Nickel Boys

When Elwood Curtis, a Black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is wrongfully sentenced to a juvenile correctional facility called The Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a terrifying cell. Elwood's only salvation is his friendship with fellow "delinquent" Turner, which deepens despite Turner's conviction that Elwood is too naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to plan and avoid trouble. As life at the academy becomes increasingly dangerous, the tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision whose ramifications will reverberate for decades. Based on the true story of a reform school that operated for 111 years and scarred the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven tale that showcases a great American novelist writing at the height of his powers and "should cement Whitehead as one of the best of his generation" (Entertainment Weekly).