One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.
For most of 2021, I thought The Nickel Boys would be my favorite read of the year. I read so many amazing books but it still made my top ten.
Elwood Curtis’ life is changed forever when he is sent to The Nickel Academy, a reform school for boys in 1960s Florida.
* editor’s note: This book is reviewed out of order. Usually I post books in order that I read them. This is one of my favorite books of the year, but I struggled to review it and so it is later in my reviews and out of order.
Based on true places and events, this was a beautiful and heartbreaking book. It was a short novel but definitely is well defined and well paced. It was also a brutal tale of racism, prejudice and hope in the heart of the civil rights movement. Made more sad and poignant bc we know many of these true stories exist, this fictional account really emotionally involved the reader. I loved that the story unfolded in a way that kept me guessing, and broke my heart but was also ultimately uplifting. I cried at the end of this book, for the characters but also that we live in a world where reform school existed and still exist. I read this only weeks before hearing of the bodies uncovered in Canadian reform schools where indigenous children were imprisoned, tortured and killed. And to know that those injustices still run rampant, it’s defintatly a tough read. I would highly recommend this book tho, if you, as a reader, can handle the difficult subject matter. The writing is compelling and characters endearing. I think this is a good book for those who know some of this true history and are looking to hear fictional stories of that time, or those who want to learn more but aren’t ready to start with the more graphic true accounts. I would recommend The Nickel Boys to readers who like historical fiction set during the civil rights movement, or people who like southern American tales.
This book is featured in my March Wrap Up.