Why You’ll Love It: This Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning novel imagines a literal Underground Railroad, delivering a stunning saga about the horrors of slavery. The tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades. King’s ringing assertion “Throw us in jail and we will still love you.” His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naïve and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. In reality, the Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and any boy who resists is likely to disappear “out back.” Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold onto Dr. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides “physical, intellectual and moral training” so the delinquent boys in their charge can become “honorable and honest men.” But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Martin Luther King, Jr.ĭescription from the Publisher: Abandoned by his parents but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood Curtis is about to enroll in the local black college. Why You’ll Love It: Based on a real Florida reform school that abused children for 111 years, Whitehead’s compelling novel will stick with you long after the final page.įor Fans of: Historical fiction (Jim Crow era), coming-of-age stories and Dr. Check out our guide below to find the perfect title for you. With the release of Whitehead’s ninth book, The Nickel Boys, this week, it’s the perfect time to dive into his work. But no matter the topic, Whitehead always succeeds in two areas: writing enthralling prose and exploring relevant topics to contemporary American culture.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has tackled everything from the Underground Railroad to poker to zombie infestations, releasing nine captivating books over the past two decades.

Colson Whitehead is necessary reading, and there’s something for every reader to love in his bibliography.

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