(Extra Book) The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys

by Colson Whitehead

Thanks to Tracey G. for this recommendation - a really good read in The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.  The book is based on the real-life story of a reform school in Florida for young boys who committed minor offenses, lacked parents, or were there for a variety of other reasons.  As portrayed in the book, Nickel Academy is a cruel place full of hatred, especially for black boys who regularly get whipped and placed in solitary confinement. This is the place that seventeen-year-old Elwood Curtis ends up after receiving a free car ride home from his first day of a pre-college program.  Elwood was a bright young man destined for success, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He was forced to go to the academy by the judge of his case, and that’s when his living hell begins.  Rules were arbitrary and, for someone who worked so hard, always doing the right thing, he entered a place where there was no understandable ‘right way to behave’.  During his first week at the academy, he faced a beating for trying to assist another student being taunted.  In this place, he was bound to secrecy and there were serious ramifications if he spoke out against the academy. But this didn’t stop Elwood from making a plan. He waited for an opportunity to alert the authorities of the dangers in the academy and got that chance when a tour by the officials took place.  Elwood wasn’t ready for what happened next.  The story is a reminder of the type of world we live in where hate has and continues to prevail. It is disturbing to learn that those who ran the system at the academy brutally murdered some of the black boys who attended and buried them on the grounds.  All great stories have a twist, and this one is no different.  It is hard to believe that the 1950s and 60s was the time frame of this story. In this world today, we still witness abuse of children, lack of equality, and pure hate.  Books like this serve as a reminder so that we never forget what happened in our past.  Elwood and children like him need love, education and opportunity.  A profound story.