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A review by katykelly
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
5.0
Wow. Hard to hear, but important to know.
I've avoided books like this in the past. You know it's going to hurt to read them, it's going to be upsetting. I do try to make myself read books that discuss our shared past, the worst bits as well as the best. As a parent and educator in my own way, I need to be able to share these things, as my way of making sure we learn from them but don't let them reoccur.
And this won the Pulitzer. It's not a long book, and flew by rather fast as an audiobook. The story deals with the life before, during and after a young black man is sent to a juvenile detention facility, the Nickel Academy. Elwood is set for college, he's done the right thing all his life, respected his elders, worked and studied. But one incident sees him shipped off for 'moral training' (among other things) to a segregated and brutal institution, where years later bodies are uncovered and the truth about the methods comes out.
It's gonna upset you. It did me. But it's within living memory, a true story sadly, and I am a big believer in not covering up or hiding distasteful acts and stories from the collective conscious.
The ending absolutely got me. I hadn't expected the about-face I experienced and I think I even cried while walking along the street with my headphones in.
It's powerful and so very very sad to read, but the story needs to be told.
I've avoided books like this in the past. You know it's going to hurt to read them, it's going to be upsetting. I do try to make myself read books that discuss our shared past, the worst bits as well as the best. As a parent and educator in my own way, I need to be able to share these things, as my way of making sure we learn from them but don't let them reoccur.
And this won the Pulitzer. It's not a long book, and flew by rather fast as an audiobook. The story deals with the life before, during and after a young black man is sent to a juvenile detention facility, the Nickel Academy. Elwood is set for college, he's done the right thing all his life, respected his elders, worked and studied. But one incident sees him shipped off for 'moral training' (among other things) to a segregated and brutal institution, where years later bodies are uncovered and the truth about the methods comes out.
It's gonna upset you. It did me. But it's within living memory, a true story sadly, and I am a big believer in not covering up or hiding distasteful acts and stories from the collective conscious.
The ending absolutely got me. I hadn't expected the about-face I experienced and I think I even cried while walking along the street with my headphones in.
It's powerful and so very very sad to read, but the story needs to be told.