Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Sisters finding each other

Unhappy Camper by Lily LaMotte

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I kept trying to read Unhappy Camper by Lily LaMotte for ages. But I couldn’t find a reader’s copy or if I had an online one, it would “time out” on me. Yet, in early May I found an online one and I jumped on it! (Well, not literally, as I would have knocked over my computer screen). And what I would finally read was a fun, thoughtful and interesting story about siblings and learning about who you truly are. Fun illustrations by Ann Xu […]

Running straight into the mouth of danger….screaming all the way

Skull Cat (Book One): Skull Cat and the Curious Castle by Norman Shurtliff

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It is Scully the Cat’s first day as the new garden-keeper at a spooky castle. And by his second day, everyone has gone missing. Is it ghosts? Vampires? Goblins? Dark Sorcerers? Something worse?  You now know the tone of Skull Cat (Book One): Skull Cat and the Curious Castle by Norman Shurtliff. It is just off-the-walls bonkers. Scully is a clumsy, loving son, who is not cut out for adventure. But of course, he lands face first into it. And so much more. With his […]

Magic and Anxiety

Secret Passages 1985-1986 by Axelle Lenoir

The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor

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Secret Passages 1985-1986 by Axelle Lenoir – 3 stars In an effort to untangle her complicated feelings about the loss of her cosmic twin, author Axelle decides to unspool her life in an off-kilter autobiographical comic. This is a surreal and funny graphic novel which depicts a year in young Axelle’s life as she starts going to school, forms a strange connection with the forest by her home, and begins to suffer in the grip of acute anxiety. The art is both atmospheric and humorous, […]

Zombies, and cops, and religious zealots, Oh My!

Revival: Deluxe Collection, Volume 1 by Tim Seeley

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Do you like horror with romance, religion, horrific secrets and one crazy (and dead) poet? Then, you probably should read Revival: Deluxe Collection, Volume 1 (which includes volumes one to eleven). The gore and violence is borderline gratuitous at times and other times goes well over the decency mark. There is sex, drugs and probably some rock and roll (but I was too busy covering my virtual ears from the saw that’s (spoiler) chopping up a body, to notice). If you have any kind of […]

Pippi Longstocking meets the 21st century

Two Friends, One Dog, and a Very Unusual Week by Sarah L. Thomson

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If you are looking for a book that is Pippi Longstocking for the modern age, Two Friends, One Dog, and a Very Unusual Week by Sarah L. Thomson is the book you are looking for. If you like that clueless, tornado of a child character, you will love this early chapter book. Best for ages 8 to 10, it could work as a read aloud as well. The chapters are shorter, with a few, cute, simple illustrations (by Vin Vegel) to highlight plot points, allowing […]

One curse, one family, a lifetime of growing up

Salt Magic by Hope Larson

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Salt Magic by Hope Larson and illustrated by  Rebecca Mock is an experience book. You read it, you have an experience. Mine is different from yours, and yours is different from the third guy’s reading. Things are if Alice in Wonderland met Wizard of Oz and something else…. I can’t put my finger on it. The artwork is the main character, though we are being told the story which is narrated, in text, by a young girl in the years right after World War I. […]



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