Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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A middle-grade mystery inspired by Zora Neale Hurston

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon

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Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon took Zora Neale Hurston’s life as literary inspiration for their joint debut novel, Zora and Me. Framed as a middle-grade mystery, we follow the adventures of a fictionalized Zora through the eyes of her best friend, Carrie. The two curious girls and their friend Teddy are given mostly free rein to explore their small town of Eatonville, Florida. They play in the woods and are often given candy from the owner of the general store, Joe. When an alligator […]

The only thing missing from this Wonder Woman story was Jumpa, her pet kangaroo

Diana: Princess of the Amazons by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, Victoria Ying

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Honestly, if you wanted to find an author who could tell a story of Diana of Themyscira’s youthful adventures, you could hardly do better than Shannon Hale. Hale’s Princess in Black series, the charming adventures of a young princess who leads a secret life as a superhero, was one of the first chapter books we shared with our daughter. We absolutely loved them. DC chose well. Hale’s take on Diana shows us the lonely life of an only child in a society of adults. Everyone […]

Lyrical historical coming of age fiction

Red Dove, Listen to the Wind by Sonia Antaki

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Thirteen year old Red Dove lives in interesting times for the Lakota people. Shortly after the Battle of the Greasy Grass (Battle of Little Big Horn), her people have fallen on hard times. Food has become scarce, and the Lakota have learned that they cannot trust the people who have settled on their lands to live peacefully. In a moment of weakness, Red Dove’s mother agrees to send her children to a local Catholic school, hoping that the children will at least find regular meals […]

“Now raise your goblet of rock. It’s a toast to those who rock!”

Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Bigelow

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Let’s just get this out of the way: THIS BOOK IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I want a movie of it that’s like School of Rock meets Camp.  Come on! Working out your parents divorce and your sexual awakening through rock and roll?!?!?! Turning Taylor Swift into a metal jam?! I die. This story is about Melly, who is a quiet young lady that loves playing the drums. She and her best friend Olivia make up the perfect rhythm section, and they […]

In which I determine I don’t like “choose your own adventure” books

Detective Frankenstein: Book 17 (Twisted Journeys) by Alaya Johnson author, Yuko Ota illustrator

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A friend was looking to make room on her bookshelf and asked if I was interested in this book.  It seemed like the right age level for my 10 year old and she likes slightly creepy stuff so this seemed perfect.  What I didn’t realize at the time was it is a choose your own adventure book.  Yesterday I was looking for a quick read and as this had Frankenstein in the title it was seasonally appropriate.  Opening it I realized the nature of the […]



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