Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Maybe not so beautiful afterall

In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo

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cbr14bingo Dough Level 2 In the Beautiful Country is a cute story told in verse that shows the ugly of the world, but also the hope that can come from it. The year between 1980 and 1981 of Anna’s life is relatable, powerful and a look into “The Beautiful Country” and the American Dream it promotes but does not always make it easy to obtain. When Anna’s parents announce on Lunar New Year they are moving to The Beautiful Country (America), their family thinks them […]

“Phoenix-like, he flamed against the cloudless sky, looking down upon our miniature school world and all the golden fields of Fairacre.”

Village School by Miss Read

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CBR14Bingo: Cozy My mom had the complete set of these when I was a kid and I’d read them and feel very grown up. All I remembered about the book as an adult was a feeling of coziness and warmth, hence the bingo square. I was struck a few weeks ago with the urge to revisit these and see if my opinion had changed, so I picked up the first book and it was a good quick palate cleanser read after the longer commitment that […]

Iheard this was a good book

The Iheards by Emily Kilgore

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cbr14bingo Question Level 2   What are The Iheards? Emily Kilgore answers that in their book of the same name. And that was the question I asked myself when I saw the cover, and why I have chosen it for the Question category. Well, first I said, “Well that’s a bright cover. What is it about?” Then I saw, The Iheards. Then I said, “What are the Iheards?” And I assumed they were probably rumors and I was right. It is about the rumors and […]

Who is by your side? And who are you by?

Berrybrook Middle School V05 Enemies by Svetlana Chmakova

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The Berrybrook Middle School series is a fun series. The cast Svetlana Chmakova created is diverse and deals with classic middle school subjects (such as growing up, boyfriend/girlfriends, best friends, lost friendships, and more) with modern twists. It is realistic, but in goofy way to help keep the serious subjects from going to “deep. These graphic novels are great for the preteen to young teen (10 to 14 the best ages) reading audience. This time in Enemies (the fifth book) we have Felicity and her […]

The racing striped and helmeted tortoise

Hurry, Little Tortoise, Time for School by Carrie Finison

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I am not always a fan of “the turtle or tortoise or snail comes in last because they are slow” stories.  (I still cringe at the end scene in Monsters University where the snail-monster-student gets to class after the year has ended.) Now, I do not necessarily want them to be first, (Tortoise and the Hair is great, just not all the time), I want to see other animals have the distinction of being last, or the slow one. I mean, we all have a […]

Take a bow

Middle School Misadventures by Jason Platt

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My weekend included too much laundry, a miserably cold and rainy Saturday, not feeling well but actually reading a few easy children’s reads (in between getting seating ready on the front porch finally). Granted, most were not huge hits, but Middle School Misadventures by Jason Platt was not a miss. This is a typical slacker kid story who gets by with (a lot of) help from his friends. It is a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” like story with more realistic, cartoon images. Also, either […]



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