The Nickel Boys
Summary:
As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is “as good as anyone.” Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is a high school senior about to start classes at a local college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides “physical, intellectual and moral training” so the delinquent boys in their charge can become “honorable and honest men.”
In reality, the Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors. Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold onto Dr. King’s ringing assertion “Throw us in jail and we will still love you.” His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble.
The tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision with repercussions that will echo down the decades. Formed in the crucible of the evils Jim Crow wrought, the boys’ fates will be determined by what they endured at the Nickel Academy.
The book is based on the real story of a reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped the lives of thousands of children. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Review:
This was a book I felt like I needed to read and I am glad that I picked it up because realistic fiction isn’t something I naturally am drawn to. I am repeating so many other reviews, but the structure of this book is so clean and flows so smoothly it really is impressive. There are two parallel stories (past and present) that culminate in a revelation that brings the two together.
If I have any complaints about the story is that I didn’t feel completely invested in the characters, particularly in the present. I was certainly interested to see what was going to happen and was never tempted to put it down, but oddly the emotional connection was lacking after Elwood goes to the Academy for me. I loved the backstory and his relationship with his grandmother, but after that it trickled off. Ultimately, I think what drove this is because the author wrote this almost in the format of a non-fiction book, which meant we didn’t get as much of his voice. Nonetheless, the book is a Pulitzer for a reason and is definitely worth picking up!
Warning: Contains repeated violence.
Rating: 4 stars!
Who should read it? Definitely worth picking up just because it’s so relevant right now!