Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About BlackRaven

CBR10 participant
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR14 Bingo Badges
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR17 Comments
CBR17 Levels

I am a Professional Book Pusher. Reading is a passion, as is writing, bragging about nephews, and alligator wrestling. My first year participating was 2018. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: BlackRaven's Quick Questions interview.)

BlackRaven's Reviews:

You’re never too old to come of age.

Motherlover by Lindsay Ishihiro

by Leave a Comment

Motherlover by Lindsay Ishihiro was sent to me from an Iron Circus Comics email. I was not specially targeted but that was fine. After all, I find some of my favorite reads because of things like this. Now, I was a little turned off first of all by the fact it was being promoted as a romance and a non-spicy romance graphic novel, slow burn one at that. But I have been trying to step outside my reading comfort zone, so why not give it […]

Summer dares and becoming aware

Ready or Not by Andi Porretta

by Leave a Comment

Ready or Not by the author by Andi Porretta is overall a nice coming of age story. Sometimes the characters are likeable and sometimes less so. They are relatable and each is unique to themselves. There are good illustrations that are not busy but not lacking with good colors in a traditional style. There is some drinking, overdrinking (a quick vomit scene) and “teen angst” situations. There isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, it is just presented in a way that feels a bit fresh […]

Raindrops falling on everything

It Starts With A Raindrop by Sally Garland

by Leave a Comment

I almost did not write a review for It Starts With A Raindrop by Sally Garland and illustrated by Aimee Gallagher. This was not because it was bad, or because I didn’t like it, but because it started as a “been there done that” read. It is a poem (slightly romantic and feeling simplistic) about the life cycle of a raindrop and the things it does. You have facts about things (the drop will fall in the puddles, or sand; it will find oceans and […]

Why does Superman always get top billing?

Superman's Good Guy Gang by Rob Justus

by Leave a Comment

Perhaps I should not admit I read something like Superman’s Good Guy Gang by Rob Justus as it is, well, a bit on the less than mature side. This is not for the adult reader who likes a more sophisticated book, but if your child (or you) are a typical five to eight-year-old who has a slightly goofy sense of humor and likes superheroes then this is for you. So, in other words I will admit I read it and say I know there’s an […]

Sisters, secrets and dog catchers

Ruff Day (Sixth-Grade Shape-Shifter) by Steven Scott

by Leave a Comment

Ruff Day (Sixth-Grade Shape-Shifter) by Steven Scott and illustrated by Lavinia Brandizi is due in August 2025. And in fact, perhaps the whole series is. It is possible then that when reading my online reader copy I was not starting with book one. This would make sense as there are several pieces of information that are missing and are only “filled in” as almost sidebars and/or to explain to someone when they find out the secret of our main character. The premise is that our […]

She was “Sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The Story of Fannie Lou Hamer: An Inspiring Biography for Young Readers (The Story of Biographies) by Margeaux Weston

by Leave a Comment

She was born Fannie Lou Townsend. She became Fannie Lou Hamer after marrying. She would be born to a large family (20 children) run by sharecropper parents. She did as much schooling as she could, leaving school at a young age, but continuing to read and learn whenever she could.  As she grew she felt that having to work so hard for little results, the discrimination, having to struggle to take care of a family, and having no rights because she was a black woman […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo