The Nickel Boys
THE NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead Awards: Kirkus Winner 2019, Pulitzer Winner 2020 Nominations: Aspen Words Longlist 2020, Carnegie Longlist 2020, Dayton Literary Peace Finalist 2020, Dublin Finalist 2021, Goodreads Finalist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2019, National Book Longlist 2019, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2019, Rathbones Folio Longlist 2020 Date Read: November 14, 2020 I would love to say that Nickel Boys is heartbreaking, which it indeed is, but brutal seems a more appropriate word. This latest from Whitehead follows the boys of a reform school in Florida and the ways in which they coped with and survived the violent, sadistic and impossible environment they were thrust into. Elwood is a smart kid with a bright future. In his 15 brief years he proves himself to be trustworthy, intellectually curious and ambitious. His one fatal flaw, however, is that his skin has more melanin. In other words, Elwood is black. I still cannot understand...