The Nickel Boys

E836740

The Nickel Boys is a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Colson Whitehead that explores the brutal realities of a Jim Crow–era reform school and its lasting impact on the lives of two Black boys.

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Label Occurrences
The Nickel Boys canonical 3

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Predicate Object
instanceOf Pulitzer Prize–winning work
novel
author Colson Whitehead
awardReceived Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction
Kirkus Prize for Fiction
Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
linked to: George Orwell Prize

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
containsFictionalInstitution Nickel Academy
countryOfOrigin United States
coverArtist Oliver Munday
criticalReception widespread acclaim
exploresTheme friendship
idealism versus reality
institutional violence
memory and history
firstEditionFormat hardcover
focusesOn Jim Crow segregation
linked to: Jim Crow laws

abuse in reform schools
racial injustice
trauma and its lasting impact
followedBy Harlem Shuffle
genre historical fiction
literary fiction
social novel
hasAdaptationStatus film rights optioned
hasISBN 9780385537070
inspiredBy Dozier School for Boys
language English
linkedToRealEvents investigations into unmarked graves at reform schools
mainCharacter Elwood Curtis
Jack Turner
marketedAs standalone novel
mediaType print
narrativePerspective third-person narration
notableFor depiction of systemic racism in U.S. juvenile justice system
pageCount 224
precededBy The Underground Railroad
publicationDate 2019-07-16
publisher Doubleday
PulitzerPrizeYear 2020
setInCountry United States
setInPeriod Jim Crow era
linked to: Jim Crow laws
setInState Florida
shortlistedFor Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
National Book Award for Fiction
timeframeOfMainPlot 1960s

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Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.