Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Flowing friendship

The Musician (Lofty Mountains and Flowing Water) by Xuefeng Liu

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The Musician (Lofty Mountains and Flowing Water) by Xuefeng Liu, Gunter Grossholz (Illustrator) and Yuxi Wan (Illustrator) had a so-so story to it. It was a nice journey and an interesting folktale, myth or legend (depending on how you define those genres, and how you look at the story itself). However, it was the illustrations that grabbed me. That makes this book really more of a 4 than 5 for me, but the potential for other people and the fact it is, while familiar, it […]

A boy and his bird

Kozo the Sparrow by Allen Say

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Kozo the Sparrow by Allen Say is what you expect from a Say picture book. Due in mid-October 2023 I read via an online reader copy. The story is about his childhood, there are the children of post-war, and there his classical upbringing with the more modern touches of the time. There is nothing new, but as always, Say does not disappoint. The story of nursing a young bird to health, the responsibility and the fondness he has for this bird is wonderfully presented. You […]

Jamie take two

Just Jamie  by Terri Libenson

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I first read the graphic novel, Just Jamie by Terri Libenson in 2019. I only went back for a second round as I could not remember anything about it. In fact, it was to the point that I even questioned if I had read it. Well, I did have one image in my head, but it did not help much in remembering the story. However, my rating of five back then, is now 3.5 to 4 rating. This book was good, and I liked how the characters […]

Second time is a charm

Nimona by N.D Stevenson

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I first read Nimona by N.D Stevenson in 2019 (but my version had their dead name). My main takeaway from this recent read was how the theme itself has not changed, but our perceptions of it might have. I know mine did. I didn’t even know what a dead name was four years ago. It would never have occurred to me that it is harmful to misgender or dead-name someone. In those few years, a lot has happened, and I hope I have grown past […]

When the hunky country mouse meet the city mouse and really fell for him

Cuckoos Three by Cassandra Jean

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Cuckoos Three is a slightly more sophisticated Heartstopper-like story. This is due to the fact we deal with the mental health of the characters earlier on and the artwork is physically darker in colors, but by no stretch too “dark” or “dismal” as the use of color is well done as well. Also, the character Jacob is more edgy (piercings, more openly artistic). There were a few times when I thought I was reading about Nick and Charlie and several times Murry and Jacob even […]

This isn’t too Sirius

Maple’s Theory of Fun by Kate McMillan

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I was looking at an online review site that I can easily use, and I saw this brightly done  cartoon cover.  It was as if Lizzy McGuire and Diary of a Wimpy Kid had a book. It was Maple’s Theory of Fun. At first, I thought it was going to be about a girl trying to show us how to have fun. A “how to” so to speak, but then all crap breaks loose. Well, it is about how to do that, but the girl […]



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