Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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I Am in Actual Awe

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

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Bryce Quinlan lives a charmed life in Crescent City, despite her dubious status as a half-human citizen of the Empire. But all that changes when her best friend is murdered viciously. Now, two years later, she discovers that most everything she believed about that murder may be a lie. I will go on record about this; I am eating my words. A few years ago, on the recommendation of my sister, I started reading the Throne of Glass series. I thought the first book was […]

“I wanted the children I taught to know that they, too, could be worthy of featuring in a novel.”

Mine for Keeps by Jean Little

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This book is a delight. Jean Little was a Canadian author who wrote over 50 children’s books, and her books often center on disabled characters. Little herself was legally blind from birth, and I think that the delicacy and realism of her novels really come through as a result of her own experiences. Mine for Keeps was her first children’s novel, which I just found out when doing research for this review, but it doesn’t seem like it’s uncertain or unpolished at all. It’s very confident […]

Because I found two new books, I’m writing a three book review

Paper Planes by Jim Helmore

In a Jar by Deborah Marcero

Out of a Jar by Deborah Marcero

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Several of the books I have read deal with a friend moving a serious distance. And Paper Planes starts off as that kind of story. And like In a Jar by Deborah Marcero the solution is a lot simpler than our child narrators feel is possible. In Paper Planes by Jim Helmore, Mia and Ben are best friends who do everything together. And while they like watching the geese fly, and swinging together, they love making airplanes and hope someday to make one that will […]

These little mermaids don’t use snarfblats

Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh

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Some of my usual dislikes in a story are in Thirsty Mermaids: the drinking to excess, the odd characters that are less than intelligent about common sense, not getting punished for events like stealing, and every character is conveniently “other.”  However, in Kat Leyh’s graphic novel, they are pluses. I can forgive the stealing as the guy they stole from seemed like a jerk. I can accept the drinking because it is necessary to push these characters forward. Would I like to have seen less […]

Up Up and Crash… after saving the day

Sort of Super by Eric Gapstu

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At first, I almost did not finish this book due in March 2022.  I was thinking that Sort of Super was just another kid superhero who has the brain of a grape. One should not be thinking “Dumba$$” about an eleven-year-old/middle school kid. But Wyatt is a dumb dumba$$. I understand not being able to handle his powers or having misunderstandings (we all have had to calibrate to our “other left”), but even a kid should know what a “Muggle Dumbledore” means (not that he […]

The Lighter New Year Celebration

Friends Are Friends, Forever by Dane Liu

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Gong hei fat choy! Sun Leen Fai Lo! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy New Year!  It is 2022 and the Year of the Water Tiger. Most January and sometimes even February babies can be born on a cusp of a year, like I was. Therefore, since I enjoy celebrating, I use both Year of the Tiger and Year of the Rabbit as “My Years.” And this year is my “official” Lunar Year and 2023 my “official” Western Year! But regardless of the year, I love […]



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