Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Getting in too deep

The Children of the Sea, Volume one by Daisuke Igarashi

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The Children of the Sea, Volume one is a typical manga illustrated graphic novel. It is sparse and not always expressive, or gives all the information you think you might be needing. Yet, there is something about it that draws you into things, and the story has enough teases to it, to make you (or at least me) want more. Daisuke Igarashi was new to me as an author/illustrator, but I am thinking I might want to look into The Children of the Sea series […]

The wall of Walstead

Pup and Dragon: How to Catch an Elf by Alice Walstead

How to Catch Santa Claus by Alice Walstead

How to Catch a Garden Fairy: A Mythical Adventure Through Nature by Alice Walstead

How to Catch a Daddysaurus by Alice Walstead

My First How to Catch the Big Bad Wolf by Alice Walstead

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I am going through my online reader copy list and found a holiday book, Pup and Dragon: How to Catch an Elf. This is part of a “How to Catch” graphic novel series, and by the author of the picture book How to Catch series, Alice Walstead. These books have various subjects, but I will start with the Pup and Dragon stories. Or story more accurately. I am not sure where in the series How to Catch and Elf falls for our BFFs, Pup and Dragon, but it is not […]

Maladaptive Daydreaming

Bunny by Mona Awad

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No matter how Samantha loathes the cliche of girls who make up the rest of her writing group, with their overwrought work and their insistence on referring to each other as ‘Bunny,’ she can’t help but get sucked into their strange world when they invite her to join them. This is a dark and satirical read which pokes plenty of fun at the pretentious streak that can run deep in the people who attend MFA programs – considering the author was one of them, 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, […]

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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