Every Friday, at 11:00 am, on the library’s KZfaq Channel and Facebook Page, the library will stream a brand new recording of local thespian, Joseph Coté reading aloud selections from a wide variety of fascinating and entertaining books of fiction and non-fiction. This is a program to help keep our community connected to books during the pandemic when we are unable to meet in person.
For July 29, Coté will read aloud selections from Colson Whitehead’s novel "The Nickel Boys." Summary: In this Pulitzer Prize-winning follow-up to The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead 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. 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.
Thoughts to share? Book ideas to suggest?
Contact Joseph at friday-explorations@usa.net or leave a comment below.
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Find information about upcoming readings at librarycamden.org/events