Cannonball Read 15

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“Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say”

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Bingo Square: Getaway, replacing Edibles Melinda has started her freshman year of high school as an outcast. Over the summer, she called the police on a party, which resulted in some people being arrested. Even her oldest friends are furious at her. Her parents seem mostly irritated by her, especially towards her lack of effort at school, but she finds some solace in her art class. There the teacher allows them to experiment and is encouraging of Melinda’s work. New girl Heather, desperate to fit […]

The wonder of women

Wonderful Women of the World by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Biographies by various authors and illustrators to show the real Wonder Women of the world are on the pages of the graphic novel, Wonderful Women of the World. From names you know (the Williams sisters, Greta Thunberg) to people you might not have heard of (Teara Fraser, Francisca Nneka Okeke), we fly, learn water is weird, and learn how to be ourselves through our love, expressions and fighting. There are several extras and author biographies included. This is not an easy read, but a thoughtful and […]

Yes, please speak

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

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After finding Shout, her memoir follow-up to Speak, at a local thrift shop, it felt only fitting that I found Speak at one too. A quality copy, too, unlike the copy of Shout, which had been missing its dust jacket. I had thought back when I read Shout that I needed to see what had caused such a stir, inspiring book bans and making uptight folks lose their cool, and now that I’ve read it… this is quite tame, honestly. Like almost always, the book bans feel like a gross […]

Let us all shout

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Another thrift store find. My copy is missing the dust jacket, and its pages are stained by an unknown substance on the bottom of the book, but I’m not gonna complain too much for $2.99. I recognized the author, yet I cannot recall with certainty whether I read her most well-known work, Speak, or not. I have this nagging suspicion that I have read something by her, but I can’t place for sure what. Regardless, I picked up Shout because of that familiarity and my […]

Wonder Woman Fights Modern Day Ills

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson My rating: 3 of 5 stars “Tempest Tossed” gives us a quick origin story to Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, before tossing her into our modern world. The plot focuses on the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean and child trafficking in the U.S. While I think superheroes are a good way to bring up tough subjects, this felt very heavy handed at times. Diana becomes the naive lens through which the reader encounters the issues at hand. […]

I guess I just don’t get the “narrative in verse” sensibility.

SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson

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This three (and a half) star rating is entirely personal preference. I just would prefer that this book was in prose instead of verse. I would nearly always prefer a work be in verse if it is possible. Obviously if your aim is to write poems, individually crafted ones with like, a poetic aim or whatever (I have no idea why poets do what they do) that’s not gonna work. But here, this is a memoir, and while there were several “poems” that worked as […]



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