Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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It’s the Chronic (WHAT) cles of Narnia

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

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Can anyone in their 30s talk about The Chronicles of Narnia without now recalling the SNL Digital Short Lazy Sunday starring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell? Because the minute I say the name of the series, that’s all I hear, them yelling about going to watch the movie version of the first book. As I started to write this review, I went and looked up the video and it still got a giggle, so well done to the future Mr. Jake Peralta. Buuuut anyhoo. Why […]

Unaccompanied Minors, side of Nazis

The Adventurous Four by Enid Blyton

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Set in an unnamed fishing village off the north east coast of Scotland, Blyton’s book follows three siblings, Tom and his younger twin sisters Jill and Mary, who are on late summer holidays with their parents.  Their older friend, Andy, is the son of a local fisherman, and the four of them are planning a day trip with Andy’s father’s boat, lent with permission.  On their day outing, a storm sweeps the boat off course, and the four children are shipwrecked on a small island […]

Annie with Blonde Curls

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

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This is the second time I’ve read a book this year and not known until the end that it was based on a true story. Just like my experience with Grace is Gone, I got to the end of Before We Were Yours to find A Note From the Author about the real life story of Georgia Tann. Tann is considered the “Mother of Modern Adoption,” which sounds like a really beautiful moniker, and in many ways, her work benefited children throughout the world. However, the dark […]

“A sound can move anything if it’s strong enough.”

Song For a Whale by Lynne Kelly

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Iris has always had a slight connection to whales, because she was named in honor of one. The day she was born, a whale beached itself in their hometown, and her family named her the same name scientists gave the whale, as its life left the world when hers began. But Iris’s connection to these creatures truly clicks when her teacher shares a video about a very unique whale, called Blue-55 by scientists, sometimes called the loneliest whale. Blue-55 is a hybrid breed, and sings […]

I feel about as prepared as this 12-year-old

Disaster Days by Rebecca Behrens

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Hannah forgot her inhaler today, again, which is annoying. But what is more annoying is that her mother continues to be overprotective and accuses her of irresponsibility anytime she forgets to bring it along. But Hannah is about to embark on her second babysitting job in their little Pelling island community, and that seems to be a good way to showcase her independence. She took the sitter course, after all, and it’s the first night she’ll watch Oscar and Zoe without their mom around.   What […]

Self-love out of self-loathing: Genesis Begins Again

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

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Genesis has taken hating herself to a new level: she has a long list of reasons she can’t stand herself and she’s adding to it every day. She gets help, too: from her father, who can’t help commenting in his drunken rants on how she had to end up dark like him instead of light like her beautiful mother, to the kids at school who’ve covered every cruel name for her dark skin.  Genesis has a hard time making friends anyway. Every time she starts […]



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