The Nickel boys : a novel / Colson Whitehead.
"In this bravura follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award-winning The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. 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 about to enroll in the local black 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 where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." 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 whose repercussions 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." -- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 0345804341
- ISBN: 0385537077
- ISBN: 9780345804341
- ISBN: 9780385537070
- ISBN: 9780385545358
- ISBN: 9780385693967
- Physical Description: 213 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: First edition
- Publisher: New York : Doubleday, [2019]
- Copyright: ℗2019
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- Publisher, dates, and paging may vary.
- Target Audience Note:
- HL940L Lexile
- Study Program Information Note:
- Accelerated Reader AR UG 6.5 10 512399.
- Awards Note:
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2020
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Abuse of administrative power > Fiction.
African American boys > Abuse of > Fiction.
African American teenagers > United States > Fiction.
African Americans > Civil rights > Fiction.
African Americans > Segregation > United States > Fiction.
Racism > United States > Fiction.
Reformatories > Florida > Fiction.
Racism.
Florida > Fiction.
Frenchtown (Tallahassee, Fla.) > Fiction. - Genre:
- Coming-of-age fiction
Historical fiction.
Available copies
- 134 of 153 copies available at NC Cardinal.
- 1 of 1 copy available at Onslow County Public Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 153 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sneads Ferry Branch Library | FIC WHITEHEAD (Text) | 36015000814158 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Albemarle Main Library | FIC Whitehead (Text) | 31010000825465 | Adult New Fiction | Available | - |
| Albert Carlton - Cashiers Community Library | F WHITEHEAD (Text) | 39493108510480 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Alleghany Public Library | F WHITEHEAD (Text) | 30664100311007 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Andrews Public Library | ODWC F WHI (Text) | 80605000692300 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Angier Public Library | F Whi (Text) | 33632002693563 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Ashe County Public Library | F WHI (Text) | 50503300444058 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Avery County Morrison Public Library | FIC WHI (Text) | 31111003014071 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| BHM Headquarters Library | FIC (Text) | 38344101650594 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Barco Library | F WHI (Text) | 39488200966044 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
