Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The stories of two young men

Hands by Torrey Maldonado

Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes

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I needed a short read or two. I found two, while terribly short looking, books that also felt like they would have some “meat” to them. And those books were Hands by Torrey Maldonado and Garvey in the Dark by Nikki Grimes. I was familiar with Grimes, as they are the author of Garvey’s Choice and others I enjoyed reading. But Maldonado was new. Hands looked like it would be a boxing book. And it is, somewhat. But really what the book is about are […]

“…loving Blackness enough to see its assets so that dark children matter.” Dr. Bettina L. Love

Hair Story by NoNieqa Ramos

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I’m having a hard time explaining just how much I loved this book, but I’m going to do my best. First off, Hair Story is own voices written & illustrated, and both the author, NoNieqa Ramos, and the illustrator, Keisha Morris, include their own hair stories at the back of the book, which was a lovely surprise.     Second, do you see these illustrations? The texture and colors and patterns and perfection of them?  You can see the love in that grandmother’s face, the joy in […]

It’s a literal railroad

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

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“Look outside as you speed through, and you’ll find the true face of America.” I was hesitant to start this book since I had so much trouble with finishing (really, starting) Zone One (from the same author) but I was pleasantly surprised that this immediately got my attention and I found myself compulsively reading it.  The story us about Cora, a slave in a plantation in Georgia.  Her mother had escaped when she was young and she is an outcast even from her fellow slaves.  […]

Take a Whisk to a Gun Fight

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I’m so angry at this book. Let me back up and start with all the amazing things this book has going for it. Let’s start with the description that first got my attention: black lesbian steampunk cozy mystery. For real, what’s not to love about that? How about that it’s set in an alternate history where there was no Civil War? Instead of the Civil War, there was a successful slave rebellion that led to the end of slavery in America? How about a late […]

Do any men grow up or do they only come of age?

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I’m taking on “The Dark Tower” series! It starts with The Gunslinger. It was reassuring to read King’s preface to the edition I picked up, in which he describes the creation of the story: he was very young, and he was very green, and it took him a very long time to finish the series. And then, as he finished, he went back and revised for clarity and consistency. I admire this, and appreciate it as a reader, and knowing that he was young and green […]



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