Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


More than five letter words in the English language

The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith

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I say The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith is a five but is more of a 4.8 due to a little hiccup for me. Which is the fact that Brooke is the name of the child of the story and the author. This seems a bit heavy handed. However, regardless if this is based on a true story or not, maybe naming the child Robin, Willow, Rose (etc.) might have been less daunting. Of course, it also could be while Brooke is a […]

More than one “Little Mama” in this story

Little Mama by Halim Mahmouidi

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I went at Little Mama with an idea in my head that it was going to be a teen mom dealing with her baby and things would be “Happily Ever After” at the end. And while there is a teen mom, who does all the “bad teen mom” things (from neglect to emotion and physical abuse) there is a lot more going on as well. And while it is not necessarily “Happily Ever After” there is a hopeful ending. Halim Mahmouidi gets inside things, but […]

Bullies, Lies and The Answer

Farah Rocks Fifth Grade t by Susan Muaddi Darraj

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The first point I need to make is that there were a few “technical” difficulties with the story for me. It reads as if it was book two/three in a series. While researching to see if it was a series, I noticed that it looks like just Farah Rocks will not be out until at least August 2020. However, there is enough information in Farah Rocks Fifth Grade to be a stand-alone title and a “prequel” is not needed. Susan Muaddi Darraj created a book […]

This Box Contains One Genuine Pet Rock

Swing It, Sunny by Jennifer L. Holm

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I read the Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm Sunny series of graphic novels out of order. The good thing for the adult reader is that they should be able to pick the story up regardless of where you start. However, for the aimed audience of ages 10 to 14 (maybe ages 8/9 for the stronger reader as there is some context that might be a bit “much” for the sensitive reader) it probably is best to read them in order. Therefore, first up is […]

Secrets and lies

A Change of Climate by Hilary Mantel

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A book about betrayal, A Change of Climate lets us into the lives of the Eldred family – Ralph, Anna and their children, and Ralph’s sister Emma. Brought up by deeply religious and incredibly rigid and intolerant parents, young Ralph was blackmailed into a life he didn’t want by his father’s threats to his sister’s dreams. Living a life of dutiful charity, sent first as missionaries to South Africa under apartheid and now back in rural Norfolk, what little the Eldreds have has always been […]

Surprisingly Serious Truths from a Seriously Silly Guy

Vacationland by John Hodgman

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John Hodgman is many things: Daily Show correspondent, a “PC”, podcast guest and host, internet judge, former literary agent, and generally droll New England weirdo. He wrote several books prior to  Vacationland, and all of those books were collections of “facts”. I say “facts”, as that is what he might say as well: Hodgman (with the help of Jonathan Coulton) created three full books of completely made-up facts that he presented as being VERY true. They are a weird delight, and sometimes they are correct, […]



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