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!   
Belzhar audiobook cover

Teenagers work through their grief

December 30, 2015 by Loopyker Leave a Comment

I can’t remember how this book got on my wish list. I haven’t read anything else by Meg Wolitzer. I generally stay with young adult books and she is more known for her adult books than this YA one. In any case, I put Belzhar on my list at some point and it became available recently. I had no idea what to expect, but was quickly drawn into a world of troubled teens. The story is told from perspective of a high school student named […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: contemporary fantasy, Depression, Fiction, grief, Jorjeana Marie, loopyker, magic, Meg Wolitzer, mental illness, YA, Young Adult

Loopyker's CBR7 Review No:10 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: contemporary fantasy, Depression, Fiction, grief, Jorjeana Marie, loopyker, magic, Meg Wolitzer, mental illness, YA, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Miles’ adventures in boarding school

July 17, 2015 by Malin Leave a Comment

3.5 stars Miles Halter doesn’t really have any friends in his Florida high school and persuades his parents to send him to the same boarding school in Alabama that his father once attended. When he gets there, he is quickly included in the already established circle of friends including his roommate Chip, usually referred to as the Colonel; the intense and unpredictable Alaska, whom Miles falls in love with pretty much at first sight; and Takumi, who seems like the most sane of the group. […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: CBR7, contemporary fiction, friendship, grief, john green, looking for alaska, Malin, Young Adult

Malin's CBR7 Review No:75 · Genres: Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: CBR7, contemporary fiction, friendship, grief, john green, looking for alaska, Malin, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Special Topics in Grief

December 29, 2014 by Jenny S 2 Comments

I loved Wolitzer’s earlier book, The Interestings, and in some ways this young adult novel seems like an offshoot thematically. Instead of a summer camp in upstate New York, the characters in Belzhar are at The Wooden Barn, a “therapeutic boarding school” for teens in Vermont. This is basically Jam Gallahue’s story; she was sent to this school because she has been mourning the death of her British exchange student boyfriend for too long. Jam is chosen to be part of a special topics class […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: grief, young adult fiction

Jenny S's CBR6 Review No:35 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: grief, young adult fiction ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

A Study of Grief You Need to Experience

May 25, 2014 by KimMiE" Leave a Comment

“Wow.” That was me when my husband, seeing me turn the last page of Levels of Life and close the book,  asked me “How was it?” I didn’t elaborate  very much except to say, “You really need to read this,” with the added disclaimer, “but you might find it distressing.” How to describe Levels of Life? The book is divided into three parts: essentially, three essays that spin from the book’s premise, “You put together two things that have not been put together before. And […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: essays, grief, Julian Barnes, KimMiE", loss, Love

KimMiE"'s CBR6 Review No:5 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: essays, grief, Julian Barnes, KimMiE", loss, Love ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Grief and family and friendship and a ghostly alligator. Also – Cannonball!

May 11, 2014 by Malin 20 Comments

Disclaimer! I got a free ARC of this through NetGalley. I have not been promised anything in return for this review, although if people wanted to start bribing me to read their books, that would be ok too. Kate Pheris has been a widow for a year, and has been sleep-walking through her life since her husband Matt died. Now her house has been sold, her and her daughter’s things are all packed and they’re all set to move in with her mother-in-law, who has all […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance Tagged With: #CBR6, cannonball, contemporary fiction, family, friendship, grief, Lost Lake, magical realism, Malin, romantic, Sarah Addison Allen

Malin's CBR6 Review No:52 · Genres: Fiction, Romance · Tags: #CBR6, cannonball, contemporary fiction, family, friendship, grief, Lost Lake, magical realism, Malin, romantic, Sarah Addison Allen ·
Rating:
· 20 Comments

I’m not sure I’d look for a new start in a town called Lovecraft

May 11, 2014 by Malin 1 Comment

Tyler, Kinsey and Bode Locke move with their mother to Keyhouse, their uncle’s mansion in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, after their father, a school guidance councillor, is brutally murdered by a couple of Tyler’s classmates. The entire Locke family are naturally extremely affected by the event, especially the eldest brother Tyler, who feels responsible for the event, and for not managing to rescue both his parents. Kinsey, his sister,  was hiding and keeping their youngest brother Bode safe, but she’s suffering with survivor’s guilt and dealing with […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense Tagged With: #CBR6, Gabriel Rodriguez, Graphic Novel, grief, horror, joe hill, Locke and Key, Malin, murder, paranormal fantasy, Welcome to Lovecraft

Malin's CBR6 Review No:46 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense · Tags: #CBR6, Gabriel Rodriguez, Graphic Novel, grief, horror, joe hill, Locke and Key, Malin, murder, paranormal fantasy, Welcome to Lovecraft ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment
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