I was a third of the way through The Nickel Boys before I learned that it's the follow up to Whitehead's 2017 Pulitzer winner, The Underground Railroad. But by that time I was committed, and really didn't want to revisit where I'd already been. This one is tough. Reform school for boys, Florida, 1960s. Beatings, rape, racism. It's a tough read, but it goes fast, and not just because it's short. You really can't put it down after the first major plot twist, which sees a studious, rule-following boy finding his life--and plans for life--turned upside down when he has the bad luck to hitchhike in a stolen car. By the time you realize that no, Elwood is not going to get rescued from this tragic mistake, you are deep into a world of boys whose characterizations are bright, clear, delightful, and heartbreaking. Every sentence of this novel is packed with storyline, with tension or backstory or foreshadowing. And buckle in for the final plot twist. So good. And being that it's based on a true story, it's one you really should put yourself through. Everyone should know, and everyone should feel what those boys went through. 

Amazingness:

"laboratory of vice"

"a cherished grudge"

"The day was thin, winter coming down like the lid on an old pot"

"After the judge ordered him to Nickel, Elwood had three last nights at home. The state car arrived at seven o'clock Tuesday morning. The officer of the court was a good old boy with a meaty backwoods beard and a hungover wobble to his step. He'd outgrown his shirt and the pressure agains the buttons made him look upholstered. But he was a white man with a pistole so despite his dishevelment he sent a vibration."

"Even the roaches were of a noble sort, scurrying when he turned on the bathroom light instead of ignoring his presence. He took their modesty as touch of class."

Words!

palimpsest: a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain

or

something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface