Cannonball Read 11

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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 there. Red Dove’s grandfather hopes that she will also learn the ways of the Wasichu […]

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Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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10/27/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No: 23 |

“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 sign up together for Camp Rockaway, bass and sticks in hand. On the day they’re […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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2/13/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No: 12 |

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 book and went, “Huh, I remember never getting into these types of books in middle […]

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10/18/2018 | Post by

Two parents, a girl, a ghost, and a ticked-off cat

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

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CBR10 BINGO:  And So It Begins I added this to my hold list at the library months before the publication date and I STILL had to wait a month for it. Behold the power of Victoria Schwab! I loved her Shades of Magic series (as V.E. Schwab)  and liked her YA Monsters of Verity series so it was a no brainer for me to snatch this one up. After a near death experience where she is “rescued” by a ghost, Cass is able to sense and see ghosts in the real world. Her ghost guardian angel, Jacob, sticks with her […]

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9/30/2018 | Post by

Run Toward Who You Want To Be

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

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Last month, Trevor Noah interviewed Jason Reynolds on the Daily Show and even before I had read any of his books, I became a fan.  He talked about writing, reading, and young people in a powerful way and made a strong argument for the need to write books that would have spoken to him as a young teen growing up in the inner city.  I’ve been a follower of the We Need Diverse Books organization and without mentioning the hashtag, Reynolds made their argument with heart and humor. In Ghost, Reynolds starts a four-book series about a group of middle […]

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2/16/2018 | Post by

Revolutionary War Goonies

7th Grade Revolution by Liana Gardner

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I have always enjoyed YA and Middle Grade novels, a good book is a good book regardless of its target audience.  However, I keenly felt all through reading 7th Grade Revolution that I was most definitely not the target audience and that a younger person would have enjoyed the book a lot more then I did. That’s not to say that it’s a bad book, it’s not, it’s just not one that crosses the demographic from young reader to adult reader well. It’s a perfectly fine book for younger people, and I despite feeling like I was too old for […]

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9/18/2017 | Post by

Goonies never say die!

7th Grade Revolution by Liane Gardner

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The 7th graders at Washington Academy Middle School “stage” a coup (read, are assigned to create a 7th grade experience after a bloodless revolution) and spend a chapter or so trying to determine what an optimal 7th grade experience would be (by committee). While voting on a proposal, the 7th graders discover that the FBI has, surreptitiously, evacuated the rest of the school and are preparing to search for a treasure of national importance. What ensues is a race against the clock as the 7th graders decipher historical clues and develop defensive strategies to keep the FBI off the trail. […]

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9/12/2017 | Post by

A Fly By Any Other Name

Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

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Fly by Night is Frances Hardinge’s first novel, but the third or fourth novel of hers that I’ve read. I liked it, and I definitely think that it’s one of the better middle grade novels out there, however it’s not my favorite of her books. Twelve year old Mosca, who is orphaned, lives with her uncle and is smarter than most of the people in her little town. Her best friend is the goose Saracen, because outcasts stick together. When the smooth talking con-man Eponymous Clent comes to her little village, she finds herself drawn to his big words and […]

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8/1/2017 | Post by


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