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siren_of_the_stars's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kelli7990's review
Can you change your fate--and the fate of those you love--if you return to the past? Journey to 1939 Harlem in this time-travel adventure with an inspiring message about believing in yourself.
I won a physical copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway in 2020. I wanted to read this book because it sounded interesting but I’ve decided to DNF this book after reading 69 pages. It’s a very sweet story about family, believing in yourself and not giving up on your dreams. I like that part of the book but the story is not pulling me in. I don’t feel compelled to continue reading this book.
I won a physical copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway in 2020. I wanted to read this book because it sounded interesting but I’ve decided to DNF this book after reading 69 pages. It’s a very sweet story about family, believing in yourself and not giving up on your dreams. I like that part of the book but the story is not pulling me in. I don’t feel compelled to continue reading this book.
libwinnie's review
4.0
A fun time-travel tale that takes readers to 1930's Harlem. The everyday diversity and interweaving of the author's "Black Excellence List" into the story make this a highly recommendable book.
mariahistryingtoread's review
2.0
My problem with The Magic in Changing Your Stars is primarily the message.
Ailey’s grandfather actively passed on an opportunity as a child to possibly be a famous tap star out of fear. He has lived with that regret his whole life - to the point that he abandoned tapping after that. Ailey goes back in time and helps his grandfather to realize that dream while finding his own courage to perform in front of a crowd.
My issue was that regret is a natural part of life and this book only provides an implausible means of avoiding it rather than healthy mechanisms for dealing with it when it occurs.
You can’t go back and change the past so you should seize the day now is valid advice. But, it is thoroughly impossible to avoid regret. You will regret something in your life that is major because life is full of serious, unpredictable choices. Living in the past, stewing on it, like Ailey’s grandfather does is harmful to your overall development as a person. But, this book doesn’t ever address that because it’s built on the foundation that Ailey will change his grandfathers’ stars so it doesn’t matter that he is the one who allowed himself to get to this point. There is a complete lack of accountability. Bojangles Robinson did not have to be the be all end all for his grandfather - he chose that for himself.
The happy ending in this book means that despite having a loving marriage, a job he enjoyed, a family he adored and, by all accounts, a good life - a flash in the pan decision he had to make when he was like 12 apparently negates literally every other accomplishment in his life.
The synopsis teases a conflict for Ailey regarding whether or not he should help his grandfather because it might lead to the future changing. Lucky for Ailey, despite proving himself to Bojangles leading him to become a famous tap star, the major beats of his grandfathers’ life manage to inexplicably stay exactly the same. Him making a life-changing decision that would fracture into a thousand other incalculable forks in the road in the grand scheme of his life still results in him marrying the same woman, having the same child, having the same grandchildren, living in the same town, living in the same house, and his wife dying at the same time. I can suspend my disbelief when it comes to magic and middle grade, but this is just a bridge too far.
Life is not without sacrifice. Every choice you make has a ripple effect. You can make the absolute best choice for your life and still have to give something up.
You get a full ride to your first pick college. That top college is across the country. You now miss out on key years in your younger siblings' life so when you move back in four years you no longer are close. You are happily married to the love of your life. You have a very much wanted child. You gradually lose your best friend as you both are no longer able to relate to one another's stages of life. You finally have your own apartment. You adopt the dog you were never allowed to have growing up. Your dream job is offered to you and requires a relocation to an apartment building that doesn't allow dogs.
My point is that this book sets up the erroneous expectation that you can have absolutely everything you ever want without giving anything up ever.
I thought the book would have been a lot stronger if Ailey had gone back to the past and found out that his grandfather lied to him about the circumstances of Bojangles’ offer, and that his grandfather was avoiding taking responsibility for a choice he made. It would have paralleled Ailey avoiding his own culpability in tanking his audition for The Wiz. Then Ailey would come back to the present and help his grandfather heal from a perceived mistake; the message of course being it’s never too late to fix a mistake, but in a practical context.
Another alternative for the ending could have been Ailey getting back to the future with nothing having changed because his grandfather ultimately was happy with his life and only regretted not taking that specific chance. His life was not meaningless because he took a different path from what he thought he wanted as a literal child. He let that excuse stand in his way.
His grandfathers' arc connects well with Ailey deciding to never try again preventing him from potential opportunities, however, it simultaneously suggests that there is a level of mistake that you can’t come back from which I think unwittingly puts a lot of pressure on kids. Coming back from a mistake is a decision. Ailey’s arc understands this; his grandfathers’ flies in the face of it.
Aside from messaging, the book is repetitive and underdeveloped. It doesn’t take full advantage of the setting by exploring old Harlem. All of Ailey’s interactions with Taps (younger version of his grandfather) are the same variation of one conversation ‘why are you so scared to take the shoes back to Bojangles?’ then Taps deflects with ‘why are you so scared to try to perform in front of people?’ just volleyed back and forth. Ailey literally tells Taps immediately he’s his Grandfather which was ridiculous. Part of the appeal of a time travel story is the characters finding ways to avoid spoiling they’re from the future; Ailey just blurts it out. Sure, Taps doesn’t believe him, but again because this book is repetitive so Ailey tells him again later at which point he proves it so it doesn’t ultimately matter either way. There was no suspense or tension because Ailey could not bear to keep a secret for a day. Nor was he industrious enough on his own to survive without desperately clinging to Taps.
Speaking of which, the book almost exclusively takes place over a single 24 hours. Over two hundred pages is all one day, one night and half a day. The first like hundred pages are just covering the synopsis. I don’t know why Ailey had to witness firsthand Bojangles gifting Taps the tap shoes when his grandfather in the present day already told him all about how it happened. I wish he had been placed a day after his grandfather received the shoes to get the story started quicker.
His grandfathers’ brother disappears entirely from the story. He’s presented as an antagonist who I thought would become a reluctant ally. Instead, he calls out Ailey for stealing - when Ailey is incompetent enough to go snooping around in the middle of the night after he literally overheard his uncle cautioning Taps to watch out for Ailey stealing from him - which gets Ailey kicked out of the house then is never to be seen again. Even in present-day he’s no longer staying at the house for Ailey’s sister’s birthday. He is completely gone from the narrative.
If this book was tweaked for a slightly younger audience and about 150 to 200 pages were cut it could have been decent. It’s much too long for such a limited execution. I found Ailey highly unlikeable as he exhibited no traits other than ‘I love my Grandpa’. The cast was way too small as Ailey only ever interacted with his grandfather in a meaningful way. I was bored by how little happened.
I’d give it a pass.
Ailey’s grandfather actively passed on an opportunity as a child to possibly be a famous tap star out of fear. He has lived with that regret his whole life - to the point that he abandoned tapping after that. Ailey goes back in time and helps his grandfather to realize that dream while finding his own courage to perform in front of a crowd.
My issue was that regret is a natural part of life and this book only provides an implausible means of avoiding it rather than healthy mechanisms for dealing with it when it occurs.
You can’t go back and change the past so you should seize the day now is valid advice. But, it is thoroughly impossible to avoid regret. You will regret something in your life that is major because life is full of serious, unpredictable choices. Living in the past, stewing on it, like Ailey’s grandfather does is harmful to your overall development as a person. But, this book doesn’t ever address that because it’s built on the foundation that Ailey will change his grandfathers’ stars so it doesn’t matter that he is the one who allowed himself to get to this point. There is a complete lack of accountability. Bojangles Robinson did not have to be the be all end all for his grandfather - he chose that for himself.
The happy ending in this book means that despite having a loving marriage, a job he enjoyed, a family he adored and, by all accounts, a good life - a flash in the pan decision he had to make when he was like 12 apparently negates literally every other accomplishment in his life.
The synopsis teases a conflict for Ailey regarding whether or not he should help his grandfather because it might lead to the future changing. Lucky for Ailey, despite proving himself to Bojangles leading him to become a famous tap star, the major beats of his grandfathers’ life manage to inexplicably stay exactly the same. Him making a life-changing decision that would fracture into a thousand other incalculable forks in the road in the grand scheme of his life still results in him marrying the same woman, having the same child, having the same grandchildren, living in the same town, living in the same house, and his wife dying at the same time. I can suspend my disbelief when it comes to magic and middle grade, but this is just a bridge too far.
Life is not without sacrifice. Every choice you make has a ripple effect. You can make the absolute best choice for your life and still have to give something up.
You get a full ride to your first pick college. That top college is across the country. You now miss out on key years in your younger siblings' life so when you move back in four years you no longer are close. You are happily married to the love of your life. You have a very much wanted child. You gradually lose your best friend as you both are no longer able to relate to one another's stages of life. You finally have your own apartment. You adopt the dog you were never allowed to have growing up. Your dream job is offered to you and requires a relocation to an apartment building that doesn't allow dogs.
My point is that this book sets up the erroneous expectation that you can have absolutely everything you ever want without giving anything up ever.
I thought the book would have been a lot stronger if Ailey had gone back to the past and found out that his grandfather lied to him about the circumstances of Bojangles’ offer, and that his grandfather was avoiding taking responsibility for a choice he made. It would have paralleled Ailey avoiding his own culpability in tanking his audition for The Wiz. Then Ailey would come back to the present and help his grandfather heal from a perceived mistake; the message of course being it’s never too late to fix a mistake, but in a practical context.
Another alternative for the ending could have been Ailey getting back to the future with nothing having changed because his grandfather ultimately was happy with his life and only regretted not taking that specific chance. His life was not meaningless because he took a different path from what he thought he wanted as a literal child. He let that excuse stand in his way.
His grandfathers' arc connects well with Ailey deciding to never try again preventing him from potential opportunities, however, it simultaneously suggests that there is a level of mistake that you can’t come back from which I think unwittingly puts a lot of pressure on kids. Coming back from a mistake is a decision. Ailey’s arc understands this; his grandfathers’ flies in the face of it.
Aside from messaging, the book is repetitive and underdeveloped. It doesn’t take full advantage of the setting by exploring old Harlem. All of Ailey’s interactions with Taps (younger version of his grandfather) are the same variation of one conversation ‘why are you so scared to take the shoes back to Bojangles?’ then Taps deflects with ‘why are you so scared to try to perform in front of people?’ just volleyed back and forth. Ailey literally tells Taps immediately he’s his Grandfather which was ridiculous. Part of the appeal of a time travel story is the characters finding ways to avoid spoiling they’re from the future; Ailey just blurts it out. Sure, Taps doesn’t believe him, but again because this book is repetitive so Ailey tells him again later at which point he proves it so it doesn’t ultimately matter either way. There was no suspense or tension because Ailey could not bear to keep a secret for a day. Nor was he industrious enough on his own to survive without desperately clinging to Taps.
Speaking of which, the book almost exclusively takes place over a single 24 hours. Over two hundred pages is all one day, one night and half a day. The first like hundred pages are just covering the synopsis. I don’t know why Ailey had to witness firsthand Bojangles gifting Taps the tap shoes when his grandfather in the present day already told him all about how it happened. I wish he had been placed a day after his grandfather received the shoes to get the story started quicker.
His grandfathers’ brother disappears entirely from the story. He’s presented as an antagonist who I thought would become a reluctant ally. Instead, he calls out Ailey for stealing - when Ailey is incompetent enough to go snooping around in the middle of the night after he literally overheard his uncle cautioning Taps to watch out for Ailey stealing from him - which gets Ailey kicked out of the house then is never to be seen again. Even in present-day he’s no longer staying at the house for Ailey’s sister’s birthday. He is completely gone from the narrative.
If this book was tweaked for a slightly younger audience and about 150 to 200 pages were cut it could have been decent. It’s much too long for such a limited execution. I found Ailey highly unlikeable as he exhibited no traits other than ‘I love my Grandpa’. The cast was way too small as Ailey only ever interacted with his grandfather in a meaningful way. I was bored by how little happened.
I’d give it a pass.
thenextgenlibrarian's review
3.0
The Wiz meets Back To The Future with this MG magical realism book.
mom_educator_reader's review
4.0
When The Wiz is announced as the school musical, Ailey cannot wait to try out for the leading role as the Scarecrow. But the moment he steps on stage, it isn’t at all what he had hoped for. When sharing his experience with his grandfather, one of his biggest supporters, a story from his grandfather’s childhood expresses one of his biggest regrets as a child. That evening, taking his grandfather’s story to heart, he stumbles across something that will help him see how important it is to take risks, even when you are too scared to think you can.
This book is a fun mix between historical fiction and fantasy. Stepping back in time and following Ailey’s story and how it mirrors and intertwines with his grandfather’s keeps the reader turning the page. While the ending felt good and made me smile, it was somewhat predictable. In the afterword, it shares the historical significance of so many of the names and locations used in the story, which makes me want to go back and reread the story to make the connections. I wanted to have a little more history weaved into the story to satisfy my curiosity of the time period, but overall, I enjoyed the story.
This book is a fun mix between historical fiction and fantasy. Stepping back in time and following Ailey’s story and how it mirrors and intertwines with his grandfather’s keeps the reader turning the page. While the ending felt good and made me smile, it was somewhat predictable. In the afterword, it shares the historical significance of so many of the names and locations used in the story, which makes me want to go back and reread the story to make the connections. I wanted to have a little more history weaved into the story to satisfy my curiosity of the time period, but overall, I enjoyed the story.
lacyreadsbooks's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75
This story was super cute and inspiring to keep trying. Even me at 27 needed to hear the message again. You might not know what could have been but you should always go for it, you never know where it could lead! Maybe it was the mention of The Wiz but I could totally picture this as a tap dance / rap musical. It would kind of combine my love of Newsies with my love of Hamilton! It would be so good!
jaxlynleigh's review
3.0
I really liked the time traveling concept of Ailey going back to help his grandfather fix a regret, and I love how noteworthy Black individuals made appearances throughout the story. The list of Blck Excellence at the end was a great addition in identifying these individuals and helping young readers learn why the person was so important. At times, the novel was a little repetitive and wordy, but overall, had a great storyline. At one point, the main character, Ailey, keeps running into problem after problem that I wasn’t sure he’d ever get home!
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
fae269's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5