The Nickel Boys

A couple years ago I had never heard of Colson Whitehead; now I've read five of his books. One wasn't great, three were real good, but none of them can hold a candle to The Nickel Boys. We're with the protagonist, Elwood, while living with his grandmother in Tallahassee in the '60s. He's a super smart kid, despite being Black in Florida in the '60s, works full time, is dipping his toes into the civil rights movement, and is preparing to take college courses while still in high school. Then, through the racism and shitty luck, he gets sent away to a jail/school for minors. Most of the book flashes between his time in this horrific institution and Elwood in the future in NYC. If you don't fall in love with this dude, you're out of your show more mind. If your heart is broken by so many of his experiences, and the experiences of those around him, you're made of stone.

Part of my fondness for this book might be because I was locked up in a similar place when I was around his age, and it has stayed with me in the 26 years since I got out. Though the place Elwood gets send to is much more physically violent, a lot of the mental and emotional torture is the same and many of his mates in their suffer the same fate as those I was with.

Anyway, get this book and read it. I promise you won't regret it. show less

Young Elwood grows up in the Black Frenchtown neighborhood living with his grandmother, working hard and planning on going to college. But all of that gets derailed when he is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he's sent to a reform school. The "school" is little more than a way for those in power to abuse it, and Elwood and the others dream of leaving.

This short book packs a powerful punch, not least because the Nickel School is based on a real school - the Dozier School - where unmarked graves were found after it was closed for good. In the 1960s, the dorms are segregated, so we get Elwood and his friends, as well as Jaimie, the Mexican boy who doesn't really fit in either dorm. Elwood's idealism is tested as he copes show more with terrible circumstances. An omniscient narrator includes both flashbacks of the school's history and a future of a man from the school now living in New York. Intense and powerful, this is masterfully done. show less

Audiobook performed by J D Jackson, and the author

In the 1960s Jim Crow South, a young man on his way to college makes a life-changing mistake and winds up in the notoriously draconian Nickel Academy reform school.

Elwood is a marvelous character. Abandoned by his parents, and raised by his grandmother, he’s developed a strong moral compass. He studies hard, has a mentor / champion in one of his teachers, works at local business, and listens to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s speeches for inspiration. He can hold his own against bullies and believes that it is his duty to cry out and try to stop injustice.

But this strength of character goes against everything the leaders of Nickel Academy want in the boys under their control. And they show more will break Elwood if it’s the last thing they (or he) do.

I was completely engrossed in this story. I loved how the relationships between the boys at Nickel developed, how they helped one another even when they could not understand one another. Turner is a particular friend, despite their different viewpoints and philosophies on how to succeed and “graduate” from Nickel. Turner is a schemer, a cynic, and a realist; he KNOWS “the man” will get him at the first opportunity and is determined to stay out of anything that can get him into trouble. Elwood, on the other hand, believes that doing the right thing (like stopping a fight among other boys, or reporting corruption and mistreatment) will be the ticket to release. Turner cannot believe that Elwood can be so naïve as to think that anything he says will make a difference. Elwood cannot understand how Turner can turn his back on injustice.

The last part of the novel moves forward in time when one of the boys has grown up and is living in New York. But while he has achieved a measure of success, he is still haunted by what happened in his youth. Whitehead’s use of this structure made the pivotal scene all the more impactful. I literally gasped.

J.D. Jackson does a stupendous job narrating the audiobook. He is a skilled voice artist and became Elwood and Turner. show less

I waited a few days to write a review for this one, because it was impossible to process in a matter of seconds, or hours or even days. Thrilled to report that my awe of Whitehead remains preserved and strong as ever, and good lord, that man knows how to write an ending!

One of the things I loved most about this was how Whitehead takes that myth of a single story that Adichie talks about and literally disassembles it into many individual stories in this novel. It's an unweaving of myth, a demolition of racist ideology. I've never seen a narration quite like it, which is probably why Whitehead one the Pulitzer, again.

I have so much more to say, but find myself without the right words, so I will just say this:

Read it.

Elwood is a well-behaved, smart teenager. He gets good grades in school and has a job at a corner store. He listens to records of Dr. King’s speeches, attends peaceful protests for civil rights, and is starting to take college classes soon. In his excitement to get to class early he hitchhikes, in a car that turns out to be stolen. Elwood is sent to Nickel Academy, a reform school practicing corruption and violence like Elwood has never known before. He’s beaten almost to death for standing up for a smaller student, but months of toeing the line afterward gets him a cushy role selling the tax-dollar-supplied school provisions (only the Black kids’ provisions, of course) to the neighboring townspeople in exchange for cash to line show more the administrators’ pockets.
In the present day, adult Elwood lives in New York City and mostly tries not to think about Nickel, until he hears the news that archaeologists have dug up the many, many bodies buried there.

What a book. Very closely based on the real Dozier School, Whitehead once again writes fiction that is just as real as the truth. The short book feels dense, like every sparse sentence contains a full story in just a few words. Every character feels immediately recognizable, and it especially felt like I understood Elwood deeply from the moment I met him. I was confused how the elder Elwood could be so different from the boy I knew, and then after the twist everything clicked into place.
Every time I read something by Whitehead it just makes me want to read more immediately. show less

I found this a difficult read. The topic was simple, the abuse suffered by the blacks during most of the Twentieth century (not to say the abuse isnt continuing to this day; not as flagrant or open) and especially those who the courts saw fit to consider not who we want in every day society. It makes any caring person ashamed of how any human being could so mistreat another human being, especially a young person confined to a juvenile facility often for reasons not much greater than being young and black.

The Nickel referred to in the title was based upon an actual Juvenile Detention Facility in Florida which thrived for over half a century as a model for providing an environment for the rehab of juvenile offenders. From the moment you show more set foot in it, especially if you were black, you were in a racist version of hell. The corruption within the system at the facility was far beyond abuse and violated any concept of basic humanitarian treatment of the juveniles given to them for care and rehabilitation.

The primary character we follow through the system and life is Elwood, an intelligent caring young black man. While he knows the place of a black man, he stills has questions about the injustice that the black man receives from the system. He yearns for the vision of equality that Dr Martin Luther Kings speaks so eloquently about and for which the activists following Dr King were peacefully protesting.

Colson Whitehead's writing and story development is again very good. The choice of words is excellent as it reflects the horror and nightmare dispensed by those who worked for the facility and the environment those confined experienced without going into gory detail. Whitehead manipulates the words to structure a picture that leaves nothing to the imagination. This is writing which brings the reader into the ordinary and shocking while ultimately letting the overwhelming horror and mind numbing sadness prevail almost without being said. While there is little deep character development the individuals come to life in a manner as if we were sitting there discussing friends. We know them without needing to have intricate in-depth details. So much of the impact of this book is based upon Colson Whitehead's ability to find the right words and use them in a most effective manner.

Having read both this and The Underground Railroad makes me appreciate Whitehead's ability and skills as a writer. Neither of these books would be considered a relaxing read. With Whitehead they are presented in such a manner that the full impact is there without loosing the story and meaning is useless prattle regarding specific horrors. To me this makes the underling meaning and emotional understanding more effective.

Personally I believe most people should read this and truly consider what it effectively says about man's inhumanity to man between the white and black communities. We should be ashamed that this is part of our history in this country. show less

Anfang der 60er Jahre wird der 16jährige Elwood unverschuldet in die Besserungsanstalt Nickel Academy, Florida, gesperrt. Elwood ist ein intelligenter, strebsamer schwarzer junger Mann, dem sich gerade die Möglichkeit geboten hat, trotz des alltäglich herrschenden Rassismus das College zu besuchen. Sein grosses Vorbild ist Martin Luther King und wie er glaubt er fest daran, dass die Zeit kommen wird, in denen er leben kann wie weisse Menschen. Doch die Nickel Academy stellt seinen Glauben schwer auf die Probe. Dort herrschen Willkür, Gewalt und das Recht des Stärkeren; in diesem Fall der Aufseher. Die Jungen werden misshandelt, zu Frondiensten herangezogen, gefoltert und missbraucht - und es interessiert niemanden.
Die Geschichte show more ist in drei Teile gegliedert: das Leben vor, während und nach dem Aufenthalt in der Nickel Academy, wobei insbesondere im letzten Drittel deutlich wird, dass sich die Zeit in der Besserungsanstalt noch immer bis in die Gegenwart auswirkt. Ebenso deutlich ist bereits von Beginn an, dass das Leben eines schwarzen Jugendlichen nicht nur von seinem eigenen Wohlverhalten abhängt, denn irgendwo existiert immer eine latente Gefahr. Dass beispielsweise einem Weissen die Nase nicht passt, man eine weisse Frau zu intensiv angesehen hat - schon hat man die Polizei im Nacken, die offensichtlich nichts lieber macht, als Schwarze in den Knast zu stecken. Ich hielt immer wieder den Atem an, weil ich dachte, 'Oh je, jetzt rutscht er in etwas rein.' Doch Alles ging gut, bis ... - und das kam wirklich überraschend.
Elwoods Zeit im Nickel ist gleich zu Anfang geprägt von enormer Grausamkeit und Brutalität. Und doch behält er seinen Traum von einem Leben in Freiheit und Gleichheit, auch wenn er immer wieder mit sich ins Hadern kommt. Fast schon beiläufig erfährt man auch die Geschichten von anderen Jungen, deren Leben schon von Beginn geprägt ist durch Armut und Gewalt und immer wieder deutlich macht, was diese Rassentrennung den Menschen antut.
Zuguterletzt, der dritte Teil, scheint sich zumindest oberflächlich betrachtet alles zum Guten gewendet zu haben. Doch die Vergangenheit hat solche Spuren hinterlassen, dass sie sich immer wieder in Erinnerung bringt und auch in der Gegenwart ihren Tribut fordert.
Ein beeindruckendes wie auch bedrückendes Buch über eine Zeit, die Viele wohl vergessen machen wollen. Denn ohne Schuld waren die Wenigsten - und wer will das schon wissen. show less