Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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A terrific middle-grade novel about systemic racism, colorism, and…fencing.

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

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I’m a huge Jewell Parker Rhodes fan, and in middle-grade literature, she has no equal. She is uncanny at tackling major systemic issues that are not only age-appropriate but widely appealing, and also interesting to read about. I was excited to hear she had a new book out, and I quickly read it, as well. In Black Brother, Black Brother we meet Donte and Trey, two biracial brothers in an integrated family. Their dad is White, their mom is Black. Trey looks like their father, […]

Careful what you wish for…

Wishes and Wellingtons by Julie Berry

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Middle grade books can be tricky, because they are intended for an audience who is older than standard elementary school fare, but not quite old enough to tackle the issues we see in young adult literature. I mention this, because I suspect Wishes and Wellingtons might have received a higher rating from me if I was in middle school. I should quickly add that this is a charming book, even if it felt a bit juvenile for me (and appropriately so). Maeve is an unconventional […]

Nostalgic favorite brought lovingly into a new format

Kristy's Great Idea: The Baby-Sitters Club by Raina Telgemeier, based on Ann M. Martin's novel

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My youngest, 9, does not care to read chapter books and so she isn’t interested in reading the same things her older sister did at the same age.  However, she loves reading in comic form, be it manga, comics, or graphic novels.  So the challenge is to find her new reading material.  She loves Raina Telgemeier so I decided to take a chance on Raina’s graphic novel adaptation of Ann M. Martin’s Kristy’s Great Idea, book one of The Baby-Sitters Club series.  I was a […]

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 […]

Does what it says on the tin!

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang

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This was good and I liked it, but I didn’t expect it to be so young-skewing. It’s definitely a middle grade book. Older teenagers and adults can read and enjoy it, but it’s not really an all-ages read. Aside from that, it was really well done. I went into this with no background, and it was a fun read that way, but I wish I would have read the historical context/afterword from Yang at the back of the book first. Better yet, I wish they […]



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