Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Follow the rules. Get Revenge.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds and Danica Novgorodoff

October 24, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I was not sure I was going to like the graphic novel version of Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. It started out oddly, slow, and frankly a tad uninteresting. (Semi-spoiler) even the death of one character was not grabbing. It was not until the main character seeks revenge did things get intriguing. The way the character is going to/getting revenge, the way they are slowly building to a climax (that makes the information come to light, showing the foreshadowing), the way the other characters […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Young Adult Tagged With: African-American, brothers, code of ethics, Danica Novgorodoff, family, ghosts, Jason Reynolds, Jason Reynolds and Danica Novgorodoff, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR14 Review No:534 · Genres: Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Young Adult · Tags: African-American, brothers, code of ethics, Danica Novgorodoff, family, ghosts, Jason Reynolds, Jason Reynolds and Danica Novgorodoff, Social Themes ·
Rating:
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Long review for a short, interesting book

I’m a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee de la Cruz

August 17, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The graphic novel I’m a Wild Seed was a book I really wanted to enjoy. After all, it is part of a new (to me) publisher where I have enjoyed and respected their message in other books read. But, while I appreciate everything Sharon Lee de la Cruz said and created, their story did not resonate with me a hundred percent. I am starting off with, I thought de la Cruz identified as They, but the author biography (and praise of the book) does say […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Romance, Short Stories, Young Adult Tagged With: African-American, glbtq, identity, sexual minority culture, Sharon Lee de la Cruz

BlackRaven's CBR14 Review No:448 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Romance, Short Stories, Young Adult · Tags: African-American, glbtq, identity, sexual minority culture, Sharon Lee de la Cruz ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

When Langston Found Langston

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

March 30, 2021 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome is an interesting look at the late 1940s, Chicago, growing up and literature that was way too short. I would have enjoyed more of the history of the time and seen a bigger connection to the two people called Langston. Still, I enjoyed what I read but, like I said, there needed to be more: more of the history of the times (Why were the black families moving north? Why were the soldiers were coming back? Even the fact that […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, History, Poetry, Religion, Young Adult Tagged With: African-American, Alabama, bullies, Chicago, Death, family, father and son, friends, grief, Langston Hughes, Lesa Cline-Ransome, loss

BlackRaven's CBR13 Review No:125 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, History, Poetry, Religion, Young Adult · Tags: African-American, Alabama, bullies, Chicago, Death, family, father and son, friends, grief, Langston Hughes, Lesa Cline-Ransome, loss ·
Rating:
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Took a “year” to read, but a lifetime for the poet to live

The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde

January 4, 2021 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I was given The Black Unicorn: Poems by Audre Lorde a few years ago as a Cannonball book exchange gift. Like so many of my books, it was misplaced for a bit (I am not the most organized person to be frank), but recently found it hidden among other lost souls. I started reading this collection of poetry from 1978 (my edition revised in 1995) in 2020 and finished last night (January 3, 2021). Took a whole year! (Okay, year jokes over). Why did this […]

Filed Under: History, Non-Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: African American writers, African-American, Audre Lorde, glbtq, lesbian writers, women writers

BlackRaven's CBR13 Review No:3 · Genres: History, Non-Fiction, Poetry · Tags: African American writers, African-American, Audre Lorde, glbtq, lesbian writers, women writers ·
· 0 Comments

Life Through Poetry

Ain’t Never Not Been Black by Javon Johnson

December 8, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Ain’t Never Not Been Black is a book I wish I did not have to rate. It is a personal read about the journey one person (our poet Javon Johnson) takes growing up a black and living as a black man in this country. It is well written in straight forward poems that combine the dark and hope of this journey. Johnson’s words are not set for anyone group of people. All people can relate to and learn from his words. The straight forwardness of […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: African-American, family, Javon Johnson

BlackRaven's CBR12 Review No:389 · Genres: Non-Fiction, Poetry · Tags: African-American, family, Javon Johnson ·
Rating:
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Names, family and two neat books

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

The Gifts of Being Grand: For Grandparents Everywhere by Marianne Richmond

November 27, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

A short (all of two books) list of picture books follows this paragraph. Wait, is it a list if it is only two? Anyway, both books would be good for gifts to different people. The first one is a great gift for a child and the second, for grandparents. Your Name is a Song talks about how it can be difficult for a child who has a name that is difficult to pronounce. Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow shows how one mother shows her child how beautiful her […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction Tagged With: African-American, Cultural, family, grandchildren, grandparents, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Luisa Urbie, Marianne Richmond, names, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance

BlackRaven's CBR12 Review No:373 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction · Tags: African-American, Cultural, family, grandchildren, grandparents, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Luisa Urbie, Marianne Richmond, names, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance ·
Rating:
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