{"product_id":"the-nickel-boys-1","title":"The Nickel Boys","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2020\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eElwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbandoned by his parents, brought up by his loving, strict and clearsighted grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But given the time and the place, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy his future, and so Elwood arrives at The Nickel Academy, which claims to provide 'physical, intellectual and moral training' which will equip its inmates to become 'honorable and honest men'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn reality, the Nickel Academy is a chamber of horrors, where physical, emotional and sexual abuse is rife, where corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended for the school, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear 'out back'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStunned to find himself in this vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, 'Throw us in jail, and we will still love you.' But Elwood's fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks Elwood is naïve and worse; the world is crooked, and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tension between Elwood's idealism and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long repercussions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBased on the history of a real reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped and destroyed the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative by a great American novelist whose work is essential to understanding the current reality of the United States.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Colson Whitehead","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42516521451689,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/9518\/0962\/products\/nickel.jpg?v=1661741377","url":"https:\/\/roseyravelstonbooks.com.au\/products\/the-nickel-boys-1","provider":"RoseyRavelston Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}