Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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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:

Just a couple of moms and their talking cats

Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren

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I first found Urban Tails by Ilana Zeffren as an online reader copy, though the book has been available since May 2022. I was having trouble reading it online due to the illustrations. The text bled into the images. The colors were dull and this made things feel unfinished overall. The story wasn’t engaging me. But there was something about it that made me want to read it. I knew there was something there. Perhaps it was because it was about Israel. Or because there […]

A long review with a lot of thoughts

Transitions: A Mother's Journey by Elodie Durand

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I used to book mentor a kid that came to my store. He was smart, but mentally and physically young. One day I learned he wanted to go by “James” not “Jamie” anymore. Why? You see, his neighbor “Bob” left one day and when he came back, she was “Jamie” and (hopefully) she was happy. Now, since “James” was a kid, it is expected that he wouldn’t understand this. After all, transgendered people were not in the mainstream as they would be even a few […]

Nostalgia

Amla Mater by Devi Menon

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Even though I have trouble reading online, I am finding even my longer reads there. Such as Amla Mater by Devi Menon. It is less than 200 pages, and therefore more of a novella graphic novel, but what I mean by longer is not a picture book. Actually picture books can be relatively easy to read online (unless they have a smaller print, a lot of print or illustrations that need the book to be turned to read), but when I do my young adult […]

Freshman Blues

How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger

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How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger is a coming of age story that we know: Girl has trouble fitting in during high school. She is not ready for the trials of being a teen. But, the thing is, she isn’t really a teen. She should be an 8th grader. She should be having homeroom, going to Six Flags, starting a first crush; not having to deal with boys who think interrupting their English teacher is funny. Doing group projects with a boy (thankfully she […]

Fun with Signs

Begin One Way: A Children's Book of Road Signs by Ioana Stoian

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Recently I had the opportunity to read a book by Ioana Stoian. When I started to look for other books by them, I located the title Begin One Way: A Children’s Book of Road Signs (illustrated by Sophia Vincent Guy). At first, I was thinking how could anyone do a fun or interesting book about road signs? It had been done before; and honestly, it was a bit dull. However, while I am not jumping up and down saying this is the best book ever, […]

Love, Kindness, Danger

The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout and Sammy Savos

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“There are very few survivors left, and I want the world to know that there was a Holocaust” The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival is a short graphic novel, but has a lot packed in. Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout and Sammy Savos created an informative, quick story about how one girl survived during wartime, a girl who was lost and how she found her voice when all seemed to be the end of the world.  There are uncomplicated illustrations supporting […]



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