Will Do Magic for Small Change - Softcover

Cinnamon Jones dreams of stepping on stage and acting her heart out like her famous grandparents, Redwood and Wildfire. But at 510 and 180 pounds, shes 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 Worlds Fair. The Chronicles may be magic or alien science, but the story is definitely connected to Cinnamons family secrets. When an act of violence wounds her family, Cinnamon and her theatre squad determine to solve the mysteries and bring her worlds together.Andrea Hairston's vision is breathtaking. She weaves sweeping historical narratives and mythology with the wisdom of the elders, and shines light on the pressing issues of the day. In her hands language is a blessing, and the familiar and the fantastic become magic, one and the same.Sheree Rene Thomas, editor of the award-winning Dark Matter anthology series.This is one of those books you start and realize youve been waiting to read for a long, long time without knowing. Will Do Magic for Small Change is a deep breath, a good friend, a hearbreaking, game-changing, life-affirming, truthtelling powerhouse. I love this book.Daniel Jos Older, author of Half-Resurrection Blues and Salsa Nocturna

Andrea Hairston is a Professor Theater and AFro-American Studies at Smith College, as well as the Artistic Director of Chrysalis theatre. Her plays have been produced at Yale Rep, Rites and Reason, the Kennedy Center, Stage West, and on Public Radio and Television. She has received many awards for her writing and directing, including an NEA Grant to Playwrights, a Ford Foundation grant and a Shubert Fellowship for Playwrighting. MINDSCAPE is her first novel.