Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Lupita Nyong’o shows you what it means to be beautiful

Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o

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Lupita Nyong’o has created a picture book that deals with the issue of loving yourself. Growing up darker than her family, Nyong’o always wanted to change her looks; wanted to be lighter, like her own family and like her character, Sulwe. And while the two took different journeys, the ending is the same. They both came to love who they were: inside and out. This is done in a not overly preachy manner and the journey to being yourself could be anyone’s journey due to […]

The story of the Undefeated

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander

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There is nothing exactly like the frustrations a reader/me experiences when they/me are/is trying to write the review of a book that is freaking (only I am not saying freaking) awesome and they/me cannot put that into words since the book says it best. The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander is a poetic look at the history of blacks in this country. Covering people from those we know such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to people we might know like poet Phillis Wheatley and musicians […]

Being the Man of the House

Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith

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Looking at Keeping the Night Watch I figured it was going to be like Nikki Grimes or Nikki Giovanni. However, what it is like is a mix of both Grimes, Giovanni and Jason Reynolds, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Jacqueline Woods and what I think Kwame Alexander sounds like. I was unfamiliar with Hope Anita Smith before getting this gem in my shiny green package (see Go Sports Ball! review). However, unlike the others, this was not a new book but from 2008 (paper 2014). I am […]

Gotta get Busy busy busy

Olive & Pekoe: In Four Short Walks by Jacky Davis

Lizzy McTizzy and the Busy Dizzy Day by Sarah Weeks

Woke Baby by Theodore Taylor III

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Once upon a time there was girl who enjoyed reading. And she enjoyed telling other people about these books as well. This girl likes stories about friendship. And while she is not a dog person, she found a must have for dog lovers in a book about two doggie friends named Olive and Pekoe. Olive & Pekoe: In Four Short Walks by Jacky Davis, is a story that is broken up into four different walks. Each of these walks highlights how different these friends are, […]

When life gives you hurdles, lead with your knee

Lu Track #4 by Jason Reynolds

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I have now come to the final book of Jason Reynolds’ Track series. Lu Track #4 covers the last leg of Ghost, Patina, Sunny and Lu during their time as newbies on a middle-school track and field team. It is bittersweet as I would like to know more, but also it is time to come to the finish line. We follow Lu as his changes include not being a full-time runner but is also doing the hurdles (which, of course, is a metaphor for his […]

Did Not Heart as Much as The Hate U Give

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

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Well, though I did enjoy this book, I didn’t love it as much as The Hate U Give. I could not help making comparisons between Starr and Bri (the main character in this one) and also about the story-lines. I think in the end that Bri was more frustrating to me as a reader. She really doesn’t listen to anyone, though in the end that causes her to forge her own path that can lift her family up out of poverty. However, how realistic is […]



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