation. Alexis Danan, a senior reporter at Paris- Soir, launches what will become the fight of his life: exposing the inhumane conditions of what were then known as “children’s penal colonies,” awakening public opinion, and forcing the closure of these so-called “houses of torment.” For five years, this journalist-turned-crusader pursues his investigation relentlessly. Accusations of murder, court cases, undercover reporting, abductions, scandals— Danan is prepared to go to any lengths to defend “his cause” and reform the juvenile justice system.