Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Took a “year” to read, but a lifetime for the poet to live

The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde

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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 […]

Life Through Poetry

Ain’t Never Not Been Black by Javon Johnson

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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 […]

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

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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 […]

Don’t need no blue suede I want my Red Shoes!

Red Shoes by Karen English

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Going to a shelf and randomly grabbing something off it can be fun. You never know what you will find. But if you are in the mood for finding something a bit easier, displays in bookstores are great. This is how I located Red Shoes by Karen English and illustrated by Ebony Glenn. Red Shoes is a fun story about the life of a pair of shoes. Along with simple (but not simplistic) text, there are great illustrations with bold colors and perfectly detailed to […]

One sibling on the way for a special big brother

When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff

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When Aidan Became a Brother is one of those books that can be a bit difficult to write about. Mostly because how do you talk about it without telling the whole story? Also, as a picture book, 250 words might be more than the entire book has. Therefore, I will say this book is a realistic journey from being born female to becoming Aidan. I am assuming this as Kyle Lukoff has had a similar journey themselves and therefore can honestly portray a child taking […]

If you want to read a book that makes you sorry you read it, but in a good way, this is for you.

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

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Riot Baby is one of those books that you really cannot talk about. And yet, of course, you must. But if you do, you tell the whole story. It is raw. It is gritty. It is gut wrenching. But if you do not, people will miss out on something…… maybe special; maybe horrible; maybe great; maybe…. I will leave it up to you to decide. As you follow Ella and Kev through South Central, Harlem, Rikers Island and back to Watts, Tochi Onyebuchi will make […]



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