Cannonball Read 12

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About ElCicco

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Married, mom of two, history PhD, feminist. I've been participating in Cannonball Read since CBR4. I love to read, and writing reviews keeps me from reading without thinking. I feel like I owe it to the authors who entertain me to savor their creations. It's like slowing down and enjoying a delicious meal instead of bolting your food.

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Fresh Start and Fresh View on War in Afghanistan

The Breadwinner: A Novel by Deborah Ellis

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Cbr12bingo Fresh Start Published in 2000, The Breadwinner is the first book in a four-part YA series that looks at events in Afghanistan from the point of view of an eleven-year-old girl named Parvana. This young adult series introduces readers to the war-filled history of a country that had once been more open and free but has come under the control of the Taliban. The Breadwinner has been made into an animated film and graphic novel, which I read a few Cannonballs ago. I can […]

We are just specks of dust in this world, glimmering for a moment in the sunlight and then disappearing into nothing. You have to learn to take your peace with that.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line: A Novel by Deepa Anappara

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Cbr12bingo Violet (this is also a debut novel if you are looking for one) Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a sort of detective novel told from the point of view of a nine year old boy who dreams of solving the mystery of the missing children from his “basti” (neighborhood, or in this case slum) in a major city in India. Author Deepa Anappara was inspired to write this story after spending time as a journalist interviewing children in the slums of Delhi […]

Time to catch up on some history I never learned

Nat Turner by Kyle Baker

The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks and Canaan White

Muhammad Ali by Sybille Titeux and Amazing Ameziane

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cbr12bingo Pandemic If you want to catch up a bit on the history you weren’t taught in school, these three graphic novels are a great way to do so. Nat Turner gives detail and perspective on the 1831 slave rebellion that was probably mentioned in a textbook but only covered in passing. The Harlem Hellfighters reveals not only the bravery and heroism of the all-Black 369th regiment fighting in WWI Europe, but also the racism and violence they faced from their fellow Americans. Muhammad Ali […]

Ghost Story

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The author’s note to National Book Award nominated YA novel Thirteen Doorways states that  “… it is … a story about girls. Girls with ambitions, brains, desires, talents, hungers. It is a story about how the world like to punish girls for their appetites, even for their love.” Inspired by the author’s mother-in-law’s real life experience in a Chicago orphanage in the 1940s, Thirteen Doorways is the story of Francesca (Frankie), a teen who along with her older brother and younger sister has been left […]

Legacy

Red at the Bone:A Novel by Jacqueline Woodson

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How is it that some writers, in under 200 pages, can paint for the reader a vivid picture of 100 years of history, of family dynamics, love, pain, frustration, success, and loss, while others in nearly 800 pages can only manage to cover a fraction of the time and far less of the depth of feeling of their characters (looking at you)? Jacqueline Woodson is one of the finest writers of our time. She has won numerous awards, including for her critically acclaimed YA memoir-as-poetry […]



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