Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Join the Yay for YA Discussion About YA Books Now  

Getting your vroom on

Sarabeth's Garage by Melanie Florence and Nadia Alam

April 15, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Once again, I found a book that I almost did not read. I was going through online reader copy links and Sarabeth’s Garage by Melanie Florence popped up. It had a funny looking cover, realistic, but overly cartoon based. It was colorful and okay, but not “grabbing me.” Still I was looking at Sarabeth, on the cover, with a garage behind her. It wasn’t bad-looking, okay it definitely looked like this was going to be a “girl power, girls can do anything story” but was […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Poetry Tagged With: Business, Careers, cars, family, garages, Girls & Women, grandmothers, mechanics, Melanie Florence, Melanie Florence and Nadia Alam, Nadia Alam, Occupations, Transportation

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:106 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Poetry · Tags: Business, Careers, cars, family, garages, Girls & Women, grandmothers, mechanics, Melanie Florence, Melanie Florence and Nadia Alam, Nadia Alam, Occupations, Transportation ·
Rating:
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Look forward with the words of Watson

Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson and Ekua Holmes

March 6, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson was one of those books I had heard about, seen, but never really wanted to read. I mean, I like young adult literature, I like poetry and I like young adult poetry. However, I judged the book by the cover and theme. I assumed it would be some flowery “poor me” story. Instead, it is a truly strong and amazing short collection of poems that are relatable, informative and thoughtful. The language is lovely, but straight forward. […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult Tagged With: African American & Black, American Poetry, coming-of-age, Ekua Holmes, Girls & Women, Renée Watson, Renée Watson and Ekua Holmes, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:127 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Health, History, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult · Tags: African American & Black, American Poetry, coming-of-age, Ekua Holmes, Girls & Women, Renée Watson, Renée Watson and Ekua Holmes, Social Themes ·
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Why does it matter who drew it if it’s good?

Botticelli's Apprentice by Ursula Murray Husted

January 30, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Botticelli’s Apprentice  is a nice cozy read that is not just a “girl wants to paint because can’t because, you know, “girl” story.”  While this book is not a “perfect five” (there are a few things I was not 100% liking (sorry Blue, you’re cute, but OMG what a problem pup!) it is almost there.  It was a book I read in almost one sitting (and probably would have if it hadn’t been online). Ursula Murray Husted has a story that is about the time, […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, History, Young Adult Tagged With: art, artists, family, Florence, friendship, Girls & Women, Renaissance, Sandro Botticelli, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, Social Themes, Ursula Murray Husted

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:67 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction, History, Young Adult · Tags: art, artists, family, Florence, friendship, Girls & Women, Renaissance, Sandro Botticelli, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, Social Themes, Ursula Murray Husted ·
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More toymakers for the children!

Asha and the Toymaker by Sakshi Mangal

July 19, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

cbr16bingo  Bollywood (child lives in a village of India and the author is from Mumbai, India)   Asha and the Toymaker by Sakshi Mangal is something that one needs to experience themselves. I can say it is about Asha and her father in India. I can say that she is a young girl whose father wants her to study hard, not worry about money (that is his job to raise money so she can go to school) and have the opportunities that he did not […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, History Tagged With: art, cbr16bingo, daughters, family, father, Girls & Women, India, parents, Sakshi Mangal, toymakers, toys

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:328 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, History · Tags: art, cbr16bingo, daughters, family, father, Girls & Women, India, parents, Sakshi Mangal, toymakers, toys ·
Rating:
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Wednesday’s child might be full of woe, but our Wednesday keeps on trying

Wednesday Wilson Connects the Dots by Bree Galbraith

March 26, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I was not really the audience for the book Wednesday Wilson Connects the Dots. However, it is well written by Bree Galbraith, has good representation with a diverse cast, and is a familiar story of friendship, business sense and valuing yourself and work. The illustrations by Morgan Goble help transition from a mostly illustrated read to a mostly text read and gives you pieces that might not be picked up by the words. I was not aware this was a series until after reading, so […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction Tagged With: Bree Galbraith, Business, Businesspeople, Careers, family, friendship, Girls & Women, Morgan Goble, Occupations, school, self-esteem, siblings

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:122 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fiction · Tags: Bree Galbraith, Business, Businesspeople, Careers, family, friendship, Girls & Women, Morgan Goble, Occupations, school, self-esteem, siblings ·
Rating:
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The new Guardian Knights

Juniper Mae Volume One: Knight of Tykotech City by Sarah Soh

October 6, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I had a small adventure when I first tried to read Juniper Mae Volume One: Knight of Tykotech City. Nothing fancy, just I had an online link, lost it, then found it again. Who knows how that happened; but it did. Then recently I went back to my stored online reader copies and was deleting the links that were no longer active. But Sarah Soh’s short graphic novel was. And since this was published March 2023 you can run out and get the book, too. […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Suspense, Young Adult Tagged With: family, friendship, Girls & Women, inventors, nature, Sarah Soh, science, technology

BlackRaven's CBR15 Review No:723 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Suspense, Young Adult · Tags: family, friendship, Girls & Women, inventors, nature, Sarah Soh, science, technology ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Jen K
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    Oh, see I definitely read it as, “give your teens this magic school book instead.” Maybe because I remember The...
  • wicherwill
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    Interesting with Scholomance, I very much read it as the adult book for former YA magic school book readers
  • wicherwill
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    I went and found on eBay the Alanna covers that I remembered from childhood when I had the hankering to...
  • NatalieH
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    One think I appreciate about Naomi Novik is how different her books all are from each other. I feel like...
  • NatalieH
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    Thank you for reminding me about the Dark Rise series. I loved the first two so much, but sad that...
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