Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus, elves, flying reindeer and lots of love

North for the Winter by Bobby Podesta

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Cbr17bingo N (N is for North and Nobody will believe what our main character does!) North for the Winter by Bobby Podesta is probably one of the best books I’ve read this year. I love the historical aspect (the birth of tracking Santa because of a misprint in an advertisement in 1955) and while maybe it was not the most original with the grief and family connection/friend interaction, the ending was worth that familiarity of grief and the healing process. It is fun and quirky. […]

Culture has many forms

The Runaway Pancake by Tiny Fisscher

Sleep Here, Wake There by Caio Zero

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cbr17bingo Culture (Runaway Pancake) and Work (Sleep Here, Wake There) When you are a reader of the children’s genre you find all types of books. One of my favorites are picture books as they are fun, unique and quick reads. Still, they can have deep messages and/or be quirky and fun.  The Runaway Pancake by Tiny Fisscher and illustrated by Sophie Pluim (currently available but read via an online reader copy) (CULTURE) is a fun and quirky one with a  fun take on the Gingerbread […]

To tell the truth, the whole truth

Muhammad Najem, War Reporter: How One Boy Put the Spotlight on Syria by Muhammad Najem

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cbr17bingo Diaspora (this could be culture, but he upheaval of the Syrian people unfortunately fits.) Sadly, this book, Muhammad Najem, War Reporter: How One Boy Put the Spotlight on Syria, is nonfiction. I say sadly as nobody, let alone children and teenagers should have to go through what he did. Muhammad Najem, Nora Neus and Julie Robine gathered their talents and told the story of Muhammad as he risked not only his life, but the lives of his family, friends and neighbors. He wanted to be […]

To Tuck or Not to Tuck or how to Survive BeerGate

Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney

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cbr17bingo TBR  A while back, I texted a friend about a book I was going to read. It was out of my usual read because it was not a graphic novel, it was nonfiction and it was for physically and mentally adults. It was Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney. My friend told me to let her know how it turned out. My first comment was, “Well, it didn’t stink.” And I said that with love. I expected something preachy and […]

Adopt from the Shelter for Slightly Magical Pets. It’s magically mischievous

Hocus and Pocus and the Spell for Home by A.R. Capetta

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cbr17bingo  Purple (cover) Recently I said in another review you can judge a book by its cover. Sometimes there is something about it that lets you know it is going to go in X direction (or XXX as a recent coloring book with an Alice from Wonderland in a dress so short you can tell if she was a natural blond or not). Thankfully the cover of Hocus and Pocus and the Spell for Home by A.R. Capetta and illustrator Charlene Chua tells a radically […]

I recommend BINGO and this book

The Last Time We Spoke: A Story of Loss by Jesse Mechanic

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cbr17bingo Rec’d: Grief stories are not new, but each is unique to that person. The main thing I came away with from reading The Last Time We Spoke: A Story of Loss, is that the author (Jesse Mechanic) is human: selfish, loving, scared, fearless, angry and hopeful. They are both a reliable and unreliable narrator as they are telling the story from their eyes and over a 20 year period. The art is tone setting and allows us a peek into the mind of someone […]



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