Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About crystalclear

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Crystalclear can usually think of something clever to say, except when she can't. She has a giant stack of unread books at home but will always find an excuse to buy/acquire/borrow another one. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: crystalclear's Quick Questions interview.)

crystalclear's Reviews:

I took the title of this Bingo square literally

The 1918 Flu Pandemic by Katherine Krohn, illustrated by Bob Hall, Keith Williams, and Charles Barnett III

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Well, this is timely.  This juvenile graphic novel came out in 2008, and I’m sure the author and illustrators never thought they would have to live through a pandemic themselves.    This is meant for kids around 4th grade, and tries to explain what happened during the pandemic.  It focuses on the speed and deadliness of the virus, but also on the uncertainty.  Some of the things that they did will definitely be familiar with kids today, especially the closing of schools and the use […]

A journey that could not take place at the moment…

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

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Ginny is a 17-year-old who embarks on a journey left to her by her eccentric Aunt Peg.  After her death, Peg left Ginny a sent of 13 little blue envelopes and some very strange instructions.  In the first is some money to get to NYC and then London and the rules: she can only bring a backpack, she is not allowed to bring any guidebooks, she cannot bring any extra money, and she is not allowed to use electronics, which includes contacting the U.S. by […]

Ever wonder what a dog is thinking? Now you can find out!

The Last Dog on Earth by Adrian J. Walker, read by Jonathan Aris and David John

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This was a wild ride!  It starts off slow, with just a man and his dog during the apocalypse.  Or so it seems.  Well, it’s fairly dystopian at any rate.  We get the story from both points of view.  The dog, Linekar, is foul-mouthed with a cockney accent.  The man, Reginald Hardy, is a man just trying to avoid change and survive.  They live in a 10th story flat in London, and have stayed there despite the bombs that destroyed most of the city three […]

How to best lure people into my favorite author…

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes, read by Kirby Heyborne

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When I saw the “Gateway” square for Bingo, I thought for a bit on the best way to introduce people to the wonder that is Drew Hayes.  I mean, Super Powereds is a long haul, and it takes commitment.  I’ve told some colleagues to start with the Fred series, as the audiobook is on the shorter side (a little over 7 hours) and is structured in smaller chunks.  It also kind of eases you into the weird.  (Also, Kirby Heybourne is also a fantastic audiobook […]

This girl needs some serious therapy…

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

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We picked this book to be our February Teen Book Club pick, stealing our Cannonball book club format for a Facebook discussion.  We picked it without anyone having read it ahead of time, which may not have been a completely great decision, but oh well! The first thing that struck me was “Wow, there’s a lot of foul language in this!”  I mean, it’s nothing that kids today haven’t heard constantly, but it’s still a little surprising coming right out of the gate.  And it’s […]

The more books I read about high school, I feel like mine was weirdly not weird

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, read by Noah Galvin

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This is not what I thought it was going to be.  I mean, I didn’t look into it too much when I picked up the audiobook, but one of my coworkers said it was her favorite book, so I decided to give it a shot.  I think I thought it was going to be a high school story from the perspective of a quiet kid on the sidelines.  I mean, it kind of is, but it’s a lot more than that.   The book is […]



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