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Cinnamon Jones #1
Will Do Magic for Small Change
Cinnamon Jones dreams of stepping on stage and acting her heart out like her famous grandparents, Redwood and Wildfire. But at 5'10" and 180 pounds, she's theatrically challenged. Her family life is a tangle of mystery and deadly secrets, and nobody is telling Cinnamon the whole truth. Before her older brother died he gave Cinnamon "The Chronicles of the Great Wanderer," a tale of a Dahomean warrior woman and an alien from another dimension who perform in Paris and at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The Chronicles may be magic or alien science, but the story is definitely connected to Cinnamon's family secrets. When an act of violence wounds her family, Cinnamon and her theater squad determine to solve the mysteries and bring her worlds together.
Unknown Binding
First published May 1, 2016
81 people are currently reading
2695 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Hairston
20 books374 followersAndrea Hairston is an African-American science fiction and fantasy playwright and novelist who is best known for her novels Mindscape and Redwood and Wildfire. Mindscape, Hairston's first novel, won the Carl Brandon Parallax Award and short-listed for the Philip K. Dick Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award.
She is the Artistic Director of Chrysalis Theatre and has created original productions with music, dance, and masks for more than a decade. Hairston is also the Louise Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor of Theatre and Afro-American Studies at Smith College. She teaches playwriting, African, African American, and Caribbean theatre literature. Her plays have been produced at Yale Rep, Rites and Reason, the Kennedy Center, StageWest, and on public radio and television. In addition, Hairston has translated plays by Michael Ende and Kaca Celan from German to English.
(source: Wikipedia)
She is the Artistic Director of Chrysalis Theatre and has created original productions with music, dance, and masks for more than a decade. Hairston is also the Louise Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor of Theatre and Afro-American Studies at Smith College. She teaches playwriting, African, African American, and Caribbean theatre literature. Her plays have been produced at Yale Rep, Rites and Reason, the Kennedy Center, StageWest, and on public radio and television. In addition, Hairston has translated plays by Michael Ende and Kaca Celan from German to English.
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
June 20, 2017
Read because: 2017 Finalist, Lambda Literary Award - SciFi/Fantasy/Horror
Ugh.
I hate writing this kind of review.
I prefer to be all-in or all-out, not this in-between place.
I loved this story. I loved Cinnamon Jones, I loved The Chronicles, I loved the magic and the bouncing around through time and place, I loved the relatives, the relationships, the friendships.
I hated the writing. I hated the misused italics, the lack of commas, the repetition of words that didn't need repeating, and the lack of spatial description. I hated the clunky choppiness.
I was sure this was a first novel, self-published, due to lack of editing. I checked, though, and neither is the case. However, the writing felt amateur for most of the book and I kept re-believing this was a first-out, self-pubbed story.
It's not.
The story: in 1983 (maybe 82) Philadelphia, Cinnamon Jones is bequeathed The Chronicles of the Wanderer by her recently deceased brother. The Chronicles is magic, telling the tale of an alien wanderer who came to Earth to collect stories and winds up in the middle of war-torn Dahomey with a traitorous ahosi, warrior-bride to the soon-to-be deposed king. Meanwhile, Cinnamon - poor, black, and lonely - doesn't get along with her mother, misses her brother, and wants to see her father who has been laid up in a coma after having been shot in the head trying to protect two lesbians at a gay bar. Cinnamon's big, she's loud, she's mouthy and opinionated, she's awkward and she can't make friends. She's full of anger and she wants to do something, be someone, have some power but she doesn't know what, whom, or how until The Chronicles begins to call together people and forces that change her life and the lives of two new friends, her family, and her community.
There is heavy use of African history and legend, creating an exciting, sometimes harrowing, adventure for the wanderer, Taiwo, and her/his friend and lover, protector and soulmate, Kehinde. That magic seeps forward into Cinnamon's tale, slowly awakening as she comes of age and figures out who she wants to be. It's delightful and thought-provoking, or would have been, only...
...again, the writing. It kept me from being as immersed in this story as I wanted to be.
First, it's not an easy read for visual readers. It’s all herky-jerky with no sense of space, time, or flow which is funny since it’s about space, time, and flow. A character is often left in one place but is then someplace else in the next sentence or paragraph, someplace they shouldn’t be given the amount of time that has or has not passed and given the interactions between characters. In one scene, a boy has his head on a girl's lap. She's sitting on the edge of a bed. Then she bends all the way forward. The boy's head would have gotten in her way but the boy is no longer there, only that's not explained. It's just that the boy is talking from the other side of the bed as the girl is bent over with no bridge getting him there. This kind of spatial dissonance happened throughout the entirety of Cinnamon's tale and it made for difficulties in visualization.
There is a lot of repetition but, specifically, “The spaces between things” and “Masquerade” are used far too often. Repetition can be poetic but here, it's just an annoyance.
The random and often inappropriate use of italics created another serious obstacle. If a character is in the room and is saying something, you put quotes around the sentence, you don't use: She said, The things she said. Klaus, the boy in the story, a German immigrant, calls his parents Muti and Vati. Those are their names, for all intents and purposes. Those words should not be italicized but they are, throughout the entire book. May as well have italicized his name, too, then. A few misuses of italics wouldn't have bothered me, but a whole book full? My reading nerves were inflamed by the end.
The author is a playwright. I am not convinced her ability to write plays has made the transition to writing novels. I think this would probably be better as an audio production, maybe full-cast, directed by the author.
That title (so clever!) and cover, though...
Ugh.
I hate writing this kind of review.
I prefer to be all-in or all-out, not this in-between place.
I loved this story. I loved Cinnamon Jones, I loved The Chronicles, I loved the magic and the bouncing around through time and place, I loved the relatives, the relationships, the friendships.
I hated the writing. I hated the misused italics, the lack of commas, the repetition of words that didn't need repeating, and the lack of spatial description. I hated the clunky choppiness.
I was sure this was a first novel, self-published, due to lack of editing. I checked, though, and neither is the case. However, the writing felt amateur for most of the book and I kept re-believing this was a first-out, self-pubbed story.
It's not.
The story: in 1983 (maybe 82) Philadelphia, Cinnamon Jones is bequeathed The Chronicles of the Wanderer by her recently deceased brother. The Chronicles is magic, telling the tale of an alien wanderer who came to Earth to collect stories and winds up in the middle of war-torn Dahomey with a traitorous ahosi, warrior-bride to the soon-to-be deposed king. Meanwhile, Cinnamon - poor, black, and lonely - doesn't get along with her mother, misses her brother, and wants to see her father who has been laid up in a coma after having been shot in the head trying to protect two lesbians at a gay bar. Cinnamon's big, she's loud, she's mouthy and opinionated, she's awkward and she can't make friends. She's full of anger and she wants to do something, be someone, have some power but she doesn't know what, whom, or how until The Chronicles begins to call together people and forces that change her life and the lives of two new friends, her family, and her community.
There is heavy use of African history and legend, creating an exciting, sometimes harrowing, adventure for the wanderer, Taiwo, and her/his friend and lover, protector and soulmate, Kehinde. That magic seeps forward into Cinnamon's tale, slowly awakening as she comes of age and figures out who she wants to be. It's delightful and thought-provoking, or would have been, only...
...again, the writing. It kept me from being as immersed in this story as I wanted to be.
First, it's not an easy read for visual readers. It’s all herky-jerky with no sense of space, time, or flow which is funny since it’s about space, time, and flow. A character is often left in one place but is then someplace else in the next sentence or paragraph, someplace they shouldn’t be given the amount of time that has or has not passed and given the interactions between characters. In one scene, a boy has his head on a girl's lap. She's sitting on the edge of a bed. Then she bends all the way forward. The boy's head would have gotten in her way but the boy is no longer there, only that's not explained. It's just that the boy is talking from the other side of the bed as the girl is bent over with no bridge getting him there. This kind of spatial dissonance happened throughout the entirety of Cinnamon's tale and it made for difficulties in visualization.
There is a lot of repetition but, specifically, “The spaces between things” and “Masquerade” are used far too often. Repetition can be poetic but here, it's just an annoyance.
The random and often inappropriate use of italics created another serious obstacle. If a character is in the room and is saying something, you put quotes around the sentence, you don't use: She said, The things she said. Klaus, the boy in the story, a German immigrant, calls his parents Muti and Vati. Those are their names, for all intents and purposes. Those words should not be italicized but they are, throughout the entire book. May as well have italicized his name, too, then. A few misuses of italics wouldn't have bothered me, but a whole book full? My reading nerves were inflamed by the end.
The author is a playwright. I am not convinced her ability to write plays has made the transition to writing novels. I think this would probably be better as an audio production, maybe full-cast, directed by the author.
That title (so clever!) and cover, though...
November 3, 2022
This is billed as a genre bender but it's stay fantasy-- perhaps the genre bending is really intense grim dark and... Middle grade?
This goes from graphic rape and dismemberment to a Disney after school special and back too much. Time of death 55%
Content warnings as of 50%:
This goes from graphic rape and dismemberment to a Disney after school special and back too much. Time of death 55%
Content warnings as of 50%:
July 3, 2017
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.
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.
October 24, 2022
I was on the fence about this because the reviews seemed to be love-hate, and the title made me feel like it might be a run of the mill borderline YA urban fantasy. Having read it (and I HATE saying this because it's so condescending and smug but) it makes me wonder if the people who gave it bad reviews just didn't pay close enough attention. This isn't a hard book to understand, but it does reward paying attention to it and following along closely. I loved it, and I am extremely excited to discover there's another book about Cinnamon's grandparents waiting. I'm definitely a new fan of Andrea Hairston.
Read
January 23, 2018I will have to think about how I am going to rate this book. 4 stars would be too high, 3 too low.
This book has all the features I usually love; mythology,folklore, magic, history and interesting characters who have intriguing relationships with each other.
Unfortunately it's told in a way that is often very hard to visualize, which makes it confusing at times and tedious at others. There are plenty of authors I enjoy who don't tell stories in a liniar way, have many characters and jump around in time and space, so it's not this.
Maybe it's because the author is also a playwright, so a lot of the story is told in dialog? I don't know!
In any case regardless of what I say, I am planning on reading her previous novel Redwood and Wildfire which tells the stories of Cinnamon's grand parents, my favourite side characters.
This book has all the features I usually love; mythology,folklore, magic, history and interesting characters who have intriguing relationships with each other.
Unfortunately it's told in a way that is often very hard to visualize, which makes it confusing at times and tedious at others. There are plenty of authors I enjoy who don't tell stories in a liniar way, have many characters and jump around in time and space, so it's not this.
Maybe it's because the author is also a playwright, so a lot of the story is told in dialog? I don't know!
In any case regardless of what I say, I am planning on reading her previous novel Redwood and Wildfire which tells the stories of Cinnamon's grand parents, my favourite side characters.
November 27, 2022
Rec. by: Title, MCL (Holgate branch)
Rec. for: James' gang
Andrea Hairston's 2016 novel Will Do Magic for Small Change starts with a funeral, and a book. Which makes sense—after all, as our protagonist observes,
I did like Cinnamon, quite a lot. She doesn't get much slack despite being, as the novel begins, just twelve years old, going on thirteen—practically an adult! Her beloved brother Sekou is dead; her dad's in a coma after an act of (perhaps misplaced) heroism; her mother Opal's smoking herself to death; and Cinnamon herself is not exactly the most popular girl at school... though she is without a doubt one of the wiser characters in Hairston's novel, despite her tender years.
Will Do Magic for Small Change alternates, between Cinnamon Jones' travails in Pittsburgh and her reading of the Chronicles of the Wanderer, a being who starts out in western Africa during the 1800s, and who eventually travels to the U.S., forging connections with the present day.
The Wanderer is not exactly wise, but their observations as an outsider do highlight at least some of the absurdity of human existence...
*
Will Do Magic for Small Change does drop rather too many f-words for my taste (the word rhyming with "maggot," that is) but Cinnamon's late brother Sekou was gay, and he's not the only one whose portrayal is managed deftly and with grace—that word somehow doesn't feel like a slur, when Hairston uses it.
In contrast, the word I was expecting to see more often shows up only rarely, and is more often rendered as "n!$$#@" (p.372, for example). I'm okay with that.
*
You must want the magic to work, in order for the magic to work.
That sentence does not appear in Will Do Magic for Small Change, but it could have, I believe. I found a lot of wise words to write down, and a lot to think about, throughout the book. In fact, a large percentage of this review is just me repeating what Hairston says—and the sheer number of parts I found quotable is nothing compared to the number I could have included.
That alone should let you know that this book's worth reading.
These are but a few of the passages to which I'd like to call your attention:
*
Will Do Magic for Small Change turned out to be a long, slow fever dream of a book for me, defiantly resistant to genre. Hairston's sentences are often choppy, as if she could see but not always convey the entirety of her majestic vision. But enough leaks through to the page... and Cinnamon does find the community she so desperately needs, among a theatre troupe with a playhouse in a decaying factory building on the Monongahela River—a river I have kayaked along myself, once upon a time.
My "Recommended for" line, this time (and fie on Goodreads for eliminating those discrete fields!), comes from comparison with Marlon James' novel Black Leopard, Red Wolf—the color scheme on the dust jacket of Hairston's novel even looks similar. But I ended up liking Will Do Magic for Small Change a lot more than James' novel, both for its more relatable protagonist and for its positive portrayal of found families and personal connections.
This one's an altogether warmer book, the kind you'd want to hold onto during those cold Pennsylvania winter nights.
Rec. for: James' gang
"Perhaps the stories I write are the convenient lies I tell on myself until they seem true."
—The Wanderer, p.51
Andrea Hairston's 2016 novel Will Do Magic for Small Change starts with a funeral, and a book. Which makes sense—after all, as our protagonist observes,
"Books let dead people talk to us from the grave."
—Cinnamon Jones, p.1
I did like Cinnamon, quite a lot. She doesn't get much slack despite being, as the novel begins, just twelve years old, going on thirteen—practically an adult! Her beloved brother Sekou is dead; her dad's in a coma after an act of (perhaps misplaced) heroism; her mother Opal's smoking herself to death; and Cinnamon herself is not exactly the most popular girl at school... though she is without a doubt one of the wiser characters in Hairston's novel, despite her tender years.
Will Do Magic for Small Change alternates, between Cinnamon Jones' travails in Pittsburgh and her reading of the Chronicles of the Wanderer, a being who starts out in western Africa during the 1800s, and who eventually travels to the U.S., forging connections with the present day.
The Wanderer is not exactly wise, but their observations as an outsider do highlight at least some of the absurdity of human existence...
*
Will Do Magic for Small Change does drop rather too many f-words for my taste (the word rhyming with "maggot," that is) but Cinnamon's late brother Sekou was gay, and he's not the only one whose portrayal is managed deftly and with grace—that word somehow doesn't feel like a slur, when Hairston uses it.
In contrast, the word I was expecting to see more often shows up only rarely, and is more often rendered as "n!$$#@" (p.372, for example). I'm okay with that.
*
You must want the magic to work, in order for the magic to work.
That sentence does not appear in Will Do Magic for Small Change, but it could have, I believe. I found a lot of wise words to write down, and a lot to think about, throughout the book. In fact, a large percentage of this review is just me repeating what Hairston says—and the sheer number of parts I found quotable is nothing compared to the number I could have included.
That alone should let you know that this book's worth reading.
These are but a few of the passages to which I'd like to call your attention:
"Hurry, civilization comes this way to tame us."
—Kehinde, p.21
In this world what one body felt was echoed in another's—a world of magic indeed. I was restless and impatient to master this magic.
—The Wanderer discovers empathy, p.39
"A person doesn't get out of the way for someone who rode a horse yesterday."
—Yoruba wise words, spoken by the Wanderer, p.42
To kill a people without spilling blood, steal their stories, then feed them self-serving lies.
—The Wanderer, p.121
"Pittsburgh will be a great city when it's finished," Mrs. Williams yelled at a detour sign.I don't have a lot of experience with Hairston's home town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but I have driven there, more than once, and the above definitely rings true for me.
—p.162
"I've met few people who can resist an audience eager for their story, and those people, I don't remember well."
—The Wanderer, p.199
"Everybody's stuck on stupid. How can I undo the bad magic if I don't know the important shit?"
—Cinnamon, p.399
*
Will Do Magic for Small Change turned out to be a long, slow fever dream of a book for me, defiantly resistant to genre. Hairston's sentences are often choppy, as if she could see but not always convey the entirety of her majestic vision. But enough leaks through to the page... and Cinnamon does find the community she so desperately needs, among a theatre troupe with a playhouse in a decaying factory building on the Monongahela River—a river I have kayaked along myself, once upon a time.
My "Recommended for" line, this time (and fie on Goodreads for eliminating those discrete fields!), comes from comparison with Marlon James' novel Black Leopard, Red Wolf—the color scheme on the dust jacket of Hairston's novel even looks similar. But I ended up liking Will Do Magic for Small Change a lot more than James' novel, both for its more relatable protagonist and for its positive portrayal of found families and personal connections.
This one's an altogether warmer book, the kind you'd want to hold onto during those cold Pennsylvania winter nights.
did-not-finish
January 14, 2023I think i'm going to be DNF-ing this for now, though I hope to come back to it someday. (p. 276)
On paper, this book is wonderfully up my alley. It has ghosts, stories about stories about stories, theatre, discussions about Christian imperialism, multiple timelines, and African mythology. And I was (heavily!) intrigued by all those concepts, but I just found myself having a hard time sinking my teeth into the story, and I tried REALLY (REALLY REALLY) hard. The most interesting part of this work, the only thing that truly kept me going, was its thematic conversations of decolonizing spirituality and bearing witness via story. And these are strong! Really strong! So strong that I still think I might pick this book back up again someday to see how these come to fruition. (I adored the exploration of magic and wisdom found in the spaces between things - and how artists and creatives are more deeply connected to those in-between moments/places - as well as the bleeding together of time and space through storytelling.)
But unfortunately it's just too long. (and that’s saying a lot, because that’s a complaint I NEVER have. I'm always asking for things to be longer.) There wasn't enough narrative direction or substance to keep the work moving for the amount of pages it does, which made it feel oddly stretched out. A single scene may take place over several chapters, with minimal emotional/narrative distance covered by the characters or the plot. (There was some more plot going on with the Wanderer's timeline, but it still lacked a forward motion.) Especially some of the detail work in Cinnamon's POV felt disconnected and random, as it often didn't help to build tone/world/story/character/etc. (which was especially frustrating for a book that aims to explore the connection between all things). It caused the writing to become too meandering and tangential, forcing a large amount of repetition to keep the through-lines well-saturated. I think the messaging and story would’ve flourished MUCH more at half the length.
Again, I really do hope to pick it up one day in the future (I want to see these brilliant themes play out!), and maybe it'll strike me as masterful then, but for now, reading this book feels a bit like staring at the horizon line and trying to see the curve of the Earth, but the perspective is just too small, and the Earth is just too wide.
CW (so far): grief, loss of family, homophobia & slurs, racism (anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Indigenous), gun violence, war, violence, blood & gore, decapitation, SA, rape (offscreen, recounted p. 81), childbirth (on-page), suicide attempt, fatphobia, bullying, eating disorder, slavery, drug use/overdose, emesis
On paper, this book is wonderfully up my alley. It has ghosts, stories about stories about stories, theatre, discussions about Christian imperialism, multiple timelines, and African mythology. And I was (heavily!) intrigued by all those concepts, but I just found myself having a hard time sinking my teeth into the story, and I tried REALLY (REALLY REALLY) hard. The most interesting part of this work, the only thing that truly kept me going, was its thematic conversations of decolonizing spirituality and bearing witness via story. And these are strong! Really strong! So strong that I still think I might pick this book back up again someday to see how these come to fruition. (I adored the exploration of magic and wisdom found in the spaces between things - and how artists and creatives are more deeply connected to those in-between moments/places - as well as the bleeding together of time and space through storytelling.)
But unfortunately it's just too long. (and that’s saying a lot, because that’s a complaint I NEVER have. I'm always asking for things to be longer.) There wasn't enough narrative direction or substance to keep the work moving for the amount of pages it does, which made it feel oddly stretched out. A single scene may take place over several chapters, with minimal emotional/narrative distance covered by the characters or the plot. (There was some more plot going on with the Wanderer's timeline, but it still lacked a forward motion.) Especially some of the detail work in Cinnamon's POV felt disconnected and random, as it often didn't help to build tone/world/story/character/etc. (which was especially frustrating for a book that aims to explore the connection between all things). It caused the writing to become too meandering and tangential, forcing a large amount of repetition to keep the through-lines well-saturated. I think the messaging and story would’ve flourished MUCH more at half the length.
Again, I really do hope to pick it up one day in the future (I want to see these brilliant themes play out!), and maybe it'll strike me as masterful then, but for now, reading this book feels a bit like staring at the horizon line and trying to see the curve of the Earth, but the perspective is just too small, and the Earth is just too wide.
CW (so far): grief, loss of family, homophobia & slurs, racism (anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Indigenous), gun violence, war, violence, blood & gore, decapitation, SA, rape (offscreen, recounted p. 81), childbirth (on-page), suicide attempt, fatphobia, bullying, eating disorder, slavery, drug use/overdose, emesis
June 8, 2024
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Will Do Magic for Small Change was a wild ride. In this, you will meet Cinnamon Jones, and she's one of a kind. She's opinionated but awkward. She's full of anger and grief due to losing her brother, her dad being in a coma, and not connecting with her mother. So, when The Chronicles of the Wanderer comes into her life, it's no wonder her life will never be the same.
Between The Chronicles and what's going on her in real life, this book is an endless adventure. I never once felt bored, and everything felt magical. However, I will admit that I had my fair share of moments where I was confused about what was going on. They were few and far in between but still wanted to mention that they did happen.
Other than that, I really liked how the lgbtqia+ community was represented throughout this. No one was really carved into one thing, and they were free to explore and express who they were. I also really enjoyed the found family portrayal and personal connections that developed along the way.
In the end, I just really enjoyed this book—probably a lot more than I originally expected I would. I can't wait for the next book/adventure.
Real rating: 3.5
"Books let dead people talk to us from the grave."
Will Do Magic for Small Change was a wild ride. In this, you will meet Cinnamon Jones, and she's one of a kind. She's opinionated but awkward. She's full of anger and grief due to losing her brother, her dad being in a coma, and not connecting with her mother. So, when The Chronicles of the Wanderer comes into her life, it's no wonder her life will never be the same.
Between The Chronicles and what's going on her in real life, this book is an endless adventure. I never once felt bored, and everything felt magical. However, I will admit that I had my fair share of moments where I was confused about what was going on. They were few and far in between but still wanted to mention that they did happen.
Other than that, I really liked how the lgbtqia+ community was represented throughout this. No one was really carved into one thing, and they were free to explore and express who they were. I also really enjoyed the found family portrayal and personal connections that developed along the way.
In the end, I just really enjoyed this book—probably a lot more than I originally expected I would. I can't wait for the next book/adventure.
Real rating: 3.5
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January 20, 2018I really wanted to love Will Do Magic For Small Change by Andrea Hairston. It started so well, but my level of engagement with this fantasy novel wasn't sustained at a consistent level. I read it for a Goodreads folklore/mythology group that had chosen it as a book of the month. I consider myself a student of folklore, mythology and all spiritual paths. This book contains West African folklore and religious practices.
I did love scenes and sequences in this book that I found moving and poignant. There were times when the characters and relationships felt real and true, and there were times when they felt distant and superficial. One of the perennial problems with the writing was telling readers about events through dialogue instead of showing us these events as they happened so that readers can experience them.
There was a point when the narrative seemed so tedious that I nearly abandoned the book, but then I encountered a character that I thought had great potential, and I fell in love with Will Do Magic For Small Change all over again.
Although there were portions of Will Do Magic For Small Change that I was glad I read, I was ultimately disappointed by it since I hoped that it would be better written.
For my complete review see http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...
I did love scenes and sequences in this book that I found moving and poignant. There were times when the characters and relationships felt real and true, and there were times when they felt distant and superficial. One of the perennial problems with the writing was telling readers about events through dialogue instead of showing us these events as they happened so that readers can experience them.
There was a point when the narrative seemed so tedious that I nearly abandoned the book, but then I encountered a character that I thought had great potential, and I fell in love with Will Do Magic For Small Change all over again.
Although there were portions of Will Do Magic For Small Change that I was glad I read, I was ultimately disappointed by it since I hoped that it would be better written.
For my complete review see http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...
August 4, 2016
I picked up this book randomly at the library, and had no expectations. After a couple of chapters, I was blown away, and stayed that way for the rest of the book. Cinnamon reminds me a lot of my granddaughter, a big girl both old and young for her age. The writing is too complex, I think, for most younger teens, and the book may have too much sex for them. For me, it was perfect.
Cinnamon's father, an artist, was shot some time ago and hasn't regained consciousness. Her brother has just died (an indirect result of that family trauma), but he's still talking to her (in a magical noncreepy way). Her brother left her an old book, the Chronicles, that tells the story of a Wanderer, an alien or creature from another dimension who took on a human form in Africa a hundred years ago, formed a relationship with a warrior woman, and eventually came with her to America. She starts reading it but she only has some of the book, and what she has ends abruptly.
A couple years later, she makes an intense and magical connection with two other teens during a theater audition, and they can also hear her brother. New chapters of the Chronicles start appearing, and the three of them read them together. The Wanderer has an identity/memory problem, and they are now its Guardians. As the Wanderer remembers more, chapters keep appearing, with magical drawings, and the its story unfolds.
Meanwhile, Cinnamon's mother has a crisis, and the magical grandparents and great-aunt move in. The three teens try to use the book's revelations to restore the Wanderer's memory and in the process, work on their own family problems (her friends have those as well). It's all deep, sometimes sad, and delightful to read.
I like how the book mixes cultures - Cinnamon's family is black with some Native American, her friends are German-from-Germany and Japanese-American. There seems to be some family connection between Cinnamon and the characters in The Chronicles. And I like the gender fluidity. The Wanderer is male or female or between or neither. Cinnamon's brother was gay, and she and her friends are...complicated (isn't everything at that age?).
There were some loose ends, which seemed okay. I see there's an earlier book about the grandparents, which I'd like to read.
Cinnamon's father, an artist, was shot some time ago and hasn't regained consciousness. Her brother has just died (an indirect result of that family trauma), but he's still talking to her (in a magical noncreepy way). Her brother left her an old book, the Chronicles, that tells the story of a Wanderer, an alien or creature from another dimension who took on a human form in Africa a hundred years ago, formed a relationship with a warrior woman, and eventually came with her to America. She starts reading it but she only has some of the book, and what she has ends abruptly.
A couple years later, she makes an intense and magical connection with two other teens during a theater audition, and they can also hear her brother. New chapters of the Chronicles start appearing, and the three of them read them together. The Wanderer has an identity/memory problem, and they are now its Guardians. As the Wanderer remembers more, chapters keep appearing, with magical drawings, and the its story unfolds.
Meanwhile, Cinnamon's mother has a crisis, and the magical grandparents and great-aunt move in. The three teens try to use the book's revelations to restore the Wanderer's memory and in the process, work on their own family problems (her friends have those as well). It's all deep, sometimes sad, and delightful to read.
I like how the book mixes cultures - Cinnamon's family is black with some Native American, her friends are German-from-Germany and Japanese-American. There seems to be some family connection between Cinnamon and the characters in The Chronicles. And I like the gender fluidity. The Wanderer is male or female or between or neither. Cinnamon's brother was gay, and she and her friends are...complicated (isn't everything at that age?).
There were some loose ends, which seemed okay. I see there's an earlier book about the grandparents, which I'd like to read.
did-not-finish
May 12, 2017DNF on page 127
I wanted to like this. I've had good experience with Hairston, but Will do Magic is a slog. The writing feels choppy and unfinished. The storyline breaks and jumps in odd places. The characters are paper-thin. Or so go my impressions.
The worst part is that the premise is actually interesting, it's just not at-all well-executed.
I wanted to like this. I've had good experience with Hairston, but Will do Magic is a slog. The writing feels choppy and unfinished. The storyline breaks and jumps in odd places. The characters are paper-thin. Or so go my impressions.
The worst part is that the premise is actually interesting, it's just not at-all well-executed.
Want to read
February 17, 202216.02.2022 alien science + earthbound magic + family secrets!
November 6, 2022
I was provided both a digital and audio ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.
I struggle with what to rate this, because I found parts of it very interesting and other parts extremely confusing. I attribute that to the disjointed writing style. Some of the chapters are set in the 1984 in Pittsburgh while others are set in 1892 West Africa, then we jump to 1987 also in Pittsburgh and 1893 while the main characters of those chapters are travelling from Africa to France and then the United states. The chapters set in the 80's follow Cinnamon Jones through her trials and tribulations. Her story is connected to the characters of the 1890's via a book called The Chronicles of the Great Wanderer. The Wanderer is one of the characters we follow in the 1890 chapters as well as a warrior woman named Kehinde. Cinnamon's chapters have a different feel and cadence than those that follow the Wanderer and Kehinde. I was often confused by the more poetic nature of Cinnamon's chapters versus the more straightforward story telling feel of the Wanderer's chapters. I could have read an entire book about Taiwo (the wanderer) and Kehinde.
Overall I felt this was a bit on the long side and there was too much going on to keep track of. The audiobook is almost 18 hours long and the book is roughly 500 pages. While this has some elements that I really enjoy, folklore, some magical and fantastical elements, I just couldn't keep up with all of the characters and storylines. Some of the elements were explained well while others were not, and for a book this long, you need some explanation. While the writing is beautiful, it isn't my preferred style to read.
There are some racial and homophobic slurs present in the book which would have been accurate for the 80s. Doesn't make it right but accurate to the setting. There is also body shaming and self loathing. This book isn't for everyone, and I think someone with a more sophisticated palette will really enjoy this. It is a little weird, is very creative, and has some endearing characters.
I struggle with what to rate this, because I found parts of it very interesting and other parts extremely confusing. I attribute that to the disjointed writing style. Some of the chapters are set in the 1984 in Pittsburgh while others are set in 1892 West Africa, then we jump to 1987 also in Pittsburgh and 1893 while the main characters of those chapters are travelling from Africa to France and then the United states. The chapters set in the 80's follow Cinnamon Jones through her trials and tribulations. Her story is connected to the characters of the 1890's via a book called The Chronicles of the Great Wanderer. The Wanderer is one of the characters we follow in the 1890 chapters as well as a warrior woman named Kehinde. Cinnamon's chapters have a different feel and cadence than those that follow the Wanderer and Kehinde. I was often confused by the more poetic nature of Cinnamon's chapters versus the more straightforward story telling feel of the Wanderer's chapters. I could have read an entire book about Taiwo (the wanderer) and Kehinde.
Overall I felt this was a bit on the long side and there was too much going on to keep track of. The audiobook is almost 18 hours long and the book is roughly 500 pages. While this has some elements that I really enjoy, folklore, some magical and fantastical elements, I just couldn't keep up with all of the characters and storylines. Some of the elements were explained well while others were not, and for a book this long, you need some explanation. While the writing is beautiful, it isn't my preferred style to read.
There are some racial and homophobic slurs present in the book which would have been accurate for the 80s. Doesn't make it right but accurate to the setting. There is also body shaming and self loathing. This book isn't for everyone, and I think someone with a more sophisticated palette will really enjoy this. It is a little weird, is very creative, and has some endearing characters.
June 22, 2024
Neat blend of a magical story based in history (and maybe in reality??) and a girl's world slowly falling down around her after her brother dies, and she finds herself in theater. I get the sense that this Cinnamon is the same Cinnamon who shows up decades down the road in Archangels of Funk, but I might be wrong! Great library read.
February 6, 2017
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.
Read
February 17, 2017Τα παράξενα βιβλία, τα ιδιαίτερα, αυτά κάποιοι τα ανακαλύπτουν και εκπλήσσονται ευχάριστα από τον φρέσκο αέρα του, είναι κάπως σαν τους ανθρώπους: θα τα λατρέψεις. Μπορεί, όμως, και να μην τα αντέξεις. Δεν ξέρεις καν τι μπορεί να φταίει - μπορεί να είναι οι συγκυρίες, μπορεί πάλι να είναι θέμα χημείας. Πάντως, αν είσαι σαν αναγνώστης λίγο ενδελεχής και δεν τεκμαίρεσαι παρορμητικώς θα πεις πως, όπως και να έχει, το βιβλίο είχε χαρακτήρα.
Αυτό μπορώ να πω και για τούτο εδώ, του οποίου οι λοξές φράσεις του, και οι κάπως άτακτοι διάλογοί του, που εμένα με παίδεψαν, φαίνεται πως ήταν οι αρετές για άλλους που το χάρηκαν. Ήταν καλογραμμένο, φαίνεται να είχε όραμα, είχε χαρακτήρες παρδαλούς, κάτι πήγαινε να πει, μα εγώ δεν είχα την υπομονή να γνωριστώ μαζί του.
Σίγουρα μπορώ να πω ένα: έχει τον χαρακτήρα του.
Αυτό μπορώ να πω και για τούτο εδώ, του οποίου οι λοξές φράσεις του, και οι κάπως άτακτοι διάλογοί του, που εμένα με παίδεψαν, φαίνεται πως ήταν οι αρετές για άλλους που το χάρηκαν. Ήταν καλογραμμένο, φαίνεται να είχε όραμα, είχε χαρακτήρες παρδαλούς, κάτι πήγαινε να πει, μα εγώ δεν είχα την υπομονή να γνωριστώ μαζί του.
Σίγουρα μπορώ να πω ένα: έχει τον χαρακτήρα του.
February 21, 2017
The title and the cover art are intriguing. I picked it up expecting an urban fantasy with some grit and ethnicity. And I tried to get into it. Really. I considered giving up after 80 pages of nothing that engaged and characters that barely broke the surface, failing to attain any sympathetic plateau. I slogged on for another 40 pages and, as a theatre person first and foremost, struggled to get interested in the part that relates an audition in a theatre that's apparently simultaneously hosting multiple productions, judging by the characters hovering around every corner.
Disjointed. Trying too hard to be 'different.' Skimming the surface instead of diving deep. Boring.
Ultimately, it's just not worth the effort. I'm dismayed by the number of books lately that I have to consign to the one-star, don't-wast-your-time hell.
Disjointed. Trying too hard to be 'different.' Skimming the surface instead of diving deep. Boring.
Ultimately, it's just not worth the effort. I'm dismayed by the number of books lately that I have to consign to the one-star, don't-wast-your-time hell.
August 31, 2017
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.
September 14, 2017
This is one of the more innovative, gorgeous books I've read. I may not be impartial, okay, but this is how I feel! Highly recommended. I wish readers would give this writer the chance more often, to be as she is, unique, innovative, genius, and different from the mainstream of writers. She writes unique characters - not from the one-size-fits-all universe - offering many perspectives we don't hear from enough. Isn't that why we read? To go elsewhere than our own habits, and to be challenged to read well, better, think deeply? I hope so. And that is what I get from reading this. A real mind-journey.
November 25, 2016
This is a saga for a lost soul’s search of self, a warrior’s struggle for dignity and freedom, a boy’s embrace of love even though it is with someone of the same sex, a man’s urge to stand up for what’s right, even if it lands him in a coma for life, a woman’s struggle to get to grips with a life of loss after loss and of a girl’s coming to terms with her family secrets. It is a beautiful novel about tolerance of all shapes and forms, of all kinds of love. Although, in no measure a short read, I feel enriched because of reading this story.
Please read my full review here:
https://chaitraworldreadingseries.wor...
Please read my full review here:
https://chaitraworldreadingseries.wor...
March 29, 2017
I had 50 pages left before I gave up. FIFTY pages, and there still has yet to be some big climax/reveal/real melding of the two storylines. but I might go back. the first half of this book was a SOLID 5. then it fell one star. then two. for the same stinking reason: it's far too lengthy and wordy and needed a serious editing/hacking job. it dwindles and goes off onto far too many tangents. it's a great concept but its execution wasn't the best. it could've been compressed to 300-350 pgs and been a more bearable read.
May 18, 2017
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.
January 18, 2017
I tried, I really did. I can handle teenage angst and magical relatives, but, OMG, then we have the ancestors and aliens, and I really, really couldn't. Tried twice but barely made 50 pages.
October 11, 2022
This book is incredibly fascinating. The plot is exactly what I want from a book like this. Weird, with lots of random connections. I enjoyed the premise and the characters and the way they grew together and dealt with complex relationships. I really liked Hairston's work and can't read to read some of her other works. I really think she has fascinating way of creating and weaving the story as it came to a conclusion.
However, some of this book lost me. I was a little shocked this will be a re-publish and had as many needed edits as it did. Further, a bit of the plotting lost me in places. It dragged in a lot of ways that had me wishing to get to the next step. That mixed with a very confusing start with a lot of characters thrown at me had me a bit confused and lost a bit of the overall enjoyment for me. Good novel, definitely interesting science fiction, but overall some lags.
However, some of this book lost me. I was a little shocked this will be a re-publish and had as many needed edits as it did. Further, a bit of the plotting lost me in places. It dragged in a lot of ways that had me wishing to get to the next step. That mixed with a very confusing start with a lot of characters thrown at me had me a bit confused and lost a bit of the overall enjoyment for me. Good novel, definitely interesting science fiction, but overall some lags.
February 4, 2023
All I can say, is that this story left me floored by emotions: joy, grief followed by hope, relief, and feeling the victories of the finale as if they were my own loved ones. I have loved aspects of this tale, but only allowed myself to feel into the pain and transformation of the characters at the end, which I leaned into with herbal offerings and grateful heart. This is the most remarkable and outstandingly gorgeous and moving that book I’ve read in decades. And I read A LOT. I’m so happy that sistah sci-fi put me on to this author and specifically this book. I borrowed the audiobook (which does an exquisite job bringing us into the story), but now I want to own both the audio and a signed print copy. I wish I could give details but I will cover it on my podcast.
April 17, 2024
DNF. I tried so hard to get into this book. I had it from my library for over a month but I couldn't get through it. I enjoyed the historical POV of the alien (?) in Dahomey. The modern (1980s) POV was okay but I found that I was trying to get through Cinnamon's POV to get back to the Chronicles. I found that switching between the POV every chapter to be super disruptive and I struggled to understand what was actually going on. I also struggled to get through the writing itself. In lots of places, I had to reread paragraphs to try to understand what happened. The description of characters moving and time passing is lackluster at best and just lacking in many places. Maybe the POVs come together at some point or make more sense later, but I just couldn't make myself read it.
October 12, 2022
This is a marmite book: you can love or hate, I was more on the love site that most.
It's an original story with a lot of potential and a cast of intriguing characters. The world building is fascinating and complex.
There's two notes: it's too long, some parts seem to drag and are a bit boring. The storytelling is good but sometimes things get mixed and I could have enjoyed it more but switch from one timeline to other was quite brusque at times.
I would recommend to read a couple of chapters to understand if you are on the love or hate field.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
It's an original story with a lot of potential and a cast of intriguing characters. The world building is fascinating and complex.
There's two notes: it's too long, some parts seem to drag and are a bit boring. The storytelling is good but sometimes things get mixed and I could have enjoyed it more but switch from one timeline to other was quite brusque at times.
I would recommend to read a couple of chapters to understand if you are on the love or hate field.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
October 3, 2022
A novel of what might have been...
Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston is a queer, coming-of-age fantasy that comes out October 11th!
Hairston is a thought-provoking wordsmith & this was an emotional adventure!
Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston is a queer, coming-of-age fantasy that comes out October 11th!
Hairston is a thought-provoking wordsmith & this was an emotional adventure!
May 22, 2024
Well THAT was something. A very different book about love family and magic. Alternating chapters about Kehinde and Taiwo—the Chronicles (whose chapters appear on an irregular schedule) and three kids Klaus Marie and Cinnamon. This is not a YA book…though it has the structure of one…3 kids who find each other and support each other as they figure out who they are. Yes that sounds terrible but she makes it great. Africa and multi racial American intertwined with African mythology
abandoned
February 15, 2018I've been pecking away at this one for about a week and just can't get into it.
I'm not sure what it is, but it just doesn't click with me. I finally gave in around the time of the first theater audition. I just wasn't a fan of the way that scene was written, and since I now that the theater plays a large role in the book, I think I'll call it quits for now.
I'm not sure what it is, but it just doesn't click with me. I finally gave in around the time of the first theater audition. I just wasn't a fan of the way that scene was written, and since I now that the theater plays a large role in the book, I think I'll call it quits for now.
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