Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


I didn’t do justice to these books, so ignore my review and just get copies of the books!

Growing Up under a Red Flag: A Memoir of Surviving the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Ying Chang Compestine

My Name Is Long as a River by Suma Subramaniam

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I had the reading bug the other day, and found two books that are different, but important to know about. Both were read via online reader copies, and are future publications. I did have some trouble writing a review for them, as I wanted to do the subjects justice. I hope you, come Spring, pick up copies and enjoy, too. Growing Up under a Red Flag: A Memoir of Surviving the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Ying Chang Compestine is an eye opening look at the […]

Take That you meanie witch and your crazy, supernatural wild boar!

Took by Mary Downing Hahn

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The graphic novel adaptation of the novel Took, has similar qualities to other Mary Downing Hahn books and the “classic 1980s thrillers” I read as a kid (such as Pike, Stine, Cusick, etc.). Those themes are that the “stereotypical normal” (two parents, two to four kids, sometimes a pet or two, and having moved from the city to the country) has fractured and there is supernatural at work. It is a realistic thriller, but with folklore and legends attached. This is a familiar story (the […]

Pirate Gal meets Damsel in a Beauty and Beast remake

The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl  by Emily Riesbeck and Nora J. Barna

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The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl by Emily Riesbeck and Nora J. Barna is a mixture of the novel Legends & Lattes by Baldree, a bit of Vox Machina, a smidgen of Guardians of the Galaxy (think Yondu) and “that other thing I can’t remember off the top of my head.”  There are mature themes (pirates, GLBTQ romance, disowning by family, religion, revenge), but the humor and a little mystery are combined to take the edge off of things. This story is familiar, as it is a “be […]

No trick, just treat

Monster Support Group: The Werewolf's Tale  by Laura Suárez

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Who hasn’t felt like they were a monster once or twice in their lives? I mean, most likely we all have had “fitting in issues” and body issues (as most of us went through puberty), but the boy in Monster Support Group: The Werewolf’s Tale by Laura Suárez realizes it is hard being twelve and not just because of all of his siblings or having issues fitting in at school so he is bullied. He is “changing” (getting hairier, deeper voice and moody). But this is normal puberty, […]

Nobody is Skating on Thin Ice

Wei Skates On by Nathan Chen

Pop’s Perfect Present by Corey Finkle

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While I am still trying to clean up my older reader copies from my online list, I have found a few new ones as well. And the below tiles came out earlier in 2023, which I read via online reader copy. And both are fun books that fit today’s themes with diverse characters and a single parent.  Do you like to ice skate? Wei in Wei Skates On really likes it. In fact, so much they started as a toddler and by almost double numbers […]

Talking wordy to you

Maddie and Mabel by Kari Allen

The Magical Clay Doll : A Legend Retold in English and Chinese by Ning Sun

Maribel’s Year by Michelle Sterling

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Picture book round-up with a family and friendship theme attached to them! All titles are currently available but were read via an online reader copy. I like how the publisher copy of Maddie and Mabel by Kari Allen describes our young sisters, “two spunky sisters who navigate their relationship with humor and heart.” There is heart, some humor and a lot of spunk, but not everything is for everyone. The dynamic between the siblings is old fashioned, but is not dated. If you have a […]



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