Abandoned by his parents, brought up by his
loving, strict and clear-sighted grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll
in the local black college. But given the time and the place, one
innocent mistake is enough to destroy his future, and so Elwood arrives
at The Nickel Academy, which claims to provide 'physical, intellectual
and moral training' which will equip its inmates to become 'honorable
and honest men'. In reality, the Nickel Academy is a chamber of
horrors, where physical, emotional and sexual abuse is rife, where
corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended
for the school, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear
'out back'.
Stunned to find himself in this vicious environment,
Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, 'Throw us in
jail, and we will still love you.' But Elwood's fellow inmate and new
friend Turner thinks Elwood is naive and worse; the world is crooked,
and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of
their oppressors. The tension between Elwood's idealism and Turner's
skepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long
repercussions. Based on the history of a real reform school in Florida
that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped and destroyed
the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating,
driven narrative by a great American novelist whose work is essential to
understanding the current reality of the United States.
The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead
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£8.99