Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

A tangled fishing line catches friendship

Ege and Avra by Evgenia Mantikas and Elifgul Buyukoral

August 19, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The Autumn releases come at the busy time of the year as it is pre-holidays. And some years what you will find is good and other years not as much. But Fall of 2026 will be filled with new publications. And some really good ones too, like Ege and Avra.  Publisher description says it is a story about connecting Türkiye and Greece on the Aegean Sea. And that is how it ends, but the start is where the goodness happens. We follow two girls, Ege […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History, Religion Tagged With: Aegean Sea, communication, Elifgul Buyukoral, europe, Evgenia Mantikas, Evgenia Mantikas and Elifgul Buyukoral, family, friendship, grandfathers, grandparents, Social Themes, Türkiye and Greece

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:240 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Health, History, Religion · Tags: Aegean Sea, communication, Elifgul Buyukoral, europe, Evgenia Mantikas, Evgenia Mantikas and Elifgul Buyukoral, family, friendship, grandfathers, grandparents, Social Themes, Türkiye and Greece ·
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And Bingo (Summer) was its Name-o

Nature Adventures with Bompa V02: Bompa's Intertidal Adventure by David Suzuki, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, and Qin Leng

July 24, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I went to copy and paste my (if I do say so myself) fantastic review of Nature Adventures with Bompa V02: Bompa’s Intertidal Adventure by David Suzuki, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, and illustrator Qin Leng (read via an online reader copy, due in September 2026). And because my hands were not working/I  was not completely ready to do so, I deleted my entire review.  My last review for Bingo and POOF! Away it went!  Now, the good thing is I got to read it […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Health, Non-Fiction Tagged With: animals, cbr18bingo, cbr18bingo Summer, Concepts, David Suzuki, David Suzuki, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, and Qin Leng, Environment, family, grandchildren, grandfathers, grandparents, Marine Life, muligenerational, nature, Nature Adventures, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, science, summer, Tanya Lloyd Kyi

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:214 · Genres: Children's Books, Health, Non-Fiction · Tags: animals, cbr18bingo, cbr18bingo Summer, Concepts, David Suzuki, David Suzuki, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, and Qin Leng, Environment, family, grandchildren, grandfathers, grandparents, Marine Life, muligenerational, nature, Nature Adventures, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, science, summer, Tanya Lloyd Kyi ·
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Neshama would make a good name for a perfume

Neshama by Marcella Pixley

July 3, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Marcella Pixley’s poetic prose novel, Neshama, is one of those books I would have loved as a kid and good for the 10 and up crowd. However, as an adult, there were a few bumps. The themes are good: being yourself, standing up for yourself and forgiveness, but first, I’ve read several middle grade readers and a lot of books with the theme so it was a bit repetitive. That is why if you’re new/newish to the middle grade coming-of-age story it works perfectly. As […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Health, History, Mystery, Poetry, Religion, Suspense, Young Adult Tagged With: bullying, emotions, family, Ghost Stories, grandparents, Jwish, Marcella Pixley, secrets, Social Themes, supernatural

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:179 · Genres: Children's Books, Cooking/Food, Fiction, Health, History, Mystery, Poetry, Religion, Suspense, Young Adult · Tags: bullying, emotions, family, Ghost Stories, grandparents, Jwish, Marcella Pixley, secrets, Social Themes, supernatural ·
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Once upon a time, there was a brave hero named…Grandpa

The Land of Unfinished Dreams by Marco Ventura and Marco Ferraris

July 3, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Most of my rating of four is for the fun images of Marco Ferraris in the graphic novel, The Land of Unfinished Dreams. However, the story, by Marco Ventura, had a few bumps, but once I got into things it flowed well. This was because Ferraris created images that help you see the action. The text (I am assuming) is translated which probably accounts for any issues I had to start with. In many ways, the  themes of the story are for teens and adults, […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Suspense, Young Adult Tagged With: family, grandparents, Imaginary places, Italy, Marco Ferraris, Marco Ventura, Marco Ventura and Marco Ferraris, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:175 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Suspense, Young Adult · Tags: family, grandparents, Imaginary places, Italy, Marco Ferraris, Marco Ventura, Marco Ventura and Marco Ferraris, Social Themes ·
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And I didn’t even mention it felt like it was book two to start with.

Silver Vessels by Steve Orlando

May 15, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

If the graphic novel, Silver Vessels by Steve Orlando and illustrated by Katia Vecchio was any less believable, I would expect to see Bobby Ewing in the shower at the end of it. If you know that reference you’re not part of the aimed at ages of 10 and up. Who will  love the precocious teens, their hunting mysterious sunken treasure, the mysterious APEX bad guys, the coming of age elements. But this adult reader feels there were a lot of really unbelievable parts. My […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Mystery, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: action, adventure, family, Florida, Florida Keys, friendship, grandparents, LGBTQ, Steve Orlando, treasure

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:138 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, History, Mystery, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: action, adventure, family, Florida, Florida Keys, friendship, grandparents, LGBTQ, Steve Orlando, treasure ·
Rating:
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Contemporary history

Journey to Tomioka by Laurent Galandon

February 2, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Journey to Tomioka by Laurent Galandon, translated by Owen Smith and Anne Smith with illustrations by Michaël Crouzat was read via an online reader copy. In June 2026, however, you can find a copy, which I highly recommend. The publisher, First Second, has become one of those publishers for me that I might not always love something they published, in fact, I might not even like it, but I always respect what happened and the time it takes to make something that can be thoughtful, […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, History, Mystery, Young Adult Tagged With: action, Anne Smith, family, Fukushima, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima Exclusion Zone, Fukushima nuclear accident, grandparents, Japan, Laurent Galandon, natural disasters, nuclear, Ōkuma Fukushima, Owen Smith, siblings, tsunami

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:26 · Genres: Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, History, Mystery, Young Adult · Tags: action, Anne Smith, family, Fukushima, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima Exclusion Zone, Fukushima nuclear accident, grandparents, Japan, Laurent Galandon, natural disasters, nuclear, Ōkuma Fukushima, Owen Smith, siblings, tsunami ·
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