Description
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead is a haunting and deeply moving novel that tells the story of Elwood Curtis, a bright and idealistic Black teenager growing up in segregated Florida during the 1960s. Inspired by the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Elwood dreams of justice and a better future, believing in the power of integrity and hard work. However, his life takes a cruel turn when he is wrongfully sent to the Nickel Academy, a reform school that claims to rehabilitate troubled youth but is, in reality, a place of systemic abuse, corruption, and brutality. There, he meets Jack Turner, a street-smart and cynical boy whose survival depends on navigating the harsh and often violent realities of the institution. Through alternating perspectives, the novel explores themes of friendship, morality, resilience, and the long-lasting impact of racial injustice. Whitehead’s narrative, though based on the real-life horrors of the Dozier School for Boys, balances historical truth with compelling storytelling, immersing the reader in the grim realities of institutionalized racism while also celebrating human courage and the pursuit of justice. The novel’s unflinching honesty, emotional depth, and moral complexity earned it the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, cementing its place as a modern American classic African American Story.
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