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The Resource The Nickel boys, Colson Whitehead

The Nickel boys, Colson Whitehead

Creator
Author
Summary
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
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
211 pages
Isbn
9780708899434
Instance
Label
The Nickel boys
Title
The Nickel boys
Statement of responsibility
Colson Whitehead
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
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
Summary
Follows the harrowing experiences of two African-American teens at an abusive reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida
Theme
Storyline
Tone
Writing style
Character
Award
LibraryReads Favorites, 2019.
http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI
10785442
Cataloging source
BT
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1969-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Whitehead, Colson
Dewey number
813.6
Index
no index present
Literary form
fiction
http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
True
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Abuse of administrative power
  • African American boys
  • African American teenagers
  • Racism
  • Reformatories
  • African Americans
  • Frenchtown (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Target audience
adult
Label
The Nickel boys, Colson Whitehead
Instantiates
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
211 pages
Isbn
9780708899434
Isbn Type
(pbk.)
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
n
Specific material designation
regular print
Label
The Nickel boys, Colson Whitehead
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
211 pages
Isbn
9780708899434
Isbn Type
(pbk.)
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
n
Specific material designation
regular print

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