Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice. Well, not this one.

The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips and Isabelle Folath

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Ebenezer Tweezer is 511 years old, but you’d never know it to look at him. He lives in a great big house, surrounded by exciting treasures and artifacts and all of this is possible because of the hideous beast he keep in his attic. In return for Ebenezer feading it interesting things, the Beast gives him potions once a year that keep Ebenezer young and beautiful. It’s also given him all the special things in his house. However, the Beast is greedy and grows more […]

Worth the hype!

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

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This book is a delight.  It is charming, and thought provoking, and overall just lovely.  It takes place in a world not too far off from our own, only there is magic.  The magic may have been hidden away for quite some time, but those who were magical were probably forced to show themselves.  The “people in charge” decided that in order to “include” these magical beings into society, they must be registered.  For what purpose remains unclear.     Mr. Linus Baker, our protagonist, works […]

An orphan boy and a rich girl try and save a city

City of Secrets by Victoria Ying

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Steampunk and almost magic (see robot that is sentient but needs help to fly) comes into play in the graphic novel, City of Secrets by Victoria Ying. This wild adventure of two young teens, Ever and Hannah, who must save their city recalls such things as Avatar the Last Airbender, Wizard of Oz, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Transformers, and pretty much any action-adventure story you know. The fantasy and realism combine to make a relatable, mystery, adventurous tale. Every page is filled with mischief, […]

Annie with Blonde Curls

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

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This is the second time I’ve read a book this year and not known until the end that it was based on a true story. Just like my experience with Grace is Gone, I got to the end of Before We Were Yours to find A Note From the Author about the real life story of Georgia Tann. Tann is considered the “Mother of Modern Adoption,” which sounds like a really beautiful moniker, and in many ways, her work benefited children throughout the world. However, the dark […]

Two books, one review

The Graveyard Book Graphic Novel: Volume 1 by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book Graphic Novel: Volume 2 by P. Craig Russell

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The Graveyard Book Volume 1 and Volume 2 are based on the Neil Gaiman middle reader novel of the same name. I have not read a lot of Gaiman, but what I have, I have not necessarily loved. (Though the movie Coraline was fun and the audio of it was an experience.) However, P. Craig Russell’s graphic novel adaptation shows how Gaiman’s reputation might have been earned. The two volumes are an interestingly wild ride. I wish I had found a complete one volume (hence […]

The Hero Played Fiddle

The Bravest Man in the World by Patricia Polacco

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Covers speak a lot about what might be in a book. I looked at the cover of The Bravest Man in the World by Patricia Polacco and thought, “I wonder if this is about a Jewish man in a concentration camp?” For some reason it had that feeling of how music can keep you free during great turmoil. But then saw the ship behind him, “Aaaah. A book about the Titanic.” (I still think a story of the Titanic fits that theme.) This book has […]



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