Excerpt from Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"So cute!" Noi says, peering into the drawer. "Who made these?"

Nok hasn't been showing up for her shifts. A reason we had to start looking for a new girl. But I don't tell her that. I just say, "A couple of kids."

I move on.

I put the roll of paper next to the register so whoever works it doesn't ask anyone where the paper is.

I check the pens. There's enough ink in each one.

As I show the new girl around, I put together a list of things we might run out of soon. It's for me when I do a supply run — it's good to have a list ready. Just like the clients being in and out, I want myself moving that way too.

The new girl wants to ask me something, but I see her hesitate. I don't like to guess at what people want to say. If they have something to say, they should say it. I think she can sense me thinking this and she says quietly, "Are you worried about the one-star rating you have?"

I pretend to laugh, and it sounds like I am trying to blow out something I've got stuck in my nose, and when I come out of it, I say, "Oh, don't you worry about that. Every one of them? Fucking hypocrites. We get them back. We get them all back. We never lose one. You just tell them 'ten dollars.' Better price somewhere, have a complaint, we are taking too long, not happy, new place opening up — just tell them 'ten dollars.' "

"Ten dollars," she repeats.

"We never lose them. They all come back."

I watch everything closely. The girls don't like it. Even when they know what they are doing, it can make them feel like they don't. Makes a person nervous to be looked at. Simple things like picking up a tool make them pause and wonder if it's the right one. Just my looking says to them maybe they don't know what they know. So I watch closely, but I don't let them see me.

I look at the clock on the wall. Its two golden hands spread apart like legs.

"Showtime," I say.

I give the new girl her name tag. Susan, it says.

Excerpted from Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa. Copyright © 2025 by Souvankham Thammavongsa. Excerpted by permission of Little Brown & Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.