Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Imagination is real

The Book Censor’s Library: A Novel by Bothayna Al-Essa

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This is a wonderful book about imagination, books, libraries, and censorship. It’s a love song to some literary classics and a picture of a dystopian not-too-distant future where most literature is banned and burned. How far would you go to preserve the ideas and literary creations that have formed us? What is worth saving? What price would you pay? The characters in this book have no names; rather they have titles or descriptors. The main character is the Book Censor, a man who wants only […]

I wholeheartedly agree with you, but. . .

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

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“Ronnie Childers was tripping his balls off in Jackson Square when an angel of the Lord appeared before him. She was a glorious vision, dressed in black gym leggings and a Bikini Kill T-shirt, her golden hair twisted into a messy knot on the top of her head.” First of all, best opening lines I’ve read in ages. I flipped open to page one to get a flavor of what this book was like and didn’t want to put it down. That’s a strong beginning, […]

Fiction That Could Unfortunately Be Nonfiction

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

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This is probably a book that will make you angry. And it should, because it is fiction that could just as easily be nonfiction. We follow high school senior Justyce during his run-ins with the police and his interactions with peers, some of whom are racist but certainly don’t think that they are. After his first run-in with the police, he decides to start an experiment to be like Martin Luther King Jr. He revisits King’s writings and writes letters to him, which is where […]

Banned books and hope in a small town

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

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After having read The Change and The Women of Wild Hills, I decided to pick up Kirsten Miller’s other adult novel. With her other two adult novels, Miller had a big magic realism component and dealt with quite a few larger, topical issues. This one takes on a lot of similar themes but at a more intimate level, in a small Southern town setting. Surprisingly, I think I enjoyed this more than The Change or The Women of Wild Hill! Lula Dean is bitter – […]

Let’s talk about [redacted], baby!

It's NOT the Stork! by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley

It's So Amazing! by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley

It's Perfectly Normal! by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley

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In my continued effort to be better acquainted with commonly banned and “controversial” children’s books, I dug into three sex ed books by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley. It’s Perfectly Normal is the book that is most commonly banned among the three, because it is the most comprehensive and progressive. But I was curious to see how each book differed, as they are aimed at specific age groups. It’s NOT the Stork is for ages 4 and up, It’s So Amazing is recommended for […]

I finally read Gender Queer!

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

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I’m sure this book has already been discoursed to death here at Cannonball Read, so I won’t get too much into that. (It was a book club pick, yes?) I finally decided to read it because I have been much more active in my local anti-censorship organization this year, and wanted to be able to better defend the book if someone came after me with questions about it. The book is so stunning, warm, and earnest. It’s the most thorough exploration of this specific form […]



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