Cover Image: The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

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This is a damn near perfect little book. In only 200 or so pages, Colson Whitehead examines what it takes to survive — and what it means to survive — through the stories of the Nickel Boys, the young boys and teenagers enrolled at the Nickel Academy. Inspired by the events at the Florida School for Boys, the Nickel Academy is a campus of horrors, with young boys suffering abuse, rape, torture and even death at the hands of the staff. Conditions are worse for the school's black students, who must deal with these abuses along with the daily injustices of the Jim Crow South.

In the novel, we follow Elwood and Turner, two Nickel Boys whose outlooks couldn't be more different. Elwood is an industrious boy, who's naive and a tad self-righteous. When he first arrives at the school (and for a few months after), he focuses on how quickly he can reach the top of the school's ranks to graduate. A bit over confident, he even makes plans to graduate early so as not to postpone his studies at a local Black college.

His unshakable faith in every man's dignity and humanity often causes him to underestimate the dangers he faces. At times, it seems as if it simply does not occur to him that others may not share these views. Even after experiencing the dangers of the school first-hand, he remains convinced that the system is fair and that good people can overcome it through honesty and hard work. He frequently quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., finding inspiration in the man's words and hoping that his time at Nickel will serve to make him a better activist.

Shortly after arriving at Nickel, he befriends Turner, a cautious and pessimistic boy who feels the only way to survive is keep his head down and keep his eyes open. Turner finds Elwood's beliefs foolish and tries to advise him on how to stay out of trouble. Failing that, he does what he can to distance himself from Elwood, lest he drag them both down. Turner admits to us and himself that he can't be like Elwood because more than anything, he is afraid.

The novel's end is outstanding and I don't want to say anything that'll take away from your own enjoyment of it. Whitehead does such a masterful job at pulling together the boys' experiences into one powerful story. There isn't a single detail that feels wasted. That being said, I was surprised by how vague some of the descriptions of the abuses were. (I certainly didn't mind it, tbh. I was reluctant to read this one because I wasn't ready for 220 pages of blood and violence.) This isn't a graphic or exploitative story; but through Whitehead's writing, the horror of certain scenes are still powerfully heartbreaking.

Definite recommend. It's a relatively short read, which I think makes it all the more powerful.

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Richly detailed and devastating, this novel is another brilliant work by an author who can write in any genre and make it his own.

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Another great read from Colson Whitehead. This one takes us into a reform school for boys, based on a real school. This is a quick and heartbreaking read.

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Great book by well known author Colson Whitehead. I received my book through NetGalley. I would recommend it to our patrons.

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No one needs me to tell them what a genius Colson Whitehead is, but I will anyway. The Nickel Boys is a horrifying story from a not-far-off part of US history.

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Elwood is a bright boy whose soul is stirred to incandescence by the inspirational words of Dr. King. Tragically, Jim Crow doesn't care in the least about his excellent moral fiber and pitches him into the hellhole of the Nickel Academy, a reform school for delinquents, runaways, and orphans where neglect is the best possible outcome. Torture, rape, and death are common. Elwood's sense of justice contrasts with his friend Turner's pragmatism, but both boys find their codes challenged by the horrors they face. The characters are fictional, but the events are all too real.

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When Elwood Curtis hitchhikes to college, the car is pulled over, and he is charged with car theft. He is sent to the Nickel Academy, a reformatory school for juvenile delinquents. At the school, students are beaten and sexually abused. Corrupt officials sell the school supplies to local merchants and farm the boys out as workers.

This was a well written and engaging story. The story line itself, based on a true story, was heartbreaking. The characters were very realistic and believable. My only criticism is that the present day story line was a bit jerky. Overall 4 out of 5 stars.

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Change doesn’t come easy. Few know this better than those persecuted by the Jim Crow laws.

Elwood grew up listening to Dr. King’s speeches on repeat and inserting himself into the frontlines of protests. Unfortunately, his young activist path was diverted when he was sentenced to the Nickel Academy.
I expected the adolescent prison to be a microcosm of society during the Jim Crow era: illustrating the racial prejudice within the confines of the juvenile detention center. While there was clear separation of whites and blacks, Whitehead used Elwood’s childhood as a framework for his moral code and advanced thinking.

The ultimate message is to stand up for yourself and your peers - Martin Luther did it from a podium in front of thousands and Elwood did it in front of a few forgotten boys.

I was immediately drawn to Elwood and his wise-beyond-his-years temperament. Whitehead weaved a beautiful story with moments that warrant self-reflection. This is a narrative for all people and backgrounds as a call to action - whatever that cause may be.

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Damn.

What a powerful novel about the Florida Dozier School for Boys, which is renamed to Nickel Academy and moved to Tallahassee. There were times, particularly in the section that takes place entirely at the "reform school," where I wondered how much longer before the novel ends. Fortunately, the novel is divided into three sections, and it's the second section that is particularly brutal, when our two main characters, Elwood and Turner, are living at the school. We meet Elwood in the beginning of the novel, a high school student offered a free scholarship to take college classes for free in the afternoon, but he hitches a ride to get to the college and is picked up by a man who has stolen a vehicle and gets pulled over, and even though this story takes place in the Sixties, it's the same story that happens today, two black guys in a car, white cop, and history repeats it over and over.

While at the school, Elwood and Turner become close friends. Elwood tries to practice the lessons he remembers hearing from MLK, and Turner just tries to survive by doing what is expected of him. Right off the bat, Elwood gets a brutal beating for trying to break up a fight and spends weeks in the hospital recovering. Turner invites Elwood to join him on the Community Service gig that gets them out of prison and working at the homes of board members and delivering the food and supplies intended for the black students to local businesses, while the prison guard sleeps with his lover or in the truck waiting for the boys to finish their job.

Much has been written about this horrible school, and the mentions of the fire when the boys died are unlikely to be forgotten, but reading this novel, and immersing into the lives of the characters, it's unlikely I will now forget the painful ways these boys suffered while so thousands of people drove by this school to view their Christmas display, ignorant or unwilling to admit the atrocties of what was happening inside the school. http://www.jacksoncountytimes.net/local-news/jackson-county-history/item/3939-dozier-school-s-christmas-show-returns-in-memories-of-visitors.html This article was published in 2013, just two years after the school closed.

Damn.

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Colson Whitehead’s newest novel is set in a Florida reform school for boys during the Jim Crow era. The school and many of the events that take place in the school are based on real life. The book looks frankly at the abuse that the boys receive at the school: physical, sexual, and mental, but it’s delivered in such a way that is quite tolerable to read. I wasn’t expecting this to be such an easy read given the subject matter, but the writing was just so smooth and well crafted. It went down pretty easy. That isn’t to say that there weren’t parts that made me cringe at the casual cruelty inflicted on these boys.

Elwood, the main character, is a very likeably, resilient young boy who longs to make the world a better place and is inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and speeches of MLK. Early in the book we see this optimism, hope, and willingness to strive for progress, but I found it the hardest to read because I kept waiting for the hammer to drop. It’s no spoiler to know that Elwood ends up at Nickel Academy, but I didn’t know how to when he was going to get there.

Because The Nickel Boys is a quick, relatively easy read that deals with such a heavy subject matter, I think it would be a great introduction to subjects such as racism, corruption, Jim Crow, criminal justice, and the like to new adults and even certain high school aged readers. It could lead to an interest in these historical topics and events, as well as how those events of our past continue to shape our country and national dialogue. It’s a good read for adults, too.

I’m not giving this five stars only because I wasn’t able to connect enough emotionally to the characters and story. Maybe that says something about me as a reader, but I was looking for more depth of emotion than I found. That being said, it was still quite a good read, and I will be recommending it broadly.

I received a digital ARC of this book from Doubeday Books and #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to read this book! I appreciate the kindness. <3

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Many thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book, This is a disturbing and sad piece of historical fiction that was inspired by a true story of a juvenile detention home in Florida. Mr. Whitehead has written an amazing story of Elwood who is wrongly accused and sentenced to time in a juvenile home. It takes place in the 60’s in the time of the civil rights movement. This is a powerful tale of a horrible event in the history of our country. I couldn’t put it down.

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Wow, just wow! I love Colson Whitehead, and this is one of his finest. This is based on a TRUE story, and should be required reading for all Americans. This left me devastated and in awe. A must read.

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After his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead delivers another breathtaking novel during the civil rights movement. This book was hard to read at times because of the descriptions of the treatment of those boys. Whitehead absolutely delivers a fantastically written, heartbreaking story.

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The first book I have read by Colson Whitehead. It was a page turner with roots from real life events. A riveting and haunting story of America’s ugly past. Everyone should read.

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I knew I had to brace myself for this one. But am so glad I did. Colson Whitehead writes in such sharp and powerful language. Much like The Underground railroad, this needs to be required reading for everyone.

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An absolute must read! Two boys meet in a Florida juvenile reformatory during the Jim Crow era - their friendship endures horrors no one can imagine. A beautifully written book on the ugliest of subjects.

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I found this book to be an emotional roller coaster, where I could sometimes anticipate what was going to happen, but not enough to be predictable. I was blown away by the depth of the main character Elwood, and wanted nothing more than to take away the emotional and physical trauma that the youth in the novel face. This book is perfect for anyone interested in the Civil Rights era, or the American South. Even though I have read extensively about the era, my eyes were opened to the horrors of a "reform school" in the segregated South. This book is a must read that will be extremely popular among a wide variety of readers.

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There have been few books in my life that completely drew me in and refused to let me have a moment until I finished them, I am not at all ashamed to note that I read this at breakfast lunch and dinner foregoing conversations with colleagues and students today. I was completely engrossed in this book.

They synopsis is simple, this is a story about the horrific conditions at a boys reform school in Florida during the 60's. IT is told from the perspective of a former inmate. I will not say more because anything else would give away the magnificence of this plot. This book was so beautifully written. Elwood was a really good protagonist and so was Turner. I can't tell you how much these two absolutely needed each other for this story to work. You even felt for the ancillary characters, This is a good read for me because it is historical, without getting bogged down with too many true facts. I like that it read ads a story, everything that Whitehead wrote about was absolutely necessary. This book talks about a moment in history that I was completely unfamiliar within am glad that I read it. This is a great book, excellent story, excellent characters and writing that really draws you in and makes you become a part of the story. I recommend this to anyone looking for a great story that will also educate you.

This book was given to me as an ARC by Doubleday books in exchange for an honest review

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Wow, what a book. The first thing you need to know is that this book is based on a real school and the reality of numerous boys. The second thing you should know is that this book is not fun to read, but it is necessary. Terrible things happened to real children, and it wasn't stopped until very recently. I want to thank Colson Whitehead for writing this book, and making people like me aware of what happened. The story of this school needs to be told, and Colson Whitehead tells it well.

***I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, thanks to them and Doubleday Books for allowing me to read this novel before publication***

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