17:I[66739,["/_next/static/chunks/0.3dg.jzl0xwf.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0s3w63gp9~d8s.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0kllbnt_hzshd.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/053zyoym-_i67.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0u2ayibg4ahb..js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0i99rkyrer3ax.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv"],"default"] 19:I[38632,["/_next/static/chunks/0qqtp3r0h7kah.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0iukvycbd42rl.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv"],"IconMark"] 18:T506,Colson Whitehead's 2019 novel The Nickel Boys follows the studious and idealistic Elwood Curtis, a Black teenager whose prized possession is a recording of speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. But when Elwood is sent to a juvenile reformatory in Florida, his worldview is challenged by the horrors he experiences there. Now, Whitehead's novel has been adapted into a film. In today's episode, we revisit a conversation between Whitehead and NPR's Scott Simon, where they discuss the real-life reform school that inspired Nickel Academy, MLK's idea of soul force, and Whitehead's strong emotional reaction to the characters in his novel.

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Colson Whitehead's novel 'The Nickel Boys' comes to the big screen

NPR's Book of the Day

Colson Whitehead's novel 'The Nickel Boys' comes to the big screen