The boy had one usable volume of Fisher’s Universal Encyclopedia, so he used it, what else could he do? Better than nothing. Skipping around, wearing it down, revisiting his favorite parts as if it were one of his adventure tales. As a story, the encyclopedia was disjointed and incomplete, but still exciting in its own right.

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.

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.

“What’s this for?” she’ll ask. For being the whole free world.

He made an impression at Klan meetings,

Then Mr. Hill handed out black markers and told his students that the first order of business was to strike out all the bad words in the textbooks.

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

What was the point? Grown men. What, you take turns handing each other Kleenex?