Cannonball Read 9

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

Is a Western fantasy set in a Middle Eastern environment an Eastern?

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

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Amani Al-Hiza is poor orphan, raised by uncaring relatives in a small desert town where most inhabitants work in the local mine. She knows that if she doesn’t collect enough money to get out soon, she’ll end up as third wife to her unpleasant uncle, a fate she would rather die than accept. One night, she disguises herself as a boy and enters a shooting competition at the local watering hole, trying to win enough money to finally leave. She’s an excellent shot, and sure that she will win, until she meets the mysterious Jin and things escalate out of […]

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Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

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10/15/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:88 |

“I read a John Green book last night” should be a valid reason for skipping work

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

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John Green is a magician. I can’t properly express my love for this man I’ve never met but Turtles All The Way Down may be his masterpiece. “The thing about a spiral is, if you follow it inward, it never actually ends. It just keeps tightening, infinitely.” Aza suffers from severe anxiety, particularly a fear of contracting C. diff., and lives most of her life inside her own head. Luckily her best friend, Daisy (side bar, John Green continues to write the best best friends in fiction), talks enough for the two of them. Years ago Aza went to ‘sad camp’ and met a boy […]

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Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

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10/12/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:110 |

“I am as blank as a piece of white paper in a world with no pencils.”

Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King

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Did I miss something? Did I read a different version of Still Life With Tornado than everyone else? Because I hated this book. I hated Sarah. I hated Umbrella. I didn’t like the magical realism aspect of having multiple Sarahs that everyone could see despite every other aspect of the book being set in a realistic world. The Art Club/ Miss Smith story line had nothing to do with the big reveal! Was it even really resolved, or just there? The “pay off” at the end was not enough to put up with the constant repeating that “nothing is original” and that “everything is […]

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Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

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10/11/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:109 |

Wrestling with grief and the past

Red Ink: A Novel by Julie Mayhew

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Red Ink is a young adult/teen novel about grieving the loss of a parent and learning the painful truth about the past. The novel is narrated by 15-year-old Melon Fourakis in a manner that takes the reader back and forth through time, jumping ahead to the days and months after her mother Maria’s unexpected death and back to the time preceding it. In doing so, author Mayhew keeps readers on the edge of their seats and thoroughly engaged in unraveling the mystery of “The Story” that Maria left to her daughter. When Melon begins her story, we know it is […]

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Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

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10/3/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:44 |

You’ve Got to Go Dig Those Holes

Holes by Louis Sachar

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I remember first reading Holes when I was in the 5th grade; it was always taken out of the library and I had to put myself on the waiting list to check it out. And I absolutely loved it back then. A while after this, the movie adaptation came out, and since then I’ve watched it about a million times (give or take). So I thought, hey, why not revisit it now, after just finishing a different novel, which was so long and detailed? A nice little palate cleanser. And honestly, it’s almost word-for-word exactly the same as the movie, […]

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Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

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9/29/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:20 |

Banned Book Week Selection: Are you kidding me this was the most challenged book of 2016? Has everyone lost their minds?

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki

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Each year, I try to read a frequently challenged or banned book during Banned Books Week (September 24-30). I have very particular feelings about the concept of banning or suppressing works of fiction because they do not fit into a particular worldview (I’m staunchly against it). Do I think every book should have an audience and be read? Probably not. However, I do believe in our ability to choose for ourselves what we should read, and that banning or challenging books which only serve to widen our understanding of the world and people around us is shameful. For the life […]

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Purchase This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

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9/28/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:53 |

I Think I Finally Love YA Again

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

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In a nutshell, this book is what I had hoped The Mortal Instruments series would have been, and as you know from my review of City of Bones, I was less than happy with the cliches, teenage drama, and terrible love triangle. I’m happy to report that literally NONE of that exists in The Raven Boys. Even though the characters are all high schoolers, and they do believable high school things, this was a mature plot with mature characters. It tackled big issues in comprehensive ways, and even though there is a bit of a cute-meet and some cliche sounding destiny, nothing in this book […]

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Purchase The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

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9/25/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:22 |

“The poems were cool. The best ones were like bombs, and when all the right words came together it was like an explosion.”

The Crossover, Booked by Kwame Alexander

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I’m still making my way through the constantly growing pile of books I need to read for work. I need to be able to comment on some of our “new and noteworthy” books picks, so if parents or teachers want recommendations, I can easily help them out. Oh, your kid likes dark fantasy and Neil Gaiman? Try The Girl Who Drank The Moon. You say your kid likes sports, but really isn’t much of a reader? Well, then get some books by Kwame Alexander. And get them now. These books are my first foray into reading stories told in prose. […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Purchase The Crossover, Booked by Kwame Alexander or any item from amazon via our link.

Funds raised are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name.

Share the post "“The poems were cool. The best ones were like bombs, and when all the right words came together it was like an explosion.”"

9/23/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:54 |


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