Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


A semi-autobiographical debut novel that opens up a world

Like Vanessa by Tami Charles

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Like Vanessa is a sweet and realistic story of liking yourself, while finding your home, family and who you truly are. Tami Charles bases her character Vanessa on some of her own experiences making this an interesting combination of fact, fiction, history and contemporary issues. In 1983 Vanessa is a dark-skinned girl living in the inner city. Vanessa, her cousin, her beloved grandfather Pop-Pop and her father live in a small apartment. But they could not be farther apart if they live in a mansion. […]

Any day she’s with Dad is Father’s Day

Papa Brings Me the World by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

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I did not think I was going to like Papa Brings Me the World. When I picked up Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw’s book, I was in a less than great mood when reading it (which always colors my feelings of a book) but instead of me thinking it was “too sappy” or “too cute,” it put me in a better frame of mind. It just looked like it could be dull or overly preachy (or both). And, without reading, I assumed it was going to be […]

Two reviews for the price of one post

Baby Monster by Andrea Pfeiffer

I Want to Sleep Under the Stars by Mo Willems

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It is that time of year again: New reader copies. And two that found their way to my reading desk were a picture book called Baby Monster and an early reader called I Want to Sleep Under the Stars! (Unlimited Squirrels V03).  They have nothing in common except I read them the same day and knew a 250 review each would be hard. Andrea Pfeiffer created Monster Baby.  It is an amusing and rhyming text story about a couple (of scientists) who made a bundle […]

cbr12bingo – Happy!

Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms by John Hodgman

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“Hey, it’s John Hodgman!” John Hodgman used to spend a considerable amount of time on TV. He’s played, in his words, all sorts of “sexless weirds” in TV and commercials alike. He spent time on The Daily Show as, among other things, a deranged billionaire. He left his Daily Show role behind as Trump rose to power, as there is nothing funny anymore about criminally insane rich people.  He isn’t spending too much time on TV at the moment; it’s been years since he was the PC of […]

To Grandmother’s Garden We Go

Grandma's Gardens by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton

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I am not either a fan or not fan of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton. However, we had a copy of a book at work that had this grandmotherly looking lady on the cover that was bright, oversized and had garden in the title.  I am not a gardener, but this year I became a “plant mom” for the second time (my first was years ago and a Venus fly trap. It did not go well. Let’s say, do not accidently shut […]

The Waves of Grief

One Wave at a Time: A Story about Grief and Healing by Holly Thompson

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Death is never a pleasant subject and when it is a parent who has died (and they leave behind a young child), it can be extra unpleasant. All types of emotions can occur for that child and Holly Thompson created one way you and your child can deal with the subject in One Wave at a Time: A Story about Grief and Healing. As odd as it might seem, this is a lovely modern story about grief. It is not “in your face” or overly […]



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