The Nickel Boys

1. Who are the Nickel Boys?

A) a group of teens who live in Nickel, Florida

B) former students of Nickel Academy

C) members of an archaeology club

D) the teachers at Nickel Academy

2. What does Elwood win after participating in the dish-drying “contest” at the hotel?

A) the album Martin Luther King at Zion Hill

B) a chocolate bar

C) a set of encyclopedias

D) a toy horse

3. Who is Elwood’s parental guardian at the start of the novel?

A) the head of the hotel kitchen staff

B) his older brother

C) his grandmother

D) his grandfather

4. What 1954 event causes Elwood to wonder if more Black guests will soon visit the hotel?

A) the Civil Rights Act

B) the Voting Rights Act

C) the end of the Korean War

D) the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case

Discussion question: Although Brown v. Board of Education helped further stimulate a growing Civil Rights Movement in America, its record as pertains to its stated aim—desegregation, specifically of schools—is more mixed. Using this article written by the Economic Policy Institute’s Richard Rothstein on the 60th anniversary of Brown, discuss the court ruling’s successes and limitations.

5. Why do two boys jump Elwood at the end of Chapter 2?

A) The attack is racially motivated.

B) Elwood called them out for shoplifting.

C) Elwood kissed one’s girlfriend.

D) Elwood stole a candy bar from their father’s store.

6. Who is Thomas Jackson?

A) the Black statesman who informed Florida’s enslaved people they had been freed

B) the general who led a military campaign that helped the Union Army secure victory in the Civil War

C) the commander who led the all-Black 54th Regiment in the Civil War

D) the first Black justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court

7. Why does Harriet approve of Peter Coombs as a friend for Elwood?

A) Coombs is active in the Civil Rights Movement.

B) Coombs is a busboy at the hotel so she knows he is reliable.

C) Coombs has a car.

D) Coombs loves books and plays the violin.

8. With no car, how does Elwood attempt to reach Melvin Griggs Technical School?

A) by hitchhiking

B) by bus

C) by train

D) by riding with Mr. Hill

9. How do the dormitories differ from the rest of the school grounds at Nickel Academy?

A) Both are dilapidated, but the school grounds are worse.

B) The dormitories are well-maintained while the rest of the school grounds are dilapidated.

C) The dormitories are dilapidated while the rest of the school grounds is well-maintained.

D) Both are well-maintained, but the dormitories are better.

Discussion Question: The Nickel Academy and the real-life Florida School for Boys on which it is based are horrifying places that seem like relics of a bygone era. However, schools that resemble prisons (for example, with regard to discipline) continue to operate across the United States. Using this Vox explainer as a reference point, identify the term “school-to-prison pipeline” and discuss connections, similarities, and differences between this term’s meaning and Jim Crow-era reform schools like the Nickel Academy.

10. Who is the Superintendent of Nickel Academy?

A) Spencer

B) Blakeley

C) Mr. Hill

D) Turner

11. Which character’s racial identity confuses the white supremacist segregationists who run Nickel?

A) Lonnie

B) Griff

C) Desmond

D) Jaime

12. Why does Black Mike hit Elwood in the jaw?

A) Elwood informs a house captain that Black Mike stole medication from the infirmary.

B) Black Mike doesn’t like the look of Elwood’s face.

C) Elwood intervenes in a bullying incident.

D) Black Mike attempts to hit Lonnie but hits Elwood by accident.

13. Of these four boys, who is beaten the longest at the White House?

A) Elwood

B) Corey

C) Black Mike

D) Lonnie

14. What does Elwood discover as the source of the horrible mechanical noise he heard on the first night?

A) a farming implement used to torture the boys

B) a circular saw from the shop class

C) Spencer’s automobile

D) a giant industrial fan

15. To Elwood, what is the primary purpose of Nickel Academy?

A) to reform and rehabilitate wayward youths

B) to instill white supremacist values in a classroom setting

C) to satisfy the sadism of the house captains

D) to profit from the boys’ free labor

Discussion Question: Although Nickel Academy is a particularly egregious example of using detention centers to drive profits rather than reform criminal offenders, the prevalence of private prisons has exploded since the 1970s. Using this report from The Sentencing Project, discuss the reasons behind this astounding rise in for-profit private prisons, with regard to other trends in mass incarceration, the War on Drugs, and most recently, immigration detention.

16. Why is Turner sent to the infirmary so often?

A) He eats soap to get sick and avoid work.

B) The other boys constantly assault him.

C) He has a rare stomach condition.

D) The house captains give him preferential treatment.

17. How does Turner respond when Elwood says he wants to protest the illegality of the beatings?

A) Turner says that doing so could get them killed.

B) Turner offers to help.

C) Turner expresses no opinion on the matter.

D) Turner informs the Superintendent about Elwood’s plans.

18. Which of these is one of the tasks Elwood completes while on Community Service detail?

A) picking up trash off the side of the road

B) doing menial chores for wealthy, powerful townspeople

C) picking up the Superintendent’s dry cleaning

D) serving food at a local soup kitchen

19. Why was Turner sent to Nickel Academy?

A) He smashed the car window of an angry customer where he worked.

B) He assaulted a Black fry cook who criticized him for joking with the white customers.

C) He was riding in a car with a friend who had drugs in his possession.

D) He stole a six-pack of beer from a convenience store.

20. What does it mean for one of the boys to be taken “out back”?

A) It is the term used when someone is taken to the White House.

B) It is the term used when Nickel authorities beat a boy to death and claim he escaped.

C) It is the term used when Nickel authorities assault a boy in the shower.

D) It is the term used when a boy is tied to iron shackles all night and released in the morning.

21.  Why does Spencer tell Griff to lose the boxing match on purpose?

A) It will be better for the morale of the white boys if Griff loses.

B) Spencer worries that Griff’s victory will inspire the Black boys.

C) Spencer does not want Griff’s white opponent to get hurt.

D) Spencer plans to bet against Griff and make a lot of money.

22. Which of these is NOT a component of Turner’s hypothetical escape plan?

A) traveling south instead of north

B) escaping with a partner

C) raiding a house they make deliveries to

D) stealing clothes from a clothesline

23. What do the boys do with the horse medicine they find?

A) take it themselves

B) spike the punch at the Christmas party

C) share it with Spencer

D) poison Earl

24. Where does Elwood live in 1968?

A) Tallahassee

B) Chicago

C) Philadelphia

D) Manhattan

25. Why does Elwood believe he subconsciously named his moving company “Ace”?

A) It comes early in the alphabet.

B) It is Turner’s nickname.

C) It is the Nickel term for “freedom.”

D) It reminds him of poker games with the boys at Nickel.

26. Which of these is NOT a way of leaving Nickel?

A) finding an adult sponsor

B) turning 18

C) being released on good behavior

D) escaping

27. How was the legendary escapee Clayton Smith returned to Nickel?

A) Nickel’s dogs caught up to him, and Smith was carried back, half-dead.

B) A white man picked him up from the side of the road and drove him back.

C) The local police stopped him in an act of racial profiling.

D) He broke his ankle while running away, allowing the guards to quickly catch up.

28. Who is Chickie Pete?

A) a former Nickel boy whom Elwood encounters in 1988

B) a marathon runner Elwood admires

C) the new supervisor who replaces Earl

D) a former Nickel boy who made a failed escape attempt and was killed

Discussion question: Why do you think Elwood rips up Chickie Pete’s number? Is it merely because Chickie Pete is a recovering alcoholic and Elwood doubts his reliability? Or are there more complex, personal reasons Elwood does not want to hire a fellow Nickel Boy? And how might these reasons reflect Elwood’s relationship with his own trauma from his time at Nickel?

29. What is Elwood’s plan for taking down Nickel?

A) He will set the school on fire.

B) He will sue the school with the help of Mr. Anderson, Harriet’s lawyer.

C) He will give detailed notes on the school’s corruption to the state inspectors.

D) He will mail a tape recording revealing Spencer’s corruption to the press.

30. Why does Turner volunteer to take on Elwood’s takedown plan on Elwood’s behalf?

A) Turner has a change-of-heart about the best way to end their time at Nickel.

B) Elwood is sent on an errand, causing him to miss the opportunity.

C) Turner doesn’t want Elwood to get in trouble.

D) Elwood gets cold feet.

31. Which description best summarizes Elwood’s attitude toward gentrification in Harlem in 2000?

A) annoyed but appreciative of the extra money it brings to the neighborhood

B) 100 percent against it

C) 100 percent for it

D) pleased but worried he will no longer be able to afford his home

32. What is the only reason Spencer and Hennepin did not immediately beat Elwood to death for attempting to take Nickel down?

A) Elwood begs for his life, and they feel a twinge of empathy for him.

B) They want to make Elwood suffer even more before killing him.

C) They are unsure how the inspectors will respond to the revelations in Elwood’s documents.

D) They tire themselves out while beating Elwood.

33. What is the Florida government’s response to Elwood’s report?

A) It opens an investigation into Nickel, but the investigation stalls.

B) It arrests Spencer and closes Nickel for good.

C) It doesn't care.

D) It takes no action itself but sends the report to the press.

34. How does the press frame Turner and Elwood’s escape attempt?

A) as a daring flight from abuse and torment

B) as a broader investigative piece about abuses at similar institutions

C) as a straight news piece, buried deep in the paper

D) as a cautionary tale about dangerous fugitives

35. What is Millie’s response to learning that Elwood is really Turner?

A) furious

B) unsurprised

C) outwardly calm but inwardly troubled

D) shocked but understanding