The Nickel Boys

Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. Abandoned by his parents but raised by his strict, loving, clear-sighted grandmother, Elwood is about to enrol in the local black college. But one innocent mistake is enough to destroy his future, and Elwood arrives at The Nickel Academy, which claims to give ‘physical, intellectual and moral training’ to its inmates, equipping them with the skills to be ‘honourable and honest men’. But the Nickel Academy is nothing more than a chamber of horrors: physical, emotional, and sexual abuse is rife, corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended for the school, and boys who resist are likely to disappear ‘out back’. Stunned to find himself in this vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King’s ringing assertion, ‘Throw us in jail, and we will still love you.’  But new friend and fellow inmate Turner believes that Elwood is naïve, and that the only way to survive in a world that’s crooked is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors. The Nickel Boys is a powerful story based on a Florida reform school that for more than a century destroyed the lives of thousands of children.

Format: Kindle Edition, Audiobook, Hardcover, & Paperback

Paperback: 224 Pages

Language: English