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vasha's review
4.0
This book alternates between the story of Cinnamon, a teenager in 1980s Philadelphia, and the story contained in a mysterious book that reveals itself to Cinnamon (and later her friends) a chapter at a time. This narrative device felt artificial to me at some points, when someone in the frame story had to say "let's drop what we're doing and read another chapter now". Nonetheless, the story told in the flashbacks is a very compelling one, set in the transition between the Kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa and French colonial rule, centering on one of Dahomey's famous woman warriors. Kehinde is a Yoruba woman forced into the army and torn between loyalty to her own people and to her army comrades; she struggles to feel free and to remake her life, ultimately joining an entertainment troupe bound for the US even though she's aware they intend to exploit her. Her story is told by a Wanderer between dimensions, who becomes bound to Kehinde by love. (I have read quite a lot of stories set in Africa featuring extraterrestrial or extradimensional visitors lately...) Freedom and love are difficult matters for Kehinde, and also difficult for Cinnamon in different ways.
The overarching theme of the book, putting together a fragmented, nearly lost story, is obviously relevant to African-American history. I very much enjoyed the complexity with which Hairston considered history. Cinnamon's story was a bit less gripping, but I did enjoy the portrait of her family, nearly shattered by lack of acceptance of love, and in danger of willful erasure of memory, which Cinnamon helps to put back together. Cinnamon also gets carried away by storms of words, prophetic and inspired, which are written in intoxicating language. Hairston, a playwright, is very good with different speech rhythms.
This book did not entirely cohere, I felt, but was very much worth reading.
The overarching theme of the book, putting together a fragmented, nearly lost story, is obviously relevant to African-American history. I very much enjoyed the complexity with which Hairston considered history. Cinnamon's story was a bit less gripping, but I did enjoy the portrait of her family, nearly shattered by lack of acceptance of love, and in danger of willful erasure of memory, which Cinnamon helps to put back together. Cinnamon also gets carried away by storms of words, prophetic and inspired, which are written in intoxicating language. Hairston, a playwright, is very good with different speech rhythms.
This book did not entirely cohere, I felt, but was very much worth reading.
caitlin_waddick's review
5.0
You Must Read This Book: The settings, plot, and characters are very original. The characters are diverse, racially, ethnically, class-wise, and in gender orientation.
You Will Love This Book: You loved Akwaeke Emezi’s book _Freshwater. In _Freshwater, the story is often told from the point-of-view of African deities from the origin of time. In _Will Do Magic for Small Change, one main character is an alien channeling the energy of an African deity, Eshu. Several of the characters do hoodoo magic.
You Might Avoid This Book: The writing lacks the support of early readers and editors, and it can be frustrating to not fully understand a scene or a dialgoue. Many other reviews comment on problems in the writing itself. Such problems may not appear in her future work. I heard she has gotten picked up by Tor, and I hope future early readers and editors review her writing and provide support for flow, clarity, grammar, and organization.
Teens Should Read This Book. The main character is ages 12-15, and she is dealing with coming-of-age issues.
One Cool Thing: The teen characters attend a contact improve class. Have you done contact improv? I have! I have never seen it mentioned in fiction before now. (I did blindfold contact improv with live kirtan in Western Massachusetts.)
Additional Cool Things: The teens are theater kids. They are queer. They have problems such as death, abuse, and addiction in their families. The main character is a poor Black girl whose mom is a public bus driver. Her family includes artists and indigenous people and people with African roots. You learn about the history of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The glossary includes words and ideas from over a dozen different languages and people.
You Will Love This Book: You loved Akwaeke Emezi’s book _Freshwater. In _Freshwater, the story is often told from the point-of-view of African deities from the origin of time. In _Will Do Magic for Small Change, one main character is an alien channeling the energy of an African deity, Eshu. Several of the characters do hoodoo magic.
You Might Avoid This Book: The writing lacks the support of early readers and editors, and it can be frustrating to not fully understand a scene or a dialgoue. Many other reviews comment on problems in the writing itself. Such problems may not appear in her future work. I heard she has gotten picked up by Tor, and I hope future early readers and editors review her writing and provide support for flow, clarity, grammar, and organization.
Teens Should Read This Book. The main character is ages 12-15, and she is dealing with coming-of-age issues.
One Cool Thing: The teen characters attend a contact improve class. Have you done contact improv? I have! I have never seen it mentioned in fiction before now. (I did blindfold contact improv with live kirtan in Western Massachusetts.)
Additional Cool Things: The teens are theater kids. They are queer. They have problems such as death, abuse, and addiction in their families. The main character is a poor Black girl whose mom is a public bus driver. Her family includes artists and indigenous people and people with African roots. You learn about the history of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The glossary includes words and ideas from over a dozen different languages and people.
planetwhileaway's review
3.0
I have never read a book like this before. West African mythology and history + a Black, queer MC + an interdimensional, genderqueer alien (who is also part demon)… this story has it all and more. While I can’t say that I would highly recommend it due to the disjointed and somewhat messy writing, I am glad that I read it, and I would encourage anyone who is interested in a very unique reading experience to give it a try, especially if you typically enjoy YA.
This was the most unique reading experience I have ever had. I honestly can’t say that I liked this book, but I also can’t say that I disliked it. I did finish it, and I am glad I did. After finishing it, I rushed to find the book about Cinnamon’s time-traveling, magic grandparents (Redwood & Wildfire) that was written a few years before Will Do Magic.
I think Hairston is an incredible storyteller in desperate need of an equally incredible editor. Reading this book, I did not get the sense that it was edited much at all. It did read a bit on the YA side to me (though it deals with some heavy topics), so if you usually enjoy YA, you may enjoy this more than I did. Tordotcom is now publishing Andrea Hairston, and her first book with them, Master of Poisons, came out last year. Going forward, I hope that they will be able to provide her with better editing services that will do her storytelling justice.
This was the most unique reading experience I have ever had. I honestly can’t say that I liked this book, but I also can’t say that I disliked it. I did finish it, and I am glad I did. After finishing it, I rushed to find the book about Cinnamon’s time-traveling, magic grandparents (Redwood & Wildfire) that was written a few years before Will Do Magic.
I think Hairston is an incredible storyteller in desperate need of an equally incredible editor. Reading this book, I did not get the sense that it was edited much at all. It did read a bit on the YA side to me (though it deals with some heavy topics), so if you usually enjoy YA, you may enjoy this more than I did. Tordotcom is now publishing Andrea Hairston, and her first book with them, Master of Poisons, came out last year. Going forward, I hope that they will be able to provide her with better editing services that will do her storytelling justice.
coolcurrybooks's review
4.0
Will Do Magic for Small Change feels like Octavia Butler crossed with Charles de Lint. It mixes genres, with aliens and magic, and explores themes such as race, gender, sexuality, and family history. It’s one of the most original SFF novels I’ve read in years.
Will Do Magic for Small Change opens with Cinnamon Jones, a black girl in 1980’s Philadelphia, attending her half-brother’s funeral. Her brother left her a book written by an alien wanderer from another dimension who appeared in West Africa during the 1890’s. The wanderer’s story is not complete and more sections continue to appear as the course of Cinnamon’s teen years. Eventually, Cinnamon realizes that the wanderer’s story has some mysterious connections to her own family history.
My expectation was that I would enjoy the alien’s story more than Cinnamon’s, but the reverse was true. Cinnamon aspires to be an actress, but the theater is a difficult place for a large, dark skinned black girl. It does provide the opportunity of friendship with two other teenagers, and the three of them become caught up in the mysteries of the Chronicle.
That said, I never skipped over the other sections relating to the wanderer (Taiwo), who gets caught up in the life of a warrior woman of Dahomey, Kehinde, who is searching for her dead brother’s wife and an escape from her own past. New sections of Taiwo and Kehinde’s story appear as the wanderer remembers them, but they’ve fragmented and lost many portions of their own history
Gender and sexual fluidity are at the heart of Will Do Magic for Small Change. Cinnamon is bisexual (although the word is never used) and becomes involved in a fledgling polyamorous romance. The wanderer, Taiwo, is not male or female, but either both or neither. They, like Cinnamon, are bisexual, and various characters they encounter are also queer.
In a large part, Will Do Magic for Small Change is a story of identity and history, with Taiwo trying to form their own identity and recall their personal history. Meanwhile, Cinnamon is searching into her own family history, trying to uncover the truth of the event that led to her father’s coma, and still in the process of self discovery. There’s a sense of searching for a connection between an African American present and an African past.
For me, the characters are what I found most compelling about Will Do Magic for Small Change. I became strongly invested in Cinnamon’s story, and I loved Kehinde, a fierce warrior woman who continues to move forward despite the tragedies in her past. Even characters such as Opal, Cinnamon’s mother, who could have been little more than a two dimensional obstacle for Cinnamon to overcome ultimately proved to be more than that.
That being said, I’m still planning on reading more by Andrea Hairston. The level of quality and imagination she displays here is such that I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to read more. I believe there’s another book about Cinnamon’s grandparents, and I hope to get my hands on it soon.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
Will Do Magic for Small Change opens with Cinnamon Jones, a black girl in 1980’s Philadelphia, attending her half-brother’s funeral. Her brother left her a book written by an alien wanderer from another dimension who appeared in West Africa during the 1890’s. The wanderer’s story is not complete and more sections continue to appear as the course of Cinnamon’s teen years. Eventually, Cinnamon realizes that the wanderer’s story has some mysterious connections to her own family history.
My expectation was that I would enjoy the alien’s story more than Cinnamon’s, but the reverse was true. Cinnamon aspires to be an actress, but the theater is a difficult place for a large, dark skinned black girl. It does provide the opportunity of friendship with two other teenagers, and the three of them become caught up in the mysteries of the Chronicle.
That said, I never skipped over the other sections relating to the wanderer (Taiwo), who gets caught up in the life of a warrior woman of Dahomey, Kehinde, who is searching for her dead brother’s wife and an escape from her own past. New sections of Taiwo and Kehinde’s story appear as the wanderer remembers them, but they’ve fragmented and lost many portions of their own history
Gender and sexual fluidity are at the heart of Will Do Magic for Small Change. Cinnamon is bisexual (although the word is never used) and becomes involved in a fledgling polyamorous romance. The wanderer, Taiwo, is not male or female, but either both or neither. They, like Cinnamon, are bisexual, and various characters they encounter are also queer.
In a large part, Will Do Magic for Small Change is a story of identity and history, with Taiwo trying to form their own identity and recall their personal history. Meanwhile, Cinnamon is searching into her own family history, trying to uncover the truth of the event that led to her father’s coma, and still in the process of self discovery. There’s a sense of searching for a connection between an African American present and an African past.
For me, the characters are what I found most compelling about Will Do Magic for Small Change. I became strongly invested in Cinnamon’s story, and I loved Kehinde, a fierce warrior woman who continues to move forward despite the tragedies in her past. Even characters such as Opal, Cinnamon’s mother, who could have been little more than a two dimensional obstacle for Cinnamon to overcome ultimately proved to be more than that.
Spoiler
If I have one complaint, it lies with the ending. The book ends suddenly and abruptly, without any real conclusion or closure. I’m guessing that there’s some thematic or literary purpose, but I read for entertainment and this didn’t work for me. I’m willing to go with such experimentation in form, but I’m not willing to invest the time in a 400 page + book only for an ending reminiscent of “The Lady or the Tiger?”That being said, I’m still planning on reading more by Andrea Hairston. The level of quality and imagination she displays here is such that I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to read more. I believe there’s another book about Cinnamon’s grandparents, and I hope to get my hands on it soon.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
popestig's review
3.0
I never fell for this book nor its characters, and I don't think this is a book that benefits from that distance. I also suspect this is a book which rhythm will benefit from being read out loud - so the audiobook might be a better bet.
I think the people that fall for this book will fall hard, but it's not for everyone - despite the title - this magic will only work for those with more than small change to invest.
I think the people that fall for this book will fall hard, but it's not for everyone - despite the title - this magic will only work for those with more than small change to invest.
emilpaladin's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
owlmoose's review
3.0
I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. Fascinating story, of a teenager in 1980s Pittsburgh reading the adventurers of a spirit wanderer in the late 1800s. I love the characters, and the way their stories intertwine across time and space, but issues with pacing and the writing flow made it hard for me to really sink into the book and get invested.
morgandhu's review
4.0
Andrea Hairston's novel Will Do Magic for Small Change is a celebration of the power of storytelling, the connection between past, present and future, and magic - the everyday magic that comes from such acts as taking a step into the unknown, opening your heart or trusting your sense of yourself - and how these things can heal, can make something that was broken, scattered, whole again.
Hairston gives us two narratives interwoven by magic, imagination and love. The first, set in 1980s Chicago, centres on a young black girl, Cinnamon Jones, child of poverty, myth and art. Her father is in a coma, shot while trying to help two lesbians. Her brother has died of a drug overdose that may have been suicide. Her mother, a city bus driver, is increasingly unable to cope. But in her blood is the magic and mystery of her grandparents, a hoodoo woman and a medicine man. What pulls Cinnamon forward is a love of theatre, the friends she meets at an audition - Klaus and Marie - and the gift from her brother of a mysterious book that writes itself, the story of an alien wanderer come to earth.
The second narrative is the story of this Wanderer. Starting in the late 1890s, the alien is caught up in the flight of a Dahomey ahosi, or warrior woman, after her defection from the Dahomeyan women's army. The warrior, Kahinde, names the alien after her dead twin brother Taiwo, for whom she left the king's army. Joined by Kahinde's sister-in-law Samso and her infant daughter, they travel to the new world of America seeking a place where they can write new stories of their lives.
Intersections of past and present, love and fear, the deep truth of storytelling, theatre, art - the tale of the wanderer becomes the tale of Cinnamon's life and as it finds completion, the path to Cinnamon's future is woven together and unfolds before her.
A magical book, with layers of meaning I'll be contemplating for some time to come.
Hairston gives us two narratives interwoven by magic, imagination and love. The first, set in 1980s Chicago, centres on a young black girl, Cinnamon Jones, child of poverty, myth and art. Her father is in a coma, shot while trying to help two lesbians. Her brother has died of a drug overdose that may have been suicide. Her mother, a city bus driver, is increasingly unable to cope. But in her blood is the magic and mystery of her grandparents, a hoodoo woman and a medicine man. What pulls Cinnamon forward is a love of theatre, the friends she meets at an audition - Klaus and Marie - and the gift from her brother of a mysterious book that writes itself, the story of an alien wanderer come to earth.
The second narrative is the story of this Wanderer. Starting in the late 1890s, the alien is caught up in the flight of a Dahomey ahosi, or warrior woman, after her defection from the Dahomeyan women's army. The warrior, Kahinde, names the alien after her dead twin brother Taiwo, for whom she left the king's army. Joined by Kahinde's sister-in-law Samso and her infant daughter, they travel to the new world of America seeking a place where they can write new stories of their lives.
Intersections of past and present, love and fear, the deep truth of storytelling, theatre, art - the tale of the wanderer becomes the tale of Cinnamon's life and as it finds completion, the path to Cinnamon's future is woven together and unfolds before her.
A magical book, with layers of meaning I'll be contemplating for some time to come.
ahsimlibrarian's review
3.0
This is definitely an interesting novel. Cinnamon Jones is a 13-14 year old black girl whose queer brother dies of an O.D. His ghost haunts her and he leaves her a magical book, The Chronicles, that details the journeys of a Wanderer and an African woman warrior, Kehinde. There are moments of brilliance and beauty here, but it is too much of a jumble to really adhere. I also had problems with Cinnamon's body image issues and how her mom rags her about her size as well--I had hoped for a more positive portrayal or self-love but that only comes after she loses some weight, which is problematic. An interesting read for sure, and full of wonderful POC characters, but it needed to be 100 pages shorter at least.