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Saturday, September 7, 2019

The Nickel Boys by Colin Whitehead

Beware, this is achingly painful to read.  I am not giving away anything that will not be clearly apparent in the first twenty pages of the book.  Worse yet, it speaks the truth (which is really a hallmark of the other two books I have read by this exceedingly talented author).
The long string of horrors that took place at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys wasn't a secret to anyone with half a brain and an eye for a cover up, but it might as well have been. Former students of the Florida reform school had spoken out for years about the brutal beatings that they endured at the hands of sadistic employees, but it wasn't until 2012, when University of South Florida anthropologists discovered numerous bones in unmarked graves that had clear evidence of violence and abuse that anyone took notice.
This is a fictionalized account of what happened at the school, and what sort of things might lead to killing children in the care of the state.  It is not for the feint of heart, but it is yet another piece of our reconciled history of racial violence that came no where near ending with the Civil War.  A must read.  Also, on Obama's reading list.

1 comment:

  1. Agree...not for the faint of heart, but a powerful and moving book. Outstanding.

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