Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The community of solstice

Winter Solstice Wish by Kate Allen Fox and Elisa Paganelli

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I am not jumping up and down and saying Winter Solstice Wish by Kate Allen Fox and illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (currently available, but I read via an online reader copy) is the best solstice book ever, but I am jumping in to say this is a nice and slightly different approach to the subject. What I have seen for solstice books tend to show more winter scenes and events done to celebrate the seasonal moment. When we find the shortest day of the year, […]

Grecia the toucan Can!

Building a Beak: How a Toucan's Rescue Inspired the World by Becca McMurdie

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We can have artificial intelligence, limbs, and more for humans and we can even have a 3-D printed beak for a toucan. Don’t believe me? Then read all about it in Building a Beak: How a Toucan’s Rescue Inspired the World by Becca McMurdie and illustrated by Diana Hernández due in June 2025. (I had the opportunity to read it via an online reader copy). Not to spoil things, but I will say that how a toucan got a life saving “nose job” is probably […]

I keep telling myself, “I do not like horror…..”

Hide: The Graphic Novel by Kiersten White and Scott Peterson.

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I keep telling myself, I do not like horror. Yet, I keep picking up horror related books, and did so with Hide: The Graphic Novel. It is adapted from the novel by Kiersten White, illustrated by Veronica Fish and Andy Fish, with the adaptation by Scott Peterson. Now it isn’t “gory horror” but yes, there is gore (it is about 14 people trying to survive the “game” and well, the stakes are pretty high). It is icky and there is blood. But you know, tastefully […]

Ode to love (self & others) and the twisted path to it

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai

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I have wanted to read Stone Fruit by Lee Lai for several years now. I have had online reader copies, opportunities to get the finished book and then one day I said, “Self, we are asking our library for an interlibrary loan if they don’t have it on shelf.”  And then I read it and thought: Perhaps this is the most straightforward maze of a story I’ve recently read. Not an easy read, but moves at the quickest snail pace. It is a combination of […]

For the dog lovers (you’ll need tissues for the funny and the sad moments)

Hazel the Handful by Jamie Michalak and Matt Myers

Where Are You, Brontë? by Tomie dePaola and Barbara McClintock

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Are you a dog person? Are you looking for two new books to read about dogs? Well the first book below has a theme of dog and sibling rivalry. And the second, well it is a bit more sad. It is about the loss of a beloved pet named Bronte by one of my all time favorite authors. Hazel the Handful by Jamie Michalak and illustrated by Matt Myers (due early April 2025; read via an online reader is a cute story about sibling rivalry […]

The ghosts with the most

Gilbert and the Ghost  by Heather Pierce Stigall

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Ghost stories are nice year round. Especially if they have a theme that is about something other than the greatest holiday ever, Halloween. The below books have ghosts in unique and fun ways.  I do not know why 632 Savannah Street is an important fact to have in the story of Gilbert and the Ghost by Heather Pierce Stigall  and illustrated by Jess Mason (due mid-August 2025, read via an online reader copy),  but I’m sure when you read it, you’ll figure out what I missed.  […]



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