Мальчишки из «Никеля»

Ėlvud Kertis, shestnadt͡satiletniĭ afroamerikanskiĭ podrostok, khorosho uchitsi͡a, posle shkoly podrabatyvaet v magazine, gotovitsi͡a k postuplenii͡u v kolledzh: on mechtaet statʹ uchitelem. No iz-za nelepoĭ sluchaĭnosti ego obvini͡ai͡ut v prestuplenii, kotorogo on ne sovershal, i prigovarivai͡ut k sroku v ispravitelʹnom uchrezhdenii. Akademii͡a Nikeli͡a okazyvaetsi͡a nastoi͡ashchim adom, gde vospitanniki podvergai͡utsi͡a fizicheskomu i ėmot͡sionalʹnomu nasilii͡u i ėkspluatat͡sii. Tekh, kto okazyvaet soprotivlenie, uvodi͡at "na zadvorki", otkuda oni uzhe ne vozvrashchai͡utsi͡a. Vyzhitʹ v ėtom adu Ėlvudu pomogaet druzhba s Ternerom, kotoryĭ i͡avli͡aetsi͡a ego polnoĭ protivopolozhnostʹi͡u. Ėlvud naiven i verit v vozmozhnostʹ torzhestva spravedlivosti, a Terner ubezhden v tom, chto mir byl, estʹ i budet zhestok i nespravedliv, i tak budet vsegda. Otchai͡annai͡a popytka druzeĭ izmenitʹ pori͡adki, t͡sari͡ashchie v "Nikele", zakanchivaetsi͡a tragedieĭ. V osnovu romana legla istorii͡a realʹnoĭ ispravitelʹnoĭ shkoly vo Floride, za sto s lishnim let sushchestvovanii͡a pokalechivsheĭ zhizni tysi͡ach podrostkov. Kolson Uaĭtkhed - avtor vosʹmi romanov, v chisle kotorykh udostoennyĭ Nat͡sionalʹnoĭ knizhnoĭ premii SShA (2016) i Pulitt͡serovskoĭ premii (2017) vsemirnyĭ bestseller "Podzemnai͡a zheleznai͡a doroga". Zhivet v Nʹi͡u-Ĭorke s zhenoĭ Dzhuli Bearer, literaturnym agentom, i dvumi͡a detʹmi.

Elwood Curtis, a sixteen-year-old African-American teenager, studies well, works part-time in a store after school, prepares for college: he dreams of becoming a teacher. But because of a ridiculous accident, he is accused of a crime he did not commit and sentenced to time in a correctional facility. The Nickel Academy turns out to be a real hell, where students are subjected to physical and emotional abuse and exploitation. Those who resist are taken "to the margins", from where they no longer return. Elwood's friendship with Turner, who is his complete opposite, helps him survive in this hell. Elwood is naive and believes in the possibility of justice, while Turner is convinced that the world has been, is, and will be cruel and unfair, and always will be. A desperate attempt by friends to change the order prevailing in the "Nickel" ends in tragedy. The novel is based on the story of a real correctional school in Florida, which has crippled the lives of thousands of teenagers over a hundred years of existence. Colson Whitehead is the author of eight novels, including the US National Book Award (2016) and the Pulitzer Prize (2017) world bestseller The Underground Railroad. He lives in New York with his wife Julie Bearer, a literary agent, and their two children.