Literary Book Club

This month we will be reading, "The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead. Click on the event title for more information.

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • This follow-up to The Underground Railroad brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. • "One of the most gifted novelists in America today." —NPR

When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow “delinquent” Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades.

Based on the real story of a reform school that operated for 111 years and warped the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative that showcases a great American novelist writing at the height of his powers and “should further cement Whitehead as one of his generation's best" (Entertainment Weekly).

How it Works?

Literary Book Club meets on the last Friday of the month at 11am. We read both fiction and non-fiction. All are welcome to our discussions. Books will be available at the main desk in early January. We provide regular print, large print, and audio when it is available. If you would like an alternative format, please let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate your request!

If you have questions or would like to be added to the Literary Book Club email list, contact Rebecca at renman@peterboroughnh.gov or call the Help Desk: 603-924-8040.

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