Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Never too late to educate

Blues Boy: The B. B. King Story by Alice Faye Duncan and Carl Joe Williams

I Am the River: Sarah E. Ray and the Bob-Lo Boat by Patricia Lee Gauch, Leah Henderson and Kristle Marshall

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It might be the middle of February, but it is never too late to start reading about Black History. My favorite historical stories are about people we do not know a lot about. Or if we do know them, they are not huge. That is why when I saw Blues Boy: The B. B. King Story by Alice Faye Duncan, and illustrator Carl Joe Williams (available but read via an online reader) I almost did not read it. I mean, BB King is cool, don’t […]

She just wanted to be a doctor

Carlotta's Special Dress: How a Walk to School Changed Civil Rights History by Carlotta Walls Lanier, Lisa Frazier Page and Vanessa Brantley-Newton

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Carlotta’s Special Dress: How a Walk to School Changed Civil Rights History by Carlotta Walls Lanier, Lisa Frazier Page, and illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton   Read  via online reader, the book is actually out and about for purchase and reading. This book seemed like it would be “okay” or a nice book on a person I knew a little about, what a nice way to introduce them to kids, but would not be anything “wow.” Don’t judge a book by its cover and don’t assume because […]

Of course, after building up this title, you will need to wait until April 2026 for reading

Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp (A Picture Book) by Minoru Tonai, Jolene Gutiérrez, and Chris Sasaki

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When you read as many picture books as I do, once in a while one of two things (or both) can happen. The first is you think you’ve read it before (or at least a sample) or things start to feel similar due to similar subjects. A subject I am interested in are the Japanese-American internment camps from World War II.  This is partly because I have family who is Japanese-American and when I realized this could be them it made it personal (I know […]

1880s romance and human rights

Renegade Girls by Nora Neus and Julie Robine

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When I started the Nora Neus and Julie Robine graphic novel, Renegade Girls, I was not enjoying it. Things felt too simple, romanticized, not original and terribly slow paced. I already knew the ending. Or so I thought. Granted, there was the obvious ending (if you are paying attention) but things did not take the obvious path to get there. We have a realistic look at the troubles of the factor workers and we see the ugly but it is not gratuitous. In fact, if […]

Friends since the 1940s

Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped by Kyle Lukoff

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Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped is by Kyle Lukoff and illustrated by Levi Hastings. I had hoped that it would be something different than the usual LGBTQ book, as I have read several and wanted more things. The fact that Lukoff is using the code phrase, “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” made it seem promising. And while they did not disappoint, as an adult reader, I’m still looking for more. […]

My Name Is Brave

My Name Is Brave: LGBTQIA+ by William Anthony

My Name Is Brave: The Environment by William Anthony

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My Name Is Brave: LGBTQIA+  by William Anthony (due January 2025) is a nice book and a good introduction on LGBT+ issues, but it has been done before. You could find this information in almost any book on the subject. However, the addition of showing how the reader can partake in helping this or another cause they need to be brave for, is good.  The mixture of photographs and drawing bring to life a handful of advocates. In a few pages each we see a transgender […]



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