Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About cosbrarian

CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR17 Levels

I'm a librarian, a singer, a cosplayer, an overachiever... @cosbrarian on most platforms. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Cosbrarian's Quick Questions interview.)

cosbrarian's Reviews:

It’s Morphin’ Time! (Animorphing, that is)

The Invasion by K. A. Applegate

The Visitor by K. A. Applegate

by 4 Comments

I was fourteen when The Animorphs debuted, and it never crossed my path. It’s possible I was outgrowing its target age range (though I think teens did read and would still read this series). But it’s more likely that I didn’t read it because I thought I didn’t like science fiction. I thought this despite the fact that A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite rereads, despite loyally watching SeaQuest DSV (even if my loyalty was more for the Jonathan Brandis of it […]

Fresh scares from a needed perspective

Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories by Dan SaSuWeh Jones

by Leave a Comment

Readers who have been craving a selection of tales reminiscent of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark should look no further than Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories, compiled by Ponca storyteller Dan SaSuWeh Jones.  Jones is a busy guy: he is a writer, producer, and artist; he’s worked as an Imagineer for Disney and produced for Sesame Street; he is a sculptor, a former Chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, and he assembled this creepy collection of […]

Getting lost and found again

Home Away From Home by Cynthia Lord

by Leave a Comment

Mia is visiting her grandmother in Maine on her own for the first time. This would be exciting, but the reason her mom is staying behind is to sell their old family house, so they can move in with her new boyfriend. The changes are freaking Mia out a little, so she’s glad to visit her reliable Grandma in the small town of Stone Harbour. But when she arrives, she finds that things have changed at Grandma’s too – a boy about her age named […]

Feeling lost after loss

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

by 1 Comment

When you’ve been a children’s librarian for years, it is easy to get burnt out on the material. For me, that also meant I got cocky. Can any kids book really hook me anymore as a bitter adult who has READ IT ALL? Are there any GOOD STORIES LEFT? Yes, of course, to both of those things. THE LOST LIBRARY by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass proved just that. The last day of fifth grade is approaching, and Evan is pretty nervous about moving up […]

Fairy Tales: a genre by and for “we the people”

Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book by Angela Carter

by Leave a Comment

I picked up this fairy tale collection in Tim’s Books, a tiny off-the-path used bookstore in Provincetown, because it had Angela Carter’s name on it, and I’ve been dedicating my book-buying to hoarding collections by the best fairy tale scholars, especially the feminist ones. It has, as you can see, a delightfully dated cover, but its ideas are very radical and timeless. The book is a selection of fairy tales and folktales chosen by Carter (author of the brilliant The Bloody Chamber), highlighting some of the […]

“Maybe all I need is a purpose.”

Singing With Elephants by Margarita Engle

by Leave a Comment

11-year-old Oriol wants to go back to Cuba. Ever since her grandmother died, she’s felt lost at her Santa Barbara, CA home. School is difficult, her older sister has less time for her since she got a boyfriend, and the only place she is truly happy is helping her parents at their veterinarian clinic. This clinic is no ordinary vet: her parents are specialty vets, assisting with wild and unique animals. In a show-biz state like California, they have a lot of work. One day, […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo