--- title: The Nickel Boys: Must-Read Books of 2019 description: Find out why The Nickel Boys is one of the best books of 2019. canonical: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2019/5724529/the-nickel-boys/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-11-14T14:53:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-02T23:34:51.685Z og:title: 'The Nickel Boys' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 og:description: Find out why The Nickel Boys is one of the best books of 2019. og:url: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2019/5724529/the-nickel-boys/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59f6fc8441743f60/698a05cd8fd2ee55d03606d3/the-nickel-boys-colson-whitehead-100-books-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'The Nickel Boys' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Nickel Boys' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 twitter:description: Find out why The Nickel Boys is one of the best books of 2019. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59f6fc8441743f60/698a05cd8fd2ee55d03606d3/the-nickel-boys-colson-whitehead-100-books-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2019 # _The Nickel Boys_ Colson Whitehead by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  Inspired by a horrific reform school in Florida that closed in 2011, [Colson Whitehead](https://time.com/5615610/colson-whitehead-the-nickel-boys-interview/ "undefined") imagines two black boys trying to survive a juvenile reformatory in the Jim Crow South. One grew up believing in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s aspiration to “still love” those who jail you; both find that the people who run the institution are serial abusers. Like _The Underground Railroad_, Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning 2016 novel, _The Nickel Boys_ draws from American history to ensure readers experience the pressing relevance of his characters’ dark reality. **Buy now:** [_The Nickel Boys_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385537077/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0385537077&linkId=7b15effa672a8fea26eaf4172c0d422e "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2019/5724529/the-nickel-boys/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2019/5724529/the-nickel-boys/"},"headline":"'The Nickel Boys' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2019","datePublished":"2019-11-14T14:53:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:34:51.685Z","description":"Find out why The Nickel Boys is one of the best books of 2019.","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2019/5724529/the-nickel-boys/","keywords":["Books","Must-Read Books of 2019"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59f6fc8441743f60/698a05cd8fd2ee55d03606d3/the-nickel-boys-colson-whitehead-100-books-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59f6fc8441743f60/698a05cd8fd2ee55d03606d3/the-nickel-boys-colson-whitehead-100-books-2019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2019/5724529/the-nickel-boys/","name":"'The Nickel Boys' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2019"}}]}] ```