Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About LB

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A queer nonbinary reader living in the Midwest, LB practices their Adult Face by working in a lab, though they always have at least one book at hand for when they can steal a few minutes of quiet. LB reads across target age ranges and genres, focusing on enjoyment over how many books they finish. They have a black cat named Bruce Wayne who is very dedicated to sniffspections of books.

LB's Reviews:

Amazing Emotional Story

One Blood by Denene Millner

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Oof, this is a seriously intense and emotional story, but so compellingly told. Told through the experiences of three women – Grace, LoLo, and Rae – it chronicles the ties of family and motherhood as Black women and the ways intergenerational trauma ripples and impacts people moving forward. Grace is a teen when her mother is murdered by her boyfriend and her grandmother is taken away for claiming a white woman’s baby was white and not a product of an affair with a Black man […]

Rough but Important Middle Grade Novel

No Place Like Home by James Bird

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This is a rough, emotional story, but also a story full of hope and love. Opin is living in a car with his mom and older brother, Emjay, since they left his father several years ago because he was violent and abusive. Emjay has a tendency to run off when they stop places on their way to Watts Los Angeles and is full of anger, which sometimes is expressed in violence and being cruel with his words towards his family. But Opin finds a dog, […]

An Amazing Nigerian-Inspired Fantasy

Forged By Blood by Ehigbor Okosun

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Wow, this book is so amazingly good. If you’re fond of epic fantasy, political machinations, and soulmates this is a book you should absolutely read! Dèmi grew up having to keep her abilities secret because just before her birth the kingdom of Ìfe was conquered and all Oluson persecuted for fear of what their abilities could do against the Eingardan. One day, though, a young boy is brought to Dèmi and her mother, poisoned, and the act of saving his life condemns Dèmi’s mother. Dèmi […]

An Intense Horror on Grief

Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould

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Wow, this book… this is such a beautiful, painful story exploring grief and how not letting go, staying in the past can cause more harm than learning to move forward. Beck lost her mother only a few months ago and she and her sister are on their way to Texas to live with their dad, but first Beck has to find out the truth of Backravel, the place that her mother was investigating, the place that basically stole her mother from her. But things in […]

An emotional YA in verse

Forever is Now by Mariama J. Lockington

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This book is such an emotional ride and I found it near-impossible to put down. Sadie has been coping with her generalized anxiety for years, but after she watches cops unjustly attack a young Black woman, she is suddenly finding it impossible to walk down the front stairs because “what if what if what if.” As she works on coping and healing and adding new tools to her tool box, Sadie is also trying to use her platform and her voice to bring more attention […]

An Emotional, Vital Story

Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

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I don’t know that I know how to talk about this book except that GOSH it’s amazing and good and powerful and I am so glad it exists and I can’t wait for more people to have the chance to read it! At its core, Only This Beautiful Moment is a story of family and community, of fighting for your beliefs and also learning who you are and want to be. Told across three generations, Moud, Saeed, and Bobby are each discovering their history and […]



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