Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Mermaids! Black Rapunzel! Fairy Tale Social Justice!

How the Rivermaid Grew Her Tale by Jessica Wilson, Sophie Bass

The Magic Callalou by Trish Cooke, Sophie Bass

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I picked up two fairy tale books to read that I didn’t realize had the same illustrator, Sophie Bass – and it turns out they go so beautifully together! The first is a folklore collection, How the Rivermaid Grew Her Tale and Other West African and Caribbean Myths by Jessica Wilson. This is aimed at an upper elementary/middle grade audience, but would be loved by anyone interested in folklore. Wilson offers a mix of traditional folktales (“How Anansi Became the King of Stories,” “Why the […]

I am the tree and you are the bird. Fly off as you please, you will always come back to sit on my branches.

A Long Way from Douala by Max Lobe

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Pa had brought out our entire stock of beer. Simon, Roger and I had the job of serving. We ran to and fro between the kitchen, the living room and the porch. Our hi-fi pumped out old Makossa hits: our parents’ favorites. A few women neighbors of their generation, also wearing kaba ngondos, had begun shimmying in the empty space at the center of the room. They looked like they were showing off: you can’t dance the Makossa without showing off.” ― Max Lobe, A […]

It’s history, it’s the Little Mermaid, it’s fantastic!

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

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Mix West African lore with The Little Mermaid and you get this exciting fantasy novel and the beginning of a series featuring Simidele (Simi) the Mami Wata (mermaid) who inhabits the waters around West Africa in the 15th century when the trans-Atlantic slave trade is beginning to grow. This YA novel is a combination of fantasy and fact, allowing Natasha Bowen to introduce readers to factual information about West African cultures and society as well as the myths and lore of the diverse people who […]



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