The Nickel Boys is a chilling novel based on a true story, which begins with hope and ends in tragedy. Racial profiling and profiteering by administrators at the reform school (Nickel School, based in Florida) set the plot in motion. Severe corporal punishments for minor infractions sharpened the cruelty experienced by the students. An unfortunate favor one student tries to do for his friend puts the final period on his sentence.
Studious, hard-working Elwood is done a great favor by a family friend and enrolled in an advanced school where he would excel. The police pull over Elwood’s ride on the way to his new school and discover it to be stolen. The driver and Elwood face charges. The driver goes to prison, and Elwood is sent to the reform school in Florida: The Nickel School. The Nickel Boys follows Whitehead’s previous novel, The Underground Railroad.