The Nickel Boys: the new novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad

“I go back and forth,” Jaimie said as he raked up pine needles into a mound. He had the screwed-down smile of the rickety-toothed. “One day they’ll make up their minds, I suppose.”

Formerly the Richmond Hotel, it was a Tallahassee landmark and great care, they said, had gone into preserving the spirit of the grand old establishment.

The iron is still there. Rusty. Deep in the heartwood. Testifying to anyone who cares to listen.

The boy was intelligent and hardworking and a credit to his race.

All this time he’d taken it as a given that his escape was a Nickel legend.

In the car over, Corey made an incantation, “I’m-a hold on and be still, I’m-a hold on and be still,” so maybe it was true.

Pete had a smile that looked as if it had been hacked into his jaw with a knife.

“I ain’t faking—that soap powder is awful,” Turner said. “But it’s me choosing, not anyone else.”

He possessed a fervent belief in the miracle of a human specimen in top shape and often watched the boys shower to monitor the progress of their physical education.