SMITH, AJ

Folks living in the insular 1930s African American community of Sardis, Alabama, believe in equal measure in their God and in folk magick, or hoodoo. Despite his name, twelve-year-old Hoodoo Hatcher doesn’t have a speck of magick in him, or at least none that he can detect. But when a Stranger comes to town, a nasty, foul-smelling incarnation of evil, Hoodoo discovers deep within himself the strength and heart to call upon that magick. Before his untimely demise, Hoodoo’s desperate father tried to cheat death by transporting part of his soul into Hoodoo. Now the only way Hoodoo can free his father and allow him to pass to the other side is by destroying the Stranger, who will stop at nothing to prevent this from happening. At first reluctant, Hoodoo eventually decides to take on the fearful demon, arming himself with powerful mojo and following this axiom: “A wise man don’t look for danger, but he’ll die for a cause he knows is righteous.” Filled with folk and religious symbols, this creepy Southern Gothic ghost story is steeped in time and place. Hoodoo’s earnest first-person narrative reveals a believable innocent who can “cause deeds great and powerful.” His frequent folksy asides to the reader—“Hoppin’ John is black-eyed peas and rice, if you didn’t know”; “An outhouse is where people go to do their business, if you didn’t know”