It took me a while to warm to this, as early on it seemed like the kind of 'racially-motivated injustice to incarceration' story we've seen and read plenty of times before. But gradually the sheer quality and humanity of Whitehead's writing pulls it out of the ordinary and grabs you. Not as groundbreaking as The Underground Railroad but exceptional in many ways, even before the interesting late development that I didn't see coming. I am grateful for the opportunity to have read this captivating novel.

Colson Whitehead confirms his position as a phenomenal writer with this ostensibly heartbreaking and harrowing fictional storytelling, but which is informed by the darkest, most shameful, and ugliest period of American history explored through the lives of two young boys, set in the early 1960s Civil Rights time and all the horrors of the Jim Crow era in Frenchtown, segregated Tallahassee, Florida. Whitehead writes in understated and subtly nuanced prose, all the more effective in delivering its relentless and emotionally hard hitting punches that live on in the memory long after the reader has finished reading the book. Elwood Curtis is a bright and hardworking boy who lives with his beloved and strict grandmother who keeps him on the straight and narrow. He is caught by the fire and ideals of Martin Luther King's spiritual rhetoric and philosophy, and the fight for emancipation, believing in the equality of everyone.

Excited by the thought of attending a local black college, the innocent Elwood's life is to fall apart when he is sent to the evil hellhole that is The Nickel Academy, a segregated juvenile reform school run by the unbearably cruel and sadistic Maynard Spencer. Elwood is to find himself in a racist place that has no interest in educating or improving the lives of the young men and where everyday life reeks of despair, misery and never ending horrors. Vicious brutality, torture, repression, corruption, disappearing boys and death are rife, as Elwood struggles to maintain King's higher ideals of love, trust and freedom in the face of his and his friend, Turner's, realities. Turner has a more cynical and jaundiced picture of the world he sees, believing Elwood to be naive, as he plots and schemes, trying to avoid as much trouble as possible. The boys futures are to be shaped by their experiences and what they have seen, and Elwood is living in New York when a traumatic past that refuses to lie down comes returns into his life.

The Nickel Academy is based on an actual reform school with its graveyard in Marianna, Florida, and interspersed in the narrative are quotes from the actual traumatised survivors of the place, along with quotes from King himself. Whitehead's novel is not only a scathing indictment of the likes of The Nickel Academy but of aspects of American society that allowed the existence of the reform school and the evil within, and as such bear responsibility for what happened there, but more pertinently, the political and social structures that legitimised such horrors, and the wider racism and discrimination. Whitehead shines a powerful light on American history, the shadows of which have never gone away, and which are undeniably present in our contemporary world. A superb novel that is a must read, and which I feel is destined to become a classic in the future. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

Colson Whitehead’s shocking story of racial segregation and social injustice in the mid 20th century. Well researched and inspired by contemporary articles detailing a corrupt welfare and correctional system for wayward youths, Whitehead’s central characters convey the hopelessness, despair and determination to escape their oppressive and violent ‘housemen’. An uncomfortable but gripping read. I found difficult to put down so read it in one sitting. As an avid fan of Colson Whitehead’s works, I do thoroughly recommend this book.

Today The Guardian broke the news that China is building dorms to house thousands of Muslim children while their parents are undergoing "re-education". In the past few years, the British government have been forced to confront claims of abuse in children's homes as far afield as Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Australia. Some young adults incarcerated in state-funded religious institutions receive loving care and a meaningful education; many do not. The Nickel Boys is set in a for-profit prison under Jim Crow. The administrators rig boxing matches between black and white brawlers, farm the boys out as cheap labour and sell the prison's supplies to the townsfolk and pocket the profits. Boys who break the rules (by sticking up for others, say, or exposing corruption) are taken out for 'ice cream' (hint: it isn't ice cream) The damage inflicted at Nickel is lifelong, as shown by flash forward sequences set in New York during the garbage strikes. Failed relationships, dead end jobs, addiction and recidivism are the norm.
Colson Whitehead's notes at the end of the novel reveal just how much of the story is made up of real experiences. I found this oddly disappointing- The Nickel Boys is advertised as a novel, when it's really more of a fictionalised biography. The protagonist is sent down for a "car theft" that happened exactly as Whitehead described. A fair amount of dialogue is taken straight from the mouths of survivors. I found myself wishing that Whitehead had published an oral history of Nickel, allowing the survivors to speak for themselves. Fact is often scarier than fiction, and I doubt that many boys 'graduated' from Nickel without falling victim to the warden's cruelty. I felt encouraged to seek out more information on American reform schools and the experiences of Black 'students', though I suspect that history has conveniently swallowed much of it.

The Nickel Academy is fictitious (I think) story of Elwood Curtis, a young black boy in Florida who finds himself sent to a reform school that is based on the factual Arthur C Dozier School For Boys.

The opening scenes, set in the present day, have some archaeologists excavating human remains on the site of the recently closed Nickel Academy. These remains are not in the well-populated official graveyard and people begin to wonder what horrors led to these unofficial graves.

Then we head off to the 1960s, where most of the novel is set. Elwood is an optimistic boy - perhaps too trusting - but hard working and determined to create a better life for himself. And Elwood faces opposition from a racist system in a racist state. He is not allowed the same opportunities that white boys have; he has to see the adverts for the funfair but cannot go in. And what opportunities he has can be taken away by a capricious establishment.

So Elwood lands up in the Nickel Academy, hopeful that he will be able to make the most of an adverse situation. He is determined to keep his head down, study hard and return to society a stronger, wiser person. Except there is no studying to be done. The work is menial, and even in [almost] jail, the black boys get less opportunity than the white boys.

Colson Whitehead could have opted for labouring on the brutality of the school; the sadism of the guards and the corruption that denies the boys the comforts that they should be receiving. He could have made this salacious. Instead, by focusing on Elwood, Turner and the others, he humanises the boys. This makes the abuse much more salient, even when it lurks in the background. It confronts the subliminal societal attitude that black boys suffer less from imprisonment; that they don't have ambition, friends or family to lose.

There are forays into the present day where time at the Nickel Academy has retreated into the last, but left a legacy of hunger to succeed and prove the system wrong. It creates fighters - and sometimes the fight can be put to good use.

The Nickel Boys is very well written - a great sense of place and the scenes feel real - but also very well constructed. It is not a long book but it packs a lot in. It conveys the monotony and repetition of the reform school without ever being monotonous or repetitious in itself. It is a lively, sometimes funny read - but with heartbreak around every corner. It is a novel that has a lot of death, but so much life.

This is what a criminal justice/civil rights novel should be - no twee endings where everything comes right thanks to some divine intervention or piece of outrageous luck. Shit happens. The story is how society must never forget the shit, must know and respect those who suffered through it; and expect to make restitution.

The Nickel Boys is a tense and memorable novel about an awful reform school and an idealistic boy who finds himself there. Elwood Curtis, an outsider brought up by his strict grandmother and stirred up by the words of Martin Luther King, is about to start taking college level classes and dreams of something better. But one unlucky circumstance in the face of prejudice lands Elwood in The Nickel Academy, which purports to improve and reform its inmates, but really is a horrific place where abuse, corruption, and students disappearing are the norm. Elwood looks for a way to keep his idealism in spite of this which his friend Turner thinks is unmanageable, and the violence of The Nickel Academy will affect them all.

This is a masterful novel, carefully weaving together the past and present of the narrative and the history of a real reform school similar to Whitehead's depiction of Nickel Academy. It uses a single personal story with terrible consequences to expose what happened to children, with the backdrop of segregation and the civil rights movement. As with Colson's previous novel The Underground Railroad, it is quietly devastating whilst looking at a specific piece of US history and the resonances with contemporary America.

The Nickel Boys is a much anticipated novel that lives up to the anticipation and will no doubt be one that people will be talking about, not only due to the subject matter and writing style, but also the memorable and gripping character of Elwood himself. It is an intense and powerful novel that is cleverly written and carefully plotted.

An absolutely stunning book. Set in 1960s Florida against the backdrop of the civil rights movement and Jim Crow laws it tells the story of two young black boys and the injustices they face in society at large, and more spoecifically when they are sent to a "reform school" . Their experiences at "The Nickel Academy" affects their lives for years afterwards. It's beautiffully written, and the narrative is both compelling- I wanted to keep reading to see where the story goes, and heartbreaking - I wanted to look away because of sadness anger at the way things unfold. The inspiring words of Martin Luther KIng echo in the background, in stark contrast to the lived experience of the lives we follow. It may well be every bit as good as Colson Whitehead's previous book The Underground Railroad,.

An excellent, if tough, read. I’m new to Colson Whitehead, insomuch that the Underground Railroad has come on holiday with me twice and not been read yet, , but i’ll be going to back to read his earlier works now. A tale of growing up under segregation as a second class citizen, of misplaced hope, of abuse and of striving to become a new free man. With relatively spare descriptions Whitehead paints a vivid picture. There are a few genuinely shocking moments (to me at least) - this is not dry and worthy fiction but a tale that gets under your skin, exposes your privilege and shows you a different world.

I found this book difficult to read but only because of the subject matter.

It’s well written and the plot moves along well.

It’s maybe not one to read by the pool but I’d definitely add it to your ‘must read’ pile.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead shines a brilliant light on a dark story. In the days of Jim Crow, young Elwood Curtis, a black male, wrongfully ends up in the Nickel Academy for Boys, a Florida reform school.

All at Nickel are broken, black and white alike; the young males and their superiors who prey on them. Community leaders turn a blind eye, as they are on the take for whatever is offered.

The story centers around Elwood and his ally Turner. Horrors are revealed as their time in Nickel passes. There are rumors of boys buried after brutal punishments gone wrong. Elwood, better educated than the other boys, relies on the memorized speeches of Martin Luther King to give him the strength to survive.

Colson Whitehead has written an important novel which opens up a new understanding of Jim Crow America, the dirty secrets of reform schools,and how far our culture has yet to go to create true racial equality.

My sincere thanks to #NetGalley and #Doubleday for an ARC for this review.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead is about a reform school for boys in America in the 1960s and the abuse that the boys suffered.

A wonderful tale that flashes back to a powerful and dark time of history. Yet this is juxtaposed with the character that brings light into a segregated America. The novella has an underlining aspect of mystery that will grip any reader. The journey to a dreadful and fearful reunion is about to begin. A ,must read.

Incredibly hard to review,as it has such glowing words from everyone else,that I feel I missed something huge.

I think I best come back and reread it in a year or two.
This time around I struggled,and I can't identify why.

The tragedy of this book is how realistic it is as an account of what went on in the reform school it is based on and in many others around the world. The racial discrimination,the sexual and physical abuse,the destruction of lives is very well described. For many readers it will be upsetting,for others reassuring that such experiences are recognised and hopefully less common. The lead black teenager is a very well drawn character with insights and plans that are unexpected from someone who has been given so few life chances. The ending in respect of him and his friend is unexpected which adds strength to the story. This is a book I have no hesitation in recommending.

The setting of Colson Whitehead's latest novel is mid-60s Florida, and the state is still amidst the Jim Crow era. Elwood, raised by his grandmother in Frenchtown, works in a tobacconists and is scouted for attendance at free classes in the local college. Elwood has become inspired by Martin Luther King's speeches through a recording of MLK's work that his grandmother bought, but becomes embroiled in a crime which sets his life off on a different trajectory - and finds him committed to The Nickel Academy, a fictionalised version of the real-life Florida School for Boys, a reform school which operated from 1900-2011 in Marianna, Florida, which has recently been in the press as a result of the atrocities that were committed against the boys there over the 111 years it was in operation (maybe don't Google this until you're done reading the book).

Whitehead's writing blew me away with its subtlety and deft handling of such a sensitive topic. The narrative switches back and forth in time and between characters seamlessly, with Turner (Elwood's friend at Nickel) being the other main character we spend time with - who is the realist to Elwood's idealist in the Academy. A quietly devastating novel which I expect to see on many prize long lists later in the year.

Another brilliantly written book by Colson Whitehead. Crikey, this man sure knows how to construct a sentence and a tale. Albeit a tale based on the real-life events at what used to be the Florida Dozier School for Boys.. Thankfully this awful place has been shut down but not before inflicting horrific damage - psychological, physical and emotional - on it's ''inmates''. This tells of the wrongful imprisonment of 2 innocent boys and their brutal treatment at the hands of the so-called teachers at Nickel Academy. A testament and denouncement of this dreadful time in the USA and elsewhere, for that matter. Whitehead has an inate style of writing and is truly a craftsman of the art. In the Nickel Academy he has again demonstrated a depth and understanding of humanity and lack thereof.. This book will stay in my head for a long time to come and I'd even go as far as to say to the educational powers-that-be to include it on the curriculum. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC. in exchange for my honest review.