The Nickel Boys by Colson WhiteheadMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are places we don't like to hear about because we know the news will be bad. A juvenile reformatory school for boys in the 1960s, the setting for Whitehead's novel, is one of them. Narrated in first person, the main character Elwood is a black teenager with a promising future. But despite the efforts of his grandmother to shelter him from the harsh realities of the day, he innocently gets caught in the dragnet. Elwood is sent to a reformatory school in Florida, which changes the trajectory of his entire life.
My favorite part of the book is how the author uses Dr. MLKs message of love and selflessness as a backdrop to understanding Elwood's actions. In trying to give meaning to his experiences at the reformatory school, he believes he can do something to change conditions there. Elwood maintains a sliver of hope despite the hardships he endures. "I am stuck here, but I'll make the best of it, Elwood told himself, and I'll make it brief."
Whitehead's writing is lively and the story is well-paced. His exploration of the varying ways the Nickel Boys responded to the conditions of their confinement was instructive.
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