The Nickel Boys is the story of Elwood Curtis, an African-American teenager who dreamed of becoming a teacher but ended up in reform school for a crime he didn't commit. Life there turns out to be hell, and Elwood's only salvation is his friendship with another inmate, Turner. Elwood is hopelessly naive and believes in the triumph of justice, while Turner is convinced that the world has always been, is, and will always be cruel and unjust, and that this cannot be changed. The clash of Elwood's idealism and Turner's cynicism leads them to make a decision that will have disastrous consequences. Based on true events, the novel 'confirms Colson Whitehead's preeminent place in modern American literature' (Time magazine). In 2020, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.