A review by lolbrarian
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

5.0

The Nickel Boys was moving and I recommend it to my co-workers and students. Colson Whitehead knows how to tell a story and this is one that needs to be told; based on a true story of a school in Florida, The Nickel Boys describes life and death at a reform school where the residents are segregated, the adults in charge are careless and horrible people who failed everyone, but most especially the boys of color. The system was broken and the kids knew it. They took advantage of it when they could, but mostly they suffered at the hands of the people who were supposed to protect them. This tragic fictionalized account will break your heart, stir you to action, make you hate those who perpetrated crimes against the defenseless, and wonder how children could have been treated like this still in the 21st century.

You must read this book!