A devastating read that’s even more terrifying when you realise it’s based on a real Floridian “reform school” – Dozier. What horrors and secrets lie in the archives and burial grounds of these places? In this book, we get a pretty good idea of the grim secrets hidden in institutions such as the fictionalised “Nickel Academy”.
Elwood Curtis is a young man who is going places, until a cruel system decides he isn’t. The racist and violent framework he’s crushed into is destructive and illogical. But Elwood is also a survivor, an admirer of Martin Luther King, and a charismatic and intelligent young man. Friendships form and joy and resistance exist alongside summary cruelty and punishments. There’s a lot of endurance and humour in the dark spots.
Narratively, it’s a well-plotted and tight book, short but powerful in its single-minded pursuit of an emotional truth. It’s a tough read, but it doesn’t wallow or underline either, the prose is direct and unflinching.
I liked the bookending of the Nickel story and the Turner episodes in New York City are really poignant and compelling too. Even if you get out, what do systems like this do to you? How do you “move on”?
One word: devastating.
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