The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction): A Novel [J0086-PB]

2019 - HCDJ Nice clean condition. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning follow-up to The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. Based on the real story of a reform school that operated for 111 years and warped the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative that showcases a great American novelist writing at the height of his powers. When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood's only salvation is his friendship with fellow "delinquent" Turner, which deepens despite Turner's conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "One of those stories that sticks with you long after you put it down."; "While a fiction book, the impetus for Nickel Boys came from the author's research into the real life Dozier School for Boys where the horrific incidents Whitehead writes about in this book DID happen. Understandably, it's a sobering read that reached Pulitzer Prize status. I can't imagine anyone finishing this book not completely satisfied with the written word, albeit with a heartfelt reflection."; "Definitely a book to take your time with. Great writing; a cleverly thought out story that delivers on so many fronts. Whitehead tells the story of the Nickel boys with respect, and places the moments of humor in a way that reminds readers that these were just kids."