Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Best Alphabet Book

P is For Pterodactyl by Raj Haldar & Chris Carpenter

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I don’t recall how I first heard of this book, but I bought it for myself just for kicks, and it’s a hoot. This is a children’s book, but only after your kids know the alphabet pretty well, or it will confuse them. The authors find words that don’t sound like they start with the letters they actually start with, like pterodactyl, knight, gnat, etc. There’s even a word that starts with a silent B, which I had no idea existed. It’s for bdellium (a […]

“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 […]

“Because all the words I could think of—bullying, teasing, flirting—seemed too simple, too small, to hold all the hurt I was feeling.”

Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee

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Mila used to love wearing her green fuzzy sweater. That is, until a group of boys at school started calling it lucky.  It began at recess one day, when the boys joined into a group hug between her friends uninvited. Since then, they’ve narrowed their focus in on her. One day, a boy brushes her shoulder and she’s pretty sure it was intentional.  Another, someone wants to touch her fuzzy sweater for luck in the basketball game. One day, a boy asks her for a […]

“But if you could tell science like a story, I’d pay attention.”

The Line Tender by Kate Allen

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Lucy’s mother was a marine biologist who was particularly interested in sharks. People told her mother that this enthusiasm would get her killed, but it was a brain aneurysm that ended up taking her life. Lucy was seven when that happened, and while she still finds herself occasionally swept up in bouts of grief, she and her father are getting by. Friends and neighbors help a lot. Fred from across the street is her best friend, though now at 13 years old, she is beginning […]



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