Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Bình learns the game of life

Enlighten Me by Minh Lê

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Enlighten Me is a mindfulness/meditation graphic novel for the 10 and up crowd. There is a little bit of a social theme added with the racism the school bully directs towards the narrator, but the idea is how to deal with the emotions and a situation that triggers and not necessarily this particular situation. The entire book is mostly in “thought bubbles” as the narrator and his family are at a silent retreat, and therefore, unable to talk once there. But to allow the teachings of […]

Authentically Charlie

Curlfriends V01: New in Town by Sharee Miller

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I like reader copies. You get to find a good story about friendship, fitting in and being yourself before the final book comes out. And you can decide if the characters are relatable, and for what ages (such as ages 10 and up for Curlfriends V01: New in Town and yes, it is relatable), and see that the illustrations are clever, quirky and fun. You find out that Sharee Miller, while dealing with some serious themes (the fitting in, making friends when you think it is hard […]

Living up to your infamous family heritage

Shelley Frankenstein! V01 CowPiggy by Colleen Madden

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Do you want a book where your main character has a “loud personality” and is a big sister, and is a person who does not realize that people do not like to be scared (not even a little bit) most of the time (if not all the time)? Then you probably want to read the graphic novel, Shelley Frankenstein! V01 CowPiggy by Colleen Madden. There is a cute sister/brother relationship, and the historical aspect is amusing (yes, THOSE Frankenstein’s are the ancestors of Shelley and […]

Empowered by his faith

Salat in Secret by Jamilah Thompkins-Biegelow

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I was not sure what to expect from Salat in Secret. I figured it would be more of a story about a boy who is picked on, teased, even harassed, when he prays, so he then hides doing it. Instead, we start out in Jamilah Thompkins-Biegelow’s story with the narrator, Mouhammad, hiding his praying. He is now seven, and old enough to have his own Salat rug for prayers. But he wonders how people might react to him, as he has seen how the community […]

It’s not nice to spy on people hiding in the woods

What We Saw: A Thriller by Mary Downing Hahn

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cbr15bingo: Nostalgia: For the days when I first read this author, a young kid with no adult problems! When I was asked who my favorite author was as a kid, usually I would say Mary Downing Hahn. I had others (Walter Dean Myers, R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, to name a few), but she was always one. Then, as an adult a gal I met via pen palling said she liked her too, so we bonded over our like of this author.  And when I […]

Baby, you’re a star

Bitsy Bat, School Star by Kaz Windness

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The theme of Bitsy Bat, School Star is simple. Bitsy does not fit in at school. But as her father says, why would you want to fit in? Afterall, Bitsy is a special star. Her special brain works differently because she is representing a neurodivergent person. She, like the author, Kaz Windness, is autistic. Of course, they do not come out and say that, but just use the natural senses of a bat  to represent the situations an autistic person might encounter. Such as loud […]



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