This was Hughes' debut novel, published in 1930, and is the first work I've read by him other than poetry. I was so moved by this coming-of-age story about Sandy Rogers, a Black boy in a small Kansas town. Hughes creates unforgettable characters and portrays the Black American experience and the struggles of every day life in a racially divided country in a way that is both beautiful and painful. 

The story is divided into 29 short chapters and I loved the simplicity of Hughes' very literal chapter titles like 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘑𝘪𝘮 𝘉𝘰𝘺'𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘎𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳 and 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘱. In 𝘗𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭, Sandy observes the old Black men around him and how they laugh, in spite of poverty and hardship. "𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓." 

I won't soon forget Sandy, the observant little boy who wants to play the guitar like his father. And then the insightful young man who is trying to understand the world and his place in it.