Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Wanted: All types of brains

All Brains Welcome: Embracing ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, and More by Johanna Peyton and Olga Popova

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The picture book All Brains Welcome: Embracing ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, and More by Johanna Peyton and illustrator Olga Popova is not perfect, but close as it strongly introduces neurodivergent brain types in an easy-to-understand and accessible manner. We learn about 12 different types of situations a brain, and therefore its human, can deal with. It also includes neurotypical brains as just “part of the spectrum” of wonderful brain types. It gives an inclusive feeling. It is letting us see that there is no “other” in […]

Middle-grade picture book

Finding My Spark by Isabelle Jameson, Ann Marie Boulanger and Sylvain Cabot

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A recent online read (due mid August 2026) was Finding My Spark by Isabelle Jameson, Ann Marie Boulanger (translator), and Sylvain Cabot (illustrator). It is an upbeat and positive coming out story for a trans boy. The publisher description says it is a middle grade read but the picture book format might be a turnoff for that age. Yet, it  could work as a read-aloud in the classroom or siblings dealing with a sibling or classmate’s transition. Due to the translation there were some bumps […]

One thread to connect them all

One Red Thread: A Story of Connection by Lindsay Ward

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One Red Thread: A Story of Connection by Lindsay Ward (author and illustration, read via an online reader copy, due September 2026) has everything I dislike about a book. It is too sweet, too cute, too happy-joy-joy, too kumbaya-yah. And yet, while it was too much for me, I think this book has great potential for all ages, including adults. And, for some reason, despite my dislikes I really liked this book.  The illustrations are cute, simple but are not lacking. I like how the […]

And I didn’t even mention it felt like it was book two to start with.

Silver Vessels by Steve Orlando

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If the graphic novel, Silver Vessels by Steve Orlando and illustrated by Katia Vecchio was any less believable, I would expect to see Bobby Ewing in the shower at the end of it. If you know that reference you’re not part of the aimed at ages of 10 and up. Who will  love the precocious teens, their hunting mysterious sunken treasure, the mysterious APEX bad guys, the coming of age elements. But this adult reader feels there were a lot of really unbelievable parts. My […]

I’ve honestly lost track how many times I have read one and hope I can repeat it with the other title

The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken

Hello, Ocean! by Corinna Luyken

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Honestly, I have lost track of how many times I have read The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken. I know I have read it at least once via an online reader and one reading of the finished book, but I am sure it has been more. In fact, it could be up to four or five times. And this is because I forget I read it, but as soon as I do I remember, I remember it was a pleasure to read each time. […]

There once was a ship with an old gal and a dog

Whale, That Was Unexpeted by Casey Lyall

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There once was an old dame who was …. Whale, no spoilers   Okay, a few spoilers.  Whale, That Was Unexpeted by Casey Lyall combines the House that Jack Built, There Was an Old Woman, Moby Dick and Pinocchio all into a fairly new story. There is much in the way of familiarity to the story (we have a whale, we have impossible swallowing by said whale, rhyme, and a goat). But there is something new as well (there is a dog, sea lion, a […]



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