Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

When there is trouble, call for these cousins

Blue Stars Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem by Kekla Magoon, Cynthia Leitich Smith

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Blue Stars Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem is about two cousins, Riley and Maya, who are radically different, but must stop the evil Vice Principal Balderdash (whose name rhymes with Baldera$$ and matches his personality) from taking away all the fun and only have Detention! Of course, the cousins have a rocky start, but with gadgets and a distraction that would make James Bond jealous, they will best their archnemesis! The two girls are different not just because of personalities (Riley is bubbly, artistic, […]

History is not only about the past.

Obaasan's Boots by Janis Bridger and Lara Jean Okihiro

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It took me months to read Obaasan’s Boots by Janis Bridger and Lara Jean Okihiro because I was reading it via an online reader copy at lunch and when I could sneak it in on my phone (which was not as often as I’d like as there was always something else to read or do when there). This long time reading probably affected the biggest issue I had which was, I was not always sure which cousin was who. Charlotte and Lou are marked by […]

Old and New Traditions

Just Us by Molly Beth Griffin

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I am one of those people who do not like change. Unless it’s when I get money back from a purchase that I have made. Seriously, though, change can be hard for people and children especially. And especially when it has become a tradition filled with pleasant memories, good feelings and food (I do like food).  Molly Beth Griffin’s Just Us shows how when something changes, it can also be a good thing, just different. The narrator of the story is upset that the winter […]

The witch and werewolf go to school and some other things…but it’s not a romance

The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods by Svetlana Chmakova

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Where do witches go to school? Well if you are the kids in this book, and are a special kind of witch called a Weirn, you go to the school the humans do. Only at night, after everyone has left and magic makes it morph into a school for the magical creatures. All the usual suspects are there in Svetlana Chmakova’s graphic novel, The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods, the mean girl (who used to be a friend and has […]

I believe in mermaids and sister-cousins

My Cousin's Mermaid: A Story from Poland by Anna Staniszewski

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cbr15bingo Europe I saw it in a catalog. I saw it online. I was thinking it was a, “I probably should read this” book, but maybe not right away. Then my book dealer hooked me up with a sample copy of My Cousin’s Mermaid: A Story from Poland. It was now time to read (except I had to actually work and not have fun by reading. A drawback to getting your book fix sent to you at work).be Anna Staniszewski took the legends, folklore and stories […]

We are one big crazy family

Dad and Daddy’s Big Big Family by Seamus Kirst

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Little Harper meets her big web of family members in Dad and Daddy’s Big Big Family. The fun part of this book is right from the start you know you are getting a modern story. We have two dads to start us off. And one Dad (not Daddy) is having a family reunion, where Harper is going to be a lot of people, she does not know but told are her family. But when her newly meet cousin, Noah, said he thought families lived together, […]



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