Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About BlackRaven

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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:

Ibtihaj Muhammad’s stories

The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab and Community (The Proudest Blue, 3) by Ibtihaj Muhammad, S.K. Ali and Hatem Aly

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The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab and Community (The Proudest Blue, 3) is by Olympic fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad, as well as S.K. Ali and Hatem Aly. This (as the  title suggests) their third book in the Proudest Blue series. I did not feel it covered the subject of wearing a hijab as fully as the other two books have, but it does bring that into play. What it does focus on is becoming brave with its main character, and bringing in the Islamic culture […]

Turkey trot

The Great Turkey Walk: A Graphic Novel Adaptation of the Classic Story of a Boy, His Dog and a Thousand Turkeys by Kathleen Karr and Michelle Bailat-Jones

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The Great Turkey Walk: A Graphic Novel Adaptation of the Classic Story of a Boy, His Dog and a Thousand Turkeys by Kathleen Karr, Léonie Bischoff (illustrator), and Michelle Bailat-Jones was not something I expected to like as much as I did. I assumed since the original book was around 25 years old that it would be dated. But either it was updated, or the common, familiar themes were done well enough to adapt to future readers. I do not believe I have  read the […]

During World War Two, in the concentration camp Terezin, something grew

The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Elisa Boxer

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The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Elisa Boxer and illustrated by Alianna Rozentsveig was not what I expected. I think I assumed it would be a lot darker than it was, but oddly enough, it is a hopeful introduction to the subject and one that does offset the darkness of the situation and times.  Perhaps things are a bit more poetic than the actual events were (a teacher in Terezin risks her life to ask another prisoner (also risking […]

She took a real trip

Scout Is Not a Band Kid by Jade Armstrong

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As I have read a lot of middle and young adult reads, the graphic novel Scout Is Not a Band Kid by Jade Armstrong, was not a new theme. Scout is a kid who is trying to get to meet their favorite author. There is a lot of hyperbole (Scout’s “reasons” are honestly above ridiculous and seem to be untrue: “She’s 100 years old!” “She’s going to die soon!” “I’ll never meet her any other way!”) surrounding her scheme to actually meet this author. Plus, […]

Two siblings and their adventure

Afar by Leila del Duca, Kit Seaton and Taneka Stotts

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I realized I had read Afar by Leila del Duca, Kit Seaton and Taneka Stotts a few pages in. However, when I went to put the book in my counting site, I lost my notes/rating/etc. From before for it. Therefore, I am not sure what my original thoughts were. I do remember enjoying it, but obviously not enough to remember I had read it before. Then, I only remembered a few parts making it more of a first time read and anything that was familiar […]

Teamwork is Dreamwork

Tryouts: (A Graphic Novel) (The Brinkley Yearbooks) by Sarah Sax

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I didn’t write up my review for Tryouts: (A Graphic Novel) (The Brinkley Yearbooks) by Sarah Sax until after things closed for the year. But that’s okay. I will just add it as my fourth book review of 2025 as I had a few books at the end of 2024 I missed, but will let you know about them now January 2025. And the rest of the books afterwards should be 2025 all the way. Tryouts is a typical story of girl power, sports, teamwork […]



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