Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Family and Monsters

Family Force V: Book One by Matt Braly

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Part Power Rangers, part Transformers, part Voltron and all superheroes and space monsters is how I describe Family Force V: Book One. Matt Braly’s graphic novel (read via an online reader copy, due mid June 2025) will be worth the wait for you or your preteen/teen reader. This coming of age story is one we know (your destiny is forced on you, but you choose the path that takes) is not new, but the way it’s presented is fun, humorous and cute. It is not […]

One sweet Bansheenie

Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin Colfer

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The online reader site I use had a new listing of titles up. I saw the cover of Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin Colfer and illustrator Steve McCarthy and said, sorry, not now. But I would go back to it. Okay, let’s read the description… banshee, a little girl, death. Nope, not right now. Then went back a third time. Still a no. It would be several looks later that I said I would read it. I still wasn’t sure if I should read, as […]

Finding Happy

The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen

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The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen was a book I had on my TBR for awhile now. I didn’t know what to expect, except it was a graphic novel and would have some type of magic in it. And in the short run, that is what it is all about: A girl finds a magical shop, magical things happen, she makes magical friends. Yet, there is a bit more. It is about how and why the girl is in need of a magical shop. […]

Family, faith and More

Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi

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Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi is a relatable story of trying to balance it all, but with the addition of being a Muslim which many readers (strong 8 to 12-13) might not be familiar with. Overall, things are sweet, fun and informative. However, my score of a 3 is more of a 3.5 as there were a few things I would have liked to know more about and a few arcs in the story were not my favorite.  The cover gives you how the illustrations […]

Nostalgia

Amla Mater by Devi Menon

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Even though I have trouble reading online, I am finding even my longer reads there. Such as Amla Mater by Devi Menon. It is less than 200 pages, and therefore more of a novella graphic novel, but what I mean by longer is not a picture book. Actually picture books can be relatively easy to read online (unless they have a smaller print, a lot of print or illustrations that need the book to be turned to read), but when I do my young adult […]

Freshman Blues

How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger

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How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger is a coming of age story that we know: Girl has trouble fitting in during high school. She is not ready for the trials of being a teen. But, the thing is, she isn’t really a teen. She should be an 8th grader. She should be having homeroom, going to Six Flags, starting a first crush; not having to deal with boys who think interrupting their English teacher is funny. Doing group projects with a boy (thankfully she […]



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