Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the Yay for YA Discussion About YA Books Now  

If the formula works, might as well use it

Jujutsu Kaisen, vols. 0-12 by Gege Akutami

by Leave a Comment

I’ve been seeing comments about the anime for Jujustsu Kaisen is the best thing ever this year, so when I saw almost the first 12 books in the manga series at the library, I decided to try it out. As it turns out the whole thing is relatively formulaic (enough that missing volumes 3, 4, and 11 didn’t seem to matter a whole lot) but still has enough personality to be interesting. The basic gist is that Yuji Itadori who has just lost his grandfather […]

“I think of all the things I dislike in this world, I hate being condescended to the most:” A Lovely Coming of Age YA Novel

Marly the Kid by Susan Beth Pfeffer

by Leave a Comment

This was a very pleasant surprise — I got this randomly based on a TikTok recommendation, and had no real expectations going in. I thought the plot sounded interesting and I tend to like older YA from the 70s, so figured I’d give it a shot. It turned out to be quite good and I really enjoyed it. Marly is a sophomore in high school whose mother is awful and verbally abusive to her. Her sister already left home and is in Colorado trying to […]

When fan fics get old

My Hero Academia: Team Up Missions 2 by Yoko Akiyama

by Leave a Comment

Sometimes with popular series, when the author starts branching out into side series’, it can get a little overdone. My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions started out what felt like the fan fics they basically are but entertaining. This does mean you need to know at least something of he main series; in this case, I do. Volume 2 of the Team-Up Missions spin-off continues that effect but it’s not nearly as entertaining. Why? Because the scenarios and combinations just aren’t all that interesting, and in […]

A glimmer of hope to all the teens who are a little bit off…

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

by Leave a Comment

Abelard and Lily are both neurodivergent. Abelard has Asperger’s and Lily has ADHD. Abelard fixes things and Lily destroys them.  After an awkward kiss, a trip to detention and with the aid of a worn copy The Letters of Abelard and Heloise the two fall hard for each other. I thought of Abelard, under the same anxious impulse to touch everything in the world of the here and now that we could feel with our hands. But unlike me, he was thinking about the hidden […]

And so it begins…with a Spike!

Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 1: Sportsball Haikyu!! Translates to “Volleyball!!”, thus this series is fitting for the Sportsball square. Here I present volumes 1-2. In most every way this is a standard school sports story. There are two different guys, they were rivals, but now they have to figure out how to get along. One has some natural talent but not training and a lot of enthusiasm (Hinata), and it’s been his dream to be like a kid he saw on tv playing in a volleyball championship game; […]

After School Times to Pass On

After School Hanako-kun by Aidalro

by Leave a Comment

After-School Hanako-kun feels a little like a bunch of pieces that might have been intended for the original main series but had to be cut for one reason or another. Several of the vignettes are probably supposed to be versions of standard high school manga/anime episodes like the beach day trip or main character catches a cold and has to stay out of things but is still somehow manages to be part of the story. In fairness, this collection is supposed to be a “behind […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo