The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead, is a book about justice. The main character, Elwood, is a teenage boy who believes in the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and is sent to reform school for a crime he had nothing to do with. He resists his oppressors time and again to rise above the constraints placed in him by society. Elwood’s reform school, the Nickel Academy, is inspired by the real reform camps of the segregation era and the horrors that would go on in those schools. While Elwood fights for justice in the story, Whitehead fights to inform the public of a dark chapter in America’s history. His accurate depictions of the bad conditions, abusive staff, and racist regulations make this more than a story; it’s a warning against going back to what we used to be. The style is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies in the word choice and tone. The book has a distinctly “classic” feel about it and is therefore very valuable for analysis on AP exams and is a solid outside reading choice for school. While it could also be a good book to read solely for enjoyment, it shines as an academic tool in that it is engaging, easy to analyze, and can easily be broken down into chapter chunks. Overall, I would give it a three out of five stars, just because I read it for school and that diminished my enjoyment significantly. Normally, I think it would be a solid four-star book for me because the characters are interesting and enjoyable, the story is interesting, and it tackles big picture issues and encourages the reader to resist injustice.