Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Little Fish, Big Pond/Country Mouse-City Mouse

Little Fish: A Memoir from a Different Kind of Year by Ramsey Beyer.

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I enjoyed the graphic novel Little Fish: A Memoir from a Different Kind of Year by Ramsey Beyer. The story was fairly familiar, but at the time it would have been a newer story as I think coming of age and graphic novels were just finding their place in the genre of young adult. The way Beyer made the book is clever and even now would be considered fresh. I am curious to find more works by them. Plus, I have questions I need answered […]

So-So scary monster and the brave little girl

Mina and the Monster by Silvia Romeral Andrés

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No, Mina and the Monster by Silvia Romeral Andrés is not: OMG WOW BEST BOOK. No, but what I am saying is: That’s so cute. That is sweet.  And even though Mina is a bit precocious, I like her. She’s spunky.” (It’s funny how a little twist here and there can change that perspective of “bratty” precocious makes “spunky.”) But I don’t think anyone who reads about Mina trying to find the local monster will have any other perspective than that it is cozy like […]

I’d like to be friends with the characters of these books

Johnny Tunes and the Gandy Dancers by Pamela M Tuck, Joel S Tuck, and Jerry Jordan

The Northbound Train: A Story of the Great Migration by Leslie Johnson Piotrowski and Tonya Engel

Solar Mamas: The Story of Sanjit "Bunker" Roy and the Grandmothers Who Became Solar Engineers by Jyothi Nookula and Nabi H. Ali

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Three picture books, all read via online reader copies, that everyone should have in their collections (be you teacher, parent, child, student, or other) are the below. Johnny Tunes and the Gandy Dancers by Pamela M Tuck, Joel S Tuck, Jerry Jordan (Illustrator) (due September 2026).   The Northbound Train: A Story of the Great Migration (A Picture Book) by Leslie Johnson Piotrowski, Tonya Engel (Illustrated by) (due January 2027).  Solar Mamas: The Story of Sanjit “Bunker” Roy and the Grandmothers Who Became Solar Engineers by […]

They go together like hocus and pocus.

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

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Recently I got on an Ursula Vernon reading kick. I was amazed that I had known about her, but never read anything. And then when I learned they were T. Kingfisher, too, I was intrigued. After all, when one uses two names as a writer, what does that say about the writing style? And when one writes many titles under one name, how similar are they? Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon probably is a good example of both of Vernon’s names and styles coming into […]

For Pride Month and any month

Guinea Pigs Don't Wear Pants by Chris Paul Rainbows Farias

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The email came that said: PW’s Grab a Galley – Guinea Pigs Don’t Wear Pants. It continued Dear You Thank you for requesting Guinea Pigs Don’t Wear Pants through Publishers Weekly’s Summer 2026 Grab-a-Galley event. I’m excited to share that your name was selected as one of the winners for the title. See attached for your digital advance review copy.   So, since I won, I should read it, right?  I had a few minutes before I needed to send some reports and a few […]



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