Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


People and things we hold dear

Loose Threads: A Story about Me, Mom, and Dad by Airien Ludin

Boots by Elizabeth Pulsford

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An unpleasant subject is the subject of death and grief. However, it happens, and a good way to talk about it is with a story. I will say grab two large, soft, boxes of tissues and you will need them, but you won’t regret trying out the books below. (Both were read via online reader copies.) Loose Threads: A Story about Me, Mom, and Dad written and illustrated by Airien Ludin (due mid/late October 2024) is a story about how a young girl has everything […]

How I used weltschmerz to inspire my reviews

P Is for Palestine : A Palestine Alphabet Book by Golbarg Bashi

The Many Problems of Rochel-Leah by Jane Yolen

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Currently the world events should be causing us all weltschmerz (thank you to the word of the day at our morning meeting). It means “world pain” (or a feeling of sadness about the state of the world. Melancholy or world weariness). And I am naive enough to believe that if we start reading about the people involved, it can show us how we are not different from each other, but how our similarities should be bringing us together.  Like P Is for Palestine : A […]

Two books. Two different adventures.

Campingland by Ame Dyckman

Team Unihorn and Woolly #1: Attack of the Krill by Alexis Frederick-Frost

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I follow Ame Dyckman on X (formerly Twitter). I think she is a hoot and a holler and most of her books follow that concept. They might not have her blue hair (or pink or yellow or …) but they do have spark and sizzle. And Campingland (illustrated by James Burks) does have spark and sizzle… and a skunk, a few squirrels, fish, buggies, marshmallows, hot dogs, a beaver and a very interesting way to go camping. This is a funny and cute way of […]

Robin’s Journey

Robin’s Worlds by Rainie Oet

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The Robin of this story is a nonbinary child who is living with their uncle. And while there is reference to the mother in a few places, most noticeably at the end of the story, we never really know why Robin is not with their parents. Due to the way things are set up, I am assuming we must assume the mother passed away and the mystical journey that Robin takes on their birthday to another world is one of coming to terms with this […]

Become booked

Gray by Laura Dockrill

Gwendolyn and the Light: A Picture Book by Susan Yoon

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Picture books are fun, but are hard books to write reviews about. There are usually only a few hundred words (at best) and the stories short enough that to give a description of things means you told the whole book. Recently I found two books that I enjoyed, but I am not saying, “OMG BEST BOOKS EVER” about. They are cozy, their audiences are people who like a softer toned, but strong read. Please read on to learn more about them…  The picture book Gray […]

Finding yourself

A Sky of Paper Stars by Susie Yi

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A Sky of Paper Stars by Susie Yi is probably more of a 3.5 than a pure 4 rating as there were a few bumps for me. However, I enjoyed seeing Korean culture, some of it I knew and other aspects new. My unscientific opinion is that probably Korean culture is not known well by the aimed age reader (a stronger 8 to 12). My experience with Asian based characters seems to lean towards Chinese first, with Japanese second, then the people of Taiwan and […]



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