Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: ElCicco's Quick Questions interview.)

ElCicco's Reviews:

She’s fine but I’m a mess

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

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Cbr12bingo Book Club Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine begins with the premise of many a romantic comedy but takes the reader into serious and unexpected territory. Gail Honeyman’s debut novel, which garnered numerous awards, tells the story of 30-year-old Eleanor from her unique and often hilarious point of view as she plans to win over the man of her dreams. Yet Eleanor’s romantic aspirations are only a small part of this entertaining and thought-provoking novel which examines depression, abuse, and the power of true friendship. […]

The Root of All Evil

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump, PhD

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Cbr12bingo Money Mary L. Trump’s book has been called a Trump family “tell all,” but this is less a family history than an analysis of the family dynamics that created Fred Trump’s little monster, Donald. There are some interesting family details there, most of which have already been revealed in the media hype surrounding its release, but Mary L. Trump spends much of her book (which is less than 250 pages and a pretty quick read) trying to explain how Donald became the self aggrandizing […]

“This is Afghanistan …. What do you want — a happy ending?”

My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis

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Cbr12bingo Red In this final novel of Deborah Ellis’ The Breadwinner series, we are reunited with Parvana, the young girl who disguised herself as a boy in order to support her family and survive in war torn, Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Several years have passed, Parvana is now a teenager, and Afghanistan is still rocked by war. US troops and bases are nearby, and the Taliban is still terrorizing the people, especially women and girls. Through her YA novels, Ellis shows the perspective of a girl, […]

The story of a child refugee

Mud City by Deborah Ellis

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Cbr12bingo Yellow Mud City, the third novel in Ellis’ The Breadwinner series, is the story of Shauzia, the best friend of The Breadwinner’s main character Parvana. In book 1, readers learned that Shauzia, like Parvana, was pretending to be a boy in Taliban-controlled Kabul so that she could work and earn money to support her family at home. Women and girls were denied education and independence and to break the rules was to invite severe punishment, even death. While we don’t learn a lot about […]

“Tanks were normal. Bombs were normal. Why couldn’t eating be normal?”

Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis

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CBR12bingo Green Parvana’s Journey is the second book in Ellis’ The Breadwinner series and picks up shortly after Parvana and her father have left Kabul, Afghanistan, circa 2000, in search of the rest of their family. Ellis continues to focus on matters of war and violence from the perspective of Afghanistan’s refugee children. Like The Breadwinner, this is a short YA novel, appropriate for children age 10 or so and older. It shows the horrors of war and family separation through the eyes of Parvana […]

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 […]



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