Program Description
Event Details
Join us for the Pacific Beach Library's monthly book discussion! On September 8th at 4pm we'll discuss The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.
Description: Another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men." In reality, the Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back."
If you'd like to check out a print copy of the book, they are available 1 month before each discussion at the Pacific Beach Library's Circulation Desk. Please call 858-581-9934 x0 before coming to pick it up so that staff may confirm availability.
Please either register to attend this program or send an email to cwainwright@sandiego.gov if you would like to virtually join our in-person discussion, via Zoom.
Information and program content can be made available in alternative formats upon request. To request disability-related modifications or accommodations, please email JFRogers@sandiego.gov