highly recommended, and brilliant!

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Colson Whitehead really knows how to tell a story!! "The Nickel Boys" is the story of a Florida reform school for boys during the Jim Crow-era 1960s. But it is so much more. It is a story about many of the boys who resided at Nickel, how they came to be there, and where their paths took them after they "graduated" to freedom, told beautifully with depth and feeling. Obviously, there are some very dark parts to this tale, but the story is based solidly on an actual place, the Dozier reform school which existed in Florida, and was eventually closed when investigations into horrific cruelty and abuse pulled back the thin veil. The author tells the tale brilliantly, with prose that flow naturally as it is read. Not surprisingly, Mr. Whitehead won a Pulitzer prize for this story - as he did for "The Underground Railroad". This story is highly recommended, and i'm looking forward to reading more from Colson Whitehead in the future. Brilliant!

View all my reviews